“I’ve always had a deep love and curiosity for understanding landscapes ~ how to move and flow gracefully in them. After a decade of professionally guiding in the mountains, my curiosities lead me to learn about my own body’s landscape and pursuing the art of Massage Therapy.”
— Kat Schaumberg
Meet Kat
Background
Grown and raised on the ancestral homeland of the Nooksack and Lummi people, I have always felt my spirit most alive and at peace in nature. Privileged with a childhood spent wandering the forests, river banks, and ridgelines around Komo Kulshan, I was lead by my curious and open heart to discover the possibilities of peaks reaching for the heavens. I traversed mountain ranges as an Outward Bound instructor and guiding big mountains with the American Alpine Institute throughout my 20s. Carrying heavy packs, eating dehydrated food and not showering for weeks while out on expeditions afforded me the opportunities to be wild and free in far out places.
But as dreamy as that adventurous lifestyle sounds, the reality of its challenges slowly poked at my physical and emotional bodies. Sure I was muscular and strong, but my body was also stiff and bloated. Yoga and stretching no longer soothed the aches and pains of my knees and back. My belly suffered from the excessive nuts, cheese, candies and dehydrated meats that made up the bulk of my diet, they seemed to sit undigested in my stomach and I typically never felt full or satisfied.
It felt like I had lost my intuition… Without having a loving relationship with my body and belly, I no longer could sense that “gut feeling” of when the mountains were giving me a safety warning.
But it wasn’t until a mountain itself gave me an awakening shove! that I finally sought support for my entire well-being and health.
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Guiding with a heavy pack, 16k ft ridge on Denali
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Offshore Sailing on the Pacific Ocean
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Teaching"Big Wall" and aid climbing.
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Rest day at 14000' on Denali.
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Climbing in the alpine.
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Playing in Patagonia.
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Skiing in Alaska.
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Photoshoot in the mountains
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Sipping wine in Santiago, Chile
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18k ft on Antisana in Ecuador.
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Clouds Rest hike, Yosemite.
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Fishing king salmon in Alaska.
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Guiding on Komo Kulshan (Mt. Baker)
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Rock climbing in the desert.
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On my ascent of "Lurking Fear" on El Captain, Yosemite.
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Primicia ceremony with Dr Rosita Arvigo, Belize
Walking the Heart Path
At the end of her guiding season in 2019, I enrolled in a 525 hour program at the Port Townsend School of Massage in Washington State. While in school, I worked with my instructors and classmates to break through many muscular patterns created in my body from years of excessive use in an imbalanced body. The most significant being Piriformis Syndrome; a condition where external rotator muscles of the hip pinch the sciatic nerve. This condition caused so much pain that, at one point I was vomiting and blacking out while guiding my last trip up Denali…yikes! Within weeks of self-explored treatment, I was completely relieve of any symptoms, and to this day rarely experiences flare-ups that aren’t relieved with simple stretching. This self-empowered healing brought me so much inspiration!
My skepticism of entrusting others with my health lead me down the path of education. In doing so, I learned not only how to take care of my body better, but also gained knowledge to share and educate others. We should all feel empowered in our health and well-being
At the start 2021, I became a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) and began working under a practice of Katelyn Steen with the Bodywork Wellness Studio focused in supporting mountain athletes through treatment with deep tissue and myofascial release techniques. I continued taking special interest and continuing education in myofascial balancing techniques of the pelvis and sacrum.
As my style and personality have developed in my bodywork, more and more clients seek me out for emotional and spiritual healing, and my techniques have become more intuitive and energetically aware. In 2022, I found resonance in the wisdom and teachings of Mayan shaman and healer, Don Elijio Panti, and his apprentice, Rosita Arvigo with Abdominal Therapy Collective. In Febuary 2024, I traveled to Belize to study pregnancy and postpartum care with Rosita herself! Read more about these lineages here.
I’ve learned so much about working with the interconnected structures and systems in my physical body. The work that I received in my abdomen and sacrum was imperative to reclaiming my confidence and recalibrating my inner compass.
Today, I find myself living with so much more love and kindness to both my body and mind. I continue to to seek a wild, free lifestyle, but with much more balance. I still take joy in instructing, guiding and recreating in the mountains part time, and have discovered a new excitement for to sailing!
“Learning the language of the human body is like observing and listening to the mountains… They speak if you know how to listen… My education in anatomy and technique is foundational to my skill, but it’s my experience of intuitive listening that brings me to a deeper level of presences and trust in my bodywork ”
Education & Trainings
Port Townsend School of Massage LMT September 2019-December 2020
Myofascial Balancing of the Pelvis and Sacrum with Richard Polishuk and Lauren Christman August 2021
Abdominal Therapy Collective Part 1 Training with Amy Colo October 2022
Abdominal Therapy Collective Part 2 Training with Amy Colo October 2022
Lymphatic System & Massage, AMTA December 2022
Abdominal Therapy Collective Pregnancy & Postpartum Training with Rosita Arvigo & Donna Zubrod in Belize Feburary 2024
If you are curious about my education related to mountain guiding and rock climbing feel free to ask :)