Introduction to Practices
Here you can learn about my practices and offerings.
When you are ready, you can book a session through the button below.
If you aren’t sure where to start, or you feel that you are interested in more than one service and having a hard time choosing, I would be happy to see you for a mentorship session to provide you some initial guidance and explore options for you to receive the support you desire. I also recommend reviewing the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Herbalism
As an herbalist, I carry the medicine-making tradition from many of my ancestral lines. This includes my mother’s father’s father’s people — specifically my Great Great Great Great Grandparents Sigrid Torstendatter + Isak Vilhelm Erickson Brommer who lived in Valdres, Norway in the mid 1800’s. Together, they traveled the Norwegian countryside selling their medicines made from roots, barks, + berries.
We all have herbalists in our lineages as being in relationship with plant medicine is part of all of our ancestral lineages, if we go back far enough. Some of us must go back farther than others.
Herbal medicine offer us powerful + profound opportunities for deepening our relationships with our plant relatives who can help support us in our personal and collective healing and memory work. Whether you are looking for preventative care, herbal allies for a current or ongoing imbalance, or taking a more spiritual approach to herbalism — a unique blend of herbs in a variety of forms can be created and formulated to your needs and desires.
An herbal consultation is a collaborative process, and I love partnering with people to bring them closer to those who have always cared for us.
Learn more about the different types of herbal consultations I offer here.
Astrology
Each of us have all of the 8 planets, the Sun, the Moon, and many more celestial bodies resting in a particular sign in a particular house in our charts. And all of our charts contain all 12 signs and all 12 houses (at least in the whole signs house system I practice within).
An astrology reading can help you to understand the particular blessings + challenges you've been gifted (or perhaps chosen for yourself) in this lifetime.
Astrology is a powerful tool for understanding ourselves, our relationships, and the worlds within + around us. It can help us to reflect on our personal + collective öorlog (inherited cultural patterns / past precedent) in service of weaving more healing justice + liberation into the web of wyrd.
Craniosacral Bodywork
Please note all in-person bodywork sessions are currently on pause due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
Craniosacral bodywork is an opportunity for the body to rest + heal while being held + witnessed. It is a somatic healing tradition & practice that supports the bones, the fascia, the connective tissues, & the natural, subtle rhythms & movements of the cerebrospinal fluid on a cellular level. This is practiced through deep listening & the application of light touch & holds wherever there is restriction and tension. It can be helpful for noticing & shifting patterns, working with our own personal & generational traumas, & can also support the body to heal from acute and/or chronic pain or injury. I have experienced craniosacral bodywork as deeply transformative as well as relaxing.
At times bodywork can make us feel worse when we begin. This is because many of us are walking around disassociated from our bodies. With time we can build awareness and skills to live in greater awareness of and in deeper relationship with our bodies, the bodies around us, and the body of the collective. Whether you are seeking physical, emotional, or spiritual support, this somatic practice can be incredibly beneficial!
From my research & conversations with other craniosacral practitioners, I understand that the practice finds origins in what is referred to as “osteopathy”, as well as a variety of traditional communities across Turtle Island & pre-colonial Europe. While many cultures and peoples have practices of deeply listening + supporting one another with gentle touch, osteopathy itself was “invented” and named as such by Andrew Still and his student William Sutherland.
The essential and most often ignored true origin story is this: Still learned these practices from Cherokee and Shawnee peoples, but did nothing to acknowledge them or challenge the US government’s systemic white supremacist genocidal campaign against them.
Dr. Lewis Mehl-Mardrona and his work through the Coyote Institute (for Studies in Change and Transformation), has deeply informed and influenced my craniosacral bodywork practice since I came across it during my initial training in 2017. Susan Raffo has taken the time to write and share a profound essay detailing this history, which draws largely from his work.
See also: “The American Indian Roots of Osteopathy, Polarity, and Craniosacral Therapy” by Nita Renfew.
Cupping Massage
Please note all in-person bodywork sessions are currently on pause due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
Cupping therapy, also referred to as "sucking" involves the use of suction on the body in order to draw old & stagnant blood, energy, toxins, & metabolic waste out of the soft tissues & up to just below the skin so that the body can clear it out.
A very limited list of benefits include:
improving eliminative function & stimulating essential metabolic processes & self healing (for example liver & gastrointestinal tract function)
improving blood & lymph circulation
releasing pressure of haematomas in acute physical injuries / sports injuries, & reduces tightness in swellings & inflamed tissues
relieving pain, swelling & inflammation in acute & chronic musculoskeletal disorders – such as back & joint pain, lumbago, arthritis, etc - even years after a physical trauma
can help to ease chronic mental tension, anxiety, & stress
it also feels great!
Where does it come from?
Across various cultures & continents, we find evidence of cupping being practiced in the home by a family member and/or a trusted community healer as part of a holistic approach to home health care - including across Old Europe. For me this was an important part of my learning about the practice - to know that this cultural practice has ties to an area where my ancestors are from. In the text Remedies and Rituals: Folk Medicine in Norway and the New Land, Kathleen Stokker references "kopping" being practiced by traditional healers in Old County (Norway) as well as among Norwegian immigrants in areas currently known as Wisconsin + Minnesota.
The symbol of the sucking cup was actually a sign indicating someone was a physician in ancient Egypt & Greece. The Egyptian hieroglyph for "doctor" is a cup inverted with an arrow beneath it. While the practice is widespread, there are variations to the approach between communities. In Latin America the practice has been referred to as Ventosas. Within SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa)* & Islamic tradition, Hijama. In Greek tradition, Sikia. In Japan, cupping is called Kyukaku. In Turkey, Kupa Cekme. Chinese technique's are referred to as Jiaofa or Baguanfa.
*SWANA: This term is a less Euro-centric description of the region more commonly referred to as the Middle East and North Africa or MENA, which I learned about from Layla Kristy Feghali of River Rose Apothecary.
Mentorship
This is an offering for those who are seeking mentorship, guidance, support, and deeper conversation. Sometimes, this is because none of my offerings fit your desires just quite right. Or perhaps you would like to deepen your exploration of any given theme, topic, or practice that has come up for you which overlaps with my areas of interest, focus, craft, study, and practice. Whatever brings you here in this moment, I am so glad you made it.
These are areas of interest, focus, craft, study, and practice for me that I feel resourced enough in to be able to offer mentorship:
-ancestral connection, healing, + veneration
-living folkways, practices, medicines, + rituals (I am most versed in my Norse, Germanic, Slavic, + Celtic peoples' practices, but happy to support anyone desiring mentorship in this area)
-herbalism + plant medicine — with a focus on gender affirming care
-astrology + lunar living
-threshold magic: witnessing, companionship, + full spectrum doula care — with an emphasis on abortion care work
-holistic nursing
-radical sexual health education + consultation — with an emphasis on pleasure
-survivor support / sexual assault advocacy
-boundaries + protection
-memory work, radical genealogy, + ancestral research: question-asking, documenting, storytelling, + elder honoring
-probably other areas I'm not thinking of — feel free to inquire about others as needed!
Please Note:
-I ask anyone who is interested in mentorship with me to first become a patron and watch a few of my recorded workshops. I find the best mentorship sessions sprout up from there — or after attending one of my workshops, or experiencing a 1:1 session with me, whether that be an herbal consultation, astrological consultation, or bodywork session.
-$100 is the cost for an initial mentorship intake session. After the first session, I offer a sliding scale fee for mentees who chose to continue working with me.
-While sessions are currently virtual, I hope to offer masked, in-person mentorship sessions to local folks on a case-by-case basis in the future.