The Body Witch

📣 The news many of you have been waiting for! 📣

I am slowly crawling out of the hole I’ve been hiding in and am getting the outside-of-the-treatment-room business I’ve been neglecting taken care of! Always humbly grateful for your understanding that although I have earned merit as a bodyworker, I have next to no business management skills..

✨manifesting a secretary✨

With that said, the actual news:

MOT sessions can now be submitted to most insurance companies! Direct billing is available already for some and pending approval for others. This is great news for those with health benefits as you may now have twice the access to treatment! Check your policy to see if you’ve got osteopathy benefits to utilize!

I took a trip down to Montana this week to learn how to do weird stuff with heads with the amazing Steve Heinrich PT.

We laughed, we cried, we shared, we learned, we grew. The profound healing and connection that unfolds naturally when I find myself in the right learning environments never ceases to amaze me and this one was one of my favourites so far.

Taking CranioSacral Therapy 1 has greatly deepened my understanding and passion for this incredible modality and I can’t wait till the end of September when I can return for level two!

I’ve been invited to bring my magic to the Cultivate Now Wellness Summit!

Join us for 2 incredible days of growth, learning, community, connection, and self-love.

This event is all about removing the layers, embracing outside of the box thinking, filling your cup, and becoming your truest self.

We will have:

•7 Speakers
•5 Workshops (You choose your 3 out of 5 options!)
•3 Integrative Modalities
•On-Site Practitioners + Vendors

Tickets are on sale BOGO free from now until February 19th!
Use code: JULIE10 for 10% off!

When: March 15 & 16
Where: The Cochrane Ranchehouse

I can’t wait to see you there!

After being the best boy for his mom’s whole treatment, Hershey decided it was his turn for some bodywork! How could I say no to that sweet face?

The response from you all has been huge and I am almost at capacity, thank you!! Being able to practice so much has really helped to solidify my confidence with this work and I feel great about my upcoming final practical exam, I can’t say how impactful of a gift this experience has been for me already. Now it’s time to study up for the final theory exam!

*notes

to be eligible for the discount, appointments must be booked by February 12th but may be scheduled anytime thereafter.

*everyone who has already started treatment will remain eligible for the discount until March.

Today I am taking a moment to reflect on the past year and I hope you guys aren’t sick of my sappy posts and even sappier captions yet cause this is gonna be another one of those.

Today marks one year since the universe ripped off the proverbial bandaid and forcibly YEETED me onto my own two feet, onto the path to my highest good, into a more abundant timeline, and away from those who would try to dismantle me out of what I can only assume was fear and intimidation. I stepped forward with nothing but my reputation in my community and blind faith known only by The Fool.

And it was more than enough.

A year later I can hardly begin to take account of the blessings I have received. From the initial loyalty and support from my clients as I transitioned to working from home rippling all the way outwards to the opportunity I had last summer to spend more time with my kids than I’ve ever been able to before and everything in between, my life is blooming and showing no signs of stopping or slowing down any time soon.

After a lifetime of challenging consequences, it’s a uniquely rewarding experience to be able to sit back and look around at all that has grown from my own integral actions and good choices. Of course I couldn’t have gotten here without the immense support I have received and continue to receive from my people, but today I make a point of acknowledging that I am one of my people too and I owe myself some gratitude too. I feel like I finally have the skills and tools I need in order to do my work and live out my purpose in this lifetime. To make my difference. And in the midst of all of this, the fact that this point in my life is another beginning and there’s oodles more space for me to grow into absolutely blows my mind. Bring it all on.

The universe is on my side. ♥️

This is a petition to have GST removed from massage treatments, please sign if you agree that massage therapy is a professional service and should not be bound by GST charges.

Sign this Petition - Petitions There is no obligation on the part of the House of Commons or any Member of Parliament to authorize the publication of an e-petition or to present an e-petition or a paper petition to the House of Commons. Neither the House of Commons nor any Member of Parliament authorizing the publication of an e-...

There’s only two months left until I graduate and I am so excited! I have officially completed the course content and will be spending the remainder of my time in the Manual Osteopathic Therapy program preparing for my final exams and presentation.

I have grown so much this year and I couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you for patiently letting me practice and graciously letting me stumble as I have journeyed through this latest learning adventure.

As a way to both share my gratitude with my community and get lots of practice in before finals, I am offering an additional 33% discount on Manual Osteopathic Therapy appointments scheduled between now and March 15th!

This is an amazing opportunity whether you know and love manual osteopathic therapy, are curious to try it, or have no idea what I’m talking about! Hit the book now button in my bio to grab your spot and send me a comment or message if you have any questions.

These sessions will go up to the industry standard after I graduate, if you act now there’s more than enough time to make significant improvements to your wellness at a fraction of the typical cost.

Our initial session together will include an intake interview, full body structural and functional assessment, treatment plan, and first treatment. These sessions are 90-minutes.

Follow up appointments may vary in length depending on the treatment plan and which protocols are to be utilized at each session.

Manual Osteopathic Therapy sessions are $50 and can be submitted under your massage benefits while I am still a student and as always, direct billing is available.

I can’t wait to get started!
Who is going first?

Tap the book now button in my bio to get yourself a spot with me.

✨ Special promotion! ✨

Book in anytime in October and receive a complimentary doggo or kitten cuddle with your session!

Many of you have already met Venus and I’d like to introduce you to our new kitten, Freyja.

As always, I am happy to accommodate should there be any concerns with my furry family members but that being said, it’s my hope you will love them as much as they will love you. Animals are such powerful healers.

A woman held.

A space transformed.

A pattern released.

A life renewed.

When we sit in stillness and fully listen, the body speaks. The more we listen the better we get at hearing. The more we let go the more abundance flows in. When the work is being done authentically, the ripple effect reverberates through the bones and touches the lives of others who are listening.

When one is healed, all are healed.

The more I let go of any expectations I had for how my life and career would flow the more alignment I find myself in. The more alignment I operate from the more resources flood in. The more I let go of the parts that are not mine to manage the more opportunities appear for me to hold space and witness transformative growth in others. And what a privilege it is to see and to hold and to be!

It’s becoming a theme on this page and that’s ok- I am humbled and profoundly grateful for every soul that seeks me out in search of a safe place to be seen and held in courageous vulnerability.

I am abundantly blessed, I am full to overflowing, I am lit up, I am in awe.

Thank you to each of you with whom I cross paths as we journey deeper into all this life has to teach us.

P***y mug by
The body witch mug by a dear client
Tea by

“I love our daughters more than anything in the world, more than life itself. So for me, being mom-in-chief is, and always will be, job number one. “ - Michelle Obama

We’re only just beginning day two of advanced pelvic training and I am feeling so lit up and seen. It is a dream to dive deep and reconnect with Martin, some of my sisters from Bowen, and a few new sisters too. The wisdom and power housed in this space right now is incomprehensible. I was initially intimidated and slightly unsure of my place amongst these brilliant minds but through the openness and acceptance I’ve been met with, I can see that it’s not a ‘me and them’ but rather a ‘we’ and let me just say, we are immense. We are changing the world through our work and our community and I am both humbled and proud to be apart of it.

Big news! I have been accepted into the Manual Osteopathic Therapy program at MOCC! My schedule will be changing to accommodate this new adventure but as always, I am available to you at my home clinic just send me a message and we will work out a time to get together and continue your care. This is going to take my treatments to a whole new level and I’m so excited!

Need some mid-week care? I have a couple of openings this evening, grab one while you can!

I hope everyone is settling in to 2023 and getting back into the swing of things. Here’s a reminder to schedule in regular self care to ensure you’re maximizing your potential!

I wrote this article in 2022 to help explain and demystify what it is I do in my fascial decompression sessions! A few things have changed since then but it’s still a solid peek into my approach to fascial work. Give it a read and let me know if you have any thoughts or questions!

What is fascial decompression? Before I can answer that I think it’s important to first ask and answer what is fascia?

Well, besides being the most abundant tissue in the body, it’s frankly the most fascia-nating!

But seriously, fascia is what holds our shape, our structure, our posture. It is our connective tissue. Fascia is very strong and primarily made of collagen and tiny muscle fibres that don’t allow it to contract or stretch like muscles but rather to tense and relax. It surrounds every nerve, blood vessel, muscle fibre, muscle, and muscle group. Its network of restructurable webbing is why we can move without tearing our nerves and blood vessels that don’t relax and contract with our muscles. It’s what connects everything to everything else physically and neurologically and it explains why you might have a problem in one area and pain or tension pulling from somewhere else.

The human body is not built like a house where one brick holds the next and the walls hold up the roof and so on. Rather, the human body is supported through tensegrity which means the bones essentially float within the fascial network and every part supports every other part above, below, and beside. Trauma, whether it is physical or psychological, interrupts this suspensory model. I have traced tension lines from abdominal surgery scars all the way down the leg, had a client who couldn’t tolerate deep hip work because of the discomfort felt in the elbows, and often have clients commenting they feel my work in completely different areas of their body. This is all explained by the tensegrity of our fascial system and the traumas we have endured.

Fascia itself is a very cool substance. It’s a non-Newtonian fluid, like cornstarch and water goop, which means it can act like a fluid or a solid depending on how it is being interacted with. For example, if you poke someone in the belly hard and fast you will only feel and interact with the most superficial layers of tissue as the fascia tenses to absorb the impact. However, if you touch someone in the belly with gradually increasing pressure, you’ll be able to feel and interact with everything down to the spine as the fascia relaxes around the pressure. This is why we often have compensation issues or why the right hip might be sore or tight after injuring the left shoulder as the fascia surrounding the trauma tenses and pulls at the entire network, potentially interacting with other previously wound tension lines.

Why work with fascia?

I like to describe our fascial system like wearing leggings. Sometimes they get all bunched up or twisted and that gets uncomfortable fast, you can really feel them pulling in weird ways! So to fix that we have to pull them up, pull them down and twist them back into place so they are no longer impeding our ability to move comfortably. Fascial decompression works in a similar way to adjust our internal leggings.

It’s fascia’s job to maintain balance and it responds to whatever we are regularly asking our bodies to do. Many of us spend a lot of time folded in on ourselves, driving, working on computers, etc. and our fascia adapts to support these postures. It “bunches up” in the back of the knees, front of the hips, abdominals, chest, and back of the head. It’s pulled tight in all the places opposite and it can get really uncomfortable when we try to move through activities that don’t use such a posture.

A typical relaxation or deep tissue massage uses direct, downward pressure to interact with the muscle tissue specifically and typically focuses on those areas pulled tight. It feels great to get some relief! It doesn’t take long before those muscles tighten back up to continue their role of supporting the postures we spend the most time in and pretty soon we are aching again.

Alternatively, fascial decompression engages tissue by employing horizontal and opposing pressure slowly and gradually and without any oil or lotion. This allows me to interact with the deepest structures as the body relaxes around my predictable pressure with minimal discomfort. Asking the fascial network to release the hold it has on the posture we’ve spent the most time in creates a window of opportunity to change movement patterns and postures in a more long term way and it does so with compassion for the body and person as a whole.

Fascial decompression is a client-led modality which means the pace is determined by the client’s tissues. I move through them as they open up for me rather than forcing my way through with my own agenda potentially damaging delicate structures like lymphatic vessels. Factors that impact this pace include things like how tense the tissues are, how well hydrated they are, overall psychological state, and level of experience with fascial work.

Typically during a first session, I explain what it is we are doing and why as that understanding is fundamental to a well tolerated and integrated session. This helps you to understand your body in a deeper way and may help you figure out what you do in your daily life that aggravates your body. That level of awareness is key to maximising the effect of future sessions. Next, we set goals for the session. It's best to start small, focusing on either the upper body, lower body or a specific issue. This allows me to get to know your body and lets your body learn what I am asking it to do as most of us haven’t yet been touched in this way. Because of the client-led approach, the treatment is deeply relaxing. It should never feel intense enough to interfere with your ability to breathe as that kind of intensity activates the nervous system and works against the technique.

After the session you’ll likely feel amazing! The days following are usually great as well, with little to no soreness despite the depth of work we are able to do together, especially if you keep well hydrated. Depending on the amount of tension relieved, some soreness may occur but tends to feel more like post work-out soreness from the movement of tissues that haven’t moved for a while rather than the I-need-a-Tylenol feeling you might get after a really powerful deep tissue treatment. Fascial decompression sessions build off each other and over time, usually around the 5th session, your body learns what it’s supposed to do and unwinds for longer periods and with greater ease allowing you to receive more treatment in less time less often.

I am passionate about this work and love to teach so if you’re wondering what fascial decompression can do for you let’s talk about it!

This is why fascial decompression works so well despite being so relaxing! Most of the work is disarming the nervous system.

Chronic pain has more to do with neurological hypersensitivity than it does with tissue damage, which is why treating pain at the neurological level is the key to eradicating it.

I’ve got a couple last minute openings this week!

I have a few last minute appointments available for tomorrow!

Appointments available this week:

Tuesday: 1:30
Wednesday: 12:00, 2:00, 4:30, 6:30
Friday: 1:00, 5:00, 7:00

Hire this being. Appointments available next week!

Spaces tentatively filled, thank you!! This care will be available soon, watch out for an announcement and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

I’m back from my incredible Holistic Pelvic Therapy training with Beaudoin Bodywork and I’m looking for a few more clients for my practicum. Are you or someone you love struggling with pelvic pain, prolapse or incontinence? Practicum sessions include a full assessment and two treatments. Message me to inquire. ♥️

I am feeling so grateful on this full Pisces moon that I have the privilege of being passed such sacred and profound knowledge that serves to enhance my ability to care and hold the women of my community. Between the knowledge given, the connections made, and the space held for me, the reverence runs deep. I have grown immensely and I am forever changed.

I had the honour of working on this article with Holistic Nutritionist, Janet Perry back in 2022. Scroll to read about two totally different but complimentary approaches to overcoming inflammation!

Inflammation: the biology, the chemistry and the physics of it.

Inflammation is part of your immune response to an injury or irritant, such as a virus, bacteria, or toxic substance. When your immune system is activated, it sends out inflammatory cells to combat the irritant or to heal damaged tissue. The right kind of inflammation is an essential part of the body’s healing process.

There are two types of inflammation:

Acute inflammation happens when your immune system sends white blood cells to surround and protect an area of injury, illness, or infection within the body. The symptoms are easily noticeable and can include: redness, heat, swelling, and pain.

Chronic Inflammation happens when the immune system’s response lingers, leaving the body in a perpetual state of high alert, which over time can have a detrimental impact on organs and tissues. The most common factors of chronic inflammation include autoimmune disorders, where your body attacks healthy tissue, untreated infection or injury, and exposure to toxins, which can come from food, pollution, or industrial chemicals. Chronic inflammation is involved in many conditions including Alzheimer’s, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and type 2 diabetes, to name a few. Symptoms of chronic inflammation are more subtle and may include: fatigue, chest pain, depression or anxiety, abdominal pain, joint pain, skin issues, weight gain/loss, and persistent infections.

Janet
To combat chronic inflammation as a Certified Holistic Nutritional Consultant, I use Metabolic Balance to create individualized meal plans for my clients. Inflammation in the body is indicated by elevated levels of C-Reactive Protein and Uric Acid, which are only two of the thirty six blood values used in Metabolic Balance! I use this result (along with all the other blood values) to determine which foods will help reduce inflammation in your body.

You can minimize or eliminate the impact chronic inflammation has on your life by following a Metabolic Balance plan and by making healthy lifestyle choices surrounding:

Nutrition. Eating well and staying hydrated is the cornerstone of good health. The foods you choose either reduce or lead to inflammation.
Weight. Fat cells inside the abdomen secrete molecules that increase inflammation. Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight will reduce your risk of chronic inflammation and the conditions that come with it.
Smoking. Smoking leads to higher levels of inflammatory proteins in the body which play a role in joint and organ damage.Inflammation levels can begin to drop in as little as a few weeks after quitting smoking.
Alcohol. Alcohol can induce intestinal inflammation which leads to chronic inflammation and organ dysfunction throughout the body, particularly the liver and brain.
Sleep. Inadequate sleep may trigger cells to activate inflammation. If you are struggling to get a good night’s sleep, look at what your bedtime routine is. Sleep hygiene is crucial for good health.
Stress. Chronic stress triggers inflammation and may lead to flare-ups of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, depression, and inflammatory bowel disease. There are many ways to manage stress. Take a yoga class. Have a Reiki treatment. Eat healthy. Treat yourself to a massage.

After being initiated by the immune system, inflammation is then regulated by the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system runs parallel to the circulatory system and works to maintain the quantity and quality of our interstitial fluid by carrying away wastes and dispersing inflammation. It does this passively with negative pressure, open ended lymph vessels, valves in larger vessels, and muscle contractions during movement instead of a closed system with a pump like the heart. These lymph vessels are tiny and delicate and are found right beneath our skin, embedded within the superficial fascial layer. They draw fluid out of interstitial spaces and flow towards larger lymph vessels and nodes before filtering through the kidneys to be recycled or eliminated.

When our interstitial space becomes overburdened with fluid or our fascial system gets too tense and dehydrated, the lymphatic vessels can become pinched shut making the whole system much less effective and can exacerbate chronic inflammation. If left untreated, this kind of inflammation can begin to negatively impact the lymphatic system. When inflammation becomes chronic and fluid sits stagnant, it can weaken the lymph vessels leading to problems like lymphedema, enlarged lymph nodes, cancer, and can even varicose veins!

Julie
To mitigate this process for my clients, I first use fascial decompression techniques to create space within the superficial fascial layer and then I use lymphatic drainage techniques to stimulate the lymph nodes and gently move the lymph fluid towards the cleared nodes in order to encourage the proper, unrestricted function of this natural system.

This method can be used to help eliminate either chronic or acute inflammation and works well in conjunction with the Metabolic Balance approach. If the issue is acute, I work to reduce swelling around the affected area by opening a specific pathway that follows the body’s natural drainage patterns from the heart to the problem area and then I move the lymphatic fluid back along that pathway and away from the injury effectively reducing pain and swelling. This clearing of stagnant fluid allows other immune responses to do their part and supports the healing of the injury or irritant. If the issue is chronic, a full body approach is often necessary with specific focus on the abdomen following the same theory, create space and then move the lymphatic fluid through that space to restore lymph flow. This method supports and stimulates the lymphatic system in the way nature intended and will help you achieve your highest health and wellness goals!

I am the body witch, however, I have not obtained these powers and promise this won’t happen on my table 😂. Book your appointment for next week and see what kind of magic we can make together! 💆‍♀️

https://maliya.janeapp.com/locations/wellness-clinic-booking/book #/staff_member/61

The truck is loaded and I am so excited to be heading off the grid and into the forest with Lucille Light and Chelsea LeClere to represent Maliya Wellness Centre for Women at Lucent Festival! We will be running our healing tent all weekend and can’t wait to meet everyone!