Tessa Miller Bodywork

04/16/2026

Calling all Greeners and GRuBbers 📣

Top 3 favorite community contract agreements for crafting a safe and inclusive learning environment?

Mine...

1. Step up/step back
(I like a little "challenge by choice" AND, my ADHD love-hates this one... less so with "3 beans" ;) thanks Wade Uyeda) "parking lot" is a great way to hold all the burning questions, thanks Kim Gaffi )

2. Take care of yourself!
(We can't learn if we don't have our basic, emotional, and social needs met. It's ok to state what you need, and it's ok to take it without stating it, too. "this community cares", is what this value says to me. Thank you Elli Kay)

3. No stupid questions
(This value helps me feel safe to be curious in the learning space, thank you Amanda Lux).

What are your faves? 🙃

In a couple of weeks I'll be leading a group of massage therapists in Dawn Edge and Shari Aldrich 's instructor training course through the community contract exercise!

This is my community research phase 🤓

04/09/2026

I am currently taking a massage instructor training course with the incredible Dawn Edge, and am learning soooo much about supporting adult learners to feel safe, confident, and empowered in the learning environment.

My creative and organizational parts are having a blast geeking out on Andragogy- the science and art of adult learning! 🤓

I'm so grateful for this opportunity that Shari Aldrich threw my way! You've got a great school and staff, Shari. Thanks for all of your support and guidance through the years 🙏🏼

Stay tuned for lessons learned and some exciting new announcements about the development of Tessa Miller Bodywork and it's next iteration of growth!

Thanks for being in community with me 🥰

Much love,

T

10/24/2025

"...and, what is left... is extraordinary!"

Remember,
It's not so much about becoming anything, but rather, unbecoming all of the things you were never meant to be in the first place ✨️

you tired of trying to "fix" yourself? In this profound spiritual lecture, you'll discover why the constant pr...

07/29/2025

I'm feeling super inspired after a 4 day somatics training with the beautiful Amanda Lux. 'The Energetics of Listening'... so good!

12/23/2024

Hey, hey... it's okay.

12/09/2024

This is what I'm always talking about, folks...

"All my relationships" - everything is connected and everyone gives something to the other.
symbiosis... the world is magically brilliant!
“The mycelium is a complex underground network of fungal filaments that plays a critical role in sustaining plant life. This complex system, called mycorrhiza, when it forms a symbiotic relationship with plant roots, facilitates the exchange of vital nutrients, water and information between different Through mycelium, trees and plants enter into a form of communication, sharing resources and warning each other of impending threats.
In a forest ecosystem, the consequences of tree removal extend beyond the individual tree. The mycelium network serves as a warning system, notifying nearby trees of a disaster caused by the loss. In response, these associated trees mobilize, directing essential nutrients and moisture to the affected stump, thereby attempting to maintain its viability. This interconnected ecosystem emphasizes the role of each tree as a critical element in ensuring the collective health and survival of the forest.
Envisioning human society to reflect the sustaining dynamics of the mycelium fosters a model characterized by deep empathy and cooperation. In such a community, people will have a deeper awareness of the needs and problems of others. In times of crisis, responses will be both rapid and collective, ensuring that no one experiences hardship in isolation. A fair distribution of resources would foster a strong sense of community and mutual aid.
In this proposed society, an emphasis on compassion and shared support will create a sustainable and caring environment. Just as a mycelial network supports and protects a forest, a similar cohesive network of people can ensure that everyone thrives. This deep interconnectedness will foster a culture of solidarity where mutual care and support become integral qualities, similar to the natural processes that sustain a thriving forest ecosystem.
If humanity adopted such a system, the world could become a realm where compassion and support are as fundamental to existence as the mycelium that binds together the many life forms in the forest. "

Georgina Lynn Lightning / via Tereza Glaba/

11/12/2024

Have you seen my "IT'S OK TO LET THAT GO" bumper sticker around town? It's been fun to hear people tell me how it inspires them when they stumble upon it in community. The message is certainly in the eye of the beholder ✨️

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

To me, in my office, this message is about the skillful feeling and processing of emotions (old and new). It's about compassion, witnessing, acceptance, reclamation, attunement, alignment, empowerment, balance, and strength. It's about feeling the feels (not just thinking the feels) and then consciously and intentionally moving the stress through/out of the body.

Letting Go supports the body into a more integrated state of wholeness and wellbeing.

Letting Go keeps us fluid, adaptable, nimble, and quick. Holding on keeps us rigid, suffered, and overwhelmed.

Letting Go is not about surrending into apathy. It's about preparing for the long fight.

Letting Go is an ancient inherent human practice, a birthright, that many of us have lost touch with because of culture, trauma, and the powers of dissociation.

Letting Go is something trauma takes from us when we get stuck in our habitual fight/flight/freeze/fawn patterns. We can learn how to find our way back to this inner wisdom.

Letting Go regularly is an important part of staying resilient, healthy, and strong in our tissues, feels, and thoughts.

Please take care of yourselves friends!!

Fortify your nervous systems and beef up your emotion regulation toolbox! Reach out to community, stay warm, hydrate, move and express!

If you'd like some compassionate support, care, and companionship on this path, please reach out. I'm here and happy to help.

Sliding scale pricing for,
+Somatic Bodywork
+IFS coaching
+wellness and trauma support

tmboly.com

05/04/2024

body love ❤️

Today I asked my body what she needed,
Which is a big deal
Considering my journey of
Not Really Asking That Much.

I thought she might need more water.
Or protein.
Or greens.
Or yoga.
Or supplements.
Or movement.

But as I stood in the shower
Reflecting on her stretch marks,
Her roundness where I would like flatness,
Her softness where I would like firmness,
All those conditioned wishes
That form a bundle of
Never-Quite-Right-Ness,
She whispered very gently:

Could you just love me like this?

✍️Wise and beautiful words by Hollie Holden

🧶 Incredible crochet art by Yulia Ustinova

03/06/2024

This is what shadow work is all about. This is reclamation of Self energy healing traumatized parts. We all have this potential within. May you know your Self deeply and may you care well for all your challenged parts 💕

🙌❤️✨

05/16/2023

I really appreciate Gabor Mate's ability to call out spiritual bypassing with compassion.

Getting curious about the internal landscape, with an intention to LISTEN DEEPLY, is what makes shadow work different from mindfulness meditation. In this mode of operating we attend to the internal hurts with the same calm and loving presence as in a formal meditation practice, but we do it without evoking any sense or abandonment, lack of belonging, or "not enough" that can be triggered inside when we become aware of a tender need within us, but then shift our attention away from it, back to the breath.

I'm not saying there isn't any value in meditation...quite the opposite! Mindfulness of breath is a very useful practice for calming the mind and cultivating equanimity, and these skills are a very important part of recovering from trauma and getting distance from triggers.

But if we stop there, and don't take time to attend to the triggers with compassion, curiosity, concern, and care we may be missing a HUGE opportunity to fully unburden our bodies, minds and spirits.

My Integrative Bodywork offering is informed by Gabor Mate's work as well as IFS, Hakomi, and my own personal and academic experience with meditation and trauma. If you're interested in exploring this deep sense of inner attending and care, give me call to get on the books!

253.363.6216

In this video Gabor Mate tells us how we can decide how to react and feel when a challenge comes to us. How we can decide how to feel when something or someo...