Community
About our website
This website is a hub for sharing information, events, and training about Jin Shin Do® Bodymind Acupressure® in the Nashville, TN area, and for connection to national and international Jin Shin Do classes and community. We’re especially thrilled to share more below about our second international conference THIS SUMMER!
Nashville is the home base of Steve Sommers, LMFT, LMT, Senior Jin Shin Do Authorized Instructor, and the only currently active instructor in the United States authorized to teach Module IV classes and offer teacher trainings.
Across this site, you’ll find local class offerings, as well as curriculum details, as well as info about what Jin Shin Do is, and why you might enjoy it! Please check out more about the history of our modality and background on the founder of Jin Shin Do, Iona Marsaa Teeguarden at the Jin Shin Do Foundation: https://www.jinshindo.org/.
We’re dedicated to expanding access to this modality and its healing potential, as well as expanding our community and outreach.
Stay tuned for more about our community members and offerings locally (coming soon!).
About us
The Nashville Jin Shin Do® community began in 1998 at Cumberland Institute of Holistic Therapies, when Steve offered the first Nashville Basic class.
And now, students and practitioners with a Nashville connection can be found across the US and abroad! We’ve built a close community through in-person gatherings, assisting in classes, and keeping in touch through our newsletter, facebook group, and friendships.
We’re proud to be connected to, and connecting, into the international Jin Shin Do community, as a hub for Module IV classes and future Teacher Trainings. Check out our current community offerings, and stay tuned (or reach out!) for more!
Jin Shin Dojos -
in-person!
Where it started: A student from Albany, KY initiated the idea of Jin Shin Do-jos in 2018 - community gatherings of students, practitioners, and teachers who met in our Nashville classes. Since then, we have grown not only as a regional community, but in our connections across the US and abroad!
Where it’s going: We’ve held Dojo gatherings in Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia, and have been honored to host our extended community members from New York and Germany! We look forward to more in 2026.
Monthly Mondays -online!
Online Peer Support Group for our JSD Community
*for anyone who has completed Basic JSD*
When: First Monday of the month, 930am - 11am Central Time, on Zoom
What: This is a peer consultation group - space to share and receive support around experiences with clients, practice management, and work/life balance
Special study and practice days
We have a variety of events we’ve held to trade and practice particular skills sets. We’re open to ideas and feedback for these or new options!
In person gatherings to learn and trade have been facilitated by Lisa in Inglewood or Donelson.
Steve has led an online meridian study series, focused on one meridian and its points.
Meet Steve
Steve Sommers, LMFT, LMT, is an authorized instructor of Jin Shin Do® Bodymind Acupressure® and has been teaching acupressure for integration into massage therapy since 1995. He became a registered Jin Shin Do® practitioner in 1993, an Authorized Teacher of Jin Shin Do® in 1998, and a Senior Teacher in 2005. He is currently the only authorized instructor of Jin Shin Do® in Tennessee.
Steve practices at BodyPerspectives, a private practice in which he specializes in Bodymind and Somatic therapies for recovering from Trauma (event and relational), family of origin dysfunction, and addiction or co-addiction. He has a great interest in working to help folks integrate and heal in body, mind and soul. With over 30 years in the Healing Arts field, Steve's unique skill set includes Somatic Experiential Therapy, CranioSacral Therapy, Fascial Freedom Technique, Somatic Experiential Therapy, and is Certified SomEx Practitioner (Somatic and Experiential Therapy for trauma and addiction).
Steve’s Jin Shin Do Story…
The love of my life led me to my life’s work! I started my Jin Shin Do® (JSD) Bodymind Acupressure® journey as a consequence of falling in love. Suzan Hulstrunk had only agreed to marry me if I was willing to move with her back to her hometown in Upstate New York.
To be licensed as a massage therapist in New York, the state board required 105 hours of “Oriental Bodywork Theory and Practice.” As it happened, the ONLY classes I was offered to meet that requirement were Basic and Intermediate JSD!
Practitioners
see international list here: https://www.jinshindo.org/teacherspractitionersworldwide
Practitioners in Tennessee
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Helga Burns LMT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner in Smyrna, TN
Helga blends clinical expertise with deeply felt intuition to support clients seeking mind-body-spirit balance and wellness. She is also an aesthetician, and offers a variety of massage and skincare services.
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Adam Green LMT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner in Franklin, TN
Adam supports clients interested in doing trauma work, offering a grounded and steady presence where all of you is welcome. He is also an avid percussionist who uses sound & vibration in the therapeutic setting.
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Kat Davis LMT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner, Brentwood and Nashville, TN (Inglewood)
Kat supports clients living into their fullest potential, and integrates craniosacral and massage in her sessions. She has decades of experience in the music industry, and brings a gift for fostering creativity and play.
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Lisa Kammerud LMT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner in Nashville, TN (Inglewood)
Lisa specializes in trauma-informed, clothed bodywork, using touch and communication to help you connect to your body, your wisdom, and your power. She offers individual sessions for bodywork and/or somatic coaching, as well as group workshops.
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Rachel Mathenia LMT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner in Nashville, TN (Music Row)
Rachel integrates Jin Shin Do® with lymphatic drainage massage. She also has 20 years of study and teaching of Iyengar yoga, and brings an ability to perceive and facilitate change through movement in sessions, and teaches private and in-studio yoga classes.
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Steve Sommers LMT, LMFT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner in Nashville, TN (Donelson)
Steve supports clients becoming more and more at peace with their authentic being-ness with a combination of Jin Shin Do® Bodymind Acupressure, Somatic and Experiential Therapy (SomEx,) CranioSacral Therapy, Fascial Freedom Technique, Positional Release and intuitive presence.
Practitioners in our Expanding Community
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Meggie Bristoe LMT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner in Paducah, KY
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Kelly Buddenhagen LMT
Jin Shin Do® Practitioner in Ellijay, Georgia
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Valerie Coleman-Palansky LMT
Jin Shin Do® Teacher and Practitioner in New York City, New York
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Alain Paradis
Jin Shin Do® Teacher and Practitioner in Montreal, Canada
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Katrin Schulz
Jin Shin Do® Senior Teacher and Practitioner in Hennef, Germany
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Deborah Valentine Smith
Retired Jin Shin Do® Senior Teacher and Practitioner in New Paltz, New York
Community Highlight:
Second International Jin Shin Do® Conference in Italy, June 2026
June 18 - 21 at Lake Garda, S. Michele,Gardone Riviera (near Salò), Brescia - Italy
For four days, five Senior Jin Shin Do® Teachers from USA, Switzerland, Germany and Italy will come together to share their experience in Jin Shin Do® with you.
The Meeting is open to Practitioners and Students of all levels.
More information can be found at https://www.bodymindcenter.it/index.php/summer-school, and even more details, with registration contacts and agenda here: https://international-jin-shin-d-3t6gksz.gamma.site/
Contact us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!