Why We Love Rachel:
Rachel Otis is a Somatic Therapist, Yoga Teacher, Abolitionist, Writer & Pleasure Activist who works directly, compassionately & non-judgmentally with the mind-body connection infusing sessions, groups, retreats, & articles with radical self-love, exploration, and expression! She provides healing pathways of somatically-oriented coping tools and resources including yoga, art, supportive self-touch, guided meditation, joyful movement, vocalizations, exploring imaginational realms, and breathing techniques.
They are passionate about creating a more sustainable, socially-just future by infiltrating oppressive systems to create change from the inside-out for ALL bodies! As a Queer womyn with chronic illness, she honors those marginalized identities along with her Micmac Indigenous ancestors by constantly working to decolonize & reclaim our connection to our minds & bodies.
Rachel has their Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Somatic Psychotherapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and work on a sliding-scale, tele-therapy basis to provide accessible sessions to clients worldwide. They also offer: virtual book clubs, live somatics + yoga classes, full and new moon workshops, group therapy, Diversity & Inclusion trainings, oracle card readings, and will be re-launching their stateside & worldwide Resiliency Retreats once it is safe to do so!
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On the Pod, We Discuss:
- How Rachel came across somatic therapy and how it varies from traditional talk therapy
- The nonverbal, mind-body connection that’s missing in traditional talk therapy and why it’s important to observe signs from our body
- Examples of the coping tools that are used therapeutically to address stress and anxiety
- How capitalistic diet culture benefits from the disconnect with our bodies
- Some of the common reasons people seek Rachel’s support and why finding the right fit is so important
- Why being trauma informed is vital for therapists, healers, yoga teachers, and coaches
- Accessibility issues in the therapy system and Rachel’s hope for the future of the field
- Why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work in therapy (or anything) and how Rachel assesses clients needs when starting to work together
- How Rachel is integrating yoga into work with clients, especially related to the body
- The intersection of health and activism for bodies that are marginalized
- Why it’s important to break down terms like BMI and obesity that only serve to lift up the patriarchal definition of health and disrupt the system from the inside out
- Some tangible self-care tools for handling overwhelm and anxiety, as well as accessing your imagination
- And much more
Helpful Links:
- Visit Rachel’s website
- Connect with Rachel on Instagram @somewhere_under_the_rainbow
- Get access to a nourishing and grounding somatic meditation Rachel created!
- Contribute any amount to Rachel’s Somewhere Under the Rainbow Scholarship fund to help those who need therapy access group and individual sessions via Venmo: @Rachel-Otis-Therapy
- Hala Khouri
- Off the Mat into the World
- Angela Davis
- Julia Butterfly Hill
- Kinetic sand
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