All of you is welcome here.

The body as an equal partner

Most people treat an aging body on conditions. It earns its place by still performing, and the person living in it is often the strictest judge of all. I start from a different perspective: your body is whole, it's doing all that it can, and it's worth listening to.

That's why therapeutic care and attention work together in everything I do. Touch is a way of asking the body a question. Conversation is a way of hearing the answer. In every visit, both are the work.

Where it comes from

For fifteen years I studied every week with my teacher, Mary Swaine, in one-to-one and small group work on sustained attention and presence. She taught me to meet people at their depth, and to help each person find what matters most to them right now. I still work that way. Read about Mary.

I learned my trade through yoga, massage therapy, reflexology and art making. Since 2016 I've brought that work to older adults: chair yoga and reflexology in residences across Montréal and the West Island. For several years I also led communications and development at the IKRA Massage Therapy Academy, the largest massage therapy school in the Montréal region.

Why this matters to me

As a child, I loved the image of a grandmother tree: an ancestral presence you could go to with any question, and come away with an answer. I never got to know my own grandparents, so I carried that picture with me. Years later, Mary Swaine became that tree for me. One of the main ideas she passed down was that the body is magnificently intelligent and speaks in a language we can learn.

Through my work, the child who went looking for a grandmother tree found a whole forest. I bring therapeutic bodywork and my full attention to people who are still growing, in their own way.

In 2021, a serious health scare taught me one thing completely: every moment is precious. Getting old is something a person accomplishes, and I want the years ahead to offer abundant space to get to know and appreciate ourselves.

I have known my own body through many seasons, from periods when I could barely lift my arms to others when I was strong and active. So when a shoulder stops halfway, or a good day is followed by a hard one, I don't need it explained. For ten years I've worked with older adults, reading where a body is guarding itself, how much it wants today, and when to ease off before it has to tell me. Whatever your body brings that day, that's where we start.

Training

• Fifteen years of training in attention and presence with Mary Swaine
• Reflexology with Mary Swaine (2019) and Carol Faguy (2022)
• Massage therapy, 700 hours: IKRA Academy. Member, Réseau de massothérapeutes professionnels du Québec
• Hatha yoga teacher, 700 hours: Satyam School of Yoga. Chair yoga for reduced mobility
• BFA, Concordia University, with distinction

Currently deepening

• Manual lymphatic drainage, Vodder method
• Massage for older adults, Cégep Marie-Victorin

Manomaya

My practice has carried the name Manomaya – Meditation in Movement since 2008, when I began teaching yoga and meditation. Sens & Souffle is where it has grown: the same therapeutic care, with more room for conversation.

Sens et souffle means meaning and breath: the two things this work keeps coming back to.