The Link Between Touch, Trauma, and Healing
Overstimulated Mom's Pod: Ep. 5 The Link Between Touch, Trauma, and Healing
April Hankins talks with Brittany Stefan, massage therapist and creator of Sapphire Lotus Holistic Healing Center, about how massage therapy can support nervous system regulation, consent, and emotional release. Brittany also shares her own path into massage, how her practice has evolved from deep tissue to a more therapeutic, integrated approach, and why moms especially need permission to rest.
Key topics
In this episode, Brittany shares how she found her office space in Canal Fulton and why she loves building a small-business life in a close-knit community.
Brittany explains how she “fell into” massage therapy after originally planning on physical therapy assisting, and how that unexpected path became the right fit.
She describes a formative community service experience at a domestic violence shelter, where she learned how touch can be approached slowly, safely, and with consent.
April and Brittany discuss how trauma can live in the body and how massage can help people feel safe in their bodies again.
Brittany reflects on her professional evolution from being known for deep tissue work to focusing more on breath, fascia, and therapeutic, integrated massage.
She explains the difference between “making it hurt” and going deep in a slower, more responsive way that respects the client’s nervous system.
Brittany shares that clients often cry during sessions, and that she sees tears as a normal release rather than something to apologize for.
The conversation turns to moms, with Brittany naming tight necks, shoulders, chest, jaw, hips, and pelvic floor tension as common patterns she sees.
Brittany talks about her own therapy journey, including EMDR, anxiety, perfectionism, and how therapy has helped her notice possible rumination OCD patterns.
She also shares how intuition has guided major life decisions, including leaving her chiropractic job in 2019 to work full time in massage.
The episode closes with Brittany’s advice to listen to the body’s signals, get rest, drink water, eat, and treat self-care as a necessity rather than something selfish.