Help a Creative Healing Entrepreneur Cover the Basics

My name is Ashley Rutledge. As a life long artist and creative, I’ve found healing by leaning into creativity as a way to express my emotions and move energy. I want to extend this same support to others by enabling them to connect with their innate creative spirit. My company, Evolucid Creative, is the best way I can do just that. My signature offering is The SAH (Somatic Activated Healing) Method which blends ecstatic dance with body key movements, breathwork and positive affirmations, all of which help people release emotional energies safely.

My goal is to bring workshops to organizations and space holders as a way for leaders to find grounding practices so they can show up to serve their clients with a sense of peace. The research shows that nervous systems mirror each other. It is important for community space holders and leaders to have tools to keep their nervous systems out of fight or flight so the people they serve can attune to them. It is also important for them to have tools to safely discharge all of the energies they are confronted with through front facing work. Getting paid work through organizations will allow the cash flow for me to be able to offer support to those who may be priced out of such services.

One of the most profound healing modalities I found was The SAH (Somatic Activated Healing) Method, and it is my signature offering and anchor of my business. I practiced through online offerings in my home for a year before deciding to go for the full certification. In November 2024 I completed my training and began to offer in-person classes weekly at a local yoga studio. I started contract work through a local non-profit teaching Creative Mindfulness to elementary school students, and really got to see how impactful creative expression is through visual and movement arts.

Prior to starting my company, I was part of the Hospitality industry and spent 13 years working inconsistent hours with no paid time off. Over those years I leaned into unsustainable coping practices that left me depleted and unhealthy. I knew that something would eventually have to give and when COVID-19 hit and restaurants shut down, I took the challenge as an opportunity to grow. My fiance and I moved from Jersey City to Upstate, NY and began to feel into a new way of being.

I reconnected to my creative practices, found a talk therapist that was very helpful and began to lean into the abundant hiking opportunities around the Capital Region. We rescued a dog, and started to get restaurant gigs in this new market. By 2023 I was bartending and doing my best to balance my energy with exercise and therapy, but I was still experiencing panic attacks and intense emotional upheavals. I found SAH Method and within three months of consistent practice, my panic attacks went away.

What is SAH Method and Why Is It Needed?

Somatic Activated Healing uses the body’s innate wisdom as the leader for healing. This trauma-informed practice helps release emotional charges from the body without having to go into the stories of how they got there. It synthesizes wisdom from yoga, kundalini, qigong, aerobics and fitness to change the relationship we have with our bodies (soma). What results is an increased sense of presence and an ability to be with the sensations that arise within ourselves with less and less of an attachment to the stories that cause us suffering.

Many of us have been conditioned by our culture to run from uncomfortable sensations. We get bombarded with advertisements for products and experiences as a way to make ourselves feel better. Our attention and dollars are pulled outside of ourselves, and the messaging is that any discomfort we feel is a problem that can be solved by something external. Somatic practices help break the cycle of searching outside, and help us return to our inner guidance systems. As we live through polycrisis and increasing destabilization, practices that can support us in finding our own steady ground are vital.

The body holds memories of emotional events and those memories leave imprints that are passed down through generations. Over time, these energies can cause a myriad of health challenges from physical to mental. We are all facing challenges within, and all have remnants of traumas stored throughout our bodies. We can meet the needs of the body through somatic practices, and finding SAH Method was a turning point within my own healing journey that I’m grateful I get to share with others.

SAH Method is accessible to all body types, and students are encouraged to listen to the sensations that their bodies are communicating to them. I teach a low impact approach which encourages students to lean into a chair or the floor as a way to feel supported. It’s especially helpful for those who have mobility or joint issues. The practice trains us how to witness our inner worlds and notice the difference between physical sensations, emotions, and mind based stories. We get to practice our inner discernment and learn to be more compassionate with ourselves and each other.

What Your Support Will Do

It’s been imperative that I maintain my own energy healing practices so I can be a grounded presence for others. Learning how to balance my own energy has been a struggle. Part of what this gofundme campaign will do is help me access the support I need to replenish myself so I can sustainably offer my services to those in need. The physical demands of teaching dance require a new level of recovery - and not all of them are covered by insurance.

Luckily my talk therapy is covered, however there are specialized somatic services that aren’t covered by insurance and will need to be paid for out of pocket. My offerings are sporadic through the end of the summer, and the gap in work is creating a financial strain that exacerbates stress related impairment. There has been a significant uptick in my debt load, and the pressure of that crunch is very heavy.

Funds from this campaign will be going towards living expenses (groceries, car payment, rent) until my contracts pick up. Having support to cover the necessities feels like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, and gives me the energy boost needed to continue developing my classes, workshops and holding space for students and community members. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support and consideration!