Jenna Kit Milner

Information may not be reliable

Welcome! My name is Jenna Kit Milner. Since 1996 I have been a licensed massage therapist in Ithaca, New York. On this site you will find descriptions of techniques and core beliefs that distinguish my practice in the healing arts and yoga. Under Recommended I have provided an annotated list of books and weblinks. Thank you for your interest and support!

A Vision of Health as Freedom
A native intelligence lives in each of us, which is accessible through the body. We can tap this source of health and well-being by experiencing pleasure. Moving from contraction to expansion is deeply pleasurable. Expansion is not simply a spatial descriptionits also a way of describing freedom, a state of all possibility. When the current of life can move freely through us, we enjoy health. In contrast, when those currents meet an impassewhether a physical, psychological, or energetic restrictionwe suffer, and our truth is distorted.
It sounds simple, yet sometimes theres nothing more complicated than relaxing our hold on habitual or restrictive patterns! Tension can be addressed by any process that brings awareness to restricted areas and opens them up (techniques, for example, such as massage, yoga, psychological transformation, or dreamwork). The key to unlocking tension can be a nonverbal process or a verbal one; it can be an experience of intense sensation or indescribable delicacy. When the flow returns, we recognize our essence, our essential tune, and this is deeply satisfying.
Supporting Health through Personal Exploration
I follow the needs of the moment, not a routine. Each session is a fresh, spontaneous balance of movement and stillness. Stillness is the root of what I offer, whether I am guiding a yoga experience, doing a deep-tissue massage, or holding a light craniosacral contact.
In addition to stillness, my work is anchored in physical precision, energy flow, and awareness. My intentions are to enhance physical comfort, encourage the authentic self, help life-energy circulate, and support the evolution of conscious awareness.
My Path To Eight Waves
My path to Ithaca and working with the body was not direct. I hold a bachelors degree in Linguistics from Swarthmore College and had a career in publishing; it was after experiencing personal transformation and healing through bodywork and yoga that I dedicated myself to the healing arts. In 1996 I became licensed in New York State as well as Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. I also hold certifications in Biodynamic Craniosacral Work and Awareness-Oriented Structural Integration. I have been a certified Kripalu yoga instructor since 2000.
Two of the modalities that distinguish me from a typical therapist are Craniosacral Work and Structural Integration. However, I also offer relaxation (Swedish) massage. My sessions are quite varied and are tailored to the client. The standard session length is 80 minutes. Yoga tutorials are 90 minutes.
Why Eight Waves?
My longing for the ocean has remained untamed since I left an island off the coast of Maine to attend massage school in Ithaca. In naming my business, I sought a phrase that would evoke the poetry of the sea, and I discovered oneEight Wavesthat had associations relevant to my work.
In addition to my love of the ocean, theres actually a physiological connection to the name Eight Waves. A tidal system is found in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is produced in certain brain cavities, contained in membranous sacs, and continually bathes the brain and central nervous system. The cranial wave is the CSFs inherent pulsing rhythm of eight to fourteen fluctuations per minute (yes, eight waves!). This pulse gets translated into the bodys tissues and is palpable to the craniosacral practitioner.
One more association: Surfers and marine researchers have taken note of the eighth wave phenomenon, in which roughly every eighth wave is significantly larger and more powerful than the seven preceding.