Sponsor spotlight: Trauma and stress live in the body until there is enough safety to release it

Last month I mentioned I’d be sharing a case study about a rescue dog. This is Esme’s story. It’s the most profound story I’ve personally been a part of.

Esme is a 9-ish-year-old Siberian Husky who was rescued from a hoarding abuse case in 2024. She was kept outdoors in a wire kennel for years. She was severely malnourished and severely underweight with significant muscle atrophy at the time of her rescue. Her foster family took her in and adopted her three months later. I met Esme at the PAWSwalk kickoff event last year where I was a vendor. She was healthy, and also walked with a severe hobble. She initially received massage once a week for 13 weeks and I still see her twice a month.

Working with Esme has been an education at nearly every step. From how an animal moves when muscles have slowly shortened over time, to the ropey feel of muscle fibers rebuilding from an atrophied state, to the extreme sensitivity that occurs when nerves in an area of the body start coming back online. She has taught me as much as I’ve helped her.

What the Body Does to Survive

When an area of a body is in chronic tension (in Esme’s case, the muscles had been in a near-constant state of contraction for years) the nervous system does something remarkable. It begins to turn off the nerves in that area. Blood flow TO the region decreases. Movement of metabolic waste FROM the area slows. The body essentially numbs itself so that the constant pain becomes more bearable. It is, quite literally, survival.

This shutdown doesn’t just happen physically. It happens emotionally too. We’ll get to that part of Esme’s story later.

Our First Sessions

In my first sessions with Esme, I was able to do a great deal. I assessed range of motion in all her joints. She allowed me to touch her body without pushback. I was able to begin real work focusing on circulation, lymphatic flow, muscle hydration, and superficial fascial release. As I mentioned in last month’s article, asking permission is something I do throughout every session with every animal. Esme, at that point, seemed willing.

Eventually, she got a little spicy. She became vocal about what was uncomfortable. It was only then that I understood she had been too depleted in those early sessions to advocate for herself. Almost 18 months after her rescue, she was finally acquiring the physical and emotional resources to have a voice. Her human and I were shocked, and ultimately ecstatic. I smiled, sometimes laughed, when Esme got up to walk away from a session because she had actually become able to get up and walk away quickly.

Week Five

Week five was when the next major shift happened. I was unable to touch Esme at all. Even though I make every effort to keep my own agenda in the background, I had gotten caught up and she knew it. She got up, squared her face six inches from mine (I’m always sitting on the floor), barked once, and walked away. The session was over before it began. Her human and I respected that completely.

It sent me into research mode. Heightened sensitivity like this is a positive sign of neurological recovery. I had slowly created the conditions for those nerve endings to wake up and waking up meant feeling everything that had been switched off for years. All at once. That is the body coming back online.

A Note About the Coat

When I notice a difference in an animal’s coat, it tells me something is likely happening underneath. A straight patch on a curly coat. A curly area on a straight coat. A shift in texture or color. Sometimes with consistent work and as the tissue underneath continues to change, those coat variations can reverse. It’s one of the more visual ways the body shows us a real shift is occurring. Take a look at the difference in Esme’s coat after eight months.

Healing Is Never Linear

Four months into our work together, Esme’s hind end desperately needed attention but she couldn’t tolerate touch there, and I wasn’t sure how to move forward. I discussed her case with a few mentors. I followed their guidance that involved passive touch in the region that would have been under constant compression in a crate coupled with energy work in the areas of her deepest trauma.

What happened during that session was incredible. I could feel shifts under my hands in real time and I was able to touch the full length of her spine immediately, without any reaction from her. What happened within a week of that session was magical.

Esme became a different dog.  Her human could brush the coat of her entire body without the need to avoid her lower spine. She became cuddly. She started asking for affection. She wanted to go on walks. She followed her family around the house. In almost two years since her rescue, she had never done any of those things.

Esme very often stays on her bed when I leave at the end of a session. On the day of that release, she escorted me all the way to my car and stayed there until I drove the full length of her very long driveway and turned out of sight.

The most remarkable thing of all? She runs now. Yes, it’s still a little wonky and we don’t tell her that because the point is: Esme RUNS!

9/4/2025

4/8/2026

I recognize that Esme is not just a collection of damaged muscles, but a whole being whose physical body, nervous system and psychological state are intimately connected. Her story is about what happens when a body finally feels safe enough to release everything it’s been holding. It doesn’t happen all at once. It doesn’t happen on a schedule. But when it happens, it’s everything.

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PAWSwalk 2026

I will be a vendor again this year at the PAWSwalk Kickoff Festival. Look for the big green banner — stop by, say hello, ask questions, and enter to win a free animal massage session in your home.

Sunday, June 7 • 11am–3pm • Civic Center Playfield, Edmonds

Bring all the family, no matter how many legs they have. Register to raise money for PAWS by walking anywhere, anytime between June 7-27. Learn more and register at the link above.

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If it feels like your pet is carrying something you can’t quite name, I’d love to talk. Feel free to call/text 425-561-9156 or email [email protected] to find out whether a session might be a good fit for your animal.

Learn more at StandingStrongMassage.com