Body & Energy Work in Burnaby, BC
Body and energy work at Harbour Counselling & Wellness is an in-person practice in Burnaby, BC drawing on Reiki, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic principles, and Generative Somatics. Sessions create the conditions for the body to reconnect with its own wisdom — a pathway to balance and wholeness that can stand alone or complement therapy and somatic work.
Returning to Connection, Balance, and Wholeness
Our bodies hold on to so much of what we experience. The body carries the stories we inherit, the stress we adapt to (and eventually become used to) and the ways we move through the world.
Body and energy work offers another pathway to tend to ourselves. We slow down, listen inward, and reconnect with the wisdom that is already within us.
Body and energy work brings us back into relationship with traditional healing practices that recognize the human being as more than a mind alone. Across many ancestral traditions, healing has included a relationship with the body, energy, spirit, ritual, nature, and the unseen aspects of our experience.
My relationship to this work
My connection to this work is deeply personal.
I come from a lineage where healing, remedies, ritual, and ceremony were part of how care was offered and understood. My paternal grandmother was a medicine healer. In the early stages of becoming a therapist, I didn’t believe there was room for this spiritual and ancestral side of healing. I feared folks would find it fluffy or woo-woo. I have been pleasantly surprised by how many folks are open, curious and craving another avenue to healing.
I am a certified Reiki practitioner and have dabbled in various trainings in traditional Chinese medicine to better understand the meridians and energy centres of the body, alongside Ayurveda with a specific focus on the Doshas (Life forces called Vata, Pitta, and Kapha that shape our wellness in various ways).
This work may include:
Depending on your needs and what feels aligned, sessions may draw from elements of:
Energy-based practices, including Reiki, promoting relaxation, presence, and connection
Traditional East Asian healing perspectives, including elements inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine and the understanding of balance, flow, and the relationship between body and energy
Chakra-based traditions, drawing from South Asian spiritual and contemplative systems that explore energy centres and embodied awareness
Somatic and body-based practices, including my ongoing learning in Generative Somatics, which explores the body as a source of wisdom, capacity, and possibility
A space to receive
Body and energy exploration invites a relationship to surrender. We are not driven by measurable goals or quantifiable outcomes.
We do not control what reveals itself in these sessions. Or where energy has to or should go. We create the conditions for the body to communicate in ways that are in service of whatever medicine is needed in the here and now.
Curiosity, presence, and care are all that’s needed.
You do not have to arrive with answers.
You do not have to know exactly what you need.
If you find yourself disconnected from your body, your energy, your ancestry, your internal compass or wisdom, energy and body work can be a beautiful vehicle to reestablish this connection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ or reach out anytime.
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My approach to body-based and energy practices is a fusion stemming from many influences, including Reiki, chakra balancing, and elements of traditional Chinese medicine and somatic body work. My learning, skill and practice continue to evolve and are informed by different teachings, lineages, and experiences.
The work is intuitive, relational, and guided by what is present for you in the moment that may or may not be connected to the past and future.
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We check in and get a sense of what you are arriving with that day. From there, we move into the body and energy work, with time carved out towards the end for integration.
Body and energy work can support working with intergenerational and ancestral wounds, trauma, and shadow work. It can also cultivate and deepen experiences of peace, ease, pleasure, empowerment, connection, and the parts of you that are already well.
We may incorporate breath, movement, stillness, touch, energy, music, imagery and other body-based methods.
Oftentimes the focus can be on what is painful and difficult. What is so beautiful about body and energy work is that there is space to notice what is alive, what is resourced within you already, and what wants to come forward as a means to empower you.
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Yes, very much so. We all have the skill to be intuitive and responsive. My approach is to use my skill in hopes you may tap into yours. I am sensing and noticing as we work together. Paying close attention to the tiniest movements and microexpressions we may typically dismiss.
No one session is the same. It varies person to person and session to session. All we need to do is stay curious and open.
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There can be, and touch is always consent-oriented and collaborative.
You can change your mind at any point. I will always ask before making contact throughout the session.
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Body and energy work can be an addition to talk therapy, particularly when you want to work in ways that aren't entirely centred around talking, thinking, or making sense of things.
Oftentimes the body carries its own information, wisdom, and ways of knowing that are just as important and transformative as talking through something.
You might be circling a topic or theme for a while now, noticing a quality of body activation that you can’t think your way out of or through. This might be an interesting approach to try in that case.
This can also be a stand-alone session. We don’t necessarily need a goal or clear direction. We can tap in, tune in and trust the process!
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I recommend attending the session hydrated and having eaten something small beforehand. We are working with the energy of the body; to work with a body that is fueled in some way is a more comfortable experience. You are welcome to bring something small to eat or have something on hand for afterwards. I will also have snacks, water and tea on hand should you need.
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The effects and impacts of body and energy work can continue to move and work through and in the body for hours and days afterwards. Everyone's experience is different.
Keeping your schedule light and spacious the day of can be helpful. Spending time in enjoyable and comforting surroundings, listening to good music, enjoying a delicious meal; these are all great ways to care for yourself post-session.
Some folks find it helpful to journal, spend some quiet time alone, rest, or simply notice what is moving through them.
We will spend some time chatting after the session and integrating what was experienced. This also provides a gentle closure to the opening of that energy portal so you can move through the rest of your day grounded and centred.on