Touch is a fundamental need.  Humans hug in times of grief or anxiety as well as in times of joy and happiness.  Babies who are held and lovingly touched thrive and grow.  Touch can heal the ill and fortify the weak.  Sadly, touch is often neglected in today's fast-paced world.  We often refrain from entering each other's personal space or become inhibited from open displays of emotion or reaching out to physically communicate comfort and companionship.  


​s ō m a | σ ῶ μ α

In Greek, the word soma has evolved to mean "the living body in its wholeness."  The soma arose as a system that always strives to achieve stability and balance --a task that takes place in time and is never complete.  To say that the soma has an element of timing is the same as saying that the soma is not a thing or objective body but, rather, is a process.

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"In my massage practice, use a variety of modalities (including cupping, tuning forks & sound healing) to reduce stress on the body and in the mind to improve your wellbeing.  My approach to teaching Yoga uses modern science, mindful meditation tools and conscious movements to clear, enhance and fine tune body maps.  Currently, I’m enrolled in a 3-year training for Clinical Somatic Education. Somatic Education is an active learning process that directly involves the brain.  Somatics uses the innate reflexes that already exist within the nervous system with pandiculation (a specific quality of movement that sends biofeedback to the brain regarding the level of contraction in your muscles) this helps reset your muscle’s resting state, improve the sensory motor pathways (brain/body connection) and eliminate sensory motor amnesia (foggy connections between the brain/body).   In order to make a long-lasting change within the body (i.e. eliminate chronic pain, improve posture, enhance movement, increase mobility) you must involve the Brain, which is the control center for all muscle activity, therefore movement.  Pain is an output from the brain and [the brain] is also where habituated patterns are held which is why involving the brain is the root of all Somatics Movements.  This practice is safe for everyone… it would benefit those with limited mobility/range of motion, chronic pain, injury/surgery recovery, poor posture, anyone wanting to enhance their performance with movement-based sports, or simply just improve overall body awareness."

~Jill Guzmán owner/operator of SŌMA – LMT, RYT500, Clinical Somatic Educator (in process of 3-year training) 

Currently seeing clients in La Crosse, WI

 by appointment only
​612.401.4080