SERVICES

THE COTU METHOD : SOMATIC MASSAGE

In this signature treatment, you will experience a combination of shiatsu, deep tissue, and Swedish modalities, as well as Reiki.  Each session is tailored to the individual client and may include breath work, positive affirmation dialog, guided visualization, quantum theta work, & intuitive healing.  The Cotu Method pinpoints areas of the body where there are pent-up emotions stored in the tissues, and facilitates an awareness and eventual release of stress and past trauma.  The goal is to break through emotional scars, blocked energy, and physical armoring all of which can lead to physical as well as psychological pain.

“I developed this technique with a focus on the structural muscles correlated to the chakras that have been found to hold strong emotional charges. I’m thrilled when clients comment that The Cotu Method led to profound release and was unlike any other treatment.” ~Jill Cotu

Sessions in Woodland Hills include sound therapy: gongs, rainstick, chimes.

REIKI

Reiki is a form of ‘laying of hands’ energy healing.

Reiki practitioners surround a client with loving, positive energy, helping the person to relax, which opens the door to healing and restoration.

Humans are made of energy, this is science. Picture a circle around yourself. This circle represents your unique electro-magnetic energy. Now imagine yourself in a crowded park, amongst others who also have circles around themselves. What you should begin to visualize is something akin to the Olympic 5-ring symbol, on a grander scale. You (and your energy) do not exist and function independently. To take it a step further, your energy, which is affected by your daily thoughts, stress, & emotions, touches and affects others and vice versa. Tai chi, qi gong, acupuncture, and Reiki are based on this principle and the idea that energy can be harnessed and channeled.

Traditional explanations are spiritual, suggesting the Reiki practitioner accesses a universal energy connecting us all, and channels it into the client by simply putting their hands over the person in a number of learned positions.

The Cotu Method operates on modern physics-based principles and neuroscience.

• When there is an energy exchange between two systems, or two beings, energies will eventually synchronize. We see this in nature, with fireflies flashing in rhythm. Pendulum clocks on the same wall will eventually sync. In Reiki, a practitioner with a calm, positive, meditative state and relaxed nervous system may act as a regulator, influencing the client’s nervous system. The client will entrain toward that calmer state and higher vibratory state.
• Humans naturally regulate each other’s nervous systems. This is related to the mirror neuron system, and aligned with polyvagal theory, which explains how safety signals from another shift the body out of stress. 
• The human body generates measurable electric fields: brain activity measured by EEG, heart fields measured by ECG, and magnetic fields measured by MEG. These fields extend slightly beyond the physical body. It is thought that during Reiki the practitioner’s fields interact with the client’s fields.

While energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can be manipulated. There is no mystery to this technique. Reiki gives your energy a boost, and identifies areas in your body that need attention or healing.

If you place a book on your stomach, what happens? All your attention is suddenly focussed on the presence of an object on the abdomen, and by default, the abdomen. To illustrate how this connects to Reiki, I use an example of treating someone in grief. Giving Reiki to this person would involve laying hands over the chest. The client may not be allowing them self to express grief and emotion. As a result, the lungs and muscles around the heart may be constricted as a means of coping and self-protection, manifesting as hunched shoulders and shallow breathing. Reiki acts as the aforementioned book; it focusses energy and allows it to flow into the area of concern, reminding the client to give more attention there. At the same time, it begins to shift the energy from negative to positive, from low vibration to high vibration. Says author Pamela Miles, “Reiki does not treat conditions; it is a spiritual healing practice  that promotes balance.” It is as simple as that. 

From a strictly Western perspective, everyone needs to be touched; gentle, soothing touch stimulates your brain to produce ‘feel good’ hormones/chemicals. Further, studies have shown that hospital patients who receive Reiki treatments recover more quickly from injury and disease, proving it to be an excellent adjunct to more traditional means of healing. Reiki can be done while one is fully clothed, and is a good option for those who cannot receive deeper bodywork, including new mothers, the elderly, cancer patients, and other who are very ill.