The Selkie Sessions
A series of seven integrative Thai yoga bodywork sessions for individuals experiencing life transitions,
so you may move through this time in a way that promotes healing transformation, with support.
The Selkie Sessions are a series of seven weekly meetings where we will combine Thai yoga bodywork with herbalism, nutritional guidance, somatics & contemplative practice to support you through your current life transition, when concentrated care is often needed most.
Experiencing Life Transitions With Support
Life transitions, or threshold moments, look differently for all of us. A big move or new career path might be on the horizon, or a relationship with a long term partner might be coming to an end. You may feel ready to embark on a new path for healing or taking care of yourself. You could be stepping into a new role as the primary caretaker for an aging parent, or experiencing an unexpected loss that brings forth new and unfamiliar waves of grief.
Whatever your threshold moment may be, they all have something in common: they require deep self connection and care in order to move through in a way that promotes healing transformation. When situations arise which invite us to listen more deeply to our inner world for guidance, we can clarify our personal needs for care by developing a more caring and compassionate relationship with ourselves through the support of inner wisdom, the natural world, and experienced guidance.
Creating space to reflect on how your life journey has been taking shape recently, and how you’d like to continue engaging with it moving forward, is so important. The body provides a wealth of information, which we can tap into through feeling and sensing inward. Developing the capacity to meet whatever your internal experience is requires a readiness. If now is the time to explore the depths of inner wisdom which your body holds for you, The Selkie Sessions are for you.
The Selkie Sessions emphasize establishing a deep relationship with your whole self, with compassion and curiosity at the forefront. Within these sessions the practices of Thai yoga bodywork, herbalism, an emphasis on nourishment and rest, somatic inquiry, contemplation, and holistic self care practices all create the conditions for a deeply therapeutic process to unfold.
Physical comfort measures through Thai yoga bodywork utilizing herbal applications can be applied through various life transitions when nourishment and rest are of utmost importance.
Program Details
The Selkie Sessions may support you if you are undergoing a life transition, such as:
when you have experienced a pregnancy loss and are needing ample time for rest and recovery
when menstrual, fertility or perinatal care is of utmost importance, but you’re not sure where to begin
when you are experiencing periods of heightened loss and grief and desiring comfort and care
when at the beginning of exploring end of life care options for yourself or a loved one
when you are experiencing big shifts in your life journey
Your care plan will include one or more of these modalities:
I’ll take into account your preferences when customizing a care plan to include the modalities of utmost interest to you.
Traditional Thai Yoga Bodywork (read more about my approach to bodywork in the FAQ section below)
Herbalism (read more about my approach to incorporating herbalism within private sessions here)
Nutrient Density emphasizing whole foods prepared with optimal absorption and mineralization in mind
Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) to help track fertility, hormonal, and menstrual cycle patterns
Somatic Explorations utilizing the approach of Embodied Flow, rooted in BodyMind Centering
Herbal self care practices to establish supportive routines and habitual rhythms for ongoing self care, such as incorporating warming herbal beverages, compresses, baths, and oils into your daily routine
Contemplative practices within Eastern and Western spiritual practice including the non-dualistic traditions of Yoga, Tantrika (Kashmir Shaivism), Buddhism, and/or Christian Mysticism
Your program will include:
One (2 hr) Deepening Session(*)
Your first session will be a focused period of time for us to discuss what's been going on for you, and determine what would be the most helpful approach to take in our work together. You can expect to have more clarity about ways to both support yourself and receive support during our time together.
After your initial session, I will send you a protocol which will review what we discussed during your initial consultation, including a summary of your care plan.
Six (1.5 hr) Weekly Healing Sessions
Grounding meditation and review (30 minutes)
Includes discussion on any of the following as they relate to your unique care plan:
herbal and/or nutritional support
Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) guidance and review
establishing daily routines and practices for ongoing self care
contemplative practices for fostering an authentic and mature spiritual connection
somatic explorations to address various circumstances you are currently experiencing
Thai Yoga bodywork practice utilizing herbal applications when applicable (1 hr)
Follow-up care notes review session topics will be provided after each follow-up session
Access to a secure messaging system will be available to contact me with questions outside of session time
*Deepening sessions for new clients are scheduled for two hours to allow time for a full initial intake. If you’re a returning client, deepening sessions are 90 minutes.
Program Cost and Location:
Sessions are available in Kingston, NY or as house calls within Ulster County, NY.
In-person program (Stone Ridge, NY): $1,200 all inclusive
Payment options are as follows:
Pay up front upon program confirmation ($1,200)
Pay a deposit of $600 and one pay installment ($600) on the 1st or 15th of the following month
Payment Plans must be completed on or before the month your last session is scheduled to take place.
House calls can be made at an additional rate of $50/session if within 1 hour driving time of Rosendale NY, and will be added to the standard program fee (totaling $1,550). Payment plans are available using the same format listed above.
Herbal applications utilized during the Thai Yoga practice are included in the package price.
Any suggested herbal remedies will be prepared at an additional cost to the package price and will range anywhere between $13 (example: a 1 oz custom tincture bottle) to $180 (example: a 30 day supply of a custom herbal infusion blend), depending on the amount and type of herbal preparation. Herbal remedies are not required as part of your care plan.
What Clients are Saying:
I initially reached out to Elizabeth in search of regular touch-based bodywork, appreciating her experience with herbalism, nutrition, and enthusiasm about teaching self-care practices. I had recently passed the threshold of menopause and was struggling with sleep, diet, and depression, so the regularity of weekly meetings gave us time to sink into the work together and not rush anything, while also keeping me accountable each week to try out some of her recommendations and report their effects. Elizabeth was extremely patient, light-hearted, and constructive, and I was pleasantly surprised by the scope of her offerings, which in addition to a plethora of practical lifestyle suggestions included connections to sources of great spiritual support. She recorded everything we discussed in a private online portal for ease of review and access, allowing me to relax fully into our time together. As a result, not long into my 5 or 6 consecutive series of Sessions, I made some big and very positive changes in my life that persist to this day. I would recommend this personalized, holistic work with Elizabeth to anyone ready to look carefully and honestly at their patterns and explore new terrain alongside a loving, capable guide.
- Tessa C.
I signed up for The Selkie Sessions with the intent of furthering my personal growth in a vulnerable but honest and safe manner, as well as broadening my experiences in traditional practices. I was fortunate to have participated in yoga classes and a workshop taught by Elizabeth, and sensed her deep appreciation for healing and the body. I was also going through a few different life transitions at the time and the idea of support resonated with me strongly.The sessions provided me a welcoming space to share and reveal the varying parts of myself, both old and new, while softly maintaining a sense of intention that was supportive, educational, and nurturing. I felt I was gifted with the trust and encouragement to explore inward and also maintain that nourishment between sessions and in daily life. Being cared for and guided in such a manner allowed me to come away feeling more grounded, open, and at ease, while also revealing valuable perspectives and a connection to self that I can carry with me.
I would recommend The Selkie Sessions to anyone who is searching for support and healing on a deeper level. Elizabeth’s ability to listen with care, to understand deeply, to allow your own self to meet you where you are at, and guide you forward through your journey in a compassionate way is exceptional.
- Christian C.
After taking a Somatic Boundaries workshop with Elizabeth, I felt called to work with her more deeply and receive focused, practical support. I was entering a period of transition, resourced enough to finally attend to my body after years of major life changes involving gender, relationships, trauma, and moving across the country. I signed up for The Selkie Sessions and immediately the Thai Yoga bodywork was a tremendous help in reconnecting me with my body as a source of immense wisdom and joy worthy of devotional care. Over time, the contemplative aspects of the practice have been especially instrumental in helping me find the courage to make gently radical and transformative changes that foster a more healed, heart-aligned, and spiritually-centered way of life. Elizabeth’s steadfast and warm approach, coupled with her range of skills, allowed our work together to cover a lot of ground while her sharp intelligence kept us focused. I recommend this series for anyone navigating changing seasons of life or who needs tangible support with an incredibly compassionate and approachable guide.
- Sam C.
In preparation for a major surgery (prostatectomy) last Fall, I decided to sign up for The Selkie Sessions in order to help prepare my body (and spirit) via nutrition and Thai bodywork. Elizabeth did a thorough job, determining an appropriate and strategic nutritional plan, with the goal of improving my metabolism, energy, and overall health. She places a high value on education, and has given me the tools to pursue a lifelong goal of healthy and active living via whole foods, exercise and yoga.
- Mark Y.
I decided to sign up for the Selkie sessions because I found myself at a time of life (post-menopause) when I didn’t understand my own body. The sessions with Elizabeth gave me a chance to listen to my body in a new way, and introduced a whole host of tools with which I can now respond. I recommend them to anyone at a crossroads who feels drawn to work with Elizabeth. Discovery and healing await!
- Lizzie B.D.
If you're interested in The Selkie Sessions, please schedule a free call with me where you can share more about what's going on for you, I can provide further details on how I work, and we can see if we're a good fit for working together this season.
A Welcoming Space for Life Transitions to Unfold Within
The Selkie Sessions are welcome individuals who want to stay close to their essential selves while experiencing life transitions through securing concentrated time for strengthening self awareness and connection. We do this by engaging in acts of self care and nurturance while on that courageous path of coming home to ourselves once again.
Listening to your inner voice is a process. I believe that allowing focused time and space to listen inward is an important aspect of a nourishing life. I’m here to validate, support and encourage your journey towards deeper self connection and realization as it unfolds.
Meet Your Practitioner, Elizabeth Stanger
Hello, Elizabeth Stanger here. I have offered The Selkie Sessions, formerly called “Thai Yoga Therapeutic Programs”, since 2012 to individuals across a continuum of life experiences, including during active end-of-life stages, perinatal care for full or partial term pregnancies, individuals adjusting to changing physical abilities including paraplegics, and many others desiring optimal comfort & care during concentrated times of need. My intention is to support clients to experience life transitions as rites of passage, where grief, compassion and gratitude are recognized as integral parts of the healing process. Witnessing the transformations that occur for clients during The Selkie Sessions has been one of the greatest joys of my life.
The values I hold as a practitioner are:
Curiosity: The emphasis of our sessions will be on developing practices that will be personally rewarding and valuable for you, so you can find a sense of meaning, purpose and progress in the way you engage with receiving care.
Empathy: Your capacity to receive care and welcome transformation expands when there is guidance toward deeper self attunement and care, as well as a feeling of being met, seen and heard. Understanding your current thoughts, feelings and challenges in order to meet you where you are is an essential piece of this process.
Presence: I am invested in staying responsive to your needs as they arise, so that our sessions continue to be a safe environment to foster your growth and healing on an ongoing basis.
Holding Space: I am committed to walking alongside you on the journey you are on by providing unconditional support, without a sense of judgment or control of the outcome. You have full permission to trust your own intuition and wisdom so that we move forward at a pace which empowers you, rather than overwhelms you.
Authenticity: I strive to support the best interests of my clients by keeping sessions relevant to what is happening in the present moment, and in a manner that acknowledges that this process is happening on your own time, not mine.
Courage/Vulnerability: I view courage as the wisdom to recognize what is happening in the here and now and choosing to lean into it, and vulnerability as the courage to be imperfect and resting into the unknown while doing so.
I incorporate various approaches to care within The Selkie Sessions including herbal remedy support, when applicable.
Frequently Asked Questions
I work with three main herbal applications within my Thai Yoga bodywork practice when applicable including herbal steam compresses, shown above.
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A Selkie is a shape shifting creature living within the mythology of the British Isles. Selkie’s are able to slip in and out of their seal skin to take on a human form, so they may walk about and engage with others on land. The Selkie is most at home when inhabiting their seal skin, as when wearing it they can return to their true home in the depth of the ocean. As commonly told within the Selkie story, their skin eventually gets stolen, subjecting them to long term life on land. They are forced to live a life that is doable, but does not embrace who they truly are or how they enjoy being in the world. They are tasked with surviving, rather than thriving. An epic tale ensues, whereby they claim their seal skin back and return to their essential nature, finding home in a flow-filled oceanic state once again.
Many of us can identify with the experience of enduring states of being that don't feel right. We learn to walk about the land as others seem to want us to. But there comes a point in many of our lives when we are called to embark on a courageous journey of realizing who we truly are, and what we need to do to live in ways that are aligned with our intuition-led path towards wholeness.
While this may seem lovely in a tidy, happily-ever-after kind of way, it is incredibly difficult to stay close to ourselves in a world that presents so many challenges that can get in the way of doing so. The Selkie tale isn't so much about controlling life scenarios as it is about learning how to stay close to ourselves inside of whatever hands we are dealt. We increase our capacity to identify our own needs, working courageously to speak our truth in whatever ways we can. We can make choices each day that align us with our intuitive sense of how to best move about the world. This is a way we can slip back into our own Selkie skin, here and now, as best we can.
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Thai Yoga is a healing arts practice rooted in ancient yogic philosophy. Thai Yoga (Nuad Boran) is believed to have been developed by Buddhist monks in Thailand over 2,500 years ago. Thai Yoga can be thought of as a gentle form of assisted yoga. A session consists of postural release and gentle stretching, rhythmic rocking along the body’s main energy lines and pressure points, focused breathing, meditation, and somatic movement re-patterning to address the whole body-mind throughout the healing process. Thai yoga bodywork sessions provide a container for a slow and steady healing process to unfold within.
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Thai Yoga is a bodywork practice that meets the receiver exactly where they are, no more and no less. As a Certified Advanced Thai Yoga Practitioner (CATP) I have been skillfully trained to adjust pressure and technique based on the unique physical capabilities of the client. My experience spans from working with world renowned yoga instructors to offering Thai Yoga to individuals in wheelchairs, paraplegics, and with stage 4 Breast Cancer diagnoses.
While Thai Yoga is not to be practiced with a physical goal orientation in mind, many clients find that receiving Thai Yoga over a period of sessions supports them to increase their sense of wellness and ease within the scope of their current physical abilities.
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Yes, you certainly can. While my skill set spans across various fields of holistic non-medical practice, I typically focus on anywhere between 1-3 based on the client’s interest, experience, and present need. I am happy to tailor your care plan based on what you are currently feeling available for. If you ever decide in the future you would like to focus on another modality for future care, you can always repeat a program with that modality at the forefront of your care plan.
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I utilize gentle herbs, with the option for you to opt out if you are sensitive to herbs or prefer a non-aromatic bodywork experience. I work with three main forms of herbal application in my practice: herbal steam compresses, herbal infused oils, and herbal oil compresses.
Herbal steam compresses are aromatic, soothing herbs are wrapped in cotton muslin, gently warmed with steam, and applied to areas of stress. The herbs release natural volatile oils while easing deep tensions held in the mind and body. Incorporating herbal steam compresses within your Thai yoga session combines the effects of a calming bath, restorative yoga, and bodywork into one experience. Soothing aromas from the steamed herbs allow the body to relax and unwind while absorbing the medicinal properties of herbs, many of which I harvested and processed myself.
Herbal oil compresses are similar to herbal steam compresses, the difference being that herbs packed in oil are wrapped in cotton muslin and warmed prior to application.
Herbal Infused oils are applied to the whole body. The infused oil itself contains properties which also stimulate the lymph, as well as help deeply relax the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Herbal body oiling within the Thai Yoga practice gives an extra boost to the immune system, nourishes the skin, and brings the whole body into a deep state of relaxation. I infuse local and organic oils with herbs, many of which I harvest and process myself.
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The single sessions I currently offer are called Embrace Space, which is a concentrated period of time to experience seasonal herbal body care. If you are interested in scheduling a single session with me, you can do so at selkiemedicinals.com/embrace-space-winter.
I also offer many opportunities to learn more about the various modalities I incorporate into The Selkie Sessions including monthly three-hour workshops, seasonal class series, and weekly yoga classes. If you are interested in finding out more about my approach to care, I encourage you to attend one of these offerings to learn more about my work before scheduling.
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In my 12 years of offering therapeutic programs to clients, it’s been my experience and observation that clients do best when sessions are conducted in a consistent, concentrated time for care, which is why I generally recommend scheduling sessions on a steady schedule that creates space between sessions that do not exceed a bi-monthly time frame. Some clients determine that scheduling sessions bi-weekly rather than weekly will work best for them depending on their current situation, which is especially the case when pregnancy-loss or postnatal support is the focus of our care plan. I understand that situations may arise which require you to skip a scheduled session, such as illness or travel. Rescheduling a session or two when needed is not a problem, so long as the cancellation policy is honored and rescheduling timeframes are within reason.
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I am happy to reschedule your session for either illness or poor weather reasons up to 2 hours before your scheduled session, free of charge. If you feel sick before your session, I encourage you to stay home to reduce the spread of illness.
If rescheduled less than 2 hours before your scheduled session, the session is forfeited within the program. Rescheduling sessions can be done by the client directly through the scheduling feature of my practice management system.
While I understand that scheduling mishaps occur which may be realized less than 2 hours before your session time is set to begin, this is why I ensure that a reminder email goes out 1 day before your scheduled session. Please ensure your access to email is consistent while we are working together to ensure these messages are received by you. If you’d prefer to receive reminders via text, you can make the adjustment to your session reminders through my practice management system as well.
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I began my Thai Yoga practice in 2012 after beginning my training at the SomaVeda® College of Natural Medicine: Thai Yoga Center, and graduated from the SomaVeda® 1028 hr Certified Advanced Thai Yoga Practitioner (CATP) training program in 2015.
I have over 1,000 hours of formal training in both Yoga, Somatics and Mediation through the Ashtanga Yoga of New Paltz (2012), the Embodied Flow School of Yoga (2015-2018), and the Inner Yoga Meditation Teacher Training Program led by David Harshada Wagner (2017-2018), all of which I incorporate into my Thai Yoga sessions.
I also bring my formal training in herbalism with Dina Falconi (2017), and in depth experience incorporating herbal applications into my bodywork sessions into our time together.
I have also been trained as an End of Life Doula through The Dying Year (2021), for which I have earned proficiency status through the National End of Life Doula Alliance (NEDA).
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I provide holistic support in several different areas emphasizing emotional and physical non-medical comfort measures. Working together over a series of 7 weekly sessions supports us to establish the trust and safety required as we create space for you to receive in-depth, concentrated care.
As your practitioner, I intend to work with a humble, gentle approach in order to identify how to offer support for you best, at this point in time. I am here to hear you, help you, and work with you by way of my skill sets in Traditional Thai Yoga Bodywork, herbalism, end of life doula care, somatics, and contemplative practice.
We will work with your own understanding of your body, as well as any diagnosis or treatments from medical professionals you may have had. Your body is unique, so standard approaches to care may be adjusted to address your unique needs. I am happy to work alongside your other healthcare providers to develop a bodywork program that is as safe and effective as possible for you.
You can expect space within our sessions for your self reflections to be heard, as well as encouragement and support from me as your healing journey unfolds.
If you're interested in The Selkie Sessions, please schedule a free call with me where you can share more about what's going on for you, I can provide further details on how I work, and we can see if we're a good fit for working together this season.
Please note that I do not diagnose, prescribe, treat disease or make claims within my practice.
Any recommendations made by myself are not to be used in place of medical treatment.