Selkie Wellness

This muscle gets overlooked in almost every facial self-care routine. 🌊

The sternocleidomastoid — or SCM — is that prominent muscle running from behind the ear down to the sternum and collarbone.

And it sits in a pretty important neighbourhood.

The neck is a meeting place for fascia, muscles, blood vessels and lymphatic structures carrying fluid to and from the head and face. It’s also an area that can become incredibly tense with jaw clenching, stress, poor breathing patterns, posture and the way we hold our head throughout the day.

When I’m thinking about supporting healthy movement and flow through the face, I don’t just work on the face.

I look at the neck, chest, collarbones, breath, fascia and the larger pressure systems that help move fluid through the body.

I don’t just chase the place that feels puffy, tight or congested. I look at what might be influencing it further down the track.

I’ll be teaching much more of this in our upcoming Selkie lymphatic self-care training — bringing together lymphatics, fascia, breath, the body’s diaphragms and simple practices you can actually use on yourself.

If this is something you’d love to learn, join the waitlist via the link in our bio 🦭 🌊

I can’t wait to share this with you.

🔥 MEN’S SAUNA AT SELKIE — BY DONATION

Bicheno is a small community, and when one of us hurts, it ripples through all of us. 🤍

Our recent loss has been a reminder of just how important it is that we continue creating spaces where we can connect, look after ourselves and look after each other.

With Mental Health Week approaching, it feels like the right time for us to begin something we’ve been thinking about for a while.

Once a fortnight, we’ll open the Wellness Garden for a small men’s-only sauna session, by donation.

A place to come together, have a sauna, unwind, connect if you feel like it, and take some time to care for your physical and mental wellbeing.

Sometimes looking after ourselves can be as simple as making space to stop for an hour, have a chat, or sit in silence in good company.

Our first gathering is this Thursday at 7pm, and we’ll continue these sessions fortnightly from here.

There are just 5 spaces available each session, keeping it small and relaxed.

If you’d like to come along, send us a message directly or comment below and we’ll get in touch.

No expectations. No pressure. Come as you are. 🔥🌊

Please share this with anyone who might want to join this session. 🙏

Your lymphatic system is not simply a network of vessels sitting just beneath the skin 🌊

The superficial lymphatics sit just below the skin and respond beautifully to very light, rhythmic touch. But we also have deeper lymphatic vessels running alongside the muscles, organs and major blood vessels—and these rely heavily on movement, breathing and changes in pressure.

This is where the respiratory diaphragm becomes so important.

As the diaphragm moves with each breath, it creates changing pressure between the chest and abdomen. This helps encourage lymph to move from the deeper tissues of the lower body and abdomen towards the thoracic duct, where it eventually returns to the bloodstream.

Working gently with body cups around the lower ribs and upper abdomen can help create space and mobility through the tissues surrounding the diaphragm, invite a fuller breath and support these natural pressure changes.

The respiratory diaphragm is one of five diaphragms—or pressure zones—we explore within our Selkie Lymphatics Method. Our upcoming self-care training will teach you how to work with these areas safely and intentionally at home.

Comment 🦭 below or add yourself to our wait-list via link in bio if you’d like to join the wait-list and be the first to hear when training dates are released.

Our Selkie Body Cups are also available through our online store via the link in bio 🤍