Lindsey began their journey to bodywork from a young age, and brought that passion for one-on-one connection into their philosophy of midwifery practice. They trained in their senior year of high school under massage therapist Luisa Mejia. Their advancement into bodywork and midwifery began in 2019, first with attending Tema Mercado’s Postpartum Belly Binding workshop, and soon after Spinning Babies with Nicole Morales. Lindsey began an apprenticeship with Nicole, and through that mentorship gained valuable insight into the relationship between practitioner and receiver of touch. In 2021, Lindsey completed the Spinning Babies Aware Practitioner education and workshop, and is currently studying Somatic Education certification through STREAM with Ellen Heed, where they’ll deepen their understanding of the body’s desire for health and relief from pain. 

• What is body balancing, or bodywork? Why is it useful?

  • Body balancing is a practice that combines many modalities of giving and receiving touch. Bodyworkers work with the soft tissues of the body, release ligaments and muscles, and assess space and restrictions within the fascia. Trauma release, working with scar tissue, and safe co regulation are all parts of my bodywork practice, and are as equally unique as they are important. As a birth worker, I’m trained to respect the changes that happen to the body throughout pregnancy, and view reproductive healthcare holistically. I’ve had the privilege to be trained to view bodywork as a holistic practice, meaning each session is different and individualized to take in the whole person I’m working with. I’ve learned that discomfort can be normal, but pain is not. Sometimes, discomfort and pain are related to a baby that is breech, transverse, or with an unstable position. Pain can be related to hormones, body mechanics, emotions, and scar tissue. Bodywork is another tool to support folks to be comfortable in their bodies, and to relieve pain and discomfort. In a body balancing session, together we discuss the goals for the session, including education on ways to alleviate discomfort in pregnancy, support optimal fetal positioning, and provide body work to my clients.

Can I receive bodywork if my baby is breech?

Body balancing is not restricted to only head down babies. After 20 weeks, body work is typically appropriate for low risk pregnancies. Fetal lie becomes more important later in pregnancy as space decreases and your baby grows, and body alignment can support optimal fetal positioning. While breech body balancing entails similar overall pacing, specific techniques are used to work with breech pregnancy and fetal lie. With breech pregnancy comes a long history of changes of practice, legal limitations, and lack of resources. If you’d like to learn more, please

Interested in breech advocacy, pregnancy, history, and present day practices? Read more at:

The Breech Release- thebreechrelease.com

Breech Birth SD- breechbirthsd.com

Spinning Babies Breech spinningbabies.com

Do you perform ECVs?

Bodywork is nonclinical, therefore I am not able to provide any clinical healthcare. If you are interested in discussing the risks/benefits/options surrounding an ECV, you are welcome to contact me and discuss how to go about finding the right providers for your needs.

Can I get body work if I’m not pregnant?

Each session of bodywork is an individualized experience between practitioner and receiver. Nonpregnant folks might have issues with constipation, persistent headaches, SI pain, tight muscles, jaw tension, or complications related to scar tissue. Using muscle and ligament releases, fascial releases, and massage, your session will be personalized to fit the needs of the present moment. My goal is to provide you with comfort and relief in your body in a way that works for you, including suggestions and stretches or exercises for you to use on your own. These sessions may look different from a body balancing session for pregnancy, but pregnant or not, bodywork can be useful in holistic care. 

Bodywork can mean different things to different people. The bodywork I practice is focused not solely on alleviating the pregnant body from pain and discomfort, or optimal fetal positioning, though that is a significant portion of my work. Through apprenticeship, self study, continuing education, and intuition, I’ve felt with my hands the difference between pathological and physiological tension in the body. My goal with bodywork is not to fix, or to heal. When we part at the end of a session, my hope for you is that you experience relief, and different from when you first walked in. 

Do you have to be my midwife for me to receive bodywork from you?

Bodywork with folks, pregnant or not, is nonclinical. When we are in a session together, I am not giving any medical advice, or using any clinical skills to assess you. If you have health concerns or precautions that could impact your safety or comfort, please discuss with your healthcare provider what care is safe. Typically, if you are cleared for exercise or sex, bodywork is okay.

How did you get into body work?

My grandmother and I were very close, and through her I was introduced to bodywork, the value of community, and a fascination with fetal development. I grew up hearing stories of her taking anatomy and physiology in college while pregnant, and hanging onto every word. I spent many nights thinking about those stories while I was studying midwifery. We spent a lot of our time together with extended family in a cabin in the woods of desolation wilderness, without plumbing, electricity, or paved roads. The kids would play hard all day, and before bed would wash our feet in the sink in the kitchen. My grandmother would take us one by one to our sleeping bags, rub oil between her hands, and “pull the energy” out of each of our toes. I see this now as her own take on bodywork, intuitive and individualized to the grandchild she was caretaking in that moment. I took that in stride, learning from her how to caretake people, and became the person people turned to for massage or stress relief. I then apprenticed with a massage therapist, the mother of a late friend of mine, for my senior project in high school. Even with all of the priming, I had no idea I’d end up being pulled into bodywork as a profession. My calling, nurtured and cultivated by the support of the people that love me, has grown into a passion that has fully integrated into my life. If I look back, I don’t think I realized my grandmother was shaping the path of my life. I was blessed with the twenty seven years we were able to spend together, and she touched my life in ways I can’t ever repay her for. I still think of her everyday.  

Background

Since 2019, I’ve trained as an apprentice of Nicole Morales, LM CPM, in midwifery and in bodywork, through which I’ve gained an understanding of my hands and their relationship with the pregnant body. In fact, even now the midwifery I embody is so interwoven with bodywork that it would be impossible for me now to separate the two. In September of 2021 I completed the Spinning Babies Aware Practitioner Workshop, and am listed on the Spinning Babies website as a competent Aware Practitioner. 

Scar Tissue Remediation

The body is designed to work hard and grow with us as we travel through our life experiences. Sometimes, surgery is something that happens to us, interrupting the physical connections our muscles, nerves, and fascia have. Scar tissue remediation

Education

Childbirth education

Lindsey began their journey to bodywork from a young age, and brought that passion for one-on-one connection into their philosophy of midwifery practice. They trained in their senior year of high school under massage therapist Luisa Mejia. Their advancement into bodywork and midwifery began in 2019, first with attending Tema Mercado’s Postpartum Belly Binding workshop, and soon after Spinning Babies with Nicole Morales. Lindsey began an apprenticeship with Nicole, and through that mentorship gained valuable insight into the relationship between practitioner and receiver of touch. In 2021, Lindsey completed the Spinning Babies Aware Practitioner education and workshop, and is currently studying Somatic Education certification through STREAM with Ellen Heed, where they’ll deepen their understanding of the body’s desire for health and relief from pain.

Experience: 

-Professional

-Educational

-Personal

Related Content: 

-Resources: Spinning Babies ™

-Books

• The Breech Release