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Melanie Requet

@wave_bodywork

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🌺 Holistic Massage for Women
✨️ A safe place for sensitives to be nurtured & held with care
✨️ 19+ years in practice
🌲 Cumberland, Vancouver Island

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Somatic massage is mind-body therapy that goes beyond traditional muscle relaxation by focusing on how psychological stress and trauma are stored in the body. It aims to release this "trapped" physical tension while fostering a deeper connection between your nervous system and your emotional well-being.

How It Works?

Unlike traditional massage (which focuses strictly on muscle manipulation), somatic massage operates on the principle that the body and mind are deeply interconnected. It helps you shift from the "fight, flight, or freeze" mode of a stressed nervous system into a relaxed state that promotes healing.

Bottom-Up Healing: Traditional therapy uses thoughts to change feelings. Somatic work uses the physical body to shift emotions and thoughts.

Tuning In: Rather than zoning out, you are encouraged to stay mindful and notice exactly where you feel tension, warmth, or movement during the session.

Common Techniques:

A somatic massage therapist typically combines specialized bodywork with mindfulness. Key techniques include:

Body Awareness: Guiding you to identify where you habitually hold stress, allowing the body to naturally release it.

Breathwork: Using slow, rhythmic breathing to help ground you and calm the nervous system.

Mindful Touch: Incorporating gentle, deliberate strokes, light stretching, or myofascial release while listening to your body's verbal and non-verbal feedback.

Centering: Helping you establish a calm "home base" or safe sensation within your own body.

Who Can Benefit?

People often seek out somatic massage to help resolve issues tied to chronic stress or past trauma. It is frequently utilized to:

Manage chronic muscle pain and tension headaches.

Alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Regulate sensory overload and ease emotional distress.

Improve sleep quality and overall mobility.

📸@_meredith__rose_

#massagecumberland #massagecomoxvalley #emotionalwellbeing #somatichealing taken in Wave Bodywork by @wave_bodywork

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4 months ago

Ten years ago today, I journeyed to the sacred island of Kauai to apprentice in the ancient art of Lomilomi massage. I thought I was going there to learn a massage technique… but what I received was an initiation.

Lomilomi transformed my work from a profession into a spiritual practice. It taught me how to truly hold another human heart with reverence. How to listen beyond words. How to move in prayerful rhythm with the body, to “dance” with the energy field, to co-regulate, soften, and open to grace.

There is something profoundly sacred about being invited into another person’s healing journey. I feel deeply blessed to have been touched by this lineage and entrusted with this level of healing. To share it with others continues to fill my heart with awe, gratitude, and joy. 🌺✨

🌊 Lomi Lomi is a traditional Hawaiian massage technique often referred to as "loving hands" massage. It is a holistic healing experience designed to harmonize the body, mind, and spirit.
It is based on the Hawaiian belief that memories and emotions can be stored in the body's cells. The continuous strokes and prayers being said over the body help release these blockages.🌈

Online booking:
https://www.vagaro.com/wbam8n/services

More info:
www.wavebodywork.com

#lomilomimassage #healinghands #cumberlandmassage #holisticmassage #divinefeminineenergy taken in Wave Bodywork by @wave_bodywork

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5 months ago

I’m Melanie — a holistic bodyworker and devotee of the intelligence that lives beneath the skin.

For over 19 years I’ve been in service to the body’s deeper language — the tremors, the holding, the quiet ways it asks to be met and listened to. My work is rooted in trauma-informed care, nervous system awareness, and a reverence for consent and safety… but beneath all of that is something more primal: a belief that the body is not broken, only waiting to be met with loving presence.

I work from my practice, Wave Bodywork, here on Vancouver Island — a land of moss, mist, and ancient green memory. In sessions, I listen with my hands. I follow the threads of tension, breath, and energy as they reveal what is ready to soften and return home.

Outside the treatment room, I love to learn, grow, and expand. I adore sober ecstatic dance, speaking to animals as equals, drinking cacao like medicine, and disappearing into forests that feel older than language itself. I trust the intelligence of these spaces — they teach me everything I need to know.

I don’t see healing as fixing, but as remembering — a shedding of what is not ours. A slow return to something more instinctual, more honest, and more alive.

I’m looking forward to keep walking this path of devotion, mystery, and embodied listening.

Let's connect! 💝

📷@_meredith__rose_ by @wave_bodywork

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5 months ago

Female spaces need to be beautiful!
Entering a beautifully curated space evokes an immediate sense of ease and peace.
Dreaming up and intentionally maintaining a space is a ceremony.
When the altar becomes the whole room and the central piece, the queen, is the guest on the massage table.
Yvonne made this macrame-art, especially for me and WaveBodywork. We spoke about my vision for the space and the energies I am calling in: luxurious, boutique-spa, sanctuary for women. She nailed it! 💝
Working and living in a beautiful environment brings me so much joy!
It's the simple things! 🥰

#macramelove #macrameart #holisticmassage #somaticmassage #lomilomimassage taken in Wave Bodywork by @wave_bodywork

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2 months ago

🌊 A calling from one perimenopausal woman to another...
Over the last few years, I've come to realize that I have a deep calling to support women through perimenopause.
Not because I studied it in a textbook.
Because I lived it.
There were moments when it was so overwhelming that it felt frightening. My body no longer felt like my own. My emotions became unpredictable. I questioned my memory, my resilience, and my identity. At times, I truly wondered if I was losing my mind.

Now I know that many of these experiences can be part of the profound hormonal and nervous system changes that happen during perimenopause. But at the time, I didn't know that.
What I wanted most wasn't someone to "fix" me.
I wanted someone to look me in the eyes with kindness. To believe me. To reassure me that I wasn't weak, dramatic, or broken.

I longed for a practitioner who could hold space for everything I was experiencing with compassion and without judgment.

Walking through the perimenopause-Thunderstorm changed me.
It has shaped the way I now hold space for every woman who comes into my treatment room.

My somatic bodywork isn't about "curing" perimenopause. It's about offering a place where your nervous system can finally exhale. A place where you are listened to, believed, and cared for. A place where your changing body is met with gentleness instead of judgment.

If you're walking through this season and feel like you've lost yourself, I want you to know this:
You are not alone. You are not "too emotional." You are not failing.
You are moving through one of the most profound transitions of a woman's life.
And you deserve care that feels deeply human.

With love,
Melanie 💙 Wave Bodywork

Online booking:
https://www.schedulicity.com/scheduling/WBAM8N

#cumberlandmassage #perimenopause #womenhelpingwomen #somaticmassage #safespace taken in Cumberland, British Columbia by @wave_bodywork

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3 months ago

Loving-touch Is Medicine (And Science Is Catching Up)

What if one of the most powerful medicines for your body wasn't found in a bottle but in a warm embrace, a heartfelt conversation... or a caring massage?

One of my favorite quotes comes from Dr. Mark Hyman:

"Receiving caring, loving touch can literally change your gene expression. It activates repair genes and turns off inflammation. Loving touch is medicine."

As someone who spends her days helping people reconnect with their bodies, I find this endlessly inspiring.

Researchers in the emerging field of sociogenomics are discovering that our relationships and experiences don't just affect our mood—they can influence which genes are switched on or off.

When you feel safe, cared for, and connected, your body releases healing hormones like oxytocin and endorphins. These beautiful chemicals help calm your nervous system, lower cortisol (your primary stress hormone), reduce inflammation, strengthen immune function, and encourage your body's natural repair processes.

In other words, your body shifts from survival mode into healing mode.

Massage can be one of the ways we invite that shift.

It's not simply about relaxing tight muscles. It's about giving your nervous system permission to exhale. It's about reminding your body that, for this precious moment, it is safe.

Safety is where healing begins.

On the other hand, prolonged stress, loneliness, and emotional overwhelm keep the body producing stress hormones that can promote chronic inflammation and contribute to faster aging and a greater risk of illness.

This is why I don't see massage as a luxury.

I see it as an act of preventative healthcare.

A regular massage isn't just something nice you do for yourself after you've reached your breaking point. It's a way of caring for your nervous system before burnout takes hold. It's a way of supporting your body so it can do what it was beautifully designed to do: heal.

If life has felt especially full lately—if you've been carrying everyone else's needs, pushing through exhaustion, or simply forgetting to receive as much as you give—consider this your gentle reminder.

#wavebodywork #bodywork taken in Cumberland, British Columbia by @wave_bodywork

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3 months ago

July is afoot!
It has a sneaky way of pushing us beyond our limits. More sunshine, more socializing, more adventures, more caring for the kids... and somehow,we're still expected to show up to work as though we're running on a full tank.
The potential for burnout (and the occasional gardening, hiking, or pickleball injury) is endless.

Thankfully, so is the potential for joy.
Long evenings. Cold swims. Bare feet. Belly laughs. Picnics. Deep conversations under the stars. Summer has a beautiful way of filling our cups—if we remember to stop long enough to drink from them.

As always, balance is the secret ingredient. And scheduling self-care before you desperately need it helps more than most of us like to admit.
As Rabindranath Tagore wisely wrote,
"Rest belongs to the work as the eyelids to the eyes."
We were never meant to run at full speed all year long.

This is where I come in.
To help your nervous system exhale.
To offer your body a chance to soften.
To remind you what deep rest feels like through presence, compassionate touch, and genuine care.
Your body works incredibly hard for you every day. This summer, let someone take care of it for a while.

🪻 A Personal Note to my Vancouver people:
I’ll be in Vancouver on July 17th
to go to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
If you happen to be there too,
I would love to see some familiar faces in the crowd.
I am opening a few appointments while I’m in the big city.
I’d love to care for you if the timing aligns.

Vancouver July Booking Options:
Please DM or text me to book at 778.706.0378

Saturday July 18th: noon
Monday July 20th: 3pm + 6pm
Tuesday July 21st: noon + 3pm + 6pm
Tuesday July 28th: noon + 3pm + 6pm
Thursday July 30th: noon + 3pm + 6pm
Friday July 31st: noon + 3pm + 6pm
Saturday August 1st: noon + 3pm + 6pm

🪻 Comox Valley community:
If it feels right to come in for a session in Cumberland, you can book here:
https://www.vagaro.com/wbam8n/services
I would love to hold space for you. 💛
If you cannot find a spot online that works, please text me and we’ll figure something out together.

With care,
Melanie ✨

#cumberlandmassage
#holisticmassage #bodywork #comoxvalleymassage by @wave_bodywork

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4 months ago

I took my favourite wild, untamed woman to the foot spa for her birthday.
For a few sacred moments, the feet that are usually bare in the earth — dancing through forests, bogs, rivers, and ceremony — were lovingly scrubbed, massaged, and adorned in beautiful wild colours.

From the mud of her sacred bog to the softness of the spa, she allowed herself to be treated like a Queen… Melanie-style. ✨👑

River, your heart is one of the most exquisite I have ever known. You carry medicine simply through your presence — through your laughter, your honesty, your wildness, and the way you make people feel safe enough to come home to themselves.

I feel deeply blessed to call you my friend and soul sister. You helped turn the unknown territory of the Comox Valley into a healing home for my spirit.

Happy birthday to a woman who walks between worlds with grace, devotion, and muddy feet. May this next year return to you all the love, beauty, and sacred belonging you so naturally give to others. 🌿💛 taken in Cumberland, British Columbia by @wave_bodywork

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5 months ago

Growing up in France, I never had to think about predators. Most of the bears and wolves had long disappeared, so nature felt soft, romantic… almost decorative.
Forest walks were for croissants, existential thoughts, and maybe an emotionally complex goose.

Then I moved to Vancouver Island.
Specifically,Cumberland — where the local community updates read like: “Bear near the bakery.” “Cougar spotted behind the school.” “Please bring your pets inside.”

Suddenly, my peaceful European nervous system was confronted with the reality that I had entered an actual predator-filled ecosystem. For four years, I carried this low-grade fear every time I walked alone in the forest.

What fascinated me most was not just the fear itself, but the psychology underneath it. Somewhere deep in my body, nature had split into two roles: Predator and prey. Dangerous and vulnerable. Hunter and hunted.
And apparently… I had unconsciously cast myself as the trembling French deer.

This past week, I decided to work with that fear instead of avoiding it. I started taking daily forest walks and talking to local friends who hike alone regularly. Strangely, they didn’t speak about bears with terror. They spoke about them with reverence, respect… even love.

Then yesterday, while walking with my friend River, a black bear suddenly rushed across the trail right in front of us.
My nervous system absolutely left the chat.
But then I noticed something unexpected: the bear was scared too.
He wasn’t some cold-blooded apex predator stalking us through the forest. He looked like a giant, furrycompletely panicked and vulnerable creature.

And in that moment, something shifted in me.
I realized how much fear had distorted my perception. Shadow work teaches us that what we fear externally often reflects something unresolved internally. I had projected “predator energy” onto these animals — as if they existed in opposition to me — when in reality, we were both just beings trying to move safely through the world.

Since that encounter, something sacred has changed in the way I want to enter the forest.
I no longer want to walk into it like a consumer of nature. (...) more in the comments taken in Cumberland, British Columbia by @wave_bodywork

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5 months ago

On my way back from a beautiful few days in Vancouver — filling my cup with beloved friends, big hugs, meaningful conversations, and time with some truly wonderful soul-clients. 💛
There’s something about this city… a little ocean magic mixed with just enough chaos to keep one alert and slightly over-caffeinated. 😄
I’m heading home feeling grateful, inspired, and very loved.
And the good news? I’ll be back in July for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival — which means more music, more connection, more dancing barefoot with wild-hearted humans. ✨
Until next time, Vancouver… thanks for loving me so well.

#wavebodywork #lomilomimassage #womenhelpingwomen #vancouvermassage #womenhelpingwomen taken in Spanish Banks, Vancouver by @wave_bodywork

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5 months ago

#wavebodywork #lomilomimassage #vancouvermassage #sacredspace #womenhelpingwomen taken in Point Grey by @wave_bodywork

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5 months ago

There is a quiet kind of returning that happens in spring.

Not the bold, cinematic bloom we’re often sold…
but something softer. Slower.
A thawing.

After the long exhale of winter—
its inward pull, its stillness, its necessary retreat—
we don’t suddenly arrive as radiant, fully-formed versions of ourselves.

We emerge… tender.
A little creaky.
Perhaps still holding tension in places we forgot to feel.

And that’s okay.

Inspired by the gentle wisdom of
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May,
this season invites us not to rush forward—
but to honor the slow return.

To stretch gently back into your life.
To soften where you’ve braced.
To listen, rather than push.

This is a beautiful time to come home to your body again—
through presence, care, and compassionate touch.

🌿 A Personal Note

I’ll be in Vancouver on April 30th
to see one of my favorite artists, Poranguí, in concert.
His music has been such a deep well of inspiration for me—
earthy, rhythmic, and soulful.
If you happen to be there too,
I would love to see some familiar faces in the crowd.

🌿 Vancouver May Booking Options:

Friday May 1st: 6pm

Saturday May 2nd: noon + 3pm + 6pm

Monday May 4th: noon + 3pm + 6pm

Tuesday May 5th: noon + 3pm + 6pm

Thursday May 7th: noon + 3pm + 6pm

Friday May 8th: noon + 3pm + 6pm

Saturday May 9th: noon + 3pm + 6pm

I would love to hold space for you. 💛

With care,
Melanie ✨
www.wavebodywork.com by @wave_bodywork

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6 months ago