Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Holden.
Hi Stacy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I moved here from Santa Cruz, CA 19 years ago in January. I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with my second child and we didn’t know a soul! I had had some powerful experiences with a mama circle out there and had taken prenatal yoga training and I decided that Duluth (and ME) needed some support circles for mamas. I created Women Circling Women in 2004. Every Monday night for 17 years I gathered with pregnant women. We sat in a circle, sharing our joys, fears, questions, and experiences of pregnancy.
Topics were wide-ranging from pregnancy questions to relationship/sex, parenting, comfort measures of birthing, how to breastfeed, co-parent, sleep, etc. We shared and connected for an hour and then moved for an hour. The movement focused on our connections to our babies and getting acquainted with our bodies’ potential. From there I branched out and held couples birth and movement classes, mama and kid yoga classes, a singing circle, postpartum circles, and a sustainable movement circle (that was my only movement and not a “support” focused circle). I also organized the Birth and Baby Fair for 15 years.
With that we gathered together birthing/postpartum/parenting resources from all over our community and brought providers together with families in a bi-annual event that was filled with community, education, networking, resource gathering, and lots of positive energy all focused on supporting the birthing families of the area. During that time I had 4 kids. We moved to the south shore on a little homestead where we homeschooled all of them. The early years were rough with 4 colicky babes and I discovered CranioSacral Therapy as a way to help them.
That then entwined into my yoga circles over the years and I had a different lens to support babies and families through that work. Most of that was either education or referring out to a wonderful practitioner that worked in the area for 20 years. I was lucky enough to mentor her for a while. We worked in tandem supporting women via education in my circles and education at the Birth Fair.
The practice of CST evolved over the last 16 + years and now incorporates MyoFascia Release (from John Barnes) and sustainable movement. My passion has always been to support mamas and their babies. It’s been entwined with everything that I’ve done over the last 19 years. Now I can also serve a lot of those women as their bodies are moving on from the early post-partum and younger parenting years. I work with people throughout my life span.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For the most part, the circles were always easy. That was the most meaningful work of my life. Covid put an end to them. We tried doing online for 2+ years but the combination of poor wifi, me not being tech-savvy, and having much desire to be, put an end to the yummy circles. I always knew that they were just as important to me as they were to all of the women over the years, but I didn’t know HOW important those circles were until they were gone.
It’s been hard letting go. But it opened the doorway to pushing me into doing more of the bodywork that I’ve also been enjoying over the years. I had mostly just worked on friends and family over the years or dabbled with women in the circle when they asked. But now it’s become the next chapter of my life. I’ve always felt like it was important for me to have “purposeful work” and to “effect change in my community”. I’m able to continue with those goals as a bodyworker.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Women Circling Women?
I work with people of all ages. I am an intuitive bodyworker and I combine Cranio Sacral Therapy with Myo Fascial Release Therapy. I also add a lot of movement and bio-mechanical education to my work. I bring a lot of heart and passion into my work. I’m a compassionate listener. I have a lot of resources for connecting people with other practitioners when needed.
I built my brand of Women Circling Women (all those yoga & support circles over the years) on Support and Education. I bring that to my bodywork practice as well. I work towards listening to my clients and their body’s “fascial voice”. I trust my intuition to guide me as I work. I let my clients lead the way rather than assert my agenda for their health. I am here to support, listen (with my heart and hands), and help guide them toward their most vibrant health.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Compassion, listening with an open heart, non-judgemental, positive, and affirming.
Pricing:
- Adult Initial 1 1/2 hour–$135
- Adult follow-up 1 hour–$95
- Ped Initial 1 hour–$95
- Ped follow-up 45 min–$70
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: [email protected]
Image Credits
Michaela Rai Photography
