What if gentle, intentional touch could realign your organs, regulate your cycle, ease digestion, and reconnect you to your body’s innate wisdom?

In this episode of The Dancing Willow, Elliott sits down with longtime friend, licensed massage therapist, abdominal therapy practitioner, and artist, Cara Sheahan of Gold Pine Wellness for an intimate, wide-ranging conversation on abdominal massage, bodywork as medicine, and the often-overlooked power of pre conception, pregnancy and postpartum care.

Cara shares her journey from an early calling toward birth work into massage therapy, where she found a path that allows her to support fertility, pregnancy, postpartum healing, and overall vitality. Together, Elliott and Cara explore what abdominal massage really is (and what it isn’t), its roots and evolution, and why this modality can support everything from painful periods and digestion to fertility, pelvic alignment, and nervous system regulation. They also explore bodywork as a whole, why deep tissue is often misunderstood and how gentle work that is in alignment with the nervous system may be much deeper.

They also discuss:

• Why postpartum bodywork is deeply needed and culturally undervalued
• How abdominal massage supports menstrual health, fertility, digestion, and pelvic balance
• The connection between organ placement, circulation, hormones, and pain patterns
• Common misconceptions around prenatal massage and first-trimester care
• Gentle versus deep work, fascia, lymph, and nervous system safety
• Self-massage as ritual, embodiment, and daily medicine
• Plant allies for bodyworkers and womb health, including tulsi, lemon balm, damiana, and mugwort

The conversation closes with reflections on fertility as life force, Cara’s plant relationships, and her hand-drawn Living Tarot deck, alongside practical guidance on who abdominal massage is for, contraindications to be aware of, and how to find a qualified practitioner near you.

Whether you’re curious about womb health, pregnancy and postpartum support, digestive wellness, or simply deepening your relationship with your body, this episode offers grounded wisdom, tenderness, and a reminder that healing doesn’t have to be forceful to be profound.

✨ A nourishing listen for anyone interested in embodied healing and gentle, effective care. ✨

Links from the Episode:

• Gold Pine Wellness (Cara’s practice): https://goldpinewellness.com
• The Abdominal Therapy Collective Directory: https://abdominaltherapycollective.com
• Dancing Willow Herbs Inner Warmth Massage Oil: https://dancingwillowherbs.com/collections/new-bath-and-body/products/inner-warmth-massage-oil-1?variant=47550052860193
• Living Tarot Deck (available at Dancing Willow Herbs if you call to place an order at 970-247-1654)

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If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share with others who would love it.

Support the podcast by making a purchase with Dancing Willow Herbs!

Website: www.dancingwillowherbs.com
Instagram: @dancingwillowherbsco

What if your New Year didn’t start with resolutions but with fire, intention, and deep relationship to the Earth?

In this expansive and intimate episode of The Dancing Willow, Elliott sits down with her Uncle David Elliott, healer, teacher, and ceremonial leader, for a powerful conversation on ritual, intention-setting, and the living intelligence of the natural world. Recorded just before the New Year, this episode invites listeners to reimagine how we mark transitions, release the old, and step consciously into what’s next.

Together, they explore David’s decades-long practice of leading New Year’s fire walks, the potency of choosing a single guiding word rather than a resolution, and why fire, especially at the winter solstice, is such a profound ally for transformation. From chanting under the stars to walking barefoot across hot coals, David shares how ceremony works on both the visible and invisible levels.

The conversation widens to include practical ways anyone can create meaningful ritual at home, working with plants, water, minerals, the directions, and the elements you already feel connected to. David also speaks candidly about cultivating reciprocal relationships with the Earth, plants like tobacco and mullein, animal allies, ancestors, and unseen support systems that guide us when we learn how to listen.

Woven throughout are personal stories, from family lineage and ancestral farming roots to weddings, dreams, and moments of unmistakable guidance, that ground this episode in lived experience.

This is an episode for anyone feeling called to slow down, reconnect, and enter the New Year with reverence, clarity, and trust in the support that surrounds us.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Why fire is a central teacher in winter and New Year ceremonies
• The power of choosing a single word as a life-long compass
• How intention & connection to the elements shapes our nervous system and reality
• Simple ways to create ritual and ceremony at home
• Building relationships with plants, animals, ancestors, and the elements
• Earth-based spirituality beyond dogma or tradition
• How subtle support can be more powerful than force or effort

Links & Resources:

• David’s Website- https://www.davidelliott.com/
• Free Breathwork Meditations on Spotify by David: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7lnGKrOWAuKvNoxEleY8Vm?si=FCABvuzQTwi4zWc-h2XP1A
• Freedom from Anxiety Meditation: https://www.davidelliott.com/freedom-from-anxiety/
• Intro to Breathwork Podcast with Eliza Rose Kane: Episode 3, The Dancing Willow, “Breathing with the Earth: Botanical Breathwork with Eliza Rose Kane” https://open.spotify.com/episode/250Gi4fhBSfXB4DeYQ2yEf?si=e3b53135c0af4d02

Stay Connected
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share with others who would love it.

Support the podcast by making a purchase with Dancing Willow Herbs!

Website: www.dancingwillowherbs.com
Instagram: @dancingwillowherbsco

If you’re craving a grounding, calming episode to carry you through the darkest days of the year, this is the one to press play on. In this winter-solstice-timed conversation, Elliott takes us deep into the green heart of one of her favorite seasonal allies: pine, a plant that offers medicine for the body, steadiness for the spirit, and a gentle reminder that resilience lives in us, even during the winter season.

As evergreens fill our homes and line our snowy trails this time of year, Elliott explores why humans have always been drawn to them in winter and how their presence, fresh, fragrant, symbolic, can be powerful medicine in more ways than one.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why evergreens became symbols of hope, renewal, and resilience during solstice season
  
  
• Energetic qualities of pine: grounding amidst chaos, softening perfectionism, and cultivating self-acceptance
  
  
• How pine can help us find structure and steadiness after the frenetic holiday pace
  
  
• The role of pine flower essence in easing guilt and supporting gentler self-talk
  
  
• The immune, respiratory, and digestive benefits of pine needles
  
  
• Why pine is a powerful ally for cold & flu season
  
  
• The best ways to work with pine, including medicine making techniques and home rituals!
  
  
• The medicine of pine resin
  
  
• The story behind Dancing Willow’s pine tincture and the deeply intentional process of wildcrafting for the Elder Bear Elixir
  
  
• Reflections on Osha, respectful harvesting, and bioregional responsibility
  
  
• A heartfelt end-of-year moment as Elliott wraps up 2025 with gratitude for the community gathered around these plant teachings

Featured Remedies:

• Pine Tincture, handmade from needles harvested on Elliott’s own land
  
  
• Elder Bear Elixir, a winter ally made with local pine, elderberry, and sacred Osha
  
  

Perfect For You If…

You’re navigating holiday overwhelm, seeking grounding practices, exploring herbal immune support, or simply longing to reconnect with the evergreens in your home this time of the year.

Stay Connected
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, leave a review, and share with others who would love it.

Support the podcast by making a purchase with Dancing Willow Herbs!

Website: www.dancingwillowherbs.com
Instagram: @dancingwillowherbsco