the most important relationship you can tend is the one with your Self
Your practice. Your pace. Your inner landscape.
what is courting self
This work is held in a spiritual container. Not a clinical one. If you are drawn to ceremony, to the wisdom of ancient traditions, to the idea that healing can be devotional as well as practical — you are in the right place.
Using the breath, sensation, awareness and physical and emotional release we support the body in releasing held tension and old stories to allow reconnection with its own wisdom and wellness.
Depending on what your body is ready for, your session may include somatic exploration, breath, Parts work, nervous system education, movement or guided meditation.
It is not therapy. It is a practice — a slow, devotional journey of turning inward with curiosity, meeting what is ready to be met and building genuine relationship with your inner world over time.
People often leave having made connections between their body, their story and their inner experience that they hadn’t accessed before.
Not because something is broken. Because something is opening.
Over time this journey can offer a sense of clarity, practical tools for nervous system regulation and a deeper connection to your Self — what Parts work calls being Self-led.
Sacred cacao can be a deepening option for accessing Self and bringing ritual and ceremony to your inner exploration. Ritual creates a different flow and and welcomes intention. It shifts awareness into a new momeny and welcomes us into full presence to it. Read more below about my own cacao practice and how it supports this work.
the journey into parts
Parts work is based on Internal Family Systems. A model that understands each of us as a system of distinct parts, each with its own perspective and role. You may recognize them as the inner critic or maybe the part that pushes you to be perfect.
In Parts work we don’t eliminate or override these parts. We turn toward them with curiosity. We get to know them. We build relationship with the inner system — and in doing so, access the compassionate, curious, creative presence that IFS calls the Self.
the somatic journey
Somatics is a body-based practice that supports the nervous system in releasing held tension and reconnecting with its wisdom. In somatics we move from “story”, mental thoughts and a need to “figure it out,” to listening to the body.
This is an inner journey to discover what stories the body holds. Open to new insights. Witness the journey of the body as it unfolds, shares and shifts. Bring your curiosity, open heart and patience. Your body may have been waiting for you to listen for a long time.
this is for you if...
You are navigating burnout — not just tiredness but the kind of depletion that makes you question everything.
Your have been running on overdrive and you’re ready to come back to yourself through nervous system regulation and somatic techniques.
You are ready for inner work that honors your healing journey and spiritual life as well as your mental and emotional one.
You are ready to shift from mental stories to somatic (body based) connection and transformation.
You want to get to know all the parts of you — with patience, care and without agenda.
You understand that genuine inner relationship takes time — and you are ready to begin courting Self. It’s a process…not an event.
Welcome to a new courtship.
each courting self session is unique...
Your session is shaped by you, your system and what is ready to be met.
From there we follow what arises with compassion, curiosity and creativity. Every session is a step deeper into the courtship.
Sessions are available remotely and accessible wherever you are.
Curious about what a session looks like for you?
pricing
Discovery Call – 30 minutes
Remote Free
Courting Self – The Introduction – 60 minutes
New to Parts work? Curious what it holds for you? This introductory session offers a gentle first experience — an orientation to Internal Family Systems and a guided journey into your inner landscape. Breath and body awareness woven throughout.
A gentle first meeting — with your parts and with the possibility of going deeper.
Remote $85 Introductory price $50
Courting Self — 90 minutes
Ready to go deeper? The full Courting Self session offers an extended container for Parts work and Somatic facilitation — more time to settle, follow the thread and meet what is ready to be met.
Your system, your pace, your inner landscape. A practice that builds over time.
In person $160 Introductory price $110·
Remote $135 Introductory price $85
Courting Self + — 120 minutes
Courting Self+ offers everything in a 90 minute Courting Self session, plus 30 minutes of somatic integration — yoga asana, yoga nidra or gentle movement decided together at the natural close of the session based on what your system needs. No yoga experience needed.
The practice, complete. Space for Self to arrive.
In person $195 Introductory price $130
Remote $170 Introductory price $108
Book A Session
Somatic Wellness Sessions with Melissa Anne
Courting Self is a wellness and somatic facilitation offering based on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Melissa Anne is a certified yoga teacher and Parts Practitioner, not a licensed therapist or medical provider. This is not therapy or clinical mental health treatment. Remote sessions available.
the magic of parts + cacao
I see sacred cacao as a plant ally that supports connecting to the seat of the Self. It opens the heart before the inner work begins — creating the conditions for compassionate meeting rather than effortful doing. Cacao contains beneficial neurotransmitters, neuro-modulators and minerals that work with the body’s pathways related to mood, circulation, emotional regulation and nervous system balance. This is why cacao and Parts work are such a powerful combination.
I believe moving into our inner landscape is devotional work. Opening that inward journey with intention invites the nervous system to slow down to receive the present moment. It allows for grounding and redirecting the mind from over-work or autopilot.
Cacao opens the door. The courtship begins.
Sipping cacao intentionally as a gateway to the inner journey and welcoming a few moments of stillness changes the quality of the experience.
courting cacao
Interested in Courting Self and sacred cacao?
Cacao has been part of my almost daily practice for over three years — a ritual of devotion, listening and honoring.
I sit with her slowly. I sip with intention. This is not a preparation for the work. It is the work itself.
When I began my Parts Practitioner training I also began my own Parts work. I don’t rush into sessions. I prepare — an altar, time centering, cacao. A few months in I recognized what was happening. Cacao was not just opening my heart before the work. She was becoming a true access point — a gateway to Self, deepening my capacity to meet what arises with genuine curiosity and compassion. She had been all along.
This is why cacao and Parts work belong together in Courting Self. Not as a sequence but as a relationship. Over time the two practices deepen each other — and the invitation is not a single session of insight but a way of living.
Present. Returning to Self. Again and again.
My cacao practice draws from small batch cacao sourced from my teacher in Guatemala and from Kokoleka Cacao. If you want to develop a regular relationship with sacred cacao and also bring that energy into your remote Courting Self sessions, use the code below for a discount on your Kokoleka Cacao purchase.
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