Meet Stephanie Soder of Mountain River Therapeutics

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Soder.

Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first had a massage in 1987 in a gym in New Jersey; this was also the first time I ever felt relaxed. I knew immediately that I wanted to be a massage therapist, but it took a few years for me to find a massage school, the funds, and the confidence to do it. The Colorado sports scene in 1994 was growing, so I enrolled in school with the assumption that I would do sports massage. Not being an athlete myself, it didn’t resonate, but fortunately, computers were also becoming more prevalent in workplaces and homes, and I found my niche doing stress-relief massage. In 2005 I enrolled back in college after a 20-year break. At the time, Metropolitan State College of Denver was developing an Integrative Health Program as part of the Health Professions Department. I was excited to be the fifth person to declare my major in Integrative Therapeutic Practices (now called Integrative Therapies.) I thoroughly enjoyed the program and found my healing path there through the amazing teachers and other students passionate about Holistic and Complementary Health. Because it’s a Bachelor’s of Science program, the science side fed my geeky brain while the Holistic side fed my spiritual heart. I was also trained and attuned in Usui Reiki I and II and Reiki Master through that program. In 2015 I met Leanne Holitza of Insightful Inspirations and began to see her as a client.

Her way of clearing my limiting beliefs and stuck emotions that were holding me back powerfully opened me up to newfound confidence and joy. This led me to take her Energy Awareness classes so I could do the same for others. After taking her classes for four years, I became her apprentice in 2020, and am becoming an Insightful Inspirations’ Energy Awareness Instructor. During the quarantine of 2020, I had an opportunity to do something in my wish list: I took a Holy Fire III ® Karuna Reiki Master class from William Lee Rand. The nature of the global quarantine gave me the opportunity to take this class virtually, via Zoom, which wasn’t previously available. Holy Fire III ® is an upgraded, higher-frequency version of Reiki, and Karuna Reiki incorporates Compassionate healing; the combination is both gentle and soft, and also powerful.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My own trauma background left me with many fears — depression, social anxiety, general anxiety, among others. I struggled with my own self-imposed limitations that so many faces — fear of success/failure, fear of being seen, fear of rejection, not feeling “enough” or good enough to succeed. For myself, this manifested as holding myself back by not doing the consistent daily practices to success such as marketing myself and doing the daily work of running a healing business. I still struggle with consistency but celebrate my wins and small daily successes. Surrounding myself with other healers has really helped overcome these struggles, as not only do they help me to clear and release these fears, but also provide a support system that says, “Hey, you’re doing great! Let’s keep going!” I love to provide that to other people and show them that healing is a spiral. We do really well for a while, then come back to revisit issues so we can clear them in new ways and move forward stronger and with greater love and joy.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My specialty is using nature, energy, massage, and intuition together to gently give the client exactly the healing treatment they need that day. Nature is a very important healing element for me. During a mediation next to a river in 2009, while I was getting my Integrative Therapies degree, I realized that the river had always been my source of healing. Anytime I was going through a challenging time, I would be drawn towards a river, whether in Colorado, New Mexico, or New Jersey. River energy came to me as a source of healing for others, as well. During another River meditation, I was shown that cold stones would be beneficial to add to a hot stone treatment for healing, so I created Riverstone Therapy, a combination of warm black and cool white stones with intuition and energy work. What sets me apart from others is my combination of 26 years’ experience in massage, my science and healing degree, my training in Energy Awareness and Holy Fire III ® Karuna Reiki, and most importantly, my absolute love for what I do.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’m a total geek! I love to read quantum physics, sci-fi, fantasy, young adult and high-literary fiction. All of it feeds my geeky brain.

Pricing:

• One hour = $100
• Riverstone Therapy = $150
• Usui/Holy Fire III ® Reiki I and II = $400
• Usui/Holy Fire III® Reiki Master = $1,000

Contact Info:

• Email: Stephanie@MountainRiverTherapeutics.com
• Website: https://www.mountainrivertherapeutics.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mtrivertherapies
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MountainRiverTherapeutics

Image Credits:
Brand logo: Sharon Franz White
Headshot: Melissa Rich Photography
Photo of healing tools: Charity Heggestad
Nature Photos: Stephanie L Soder (Myself)