My journey to bodywork therapy...
Towards a safe and non-toxic environment
I was 32 and checking the boxes: multiple academic degrees , dream job teaching in a medical school, traveling the world, running on what felt like a never ending treadmill of work and life....days, weeks, months flying by. I was holding the line skiing in the wake of life behind a boat driven by someone else. My colleagues, all older than I and on this same path, became hints of visions of my future as if looking into my personal crystal ball. I felt I had little time to assess where I had been and where I was going... all the while hosting this little nagging feeling deep in my core telling me... there is something more.....
I followed my heart, I followed my intuition and I followed my maps to locate the most amazing place of learning, growing and healing about 30 miles south of Chapel Hill, a glass A frame schoolhouse located on 150 acres of land called South Wind Farm in a historic farming community in Silk Hope, NC. On this property was an energy of purpose, passion and integration where the sounds of interstates, and schedules, ticking of clocks, and thoughts in my mind of expectations were no longer audible. The only sounds present were the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees, the discussion in my mind as I tried to accommodate to this 180 degree shift of energy in my own senses, and actually hearing my own heartbeat and breathing patterns. I remember the feeling of leaving that day along what seemed like a mile long driveway, full of anxiety stimulated by the quietness..... and my outer voice telling me that there was no way I could do this .... being so far away, and in so many ways, far from the world I was used to living. At the same time, my inner voice told me .... "that's exactly why you have to do this".
That was in the Spring of 1999. To enter the school, a prerequisite was to experience professional massage/bodywork sessions. I had my first massage by one of my soon to be instructors, and one of my forever most cherished mentors.. I learned in that session that I did not know how to relax and did not know how to let go. I also learned that we have the power to heal ourselves when we are given the awareness of where we are stuck, and when we allow space and confidence in our ability to heal.
Every day, I realize how fortunate I was to have been in the right place and time and granted the opportunity to encounter this complete life changing experience with some of the most amazingly knowledgeable healing and somatic bodywork practitioners and teachers in the field.
It is my mission to share through my hands, taught to me by the many hands in my education and the many clients I have learned so much from in my many years as a therapist, the energy and knowledge I have learned to support the space for healing with all of my clients.
My therapeutic session combines an integrative approach, where I work with a great deal of muscular/body pain, stiffness and movement constriction, repetitive strain injuries due to work or athletic activities, stress and associated illnesses: physical, emotional and mental, and need for relaxation and learning to let go.
Utilizing classic techniques of Swedish Massage and Deep Tissue massage, I can modify the session to accommodate light touch or deeper pressure. Trigger-point and myofascial release therapy can be used to release muscle tension and pain with light pressure. Often, stretching and joint movements support greater results as does the use of hydrotherapy, hot stones, and breathing techniques.
I look forward to working with you.
Sue Norcia MA NC-LMBT #614
