Kate Shumate, RN, CMT, CST, CLT
MY BIO Beginning in 1986, I worked as an RN at UVA Hospital for 25 years. In 1996, I took my first Craniosacral class with the Upledger Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida and for the last 22 years have taken many classes up to and including Advanced Cranial. In 2002, I graduated from the Virginia School of Massage and became certified with the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) I studied with Suzanne Scurlock who created the modality "Healing From the Core - Grounding and Healthy Boundaries", becoming certified in this modality in 2009. In 2010, I completed Level 3 of Manual Lymph Drainage at the Upledger Institute and after studying at the Academy of Lymphatic Studies, I became certified in Complete Decongestive Therapy in 2016. I am now in private practice in Charlottesville, VA where I utilize my knowledge and skills to best support my clients. |
MY STORY
I grew up as a farm girl with a intense love of animals and nature. My 5 siblings and I were lucky enough to have horses to ride from the time that we were small. There were many times that we fell off while riding; sometimes our fault and sometimes the horses fault. The injuries that occurred would emerge later in life as severe back pain at the age of twenty-one. Chiropractic adjustments left me in more pain than before the treatments so I gave up trying to fix my back for another twenty years at which time the pain came back with a vengeance.
I had gone to a fascinating presentation in Charlottesville on CranioSacral therapy in 1994 but quickly forgot about it until my back pain returned. The one thing that I had always remembered from that talk was that “your body remembers how it wants to be”. So in 1995, I was desperate enough that I called one of the women who had given the presentation to make an appointment. During that initial session, I felt energy moving through my body that was beyond exciting to me. This connected me to the innate understanding that we are all energetic beings and that it was normal for me to feel the energy. Of greatest significance was that I was without pain for the first time in years when I got off of the table.
As a Registered Nurse, I am licensed to touch people so I decided to take my first CranioSacral class in 1996 and completely fell in love with it. Over the next several years, I studied at the Upledger Institute completing CranialSacral I and II, and Somato-Emotional Release I and II; while completing an advanced CranioSacral class in 2003 and becoming a teaching assistant for some of the classes given by the Upledger Institute.
In my work as a CranioSacral therapist, I have been taught to listen to the body with all of my senses; knowing and trusting that the body will show me what it wants to do. I follow the fascia which guides my hands to the restrictions in the tissues. When the restrictions release, the fascia then guides me to the next place that wants release, and so on. This is the journey of CranioSacral Therapy.
Some people may not feel anything the first time they experience CranioSacral therapy but they will usually start to feel the energy and their body changing in subsequent treatments. When I tell them that the movement in their body is not me or my hands, they are astounded to discover that they can feel their fascia moving as well as their muscles and bones releasing.
This is why I call my practice “Awaken The Body” because we learn to tune into our bodies and "listen" to what our bodies are telling us. This allows us to release old physical and emotional traumas and relieves pain, stiffness, headaches and a multitude of other complaints. Every day that I am able to facilitate this work, my respect and awe for the innate wisdom of the human body increases exponentially.
With love and gratitude, I look forward to facilitating your own body’s Awakening.