Steve’s Jin Shin Do® Story
I realized I had been waiting my whole life to learn this amazing information.
By the second day of Basic, I knew this modality created by Iona Marsaa Teaguarden would transform my life.
Iona demonstrates a pressure point with Steve, 1997 JSD Intensive Teacher Training
As the Tao would have it, Suz and I (now Mr. and Mrs. Sommers) moved to Schenectady NY just a few months after Debby Valentine-Smith, Senior Authorized Instructor of JSD, moved to a big farmhouse in West Stockbridge, MA, just over 60 miles away. Delightfully, I completely my practitioner training and participated in an 18 month joyful mentorship/internship with Debby, during which I attended every class I could and we traded sessions. While training in West Stockbridge, I was very fortunate to receive my Module II classes with Iona, assisted by Debby and other teachers including French Canadian Senior Authorized JSD Instructor Helena Goris. I was honored to participate in classes where Iona introduced us to materials and experiences she was developing for what would become the Module IV Bodymind Trancework classes.
In 1994, with what felt like the opposite of that perfect timing, Steve and Suzan moved to Nashville, TN in November, over the very same weekend of the 1994 teacher training! While I could not attend when I thought I needed to, I benefited from the years in private practice and in teaching massage at Cumberland Institute of Holistic Therapies. I returned to West Stockbridge in the Fall of 1997 to take the Intensive Teacher Training Program from Iona, assisted by Debby.
Debby sits on the far left, while Iona demonstrates a pressure point with Steve. 1997 JSD Intensive Teacher Training
After receiving my authorization as a JSD instructor, I went right to work and taught my first Basic JSD class at Cumberland Institute in January of 1998. Over the last 28 years, I have taught Basic JSD more than 40 times.
I’m grateful for every student who has walked into my classrooms, and grateful for the opportunity to teach across the southeast as well as in Michigan, Minnesota, and Indiana. I’m especially grateful for the fantastic and ongoing community of JSD students and practitioners that has formed in recent years.
I continue to run my private practice, BodyPerspectives, and offer sessions, intensives, writing circles, and Jin Shin Do classes at our offices and classroom in Donelson.
Outside of the Jin Shin Do universe, I cultivate my own healing and creativity through membership in the Art and Soul Artist Collective, as well as improv classes and student performances at Third Coast Comedy Club.
The love of my life led me to my life’s work.
Suzan Hulstrunk had only agreed to marry me if I was willing to move 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!
Credentials & Trainings
Senior Authorized Jin Shin Do Teacher
SomEx Supervisor, with EHC in Memphis, TN
Instructor of Law & Ethics, Fascial Freedom, & Acufascial Freedom at Cumberland Institute of Holistic Therapies, Brentwood, TN
Trainings in CranioSacral techinques, Fascial techniques, Visceral manipulation
LMFT: Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, TN
LMT: Licensed Massage Therapist, TN
Conferences
Guest Instructor, 2nd International Jin Shin Do Conference in Brecia, Italy, June 2026