Meet Danielle Lowinger
My experiences with a very gentle form of chiropractic (BGI with Dr. Holly Hochstadt) in the early 2000's led me to massage school, as I considered a variety of professional paths. I studied a wide variety techniques (Myofascial Release via Anatomy Trains, Trager, Reiki, Lomi Lomi) in school in 2004 and continued to explore them in the early years of my practice. I landed in a Craniosacral Introductory course with Ursula Popp in 2008, which led to more in-depth training with her in 2009. Learning and receiving Craniosacral Therapy (CST) that year was transformative, in ways I appreciated but did not fully understand. Life was full, and I put CST on the back burner for a while. I was running a group practice at the time and working with some talented massage therapists who were really passionate about working with pregnant folks. I felt the pull to learn more about perinatal massage, which led to perinatal massage training with Carol Osborne in 2010 and Birth Doula training with Carrie Kenner in 2012. I took a hiatus in 2015 and early 2016, following the birth of my son, Erik, and came back to work with a renewed sense of curiosity. I returned to study CST again, this time with Ursula and Lauren Christman in 2017, and found myself feeling more grounded and inspired. Currently, I am learning more about working with infants and children in general, and families as a whole during the perinatal period, including the first three months postpartum. I am so grateful for my mentors; it has made all the difference. Thank you, Holly, Karen, Ursula and Lauren!
How I approach bodywork is also inspired by the work of many writers: Sonya Renee Taylor, James-Olivia Chu-Hillman, Babette Rothschild, Kimberly Ann Johnson, Robin Wahl Kimmerer, Joanna Macey, Peter Levine, Hugh Milne and Bessel van der Kolk, as well as the poetry of Mary Oliver, Ross Gay, David White, Rumi and Hafiz.
One thread that runs through the work of many of these teachers/artists is our fundamental interconnectedness. Our minds are inextricably linked with our bodies, and our lives are interwoven- with each other, with our ancestors and descendants, and with our extended family in the natural world. We are also not broken, nor are we alone. One of the tenants of osteopathy, the tree of healing work of which Craniosacral Therapy is a branch, is to trust that health is always present and active, that symptoms and compensation patterns are a sign of health in their own way, and offer messages/signposts on the path to more balance and ease in the present. In my roughest moments, this is an anchor: I can trust that there is an inherent wholeness and health that supports me just as I am, change is always happening, and when I tend to my own needs, this ripples out as I support others. I continue to study and learn, and I feel blessed to be able to support my community with skills I love.
I grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and East Tennessee, and prior to bodywork, I studied English Literature and History at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. (Like many Southerners I know, I love a good story.)