Hi, I’m Amber.
I’ve always been incredibly sensitive and perceptive to the world around me, but this ability really skyrocketed when I was 14 and had some inexplicable headaches. This led to a series of doctors, tests, meds, and therapies which ultimately led me to a medical doctor who included acupuncture in the hour he spent with each patient (thanks for your love and attentiveness, Dr. John).
Unbeknownst to any of us at the time, this experience would catapult me into a deeper level of understanding about the body and its healing process. Cue my life’s work– I learned to listen and get curious at a young age. Whereas other kids were throwing spitwads in geometry class, I was keeping close record of when a headache came, how long it lasted, what I ate or drank, how much sleep I got, how much exercise I got, what was happening in the room at the time, etc. I learned to listen really well to my body and to the influences of the world outside.
Since then, I have been drawn to the wisdom the body has to offer in its many facets. I found I have an insatiable appetite for learning. I went on to learn more about the mind through studying psychology in college, to learn more about the body by enrolling in a massage therapy program post-college, and continuing to deepen my education into understanding the basics of the makeup of the world at large through studying energy.
What I’ve learned is that the body is in a constant interplay of dynamics internally and externally that contribute to our state of health, wellbeing, and comfort. It has a story, and if we start to listen to the fullness of it, we start to unlock the key to wholeness.
That’s the nature of my work– uncovering the body’s story.
My Approach
The nature of the work I do is very different– my psychology degree offers me information about the nature of how human beings operate in the psyche, while my massage background dives into the fundamentals of how the muscles, tissues, organs, and systems of the body work. However, the “wisdom” of the body is the cohesive unit of how mind, body, and spirit work together. It’s my studies in energy work that have helped bridge the gap between the mind and the body.
Everything in the universe is made up of energy– it’s the animating life force behind all things, and the connecting point between what makes us the same and what makes us different. It’s the story behind who we are and what makes us tick or what ticks us off.
In a session, we are going to start uncovering the layers of your body’s story. My massage training allows me to explore the relationship between the muscles, tissues, and fascia to see where things are moving according to their design and where they are stuck. My intuitive training leads me to zero in on places where something energetically is stuck in your system that is hindering the process of health.
It sounds more complicated than it actually is. We’re finding the story behind why patterns get stuck in the body and help release them. It might simply be because you’re a carpenter and you use your dominant arm the whole day for work– we release the story around what your job represents for you and we balance the left and right sides of the body to help support you to do what you need to do in a more balanced way.
Or we bring awareness to the knot in your stomach feeling like you’ve got to hold it all together, (because if you don’t, who else will?) and it releases tension in the abdomen that helps release the fascial connection to the lower back and the shoulders.
The referrals I get usually center around the same thought, “They said you do this thing and it’s hard to explain but apparently it’s amazing and they said I have to try it, so here I am.”
Honestly, I think what we’re doing is just naming the aspects of your story that got caught up in the injury or discomfort and helping them unwind to be more at peace with the body’s innate wisdom.
When we balance the energetic dynamic with the physical body, you find a person that is not having to choose between their two worlds of the left brain (logical) and the right brain (intuitive), but balanced and confident in how to show up with both.
Let’s Talk Credentials
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BA in Psychology (College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA)
Minor in French (College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA)
Associate’s Degree in Massage Therapy (Boulder College of Massage Therapy, Boulder, CO)
Continuing Education
1000+ hours of continued training in massage therapy
1000+ hours of studies in Chinese Medicine and other energy based modalities
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I have focused most of my work on incorporating energy based modalities mixed with hands on bodywork, including Zen Shiatsu, Chi Kung (from The Center Place in Boulder, CO), Craniosacral work (from Dynamic Body Balancing), and various other energy modalities, mostly based in Chinese medicine theory. I am a member of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) and a member of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB).
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I taught for nearly seven years at the Boulder Massage Therapy Institute as a teacher for the foundations of massage and the basics of energy techniques. I’m currently serving on the Programmatic Advisory Committee to give curriculum input for an up and coming massage school, Boulder School of Massage Therapy.
I love my hands-on practice and come alive when teaching, but my passion is helping people learn to listen to and honor their intuition whether in my office or in the classroom.
Who am I outside of the office?
I love to laugh. You’ll always get me with a solid good-hearted dad joke, especially if it’s made up on the spot. If you’re a friend of mine and you leave your phone unattended, you’ll probably find my face on it.
I have an insatiable curiosity for the world around me– I absolutely love to learn. I love to discover the behind the scenes of why and how something (or someone) works. I like challenging myself to learn new things– I’ve taken one off lessons in archery, golf, and fencing and I’m hoping to add glass blowing and pottery making to the list. I’m arguably equally as bad at each of them, but luckily my love of laughter means I’m enjoying the process more than the end result. I’m terrible at bowling. I can pinpoint an area on the body or of the energy field that something is stuck and help unwind it but don’t ask me to aim for a specific target; it’s anybody’s guess where it will go.
Faith is a huge part of my journey and has gotten me where I am today. My daily practice and spiritual walk center me and ground me and help me find peace in an ever changing world.
Music is the heartbeat of my soul, so you’ll often find me breaking out in song, attending services or concerts where it’s prevalent, or creating my own content. I’ve also been known to sing to my students while teaching, or making up names of muscles to help them remember.
And I love to travel– I’ve been fortunate enough to visit several countries around the world (and live in a few!). I even got to go on several Humanitarian clown trips to different countries with Patch Adams and members of the Gesundheit! Institute (yes, it’s a thing– thanks to the aforementioned Dr. John who nudged me into this path of alternative ways of looking at health, wellness and healing.)
