The Doctor Scares Me to Death

A major shift in my life began in 1979. It started with a concussion from a folk dance accident. Suddenly I was plagued with headaches and dizziness. I had trouble remembering things and finding the words I needed.

After a year of continuing problems I went to a neurologist for a CT scan of my brain.

"This looks more like Multiple Sclerosis (MS) than a head injury," he said, and recommended I get a spinal tap.

I was shocked.

As an Occupational Therapist, I had worked with MS patients and seen its disabling effects. It was one disease I definitely didn't want.

I knew a spinal tap was a painful, highly invasive procedure used to diagnose MS. But I also knew there was no known cure for this disease.

I Listen to My Heart

I left the doctor's office and wandered around in a daze.

As I tried to make sense of what was happening to me, an "inner voice" told me not to have the spinal tap, to just go on with my life and think of myself as healthy.

I never returned to the neurologist.
And I never went back to my old ways of thinking.

I am convinced that had I followed the neurologist's advice, I would have been confined to a wheel chair years ago. Instead, I have continued to follow the inner voice as it has guided me into previously unimagined realms of health and aliveness.

Living from the Heart

Listening to my heart led me to alternative healing, bodywork and counseling techniques.

I learned that what happened to me outside the neurologist's office was the beginnings of intuitive guidance. I soon found myself working as an intuitive counselor.

I called my work "Living from the Heart," and I learned the incredible power of focusing on the love and connectedness of the heart, rather than the fear and isolation of the intellect.

Before the concussion, I had lived from my head. I had almost no awareness of my body, except when it was sick or hurt in some way.

The concussion forced me to listen to my intuition. As it guided me into my body, old patterns dissolved, releasing emotions and traumatic memories that had been stored there for most of
my life.

I began to experience a soft, sensitive vulnerability I had never allowed before. At times it was scary and painful. But it also cleared the way for me to find new levels of love, compassion, joy,
and peace.

Meeting Difficulties with Ease and Flow

Like many who have experienced childhood trauma, I had survived my early years by shutting off my emotions. This required dissociating myself from the sensory experience in my body. Over time I gradually brought my awareness back into my body.

Both my body and mind have become less rigid and more fluid, so I now meet potentially difficult circumstances with increasing ease and flow, especially since I have learned to slow down.

I speak from personal experience when I say that awareness of breath and bodily sensations is key to feeling…

• More aliveness
• More love
• Better health
• Joyful creativity

Resonating with Health

I often meet clients when their lives are in upheaval. And it is AWARENESS that starts them on the road to healing.

Awareness can easily develop in a safe, nurturing, supportive environment. Because when you feel safe and seen in a loving way, your body-mind can resonate with that. It can "remember" what health feels like and begin to heal itself.

I know from my own journey that health is already in you. Together we can find it.

My clients range in age from prenatal and newborn to mid 80's. I offer support for you in
the form of…

• private sessions
• classes, workshops and seminars
• mentoring in person or on Skype
• professional trainings

I offer a SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT where you will often feel…

• Renewal
• Peace
• Hope
• Clarity
• Re-birth

Please feel free to contact me for more information about how I may be of service to you.

In each moment, life can be renewed. Whatever you decide is your next step, I wish you ease and grace as you birth your new life.

May you be happy and peaceful,

Cherionna

My credentials include…

• Licensed and Registered Occupational Therapist (OTR/L)
• Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT)
• Registered Craniosacral Therapist (RCST^®)
• Certified Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Teacher
•Certified Continuum Movement Teacher & Advanced Continuum Wellsprings Practitioner
• Trained and experienced as a Dance/Movement Therapist
• Certified in BodyMind Psychotherapy and Authentic Movement
• Ph.D. in Pre- and Perinatal Psychology

As a therapist, for over 30 years I have…

• Facilitated personal growth and healing in private practice and hospital settings
• Conducted seminars and workshops across the U.S., Canada and, more recently, the UK
• Taught developing therapists in graduate programs for Somatic Psychology and Prenatal and Birth Psychology at Naropa University and the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute
• Trained practitioners in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy
• Helped pregnant parents and new babies to transition through birth
• Taught dance and movement classes

My experience also includes…

• Senior tutor with my husband, Franklyn Sills in Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy Foundation Practitioner Trainings and Post-Graduate Seminars, including in NYC and Europe
• Studied intensively with Emilie Conrad, founder of Continuum Movement in Santa Monica for four years, including participating in her performance troupe
• Assisted Ray Castellino in Womb Surround Process Workshops and in his BEBA Clinic for babies, children and families in Santa Barbara, CA for four years
• Studied for six years with William Emerson, pioneer in Prenatal and Birth Therapy with babies and children
• Extensive study of BodyMindCentering (BMC) as applied to Psychotherapy with Susan Aposhyan, founder of BodyMind Psychotherapy
• Many years engagement in mindfulness practises, including Vipassana,Tai Chi, Yoga and other movement meditations