Barbara Vos, a painter who has been a featured artist in our Dada MAINTENANT series, creates art via intuition. Without a map. Her paintings, like TOUCH AND GO, featured above, are the result of working through heavy terrain with a therapist to allow herself to gain insight. “In my mid 30’s I understood the vicious repression of the inner judge, banished all judges from my art studio, and started painting intuitively,” Vos said. The result is abstract expressionism filled with truly felt emotion and anxiety–filled with her own voice.

But painting is not the only work Vos felt inspired to pursue. “At 44, I began to access a gift I was born with: using my hands for healing, first for massage and then a year later for Craniosacral energy work,” she said. Craniosacral therapy is a type of body work that encourages natural healing and benefits overall health while addressing specific issues such as migraines, fatigue, neck and back pain. Using a gentle touch that focuses on energy, blocked areas can begin to release, relax and open up, relieving stress and tension.

“Virtual [Craniosacral] sessions are a quiet and peaceful healing experience with some verbal guidance,” Barbara said. “It may seem like a leap but isn’t this the perfect time to explore the new?”

In our current state of social isolation, however, direct contact with a Craniosacral therapist is simply not possible, even though stressors and health conditions persist in day-to-day life. Committed to overcome this obstacle, Vos discovered a way to continue to aid patients: by offering grounded remote healing sessions.

How is it possible to offer a touch-based healing therapy—without touching? Vos explained her process.

The patient sets up a comfortable space to lie down in their home with a Zoom or FaceTime call set up so Vos can see them. Vos sets up her own table, and works energetically with the virtual patient at her table to release and rebalance their body.

“Virtual sessions are a quiet and peaceful healing experience with some verbal guidance,” Barbara said. “It may seem like a leap but isn’t this the perfect time to explore the new?”

Her patients have found comfort in this continued service. One patient noted, “This was my first Craniosacral experience. We had an amazing connection and I felt Barbara’s energy even though it was long distance….the session with Barbara allowed me to truly relax and quiet my mind. She also assisted in giving me tools to create balance in my life.”

A returning patient also recommended the remote sessions, saying “I experienced the deep relaxation and movement of energy just as I have felt, in previous direct contact sessions with Barbara.”

For an in-depth view of Barbara Vos’s artwork, check out her online portfolio.

Learn more about Barbara’s Craniosacral work, including virtual remote treatments here.

The ability to trust oneself and innovate to create new ways of practicing both art and healing are what makes Vos a cut-the-edge creative. She continues working to offer comfort and healing to others in a time of uncertainty and isolation, showing that there is always a way forward.