About Sonia Connolly, LMT

As a young adult, I completed a graduate degree in Computer Science and then started working as a software engineer for a startup. Academically and professionally I did well, but my relationships were chaotic, emotionally abusive, and full of strife. I felt mired in panic and despair, desperate to figure out what I "should" be doing.

When I started to remember the abuse I'd endured as a child, I tried traditional psychotherapy to get help, but soon turned to bodywork instead, inspired by Louise Wisechild's The Obsidian Mirror. Through receiving gentle, respectful, skilled touch, I learned how to connect with my body, my breath, and my own truth. I learned to sit with the feelings and memories rather than running away, and to ask quiet questions rather than shout fierce judgments at myself. Gradually I reclaimed a sense of peace and inner guidance, and the panic and despair receded.

I told that first bodywork practitioner several times that I wanted to do what she does, someday. It took a few more years to get there, but in 1999 I combined my studies in Massage Therapy, Reiki, CranioSacral Therapy, and trauma work to open my own practice helping others heal from trauma. My own process continues to evolve, and it brings me joy to help others regain a sense of wholeness and peace as well.

My life improved wonderfully when I started noticing and focusing on what brings me joy: offering bodywork, bicycling for transportation, Balkan folk dancing, folk dance festivals, farmers markets, communication, ceramics, gardening, learning, and petting the cats.

It is my experience that presence and acceptance bring healing. The present moment, with all its feelings, thoughts, and events, is the only leverage point for change. I practice presence and meditation in my daily life, and I bring that same presence and attention to my clients.

If you would like to learn more, please email sonia@sundownarts.com or call 503-334-6434.