Holistic Rolfing™ and Somatic Therapy for Lasting Well-being
I believe that greater connection, vitality, and ease in life can be accessed in any person through skilled touch and movement that can remap the body for a better opportunity.
-Liesje Smith
Being/Body Somatic Arts is a somatic healing and movement wellness space in Burlington, VT, along the Winooski River, unceded land of the Abenaki indigenous people.
Ready for Deeper Somatic Change?
Are you seeking a holistic transformation of both body and mind?
Do you want to experience deep, lasting changes in your overall well-being through a method that integrates physical and emotional healing?
Try the Rolfing 10 Series
By changing the tissue of the body, we change our beliefs and habits…..
My clients come to me looking to release long-held tension and adhesions in their connective tissue, because it allows for greater freedom of movement, improved posture, and a sense of balance with gravity.
If that sounds like you, you might consider trying a first session to get to know Liesje and the process she offers. Then you could consider the full “10 Series of Rolfing,” a progression of sessions designed to address your body’s structural needs while also supporting emotional healing.
Through this process, you may come to recognize that physical posture is closely connected to your internal attitudes. If you want to shift negative or diminishing views of yourself into more positive, empowering ones, seek a full-body, somatic unwinding that not only restores physical alignment but also promotes emotional well-being over time.
Try this comprehensive, structured process, and see how each session builds upon the last. After the 10 Series is complete, you will have a more thorough awareness of your body’s needs and have the tools to achieve deep, transformative results.
EASE OF MOTION
Rolfing through a Series of TEN group classes!!
An affordable way to restore movement patterns and motor maps through fascia release is fundamental to achieving long-term change and freedom in movement without pain.
Ongoing. Drop-ins welcome at any point in the class series! $20 or $30/class.
Wednesdays 9:30-10:45am
August 28th- October 30th, 2024
Rolfing and Somatic Therapy
Experience profound healing and trauma resolution through Rolfing, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and other fantastic modalities. Explore our personalized sessions to reconnect with your body's innate wisdom.
Movement Classes
Embark on a transformative journey with our somatic movement classes. Dive into the body's wisdom and discover healing through motion.
Events
Join our vibrant community and witness the power of collective healing. Dive into workshops and events designed to foster transformation on a communal level.
What’s possible here?
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Somatic structural alignment
Movement education
Professional training
Somatic classes
Community events
Studio rentals
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Rolfing Structural Integration (SI) is a somatic practice utilizing fascial manipulation, awareness, and movement education that is used to help you better understand your relationship with gravity by accessing a sense of support when you yield to weight and expand into space.
It is typically a series of ten sessions that are framed to restore postural balance and functional ease by aligning and integrating your body in gravity.
SI is based on the work of Dr. Ida P. Rolf. It is practiced by those trained at schools and institutions in accordance with the standards established by the International Association of Structural Integrators (IASI). I went to the Rolf Institute and completed my advanced training in Rolfing Structural Integration in 2019.
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Difficulty connecting with your own body
Jaw, face and neck work
Breathing restrictions
Pelvic movement restrictions
Scars and visceral adhesion
Neurovascular restriction
Visceral adhesions
Fascial abnormalities
Peripersonal space; your sense of internal body awareness and environmental distress
Eye tension
Adjustment disorder
Self-care, tension release
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This work is for you if you suffer from:
Accidents or impeding surgeries: including brain and spinal injuries, whiplash
Being born with neurological and structural disorders: spina bifida, Tongue Tie, TMJ
Structural issues that interfere with functional movement: walking, sitting, balance
Dysfunction due to aging: stroke, broken hip, isolation
Too much sitting or driving
Depleted energy due to aging, anxiety or stress
Emotional dis-ease like feeling forgotten, harassed, objectified, neurodiverse or misunderstood or any relatable ongoing emotional issues that are difficult to change
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For the Structural Component: (I work on you as you lay on the table)
Continual assessment of how your body supports itself and moves in gravity
Soft tissue manipulation using specific, focused touch with subtle movement for release of tissues that restrict your movement or comfort
Essential re-education for integrated ease and comfort in basic and complex movement patterns
Observation of the relationship between your posture, your pain and your habits of movement to better prepare your living process
For the Functional Component: (I guide you through movements where you’re asked to think about what you’re doing and therefore we develop greater functional capacity.)
Actively find your support in each moment
Change your movement initiation so that you can reduce your strain patterns that drag you down, helping your body function better
Discover your capacity for agency in the moment that brings you lasting, replenishing ease
Learn to find better ways to approach your body in the moment, as your perceptions always inform your choices
You can expect to do movement work fully clothed. Please wear comfortable, non-restrictive clothing that allows for easeful movement.
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The key principle of SI is that your body is significantly affected by the powerful force of gravity.
Your entire body is held together with the interstitium, a meshwork of strong and flexible connective tissue that looks random, but amazingly enough, is adaptive to any suggestion through force or stress. With skilled applied pressure and direction, it can be moved toward fundamentally cohesive and truer alignment with the gravitational pull of the earth.
In a misaligned state, your body’s valuable resources are used inefficiently, laboring to keep you upright in the field of gravity. In addition, the stresses of daily life, physical injuries, unhealthy movement patterns, and attitudes are all forces that can take a toll on your physical structure.
Over time, your body will shorten and tighten to accommodate stresses, creating stiffness, pain, fatigue, and lack of well-being.
As a trained Rolfer™, I use a range of techniques to lengthen and reposition the fascia of your body, realigning you with both your inside and outside worlds.
“Every day, I hear clients tell me how they appreciate noticing more about how they now move differently and better. They like gaining greater sensory awareness and coordination because it enhances their sense of feeling whole and coherent. Their pain goes away and stays away.” - Liesje
TRANSFORMATIONS IN MOTION
Video of a testimonial, about working with Liesje as a practitioner.
“The Being/Body somatic work that happens in the studio with Liesje is completely life transformational. Immediately in the first sesssion I witnessed a transformation in the pain going down to like half. Now that pain is basically completely gone.”
L
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“In working with Liesje, I have more of a sense that I’m entering and embracing me and my existence on this earth, in spirit and in this body. I feel at ease with myself, more supportive of myself, so I can give more.”
D
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“After our second treatment, I could feel my fingers again. I started writing and drawing, I could play my guitar again and I felt so hopeful! A depression I wasn’t even aware of lifted with this shift and ability to use my hands again. My feet began to feel less painful as well. I could hike and ski again without considerable pain.
J
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“I’m feeling notably enhanced communication throughout my body, and more grounded-ness. So amazing, I feel very excited by this type of body work, and I'd like to come back again soon.”
M
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“I realized that the guarding in my shoulders/chest I've been holding on to either from trauma or chronic abdominal pain does not serve me physically, or at least it no longer does. I think just acknowledging that fact has made it easier to move forward.”
J
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I feel lighter, I feel less burdened and more connected with my surroundings. I can spend a lot more time in that space now.”
E
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“I’m feeling much more supported in my body already, easier to breathe and hold myself. Just walking around feels easier as I hold my head above the clouds and allow my chest/heart to have space and peace.”
K
