Classes, Coaching, & Events

MCAS/MCAD/HIT are a lot to navigate alone. Most won't happen to find the right tools without guidance or a lot of prior conviction that these are present and relevant--the conditions are just that complex. But diagnosis is clinical and medical awareness remains limited. Diagnoses can be hard to come by. Management can require extreme care, at least for the first bit, if sensitivity is high. This is your chance to work one on one or in a group to understand the guidelines as seen through experience--either following diagnosis or to aid you in assessing whether seeking out a specialist who knows MCAS could help you unpack your potentially related health challenges.

This class derives from my personal account of going from many years of diverse, sometimes disabling symptoms to generally well and back to life with some ongoing, now knowledgable management.

I can't diagnose or presribe in my very limited role as a massage therapist. I respect the boundaries of my trade and the limitations of my education and highly recommend you seek expert care if you have questions or concerns about the possibility of MCAS or HIT. But I recognize too that guidance is very limited in this area with or without diagnosis. And I've found my way through to a place where I'm doing quite well after years of intense challenges. I would be doing an injustice to my history and trajectory and humanity if I didn't find ways to bring awareness to this little-understood set of conditions after how profound my own experience has been of finally receiving a diagnosis of Histamine Intolerance, quite accidentally finding a diet that was finally tight enough to make a difference, and then going deeper with research and practices to both clear my migraines and start rebuilding my gut toward higher tolerance.

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

60 minute class

Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development

~with guest presenter Katie Dewar, DPT and possibly also a couple of other EDS/hypermobility aware specialists!~

This class will offer light theory as well as demos and hands on practice in applying a variety of techniques and tools to manage primarily mechanical contributors to chronic pain. Special attention will be given to how to safely and effectively address these challenges in a hypermobile body, though this class is open to all.

--seeing patterns of muscle imbalance and understanding how to address them

--foam rolling & therapy ball techniques

--cupping, gua sha, and graston tools

--manual and machine percussion

--trigger point reference materials

--stretching (and when not to stretch)

--techniques for neutralizing posture in the pelvic floor and abdomen (often hugely helpful for headaches and migraines as well as low back pain)

Scheduled on Demand

Contact for location info:

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

Suggested donation $35 in thanks for guest contributions--please come free of charge if money is tight

A monthly meetup for those who know or suspect that hypermobility and/or related conditions are present and possibly a factor in their health challenges. People with general or clinical interest are also welcome at most sessions. 

Our intent is to better understand and to troubleshoot together the many challenges of living in a bendy body--ergonomic challenges, individualizing self care for hypermobility, the mechanisms by which chronic pain and chronic illness often follow hypermobility spectrum disorders, and lack of aware medical care. We're working on growing medical allies and general community awareness as well--for our own sakes and for everybody else out there who doesn't know yet that this gap is causing them harm.

Upcoming Meetups:

Saturday, June 7, 2025, noon--online

**please check back or call ahead in case of schedule changes!**

Contact for the Google Meets link:

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

Free forever in recognition of the feat of showing up for life at all with chronic illness--donations welcome where it's an easy choice

You probably know a lot of the basics. But in case you're not sure what you might be missing, let's go through the list.

Application is half the battle. Let's come up with strategies to help you stick with self-care.

Can we improve your ability to stay out of the pain zone?

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

90 minute class

Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development

When you already have a headache or migraine, what can you do at home to support your body in turning the pain patterns around?

We'll identify a list of personalized strategies to experiment with when needed. Approval of your medical care providers may be required to ensure that you're cleared or in care for any particularly risky issues that may exist.

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

90 minute class

Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development

A virtual or in-person ninety minute private session. We will:

• review your health info

• look at both the successful and unhelpful strategies you've tried so far for migraine or headache prevention

• identify additional prevention strategies to try

• list avenues of care to check out with providers local to you

• practice basic rescue techniques in session

Contact to Schedule

505-310-0662

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

90 minute class

Price TBD

Do yourself a favor and get your setup right enough. We don't need perfect or perfectly stable in a world that demands constant adaptation--we just need to know the basics so that we can be aware of our situation and regularly nudge things as needed toward comfort and better functioning. And multiple solutions are better than one. Let's plan some experiments for you.

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

60 minute class

Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development

There's a lot to try at home for relieving pain from plantar fasciitis through reducing contributing factors from the soft tissues. Learn the basics in this one hour class. Come with questions.

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

60 minute class

Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development

Working with many clients whose hypermobility impacts their daily lives has offered some general principles about what does and doesn't tend to help this group with pain. We'll cover general principles as well as discussing particulars of participants' cases as time allows.

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

90 minute class

Price TBD, donations welcome while class is under development

Everyone who has cared for a young child knows the strains the body goes through in that work. Guess what--your pain from all that lifting and bending and holding and late nights is predictable, and there are some things we can do to likely reduce it. You've got a lot on your plate, so let's add little things that make a big difference and fit easily into your day.

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

60 minute class

Price TBD

An experience-based 3-hour workshop on how to temporarily reformat your diet to explore the relevance of MCAS, MCAD, and histamine intolerance or to start working toward rebuilding your gut and your life if you already know these conditions are at play in your health challenges. The emphases are:

--real food

--real life: conveniences and go-to meals

--YES to goodness, flavor, and options

We can work together to identify yeses with more or less any existing dietary preferences or limitations.

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

3 hour workshop format

No charge until we have expert resources involved

If you'd like help turning your complex health history into a document that can help doctors better see and better help you, I'd love to be of service. This is a passion. How do we best help our healthcare providers help us to help ourselves under the current complicated pressures of the medical system? How do we find and access healthcare providers who care and who are facilitated to work at their best?

Check out: The Patient Revolution

Scheduled on Demand

sarah@lightspiritstudio.com

60 minute class

Price TBD, donations welcome while service is under development