Dana Christy

Like many who are drawn to this work, I am a survivor of sexual violence. In my ongoing process of integrating my traumatic experiences, I have personally benefited from the incredible healing capacities of yoga, bodywork, mindfulness, and alternative medicine. My recovery would have been nonexistent without integrated mind/body therapeutic methodologies. The ways in which embodied healing modalities have helped me re/connect with my resilience, and how this re/connection has so deeply impacted my transformation, have inspired me to center my practice around this work. I have so much gratitude for the many practitioners who have led and continue to lead me through my own healing work, continually guiding me as I navigate my growth. If I can support even one survivor in one moment of that journey, my mission in the healing arts will be fulfilled.

My mission as a practitioner is not to impose any kind of schedule or expectation on my client’s healing, but instead to hold space for the body’s self-healing capacities to take effect in whatever way is most authentic. There is so much pressure in our society on how to heal, how quickly to heal, and what a state of being “fully healed” should look like. This can instill survivors whose processes do not match these narratives with a sense of shame, which can add to what many survivors already internalize as a result of living in a victim-blaming society.

I believe that healing is a continual process that lasts a lifetime. I have no “goals” for my clients. They have the freedom to dictate exactly what they want to happen in every treatment. Consent is at the core of every interaction. I do thorough intakes before each session to try to understand what each individual might need from their session that day. Sessions can differ dramatically, even for the same client, based on what they present in that moment. In some sessions I might not even touch a person’s body if that is not in service of their current needs. I use all the tools available to me, including movement, visualization, healing touch, and breathwork, to create a fluid, nourishing, and accessible healing environment.

Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine inherently view the body as an interconnected web, where every symptom and sensation is connected with every experience and emotion. Because this perspective on healing is built into my training, I have been able to use it to support clients as they metabolize the many physical, emotional, and energetic manifestations of trauma. I am always looking at each individual as a whole person, rather than a collection of symptoms. In each session we are holding space for the client to exist in the world as their most present, contented, authentic self. These shifts towards this space of ease take place on all levels of our being.

Shiatsu, bodywork, mindfulness, and therapeutic yoga all revolve around building and rebuilding a safe and sustainable connection between mind and body. This is a crucial process for survivors who often have their mind-body connection severed. I intentionally educate my clients about their bodies and nervous systems so that they can learn to gauge how they are feeling at any given moment, both inside and outside the treatment room, and empower their sense of agency so that they can make informed choices to support their well-being and ease.

I recognize that many bodies are excluded from traditional trauma-informed spaces. My goal is to hold space for all bodies, especially those that have been denied access to embodied healing care. Agency and accessibility go hand in hand: we need to feel empowered in our healing spaces, to know that we are directing the intention, practice, and outcome of our healing work. I also recognize that I, with the many forms of privilege I embody, may not be the appropriate practitioner for all people, and have intentionally built a robust and diverse referral network so that I may direct survivors to other practitioners who share their unique identities and perspectives.

I craft each session around the client’s specific needs in that moment. This means that I prioritize safety, agency and consent above any prescribed healing technique or sequence. I give clients the opportunity to dictate how they want all aspects of the session to unfold, from the music to the lighting to whether they start face up or face down. I remind them at the beginning of every session that they can ask for whatever is happening in the session to change at any time, and I check in with them regularly to ensure that the work is resonating with them according to their needs. I also encourage clients to ask any and all questions about what is happening, so that their sense of agency and consent can be constantly nourished. I have no agenda for the session beyond doing everything I can to create and hold the safest space possible. If that means doing a 45 minute intake and a 15 minute massage, that’s okay. If that means doing the most minimal verbal intake and spending more time with just the body, that’s okay too. Above all, I want my clients to feel confident in knowing that they are in charge of what happens to them.

I have taught mindfulness and therapeutic yoga to children and adults for over 10 years. I present these practices in ways that are distinctly different from what you might find in a typical gym or studio yoga class, and are intentionally crafted for each individual’s unique needs. They are accessible to all ages, body sizes, and abilities. I focus on using movement, mindfulness, and breath as tools to cultivate a safe and sustainable mind/body connection. Ultimately, I hope to equip clients with the tools they need to regulate their nervous systems outside the context of our sessions together. Mindfulness and yoga techniques can provide easy, quick, accessible options when we feel the need to ground ourselves, anytime and anywhere. Equipping clients with the awareness and solutions they need to feel better is a powerful way of empowering agency, which is a valuable healing state for so many survivors whose agency has been compromised.

Although I am passionate about increasing healing accessibility for all people, I feel particularly drawn to working with folx in the LGBTQIAP+ community. I identify as nonbinary and bisexual, and though I have the privilege of presenting as cisgender and straight-passing, I have my own lived experience with the daily micro- and macroagressions that queer people experience. In acknowledging that, I also recognize the many ways that I as a white person hold privilege, and am committed to doing my own embodied anti-racism work. Resmaa Menakem’s scholarship around the historical, intergenerational, persistent institutional and personal trauma associated with living life in a body that doesn’t conform to the white/cis/straight/male ideal, as well as his work on the embodied healing of racialized trauma, have had a monumental impact on my work.

Additionally, I feel drawn to working with folx in all body sizes. Our fatphobic society is a breeding ground for disordered eating, which too is a form of embodied trauma. As someone who has struggled with disordered eating, I am now a proud advocate of Health At Every Size, and I hope to provide an inclusive space for anyone whose body does not fit with our society’s expectations about what bodies should look like. All bodies are deserving of healing.

I offer sliding scale rates to clients in need, as accessibility is one of my core values, and has been ever since establishing my professional practice. I recognize that many embodied healing modalities are simply unavailable to many individuals based on their financial realities. I hope to do what I can to make wellness more inclusive.