All Profiles >Lara Michele, LMT, BCTMB, CMT

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About Lara Michele, LMT, BCTMB, CMT

My insatiable curiosity and passion for expanding my understanding of the human body and spirit has brought me many opportunities for growth, both personally and…

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Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.bodygraceofsedona.com/

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My insatiable curiosity and passion for expanding my understanding of the human body and spirit has brought me many opportunities for growth, both personally and professionally.

I have been a professional massage therapist/bodyworker since 2000 and have treated hundreds of clients from around the world. With almost two decades of hands-on experience, I’ve learned to listen to the body directly through the language of breath, fluid, movement, and connective tissue. My focus and interest is working with people not only on the physical level with injury and postural imbalances, but also with trauma and emotion that is so often stored in the cellular memory of the body. How does one’s soul reside in the body, and how do we find embodied peace? This has been my life’s inquiry.

At an early age I was introduced to the world of moving arts by my mother who was a dancer, fitness choreographer, aerobics and yoga teacher, and mini triathlete. I studied various forms of yoga, dance (ballet and belly dance), theatrical and improvisational theatre, and Vipassana meditation. My love for music and singing resulted in many years of training with several vocal coaches.

My bodywork training began in 1999 at the Institute of Conscious Bodywork in Northern California. I graduated from a program that integrated therapeutic massage, structural bodywork, and energy work. Since then I’ve studied with many great teachers such as: Layna Cirelli, Structural Integration therapist and dancer; John Barnes, PT, Myofascial Release; Hugh Gilbert, PT, author and creator of Kinetic Chain Release; the Barral Institute, Visceral Manual Therapy; as well as many other wonderful teachers in various therapeutic modalities.

Like so many of us, my life has been an interesting journey of challenges and blessings. I have survived several spinal injuries, two head and brain injuries, as well as emotional trauma. While dealing with unresolved physical and emotional pain, and not understanding the connection between the two, I looked to the healing arts and my body for answers. Turning my attention inward I heard the beckoning of the inner ocean that lives within me, guiding me to health through micro movements, pausing, and breath. This bio intelligence of my fluid system has been my most potent teacher.

In 2013 I met Emilie Conrad, somatic pioneer, author and founder of Continuum Movement. Her wisdom and charisma penetrated every cell in my being, and I knew I had found my teacher and community. Though I met Emilie near the final months of her life, my time with her was deeply profound and life changing. The next several years I absorbed as much Continuum as possible, traveling to many locations to work with several teachers. By October 2018 I completed the Continuum Movement Teachers Training in Florida, led by Donnalea Van Vleet Goelz together with many teachers such as Don Van Vleet, Teri Carter and Judyth Weaver to name a few. It is with great joy that I share this wonderful body of work with my community and beyond. Originally from California, I am a resident of Sedona, Arizona, where I maintain my private practice and new Continuum Movement studio. I offer both private sessions and group classes.