The Body of Life
A healing practice to help awaken
God's Love and Light
in body and soul


Robert McIlwain




        It is wondrous to participate in the healing process, and to experience what is possible when heart and mind and body are aligned with a higher Purpose.  As a practitioner, I feel blessed to be able give of my skills and love in this way - to help people become more fully alive in their bodies and become more awake to the gifts in their lives.


Individual Sessions

* Overview of Sessions
* Modalities and Approaches

* Sessions at home-office in Amherst area (Western Massachusetts)

* Availability for sessions in New England region




Overview of Sessions

        My work draws on numerous approaches to the healing process, including bodywork, movement therapy, energy work, Body-Mind Centering, holistic therapy, and spiritual counseling.  Each session is individualized, as each person's healing process is unique.  At the heart of my work is being open to the God's presence - to allowing God's love and light to guide and nourish the session, as best as am able.

        I generally begin a session by asking what a person is hoping for through healing work, and what particular physical or life challenges he or she may face.  From this conversation, I'll suggest an initial direction.  As the session unfolds, different approaches to the healing process can become possible, including:

  • bodywork, energy work, and intuitive touch
  • guided movement therapy
  • physical and emotional support for becoming aware of feelings and life patterns that may be connected with the body
  • words and suggestions to help deepen the experience of healing, and to create a sense of peace, comfort, and forward movement in the healing process
  • spiritual support for working with life challenges

        Each session is different.   For some people, simple, quiet bodywork - receiving healing touch - may be most effective.  For others, more active dialogue may be helpful - exploring new ways to move, becoming aware of feelings and intuitive awareness, or discovering new expressions of body, self, and soul.  My intention is always to create a safe, comforting environment for each person.

        To the best of my ability, I offer people the skills, compassion, and gifts that I have been given, with God's help.  I listen deeply to each person with my hands, senses, and intuition - as well as with my heart and with prayer.  The session is like a conversation between myself, the person I am working with, and the presence of God's reality.  It is a multidimensional dialogue of healing on the physical, relational, emotional, energetic, and spiritual levels. 

        During sessions, I also guide people in breathing while they are receiving bodywork. This brings more awakening, awareness, and vitality to the body, helps people become more in touch with what is happening body, and extends the healing energy through body and being.  Sometimes this can help release physical or emotional blockages to healing, and can be a doorway to changing patterns in body and in life.

        In the course of a session, I sometimes ask a person what she or he may be noticing - in the experience of the bodywork, touch, and guided movement, or in their experience of the inner landscape of feelings, thoughts, images, or intuition.  This dialogue helps me guide the bodywork and enhance the individualized direction of the session.  I offer words to help a person be in touch with their experience at deeper levels of consciousness, which also helps increase the potential for healing.  I may share my insights, perception, and experience of the person's body/mind, as part of the ongoing dialogue of healing.  Through the interweaving intuitive touch, body awareness, movement, inner perception, outer expression, and my words to guide the experience - people may begin to find some the qualities of healing they seek.

        I also develop individual healing practices for people to bring into their daily lives.  In some cases I'll have specific suggestions for awareness practices - touchstones to the healing work.  At other times I'll offer specific recommendations about changes a person may want to make in their lives in order to promote change.  And often I'll simply suggest that a person take in the experience, let it stay with them in a gentle sort of way, and notice any changes that may occur in their body or in their awareness. 

        My intention is always to provide a safe, comfortable, respectful, and sacred atmosphere, where a person can feel nourished and uplifted.  There is no need to have any particular spiritual belief or orientation in order to benefit from my work.  All that is required is a desire to receive some quality of healing in one's body or life, and an openness to receiving healing touch.




Modalities and Approaches
Note: this web page is under construction.  More information about each modality/approach will be available soon.




Sessions at home/office in Amherst area (Western Massachusetts)

  • Location: Pelham, MA (in Western Massachusetts, near the town of Amherst)
  • Time of sessions: 1 hour and 10 minutes
  • Standard fee: $85



Availability for sessions in New England region

       In addition to private sessions at my home office, from time to time I offer introductory sessions at locations around New England.  See Calendar/Events page for more information.




For more information, please feel free to contact me directly.