Andréa Pallotto.
Passionate Nervous System educator focusing on Feldenkrais and Somatic Experiencing
MY EDUCATION
AFTER 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE…
My shining achievements
I graduated with distinction at Concordia University
I graduated with distinction from Concordia University’s Feminism and Gender Studies Program, with a minor in Art History. There I learnt to crtique the foundations of Colonial, White Supremacist and Sexist institutions. There I also volunteered and built incredible connections with the Montreal Queer and Trans and Activist scene.
I did four years of Feldenkrais training with Aliza Stewart
I graduated from the Boston Feldenkrais Professional Training, under the guidance of the brilliant Aliza Stewart in 2020. Since then, I have taught more than 400 public classes, gave hundreds of private lessons and built this company.
I am deepening my practice with Somatic Expericing certifcation.
I started my Somatic Experiencing Certification in 2023, under the incredible Francine Kelley. I am done my third semester.
Benefit from the expertise I've gained over a decade.
You can do this alone or you can learn from someone who's started from severe Chronic Pain, Depression, PTSD and Anxiety to a place of peace.
HOW I GOT HERE
MY PERSONAL JOURNEY TOWARDS PEACE
Obviously you want to learn more about me before you actually commit to this. How can I claim this stuff works? Here's how it's worked for me...
My whole story begins with my Nonna (grandmother), who emigrated to Montreal with her family and husband. She gave birth to my mother two years prior and suffered one of the worst postpartum depression you could see. She hated being around my mother, and this is the result - a mother who has no boundaries, incredible amounts of anxiety and shame and an inability to be present. My mother's husband, my biological father, had Epilepsy, which largely remained unaddressed. I believe his Epilepsy had severely damaged his brain, which caused him to be physically and psychologically abusive to my ENTIRE family.
An unavailable mother and an abusive father meant I was in the danger zone all the time. I never learned how to regulate my nervous system because they both didn't even know how to and because I was never safe, witnessed and loved for being myself.
I was consciously aware of how dangerous this space was from the age of 8 (and likely somatically since birth). Apart from my parent's violence, I suffered through a car crash at the age of 5 (I was sitting in the front seat when my mother's husband (who had stopped his pills) had an epileptic attack and crashed into a wall), extensive and unaddressed physical and sexual abuse from relatives, intense suicidation, self-harm, zero self-confidence and bullying.
I was able to leave at the age of 21, in the mid-university experience - which coincided with me accepting my queer and trans (non-binary) experience. I decided to leave my family behind.
University gave me life, but it also coincided with the start of the intense and debilitating anxiety, chronic pain and depression symptoms (which is a usual experience in trauma). I was never able to address the trauma from that house; thus, it stayed with me wherever I went.
“We become traumatized when our ability to respond to a perceived threat is in some way overwhelmed."
― Peter A. Levine, Healing Trauma
I still remember the moment I realized something was wrong with myself. It started with persistent anxiety and an occasional twinge in my lower back, which I brushed off as temporary experiences. Gradually, these experiences became more prolonged and more profound. The twinges became a persistent ache that spread to my shoulders, neck, and hips. Doctor visits, X-rays, and medication seemed to provide temporary relief. Still, the pain always returned, haunting me like a relentless ghost.
My life revolved around this pain, and my days became defined by limitations and my "bad knees." I developed a theory that "my body was doing this to me." As if my brain and my body were separate entities. I felt trapped in a cycle of discomfort, unable to perform simple tasks without wincing in agony. I felt disconnected from myself and the world around me.
Feldenkrais stumbled across my email, which piqued some curiosity. Words like "awareness," "small," and "care" felt like what I needed. I decided to try it, hoping to find some respite from my chronic pain. Little did I know that this decision would change my path.
I started by doing group classes and then turned to individual lessons. Sarah, my practitioner, guided me through a series of movements, drawing my attention to the patterns of tension and habitual postures I unknowingly held. With each movement, I developed a heightened self-awareness, feeling more connected to my body than ever.
As weeks turned into months, I immersed myself in the practice of Feldenkrais and even joined a training. Slowly but steadily, my chronic pain started to lessen.
But what astonished me even more was the newfound understanding I gained about myself through this process. I realized that my pain was not just a physical ailment but also a manifestation of deeper emotional and psychological patterns.
“"My purpose is to allow people to move closer to actually being creatures of free choice, to genuinely reflect individual creativity and emotion, freeing the body of habitual tensions and wired-patterns of behaviour so that it may respond without inhibition to do what the person wants." - Moshe Feldenkrais
Nearing graduation from my Feldenkrais training, I was finally approved to get my Double Mastectomy. COVID-19 had just started, and hospital surgeries were generally faster and scarier than usual. The whole experience was quick and dizzying. Three to four months after my surgery (post-graduation), a lot of symptoms I had effectively gotten rid of from my Feldenkrais training started reappearing (because they had never actually been adequately dealt with from a trauma perspective). I suffered from Chronic General Urticaria, which no doctors could understand and help with (I was constantly covered head to toe in hives, and my mouth, ears, and fingers were swollen and in pain). I realized I was showing symptoms of PTSD. Everything from dizziness, nausea and fainting (which I now know is my system going into freeze from some gentle touch I was applying to my chest). From there, my left shoulder blade was in immense pain, and I believe I was suffering from the beginning of a Frozen Shoulder, yet no doctor (including my surgeon) would believe me. I had no actual image of where my arms were, as if they were ghosts, and lifting them felt impossible, and all the Feldenkrais I did mostly overwhelmed my system (the moment I went into complete freeze and got sent to the hospital).
AND HERE I AM TODAY
I stand as a living testament to the incredible power of our SOMA. Though not entirely pain and trauma free, I have gained a deeper understanding of my internal language. I recognize when I am holding tension and/or activation. I respond with compassion, guiding myself back into a state of ease and comfort.
More importantly, Somatics has taught me to cherish every moment, celebrating the small victories once overshadowed by pain.
WHAT I OFFER TODAY
As I progress further along this journey of self-discovery and growth, I am increasingly motivated to share the benefits of Somatics with others who might be struggling with chronic pain, depression, PTSD, and anxiety, or who are simply seeking a path towards understanding themselves better.
With love,
Andréa
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