Classes & Coaching
All of these classes and coaching services are still under development and FREE for the moment (though you're welcome to donate toward helping build better resources if you find them helpful).
A few dates are listed below but most events are scheduled only when demand arises. Please be in touch if any of the topics are of interest. We'll see if we can get a group of other interested parties together and schedule something.
Those with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder: please see my Resources by Topic page for other informative material if you're hypermobile or are looking into mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), histamine intolerance (HIT), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), dysautonomia, gastroparesis, or other topics of relevance to the zebra community. For those wondering about zebras after reading this, visit here.
Mast Cell Disorders & Histamine Intolerance--Might They Be Relevant to Your Chronic Pain or Illness?
MCAS/MCAD/HIT are a lot to navigate alone. Most won't happen to find the right tools without guidance or a lot of prior conviction that these are present and relevant--the conditions are just that complex. But diagnosis is clinical and medical awareness remains limited. Diagnoses can be hard to come by. Management can require extreme care, at least for the first bit, if sensitivity is high. This is your chance to work one on one or in a group to understand the guidelines as seen through experience--either following diagnosis or to aid you in assessing whether seeking out a specialist who knows MCAS could help you unpack your potentially related health challenges.
This class derives from my personal account of going from many years of diverse, sometimes disabling symptoms to generally well and back to life with some ongoing, now knowledgable management.
I can't diagnose or presribe in my very limited role as a massage therapist. I respect the boundaries of my trade and the limitations of my education and highly recommend you seek expert care if you have questions or concerns about the possibility of MCAS or HIT. But I recognize too that guidance is very limited in this area with or without diagnosis. And I've found my way through to a place where I'm doing quite well after years of intense challenges. I would be doing an injustice to my history and trajectory and humanity if I didn't find ways to bring awareness to this little-understood set of conditions after how profound my own experience has been of finally receiving a diagnosis of Histamine Intolerance, quite accidentally finding a diet that was finally tight enough to make a difference, and then going deeper with research and practices to both clear my migraines and start rebuilding my gut toward higher tolerance.
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
60 minute class
Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development
Low Back/Hip/SI Joint Pain--Basic Techniques for Home Care
~with guest presenter Katie Dewar, DPT and possibly also a couple of other EDS/hypermobility aware specialists!~
This class will offer light theory as well as demos and hands on practice in applying a variety of techniques and tools to manage primarily mechanical contributors to chronic pain. Special attention will be given to how to safely and effectively address these challenges in a hypermobile body, though this class is open to all.
--seeing patterns of muscle imbalance and understanding how to address them
--foam rolling & therapy ball techniques
--cupping, gua sha, and graston tools
--manual and machine percussion
--trigger point reference materials
--stretching (and when not to stretch)
--techniques for neutralizing posture in the pelvic floor and abdomen (often hugely helpful for headaches and migraines as well as low back pain)
Sunday, September 8, 2024, 2-4 PM:
**please call or text ahead to confirm in case of schedule changes!**
Contact for location info:
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
Suggested donation $35 in thanks for guest contributions--please come free of charge if money is tight
FREE Hypermobility Meetup
A monthly meetup for those who know or suspect that hypermobility and/or related conditions are present and possibly a factor in their health challenges. People with general or clinical interest are also welcome at most sessions.
Our intent is to better understand and to troubleshoot together the many challenges of living in a bendy body--ergonomic challenges, individualizing self care for hypermobility, the mechanisms by which chronic pain and chronic illness often follow hypermobility spectrum disorders, and lack of aware medical care. We're working on growing medical allies and general community awareness as well--for our own sakes and for everybody else out there who doesn't know yet that this gap is causing them harm.
Upcoming Meetups:
Thursday, September 26, 2024, 4-6pm:
Topic and Location TBD
**please check back or call ahead in case of schedule changes!**
Contact for location info:
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
Free forever in recognition of the feat of showing up for life at all with chronic illness--donations welcome where it's an easy choice
Headache & Migraine Prevention 101
You probably know a lot of the basics. But in case you're not sure what you might be missing, let's go through the list.
Application is half the battle. Let's come up with strategies to help you stick with self-care.
Can we improve your ability to stay out of the pain zone?
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
90 minute class
Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development
Headache & Migraine Rescue Techniques
When you already have a headache or migraine, what can you do at home to support your body in turning the pain patterns around?
We'll identify a list of personalized strategies to experiment with when needed. Approval of your medical care providers may be required to ensure that you're cleared or in care for any particularly risky issues that may exist.
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
90 minute class
Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development
Chronic Headache/Migraine Private Troubleshooting Session
A virtual or in-person ninety minute private session. We will:
review your health info
look at both the successful and unhelpful strategies you've tried so far for migraine or headache prevention
identify additional prevention strategies to try
list avenues of care to check out with providers local to you
practice basic rescue techniques in session
Contact to Schedule
505-310-0662
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
90 minute class
Price TBD
Ergonomic Basics for Headaches & Migraines
Do yourself a favor and get your setup right enough. We don't need perfect or perfectly stable in a world that demands constant adaptation--we just need to know the basics so that we can be aware of our situation and regularly nudge things as needed toward comfort and better functioning. And multiple solutions are better than one. Let's plan some experiments for you.
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
60 minute class
Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development
Self-Care for Plantar Fasciitis
There's a lot to try at home for relieving pain from plantar fasciitis through reducing contributing factors from the soft tissues. Learn the basics in this one hour class. Come with questions.
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
60 minute class
Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development
Principles for Self-Care with Hypermobility
Working with many clients whose hypermobility impacts their daily lives has offered some general principles about what does and doesn't tend to help this group with pain. We'll cover general principles as well as discussing particulars of participants' cases as time allows.
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
90 minute class
Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development
Pain Points for Caregivers of Young Kids: What to Do--(Stuff That's Easy Despite Not Sleeping)
Everyone who has cared for a young child knows the strains the body goes through in that work. Guess what--your pain from all that lifting and bending and holding and late nights is predictable, and there are some things we can do to likely reduce it. You've got a lot on your plate, so let's add little things that make a big difference and fit easily into your day.
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
60 minute class
Price TBD
MCAS/MCAD Friendly Low-Histamine Diet Workshop, Q&A
An experience-based 3-hour workshop on how to temporarily reformat your diet to explore the relevance of MCAS, MCAD, and histamine intolerance or to start working toward rebuilding your gut and your life if you already know these conditions are at play in your health challenges. The emphases are:
--real food
--real life: conveniences and go-to meals
--YES to goodness, flavor, and options
We can work together to identify yeses with more or less any existing dietary preferences or limitations.
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
3 hour workshop format
No charge until we have expert resources involved
Health History Interview & Doctor Visit Prep
If you'd like help turning your complex health history into a document that can help doctors better see and better help you, I'd love to be of service. This is a passion. How do we best help our healthcare providers help us to help ourselves under the current complicated pressures of the medical system? How do we find and access healthcare providers who care and who are facilitated to work at their best?
Check out: The Patient Revolution
Scheduled on Demand
sarah@lightspiritstudio.com
60 minute class
Price TBD, donations welcome while service is under development