VANESSA ROSE KESEF
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Vanessa Kesef
(they/she)
lmt, clc, cst, awc


Founder @ Madrona House
Apothecary + Healing Arts

Trauma Informed Somatic Shadow Work
Energetic + Spiritual Healing
Plant Medicine
Teacher

about me

I am a 4th generation immigrant from Greece and descendant of both Sephardi + Ashkenazi Jewish diasporas of multiple Middle Eastern, Mediteranean and Baltic lineages. My practice is rooted in reclaiming Jewish magic + ritual and the converging healing traditions of my Greek and Middle Eastern heritage while remaining in right relationship to the Spirits of this land and its Ancestors. Why is this important to share? Because it informs how I locate myself withing spiritual practices, how I access and hold space for spiritual healing and my continued effort to ground myself in my own ancestral background.

My journey as healer has taken me from a very western clinical approach into the more spiritual and dynamic realms of the healing arts. My classical training taught me to assess and then treat according to my diagnosis of the situation. As my skills have deepened, I realize the body is it's own best healer and is vastly more capable of expressing its needs than I am at "fixing" them. Instead, I listen to how your body and energy field unfold into the invitation of safer space and find the most profound healing often occurs solely in being compassionately witnessed.

Today, the basis of my work explores early and formative wounds that take up space in our bodies and energy fields and uses a multi-modality approach to integrate those wounds so you can live in alignment with what is most true for you.

As my own healing process continues to unfold, I find that self-care is only one aspect of healing and that for true healing to occur, we must look through the broader lens of socio-cultural well being and ancestral reconnection. An important part of my work is exploring the ways in which my own body remembers cultural trauma, examining my biases, and working towards unsettling settler colonialism in myself and being accountable to the ways it shows up in the healing arts field.

I believe we live in a time that the healers/witches/medicine people among us are being called to awaken and do good work in the world. I also believe that it's harmful to call on the teachings, ancestors, and spirits of other cultures without accountability, elders, and permissions. Part of our cultural wounding here is the loss of severed ancestry and the subsequent loss of medicine ways and spiritual practices. I believe it is our responsibility as healers to deepen into our own healing to relearn and reclaim the practices of our own lineages in reciprocity and right relationship to the spirits and ancestors of the Duwamish.

WELLNESS AS AN INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

I believe that healing is inherently political and that the wellness industrial complex should not exist. Imagine what would happen if your basic needs were met and I’m talking ALL your needs, not just food, water, and shelter but physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. For starters there wouldn’t be a need for the wellness industry, but just imagine, how generous would you be with the gifts you have to offer, if you weren’t fighting for your survival? How much of what you have to offer the world do you grasp with tightly closed fists, doling it out only when you are promised compensation. And if you felt guilt at that last statement, what would happen if you weren’t programmed to think this is your failure but instead recognized it as the gaslighting it is instead of telling yourself: If I just gave a little more, if I just worked a little harder...I’m not suggesting healers not be paid for their work, rather, I’m inviting an examination of the way we consume wellness.

my training

I graduated from massage school in 2006 with a growing passion for education around the science and mystery of healing and feel very fortunate to have had many talented and intuitive teachers along my way.

Massage Therapy at Everest School of Massage (Formerly Ashmead School of Massage)
Doula Certification with Penny Simkin, PT at Bastyr University
Life Coaching Certification with South West Institute of Healing Arts
Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor Certification with Dr. Jayarajan Kodikannath at Kerala Academy
Panchakarma Technician with Dr. Jayarajan Kodikannath at Kerala Academy
Ayurvedic Bodywork with Nickole Thornton Gonzales, LMT, CAP, CYI at North West Ayurveda
Craniosacral Training with Urusla Popp, M.A.c, C.C, VCST at Natural Health Resources Center
Visceral Massage Training with Marty Ryan, LMT and Love your Guts Seminars
Healing Craft Practitioner Training with Ylva Mara Radziszewski, EAMP, LAc at the Cunning Crow Apothecary
Beyond The Binary with LC Continenza, LMT at Elemental Roots Bodywork
Authentic Allyship Immersive with Tada Hozumi at the Selfish Activist
Re-Centering the Marginalized Experience with Davinah Simmons, CD at Born Rooted
1st Year of Core Energetics Somatic Therapy with Aylee Welch, LICSW at Seattle School of Body Psychology

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I view the trust of every client as a gift and view my role in our relationship as merely space holder to encourage self-connection. You are a sacred and whole being and by simply showing up, you have become my teacher and I am grateful.

Collaborations

In June of 2015, I founded Capitol Hill Healing Arts Collective and in March of 2017 opened a second location in Madrona from which my practice is based. We are an amazing group of 17 healers and teachers coming together to offer intentional, inclusive, and accessible spaces for healing, reconnection, and education to unfold.

Our Madrona location offers a charming boutique Apothecary and offers weekly events and classes including Herbalism, Ayurveda, Astrology, Tarot, Practitioner Trainings, Ritual, Sound Baths and more.
 
Interested in learning more?  
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madronahouseapothecary.com
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capitolhillhealingarts.com

GET IN TOUCH

madronahouseapothecary@gmail
206 403 5706
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© 2020 VANESSA Kesef LMT CLC CST AWC   |  Seattle WA

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  • Welcome
  • Private Sessions
  • CLASSES
  • APOTHECARY
  • PATREON
  • COMMUNITY
  • About Me