About Gina Loree Bryan

Hi, I’m Gina.

Shiatsu practitioner, movement facilitator, fellow human.

My superpowers are:

Invoking calm, and bringing insight, celebration and levity to the Human condition.

Here are ways we we can work together:

My story.

gray cat on red blanket

I live Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with my massage therapist husband, Bill (lucky me!), and our very spoiled cat, Xena.

My ‘holistic health’ journey officially began at age 20 when I stumbled into a job at a macrobiotic food market in Philadelphia after graduating art school.

Even though I did not fully adopt the macrobiotic way of life, the Asian underpinnings of this dietary philosophy instilled in me a view of health based on harmonious relationships: within our bodies, with each other, with the natural world and the Yin/Yang dance of the universe.

This mindset influenced most every other area of my life, including decisions to birth our sons at home, to un/homeschool, to grow our own food, and which eventually led me back to shiatsu and natural movement, which were also part of the macrobiotic lifestyle.

My life has been an interweaving of questions since I was very young: regarding the nature of God and the universe and the true nature of humans.

As John O’Donohue, author of “Anam Cara” observed, I am increasingly aware of the immense privilege and miracle of inhabiting a human body, and it’s a joy to help my fellow travelers to awaken to that miracle as well.

During the almost twenty years since I started my bodywork practice, we have witnessed profound and exponential changes in what it means to be human.

Early on, it became clear that bodywork alone, prompts for ‘better posture’, even a few take-home exercises were becoming woefully inadequate to fill the movement needs of my clients’ bodies.

I miraculously discovered the work of ‘movement scientist’ Katy Bowman, and became certified as a personal trainer in her Restorative Exercise program in 2017.

Even still, as technological developments were outpacing our abilities to adapt physically, mentally, spiritually, and as the crisis of 2020 threw so many into a panicked distrust of the human body, I was grateful to find embodiment champions.

I took on the self-regulation and trauma awareness training of Mark Walsh’s Embodiment Unlimited, becoming an Embodied Meditation teacher in 2022. I was also steeping myself in the nature-connecting work of eco-psychologist Michael J Cohen, and taking personal plunges into Celtic spirituality and the Christian mysteries of the Incarnation, all of which broadened the playing field of movement and soul.

katy boman and gina bryan

Me & Katy, Sequim, WA, 2016

As bodyworker, I’ve never been comfortable with the ‘therapist-as-guru-and-repair-person’ model.

I’ve always been a shy and shaky public speaker, but that’s never stopped me from passionately reminding my fellow earth travelers of our humanity, and about the ‘miracle and privilege’ of what it means to inhabit a human body.

I feel honored to be able communicate worth and preciousness via the touch of shiatsu.

And I stand in gratitude and awe as my ‘embodied soul curriculum’ continues to reveal itself through other teachers, writings, questions asked of myself and my clients, which I so eagerly share.

I truly believe that movement is how we are as a body, how we communicate ‘soul’ into the shared space of our human existence and God’s creation, and that we can do this with our limbs, our voice, our smile, our embodied presence.

Professional Bio

  • Ongoing immersion in Qigong, embodied movement and meditation practices, applied eco-psychology, organic gardening + medicine making, and generally skirting the edges of mainstream culture.

    • Certified Spiritual Life Coach (2023)

    • Certified Embodied Meditation Teacher (2022)

    • Certified Personal Trainer - Restorative Exercise Specialist (2017)

    • AOBTA® and ABMP Certified Shiatsu Practitioner (2005)

    The ‘parenting years’: (1989-2018):

    Homebirthing, homeschooling and all that entails, volunteer for Liedloff Continuum Network, Reiki Level 1, various herbal trainings, publishing my first blog, ‘town crier’ for hyperlocal news start-up, starting my bodywork practice and a very shy teaching career…

    Early adult life (1986 - 1989):

    Art school in Philadelphia, various freelance graphic design gigs, job in macrobiotic market, canvasser for Greenpeace, LOTS of Grateful Dead shows ;), partner in greeting card/silkscreen/tie-dye business.

  • As a voracious learner of all things related to personal and spiritual growth, I’ve been influenced by so many.

    This is a short list of the primaries, who have great lineages beyond them:

As a shiatsu practitioner, my overarching intention is to relax or move the tension in your body that may be inhibiting freedom of movement, or causing discomfort.

Through movement and soul care coaching, the intention is similar.

This tension can be the product of stories, injuries, habits, environments - some conscious, but much is often below the surface, embedded in our cells.

Both informed touch and movement, along with gentle inquiry, can reveal unconscious patterns and 'stuck' Qi  (life force energy) - which can be brought to awareness and then invited to be released or move in an appropriate way. 

Mostly, I help you to bear witness to the story your body is telling - through touch, movement and embodied presence.