Bonewashing
When pain gets stored in the bone lining
Bonewashing is a deep and refined form of energetic bodywork in which tension and pain stored in the periosteum — the connective tissue lining around the bones — are carefully touched and invited to release. It’s a way of working I had already been applying intuitively, long before I knew the traditional techniques or what it was called.
How I discovered it
Back in 2018, during a body dearmouring course, I was working on someone’s chest. What I felt there was unlike anything I had felt before: a specific kind of release — and I felt it in myself when it was my turn to receive. What I didn’t realize at the time was that we were actually doing bonewashing.
The teacher in that training was highly gifted in intuitive bodywork. He had a way of touching people in exactly the right places to unlock stored pain and tension, even though he openly admitted he didn’t know much about anatomy. Personally, I prefer the combination: deep intuitive sensitivity and solid anatomical knowledge — not just Western, but broader. That’s what helped me later recognize what this was: the periosteum is innervated tissue, capable of holding trauma and energetic tension. The body stores it until it’s ready to process. With specific touch and techniques, this can be released.
Traditional Hawaiian bodyworkers already knew this. They called it bonewashing.
Learning the language of bone
When I formally studied these techniques, I realized I had already been doing them — I just didn’t have the name for it yet. Certain body dearmouring techniques, especially around the chest, naturally bring you in contact with bone. But the sensation of release I felt there was different than with muscles or fascia. That difference made me want to become even more precise in feeling: which layer is speaking? Where is the release coming from?
So I began working on other bones. And I discovered: each bone requires a different approach. You meet a rib differently than a sternum, a pubic bone, or a vertebra. Some bones are more complex in structure. Some respond to a firmer touch, others to extreme gentleness.
As always, no body is the same. I once applied bonewashing to the spine of a woman in her 50s with a long medical history, including radiation and medication. With her, I worked extremely gently, cautiously, and in a completely different way than usual. It worked beautifully for her.
How I work with it
Bonewashing can be offered as a stand-alone session — it can even be done through clothing. But for me, it goes hand in hand with body dearmouring. I prefer to work directly on the skin, for maximum effect. I use my own pure, organic oil, enriched with carefully selected essential oils, to increase both sensitivity and effectiveness.
Not every bone stores tension. But when I find a painful spot — which shouldn’t hurt under normal pressure — I often show the difference by pressing the same way on another bone. That contrast makes it instantly clear. Some areas are more likely to store tension, such as the sternum or pubic bone, but theoretically, it can happen anywhere.
In my sessions, I apply bonewashing when I find something — and when there’s space for it. In longer sessions like body dearmouring, 2hr mix and match, or my 3hr Transformative Energetic Bodywork, there’s usually enough room to work thoroughly on one or more areas.
In my trainings
Bonewashing plays an important role in my trainings. In the body dearmouring and bonewashing of the heart chakra area, we focus on the front and back of the chest. In the Venus mound and Hara training, I teach how to approach the pubic bone with precision and respect.
Bonewashing is deep work. It requires refinement, softness, and presence. But what can be released, has often been stored in the body for many years. And when that pain finally gets to soften and flow… something truly beautiful happens.