Marika Baxter PT, MSPT, OCS
For as long as I can remember I’ve felt aware. Of the unseen and the unspoken. What was underneath the surface of the visible and tangible world. And like many, this less objective or "knowable" landscape felt off limits to explore. Until.
My healing journey started with the physical body. As a gymnast, I experienced many injuries and had a series of knee surgeries in high school. After going through cycles of rehabilitation and having this profession in my lineage, I went to college to pursue a degree in physical therapy. As I continued to heal myself and work with patients, my awareness of these invisible and less objective threads grew. I began seeking the knowledge and understanding of what it was I was perceiving and why it was woven into the experience of pain.
Through my immersion into these questions, I've come to understand that it's not only our physicality that needs healing. I began to study the profound affects the psyche and subtle energy have on how we experience being in this body. Our traumas - personal, lineage and collective - inform our beliefs and perceptions of ourselves and our circumstances. When unprocessed, they affect how our energy and life force flows. And ultimately, the unseen and unmet manifests in our bodies. Dysfunction in the nervous systems, musculoskeletal system and movement patterns are just some ways this can be expressed. I believe it is in uncovering and recovering these parts of ourselves and restoring the flow of subtle energy that we can begin to truly heal and ease our suffering. And that perhaps it isn't just healing we are seeking after all, but a return to wholeness. In soma, psyche and spirit.
My work is always evolving and currently sits at the intersections of physical, emotional, energetic, intergenerational, and spiritual worlds of healing and transformation. My nearly 20 years as a physical therapist gifted me the understanding of the nuances of human movement and anatomy, and continues to guide me in weaving together the physical and the subtle layers of being. Through intuitive energy healing techniques, I'm able to see and feel the multidimensionality of your being, and help you unravel, restore balance, and reconnect to your innate healing capacity. And as a certified Realization Process Teacher and IFS trained practitioner, I use somatic meditation practices, self inquiry and inner child work to recover a felt-sense of wholeness. My intention with this work is for you to reclaim your own aliveness and embrace your whole, authentic Self. To remove the barriers to unconditional love and know yourself as both the human and divine being that you are.
I look forward to meeting you. With love,
Marika
"I sought out Marika Baxter because she is also trained as a physical therapist. As I’d hoped, her multi-faceted understanding of the body has informed her teaching as she shows me how to move within my limitations.
Unexpectedly, she has given me more. She has shared her wisdom about how to discover myself through the medium of my body—which is, after all, my “self.” Marika is calm, kind, and generous with her knowledge. I feel lucky to work with her."
- C.S., Connecticut
EDUCATION
Springfield College, Masters of Science in Physical Therapy, 2003
CERTIFICATIONS & TRAININGS
Certified Realization Process Teacher - Empathic Ground/Spiritual Psychology, Embodiment - Judith Blackstone
Advanced Energy Apprenticeship - Cyndi Dale
Reiki Level I & II - Maggie Taylor
The Power of Embodied Transformation, Somatic Coaching Program - Coaches Rising
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Circle Program - Richard Schwartz, Toni Herbine-Blank, Pamela Krause
Somatic IFS Workshop - Susan McConnell
Movement for Trauma, Level 1 - Jane Clapp
Advanced Energy Training for Empaths - Wendy DeRosa
Comprehensive Pilates Mat & Apparatus - Balanced Body
Aromatherapy Certification Program - Aromahead Institute
North American Institute of Orthopaedic Manual Therapy (NAIOMT)- Level I - IV comprehensive training
Orthopaedic Certified Specialist, Physical Therapy (OCS)