Ihotu Jennifer Ali
About
Ihotu is a reproductive health bodyworker, hormonal health coach, and a performing artist. She uses massage therapy focusing on the body’s creative center – the belly, hips, and low back – as well as coaching in whole foods, supplements, and self-care practices to reduce menstrual or pelvic pain and to support hormonal balance for fertility, childbearing, menopause, transitioning bodies, and hormonally triggered health conditions.
Ihotu is trained in deep tissue, myofascial release, abdominal and craniosacral therapy, nutrition, and in therapeutic ceremony and ritual, yoga, dance, and sound. Her integrative approach includes releasing pelvic tension, lifting a “dropped” or “tilted” uterus, and restoring the flow of blood, nerves, qi, and hormones for sexual, reproductive and maternal health.
Ihotu has nearly a decade of experience in women’s health, including attending over 40 births as a doula and lactation counselor, and working alongside midwives, obstetricians, traditional healers, acupuncturists, social workers and psychiatrists. A sexual assault survivor and former rape crisis counselor, Ihotu brings empathy and attention to consent and comfort to her work on and off the table. She warmly welcomes individuals seeking a mind-body-ancestry approach to complement talk therapy or medication for anxiety and depression, or finding closure in the body after sexual assault, long or traumatic birth, miscarriage, abortion, or loss.
Ihotu offers treatments at CLEAR Holistic Therapies and the People’s Movement Center, as well as home visits and donation-based workshops. A proud mixed race Minnesotan, Ihotu has lived on the East Coast and in West Africa, dances with the Ananya Dance Theatre, and is politically active supporting gender and racial equity in the Twin Cities.
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“Ihotu is a kind and gentle healing presence, and my body trusted that she would work with tensions without going past its limits at that moment. The abdominal method she practices — which can work with emotional, physical, and biological unbalances — is so necessary because the abdominal region is such a charged and ignored area in our society.” -T.R.
Training & Certifications
– Member of the Twin Cities’ Childbirth Collective and American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA)
– Graduate of the Finger Lakes School of Massage including 1000 hours in Myofascial Release, Prenatal and Infant Massage, Acupressure and Polarity Therapy
– Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy, Arvigo Institute
– Traditional Postpartum Herbs & Steams, Indigemama
– Spinning Babies Workshop with Gail Tully
– Dynamic Body Balancing: Techniques in Craniosacral Therapy with Dr. Carol Phillips
– DONA Trained Birth and Postpartum Doula
– Certified Lactation Counselor, Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding
– Registered Yoga Instructor, Yoga Alliance
– Holistic Health Coach, Institute for Integrative Nutrition
– Rape and Sexual Violence Crisis Counselor, Crime Victims Treatment Center
– Creative Arts Therapy Coursework, The New School in New York City
– Masters Degree in Public Health with a focus on Family Health and Psychosocial Resiliency, Columbia University
Services
Abdominal Therapy & Hormonal Health Coaching*
Prenatal or Labor Preparation Massage
Postnatal or C-Section Scar Massage
Postnatal Closing Ceremony & Bodywork (home visit)
Therapeutic Massage
Self-Care, Fertility, and Pregnancy Packages Available (monthly or weekly sessions at discounted rates)
*Abdominal treatments are best timed when not menstruating, not using an IUD, and after the first trimester of pregnancy. Pelvic steams are not advised during menstruation or pregnancy. Please give advance notice by email before scheduling your first treatment of either therapy to discuss ideal timing and any special requests or concerns.
Email ihotu@clearholistictherapies.com for further information.
All sessions are priced on a sliding fee scale $50-$150 for a 90 minute appointment (including sales tax). This follows the principles of health insurance, where as a community, we support those most vulnerable and in need. Please thoughtfully consider the value of the service to you, your income, and your ability to support a fair price for our community members truly in need. Home visits include an additional $30 fee for transit costs and time.