Integrated Hands-On Healing
Tamara has been practising acupressure and acupressure-based massage since 2004 and healing qigong since 2012. Over time, she’s brought these together into an integrated hands-on practice that uses pressure, massage, and other purely energetic techniques to work with qi movement throughout the body, releasing longstanding patterns of blockage and tension and restoring harmonious energy flow. This can decrease pain, help heal injuries and chronic illness, and bring us into deeper connection with our bodies, our emotions, our soul purpose, and the relationships between them. In practice, this feels like a slow, deep but gentle massage that actually gets straight to our deeply help points of tension, allowing the body to release and inducing states of profound relaxation where physical and emotional healing can occur.
acupressure
Acupressure is similar to acupuncture in that it works with the twelve organ meridians and eight extraordinary meridians of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), using acupoints—points of increased electrical conductivity on the surface of the body that offer access to the energy system within—to access the underlying energy channels. It’s been demonstrated to be effective for relieving pain in a variety of different populations and areas of the body.
An important difference from acupuncture (besides the obvious fact that there are no needles involved) is that the practitioner’s energy system interacts directly with that of the client. Just as with counselling, the relational aspect of this practice is key to its success, as the embodied experience of relational safety and interacting qi flow allows for powerful shifts to take place.
I contacted Tamara as I heard that she practices acupressure massage. I was recovering from piriformis syndrome with sciatica pain, and rather than continue with pain relief through medications and inactivity, Tamara’s bodywork treatments helped me focus on my breathing and areas of pain. Her massage techniques focused on the meridians that connect acupressure points to each other and by connecting the circulating electrical energy through the body. The result was not only a relief from pain in the localized area, but a relaxed and meditative experience. I found the acupressure massage experience extremely beneficial and relaxing, and a natural form of pain relief.
-John Addison, 2018
healing qigong
Healing Qigong is sometimes called “medical qigong,” though I don’t typically use that term. This oldest form of TCM uses direct observation of and interaction with the energy system to assess and rebalance qi flow within the body. Qigong can be a practice you do yourself, including movement, breathing, and visualisation, or can be offered by a practitioner to a client who is receiving a treatment. Its effectiveness in a number of health domains continues to be documented through research.
The session of Medical Qigong that I experienced with Tamara was the most profound, helpful, moving, and revelatory of my entire life. I have never felt that much energy flowing through my body, and I have experienced some very helpful shiatsu, acupuncture, acupressure, and massage over the years. I highly recommend her services, and her rates are very reasonable.
-Rebecca Olson, 2013
Tamara offers in-person, hands-on sessions ranging from 45- to 60-minute chair massage sessions to 60-, 90-, or 120-minute table treatments.
