Insights from a Dead Body

EP 84: Insights from a Dead Body with Susie Knudsen

In this episode I sit down with massage therapist Susie Knudsen, who after doing massage for 27 years, decided to take a next-level anatomy class to deepen her already phenomenal understanding of the body.  She talks about her wild experiences cutting open + exploring a cadaver - how it changed the way she sees life + the way she understands the body. We explore ah-ha insights about how + why the body holds tension and how we can unravel it consciously.

LISTEN to this episode on:

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We talk about:

• Personalities of the different layers of the body
• Muscles, adipose tissue, superficial fascia + deeper layers of fascia
• Dead bodies don’t have tension knots! Wild insights re: ‘hardware vs. software’
• What holding lungs, heart, liver, brain in your hands feels like
• How what we love to hate - body fat - conducts energy + protects you
• How the body wants to open - we just have to allow it to do so
• How to have a conversation with your body + why it’s so important
• How we store emotions in the organs of the body
• Loving your body + what it does for you, no matter your age
• How our fear of/anger at pain locks it deeper into the body
• How to unravel pain with kindness, connection + attention
• Sitting gently with discomfort in your body b/c it just wants to be heard
• The layers of experience we store in our bodies + how to approach it all with curiosity
• How letting your body move in weird ways (that feel good) helps unwind you

More about Susie:

Susie received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987. She went on to study massage therapy in Ohio where in 1992 she received and maintains a massage therapy license from the Ohio State Medical Board.  Upon moving to Arizona she obtained an Arizona massage therapy license requiring 24 hours of continuing education every 2 years, which she focuses on reflexology, myofascial release, and various types of energy work.

Through the education received in Psychology, she developed a passion for learning about stress and its effects on mind and body, which led to her interest in Massage therapy. The focus in her work has evolved over the years to the current emphasis on helping the nervous system to spend less time in ‘fight or flight’ (sympathetic nervous system) and more time in ‘rest and digest’ (parasympathetic nervous system). She's learned that in her sessions, significant and long lasting change in the body happens only when time is spent getting the nervous system to calm down so that tissues are more accepting of the massage.

Susie's Favorite Flower: LILY OF THE VALLEY

Her words to describe the Lily of the Valley, which also perfectly describe how she brings her gifts into the world: 

Graceful, sweet, strong + solid.

CONNECT WITH SUSIE:

Visit her Website!

CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Follow her on Instagram: @iamkatiehess @lotuswei
LinkedIn: Katie Hess
Media Kit: Katie Hess, International

Happy listening,