About Marsha
My name is Marsha Rosenblatt (pronouns: she/her) and I am a certified massage therapist and yoga instructor, practicing in my hometown of Oakland, CA. Meaningful pieces of my identity include being queer, cisgender, white, Jewish, and able-bodied. I aim to show up for clients of all backgrounds with humility, confidence, and respect. I firmly believe that true holistic, integrated healing is both an inside job, and a collective experience. My goal is to encourage each client to resource themselves in a way that grounds and empowers their healing journey, while discovering ways to show up in service to the collective healing of our modern world. I am inspired by using body-based somatic modalities to help facilitate deep self-healing processes for each client and student I work with. We are all in this together!
A Little More About Me
Growing up in Oakland helped me foster an inherent awareness of, and humble appreciation for, both the potent power of holistic wellness and the stark reality of social, political, and economic inequity pervading our mainstream culture. My relationship with these two realities deeply informs the space from which I offer yoga and bodywork services.
My yoga teaching style is slow, gentle, and heavily focused on physical alignment and safety, influenced by my knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology as a massage therapist, as well as my previous Ashtanga yoga practice. My approach to bodywork is slow, deep, embodied, and structural. My current Vipassana meditation practice also significantly influences all of my yoga and bodywork offerings.
Professional Experience
With over 9 years of experience teaching yoga in all types of settings and group sizes, 3 years as a licensed massage therapist offering therapeutic integrated bodywork to a diverse array of clients, and over 4 years of work as a crisis counselor, I feel passionate about sharing the value holistic wellness in support of integrated, sustainable mental health.
Trauma-Informed Wellness
I prioritize a trauma-informed approach in all of my work. The trauma-informed framework is a client-forward approach that recognizes the lived experience of carrying trauma physically, and prioritizes the client having a felt sense of safety and agency whenever possible. I use different techniques and communication styles with each client and student to meet their specific and unique needs as best as I can. Additionally, I remain engaged with my own learning process of understanding, and helping to deconstruct, the institutional white supremacy, classism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and other structural oppressions that shape our culture in harmful ways and create so much of the nervous system stress that many are seeking relief from. I view this anti-oppressive lens as a crucial component of a truly integrated trauma-informed approach to wellness.
I focus on inviting each client’s nervous system towards a space of feeling safe and relaxed, so they may feel empowered and in charge of how they show up in their own body. Using breathwork, mindful touch, somatic awareness, and conscious movement, my yoga and bodywork services offer a space for clients to dive into the crevices of their bodies for deep and fundamental re-integration towards wholeness.
It is from this knowledge and continued learning that I offer the opportunity to invite a deeper felt sense of safety into your nervous system through my bodywork and yoga offerings.
I look forward to the opportunity to work together!
Training and Education
YOGA
Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher Training - Yoga to the People; Berkeley, CA
200 hours - Completed 2013
Comprehensive yoga teacher training focused on fast-paced Vinyasa flow including breathing exercises, pose sequencing, adjustments, and yoga philosophy
Yoga for Youth & Trauma Informed Yoga - Niroga Institute; Oakland, CA
20 hours - Completed 2015
Continuing education training on trauma-informed yoga instruction for youth and adults living with post traumatic stress disorder in studio, school, and juvenile detention settings. This training included a comprehensive overview of the physiology of trauma, how to cue yoga practice and hold space for students in a way that avoids common triggers, and an integrated understanding of how trauma compounds through generations, often through experiences of racism, misogyny, classism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and ableism.
Yoga for Prisoners - Prison Yoga Project; San Francisco, CA
12 hours - Completed 2015
Continuing education training on teaching trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices in jails, prisons, and rehabilitation centers
Restorative Yoga - Namaste Yoga + Wellness; Berkeley, CA
8 hours - Completed 2015
Continuing education training on using breathwork and yoga props for a restorative yoga practice to promote relaxation of the nervous system
Pranayama - Namaste Yoga + Wellness; Berkeley, CA
8 hours - Completed 2016
Continuing education training on using different breathwork techniques to promote either relaxation or invigorating energy
MASSAGE + BODYWORK
CERTIFICATION:
California - Massage Therapy; CAMTC #87180
Massage Therapy Licensing Program - Maui School of Therapeutic Massage; Makawao, HI
656 hours - Completed 2019
Comprehensive massage therapy training including Swedish, Lomi Lomi, deep tissue, trigger point therapy, joint mobilization, therapeutic stretching, Shiatsu, myofascial, and hydrotherapy techniques; Comprehensive biology curriculum including kinesiology, anatomy, and all organ systems
Joint Play Mobilization for Upper Extremity, Thoracic, and Cervical Spine w/ Lynn Wind - Maui School of Therapeutic Massage; Makawao, HI
14 hours - Completed 2019
Continuing education training on tractioning and mobilizing joints of the upper extremities and thoracic & cervical spine to increase range of motion and ease of movement
Trager Fundamentals/Release & Resistance Work for Pelvic Girdle + Low Back w/ Deane Juhan - Maui School of Therapeutic Massage; Makawao, HI
21 hours - Completed 2019
Continuing education training on nervous system relaxation & resisted muscular contractions to strengthen while increasing range of motion and ease of movement in the pelvis and low back
MENTAL HEALTH
Crisis Line Counselor Training - Crisis Support Services of Alameda County; Oakland, CA
45 hours - Completed 2012
Comprehensive training on short-term mental health counseling over the phone and via text. Content included assessing and safety planning for suicidality, crisis intervention procedures, engaged listening, providing support and validation for emotional distress, and referrals to external services. This training was followed by over 4 years of volunteer work as a crisis line counselor for Crisis Support Services, serving Alameda County and other Northern California counties when their mental health crisis support services were not available.