Professional Title:

Pleasure Coach, Researcher, Sex Coach, Sex Educator

Education & Credentials:

Shannon Elizabeth is a Certified Somatic Healing Practitioner, certified in Trauma-Focused Nervous System Regulation, a Certified Meditation Instructor, and a Reiki practitioner of the Usui lineage. She is a doctoral student in Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where her focus area is epigenetic inheritance and its ancestral impacts on the soma; she is currently in a year-long Reiki Master Teacher apprenticeship and completing the Somatica Institute's Sex & Relationship Coach certification, with planned completion in October 2027. She is the founder of Once Upon a Connection, a somatic healing and intuitive art studio for women and couples, home in an 1890 storybook cottage in Historic Ellicott City, Maryland — a somatic container built small and soft on purpose, where nervous systems settle and deeper work becomes possible. The studio is built on a single conviction: intimacy begins when you romance your own soul first. Before a woman can be truly known by anyone else, she has to come home to herself, and nearly everything in her life has taught her to be everywhere but there. That conviction runs through all of Shannon's work: her creation, the Limena Method™, a guided somatic imaginal practice that helps a woman discover a positive connection back to herself and give that connection a home in her nervous system, and which extends to couples seeking deep connection with each other; her proprietary Shatterwork system; The Deepening, her application-only couples reconnection retreat; and her illuminated erotic art, which celebrates women who have said an unapologetic yes to themselves. Before her healing career, she spent twenty-five years as a professional risk analyst in high-risk, high-consequence environments — a discipline that taught her to research relentlessly and never confuse comfortable narratives with evidence. She brings both women into the room: the healer who works with what a body carries, and the analyst who says what the research shows even when nobody else will say it out loud.

Accomplishments & Achievements:

Original Modalities: Creator of two original somatic-based connection and intimacy modalities — the Limena Method™ and Shatterwork. Intimacy Retreats: Designer and leader of The Deepening, an application-only luxury intimacy retreat for couples. Studio & Practice: Founder of Once Upon a Connection, a somatic healing studio grown from a pop-up into an 1890 storybook cottage in Historic Ellicott City — a true somatic container, built small and soft on purpose, where nervous systems settle the moment the door closes and the deeper work of desire and connection becomes possible. A partner studio serves Anne Arundel County. Clairvoyant Artistry: Proven clairvoyant energy artist — session readings rendered as original drawings and written interpretations, with a record that speaks for itself: every subject to date has recognized the energy she saw and drew. Creator of illuminated erotic aura art: bespoke backlit portraits with each subject's aura hand-mapped in light, celebrating erotic empowerment. Writing & Research: Author of a memoir-in-progress on menopause, desire, and reclamation; published researcher. Career Foundation: U.S. Air Force veteran and 20-year risk analyst in high-risk, high-consequence environments where getting it right protected lives — she now brings that same precision to the most delicate high-stakes environment of all: the human nervous system, and the intimacy it guards.

Affiliations & Memberships:

Somatic Training: Doctoral Student, Somatic Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies — focus area: Epigenetic Inheritance and Ancestral Impacts on Somatic DNA; Trauma-Informed Certified Somatic Healer; Nervous System Regulation & Trauma Literacy Certification; Somatica Institute Sex & Relationship Coach Certification, planned completion Oct 2027. Energy Work Certification & Apprenticeship: Usui Lineage Reiki Level II Certified Practitioner (Clairvoyant/Clairaudient Reiki); Reiki Master Teacher, year-long Spiritual Training Apprenticeship; Certified Meditation Instructor. Commitment to Inclusivity & Human Rights: Certified Human Rights Consultant, U.S. Institute of Diplomacy & Human Rights; Safe Space Alliance member; M.A., Global Security Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

Bio & Focus:

Intimacy begins when you romance your own soul first. Shannon Elizabeth is a somatic intimacy and connection practitioner working with women and couples — currently completing the Somatica Institute's Sex & Relationship Coach certification, pursuing a doctorate in Somatic Psychology, and bringing certifications in somatic healing and trauma-focused nervous system regulation alongside a year-long Reiki Master Teacher apprenticeship as a clairvoyant Reiki practitioner. She is the founder of Once Upon a Connection and creator of the Limena Method™, practicing from an 1890 storybook cottage in Historic Ellicott City, Maryland — a true somatic container, built small and soft on purpose, where nervous systems settle the moment the door closes and the deeper work of desire, connection, and reclamation becomes possible. Intimacy is the heart of the practice: 1:1 sensual discovery and pleasure reclamation, midlife and menopause-era desire work, and somatic intimacy work for couples, including The Deepening, her application-only luxury retreat for couples who don't need fixing — they need deepening. A U.S. Air Force veteran and career risk analyst turned healer, Shannon is a proud safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community. Sessions in the cottage or online.

Concerns Treated:

I support women and couples who live on high alert: nervous systems that never settle, bodies that brace, voices that got quiet, desire that went missing and nobody could say why. Common threads include hypervigilance; life transitions including perimenopause and menopause and what they change about pleasure, desire, and how you see your body; disconnection from self and body; depleted caregivers who hold everyone else; boundaries that will not hold; and rebuilding intimacy with yourself first and, when chosen, with a partner. Connection is the center of my practice. With individuals, that means sensual discovery, pleasure reclamation, and coming back into relationship with your own body. With couples, I work somatically on reconnection and deepening — partners who are functional but distant, who don't need fixing, who are ready to find their way back to each other. My clients are seeking a practice grounded in integrity, care, compassion, empathy, safety, acceptance, and affirmation — and every body, every identity, and every love is welcome here. My work is complementary wellness alongside clinical care, never a replacement for it.