Holistic Therapy & Birth Services with Shelly Varelli
Midwife/Massage Therapist/Educator. Empowering soul-filled people through their childbearing years. Hey all! I was devasted and deeply impacted.
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Allow me to take a minute to offer an introduction for those I have yet to meet in person...
My name is Shelly Varelli. I am a Certified Professional Midwife, Licensed Massage Therapist, Placenta Encapsulator, Childbirth Educator, and Registered Sonographer. My services are available to people in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. "Within my practice, I provide inclusive pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care that is compassionate, respectful, and culturally appropriate for all clients, parents, babies, and families. I have a personal and professional passion to help people feel empowered, knowledgeable, and confident." My business focuses on coaching and supporting people in and through their childbearing years. I offer holistic approaches to pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum, and parenting. I have been working in this realm since the year 2000 when I was first introduced to Reiki Healing. I have since become a Reiki Master, and also incorporate Crystalline Consciousness techniques into my healing work. I graduated from The Ann Arbor Institute of Massage in 2001. My studies have been heavily influenced by some of THE BEST practitioners, my work is intuitively guided so that all sessions are unique.
Holistic health is a theme that runs deep within all aspects and intersections of my life... I started on this journey after the loss of my first baby at 21 weeks of pregnancy. I also received the gift of spirit and love in ways I had not been open to before -a window was opened and soon many, many doors. I dove deep into energy work and alternative health practices to support my personal health and well-being. Now, I lovingly share all that I have learned will people that I interact with, be it family, friends, neighbors, and clients. If there is something I know --I will share it without hesitation. If there is something that I don't know ---I will research evidence-based practices to inform my beliefs and knowledge with hyperfocus until I am satisfied! I extend this commitment to you. I teach Childbirth education classes where I keep it real. . We talk about the holistic and clinical stages of labor, comfort measures, birth preferences, birth trends, informed decision making, postpartum health, lactation, newborn care, and preparing for the unexpected. Sessions are offered once a month .
~When not at work, you will find Shelly studying hanging out with family and friends in the Old West End (Toledo, Ohio). To learn more or access services visit www.shellyvarelli.com
03/19/2026
✨Reshare from Monica Lindsay.✨
These words ring true and speak to the heart of my approach to energy work ✨💕✨
“There was a moment in my Reiki practice where I realized I was still trying.
Trying to feel more.Trying to do it right.Trying to be the perfect vessel.
And for a long time… I thought that was part of it.
Because in the beginning, I did Reiki.I gave Reiki.I focused on the flow, the sensations, the technique—holding the responsibility of being the channel.
And it worked.
But it also carried a subtle effort…a quiet tension beneath the surface.
Until Reiki taught me something I couldn’t learn through doing.
The power is not in the doing.It is in the being.
The shift was almost invisible—but everything changed.
From focusing…to presence.
From sensing…to allowing.
From guiding the energy…to trusting it completely.
Breath slowed.The body softened.The moment deepened.
And Reiki was no longer something I was channeling.
It was something I was resting inside of.
There was nothing to force.Nothing to fix.Nothing to prove.
Just presence meeting presence.Energy recognizing itself.
And from there…the work became effortless.Deeper.More honest.
If you feel yourself trying in your sessions—this is your invitation to soften.
To return to your breath.To let go of doing.
And remember…
Reiki doesn’t ask you to perform.
It asks you to be.
I hope this lands in a way that feels both grounding and freeing 🤍
-Moni 🙏🏼✨”
Trying out this “Neckline” 4 in 1 tool to see if it will help my clients have reduced back pain.
⭐️Relief for Neck Pain. ⭐️Reduce dizziness caused by neck tension and poor posture. ⭐️Improve neck blood flow and reduce dizziness naturally.
03/03/2026
💫 Postpartum Episiotomy Recovery and Perineal Pain💫
A 2024 clinical trial study by Aydemir, Soğukpınar, & Kara looked at the impact of applying the energetic healing of Reiki on episiotomy recovery and perineal pain.
⭐️86 postpartum women were included in the research; (n=40) in the intervention group (receiving Reiki) and (n=46) in the control group (not receiving). 40 women had spontaneous deliveries and non-instrumental births were given 35-40 minutes of Reiki on days 1, 2, and & postpartum. Their pain was assessed on days 1, 2, 7, and 14 postpartum. The group that received Reiki had less pain and less edema by day 14, suggesting their recovery was happening faster.
⭐️The study does not detail how Reiki was administered, likely hovering/hands over the lower pelvic area, using intention to send Reiki to the episiotomy site.
It's great to see clinical studies that support the work we do. 🙌
Aydemir, H., Soğukpınar, N., & Kara, M. (2024). The impact of Reiki practice on episiotomy recovery and perineal pain: A randomized controlled study. African journal of reproductive health, 28(7), 35–46.
02/24/2026
I’ve see the term “medwife” used in some birth conversations. The term “medwife” can feel diminishing (derogatory even) to the depth and nuance of community midwifery. Tbh, it burns me up! Most of us are simply doing our best to hold physiological birth with reverence while also carrying the responsibility that comes with this work. And let me tell you, it’s more than you think.
I want to share a little about how I hold space in my work… not to argue or divide, but simply to be clear.
I am a Licensed, Certified Professional Midwife, trained in traditional, physiologic birth. It took me a long time to get to this point - a culmination of several careers, life experiences, and hard work. Each valuable and applicable to midwifery. I have deep respect for the normal processes of pregnancy and birth, and I trust the body’s wisdom.
I carry herbs, tinctures, a fetoscope and other traditonal tools. I also carry modern tools and apply advanced skills when they are needed: oxygen, suturing materials, Doppler, IV fluids, etc. I engage in thoughtful risk assessment, critical thinking, and provide clients with informed decision-making tools. To me, that approach isn’t about medicalizing birth. It’s about being prepared, safe, and serving families responsibly.
Midwifery has always been rooted in relationship, discernment, individualized care, and adapting to what best supports mothers and babies in the moment. Tradition and skill can live in the same hands. 🙌 I believe birth deserves both trust and preparedness. They are not opposites.
There is room in this profession for thoughtful dialogue, different approaches, and continued growth, and I hope we can hold those conversations with the same care we offer the families we serve. So while some are encouraging people to use the term Medwife to form delineation and divide, I gently ask that you don’t. 💕
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People within the LGBTQIA spectrum find it difficult to find pregnancy and birth care that is inclusive and accepting. Many LGBTQIA people have experienced stigma and discrimination throughout their lives within the healthcare system and specifically around the ideologies of childbirth and parenting.
It is important for healthcare and birth providers to understand the various pathways to parenthood for all people, to honor the lived experience and needs of this community, and be more inclusive in their practice. Unfortunately, to date, most healthcare providers have only been taught to recognize the heteronormative mainstream definitions of s*x and gender and the direction that leads in regard to birth and parenting. There is a lack of cultural competency which fails to include LGBTQIA people with respect and dignity in the birth world. Identifiable obstacles are lack of access to unbiased, fair and equitable care, inadequate insurance/healthcare coverage, anti-LGBTQIA violence, and systemic discrimination to name a few.
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey of 2011 reports, “ In the US, 1 in 3 trans people is a parent”. A 2013 Pew Research national survey found that "51% of LGBT adults would like to have children in the future." As more and more LGBTQIA individuals and couples seek to have children, many will turn to their health care providers for resources and guidance on what to do. Are we getting any better as providers? I want to think so... There are many, many resources available for those willing to educate themselves.
What can I do within my own community? I am becoming a midwife. The Midwives Model of Care™ holds the position that midwives care for people of all genders who are pregnant and will give birth. I feel it is important to start conversations with other midwives and birth workers about what it means to support transgender, gender q***r and inters*x people. As a birth worker, I will continue to educate myself and others to better understand the difference between s*x and gender, communicate my knowledge and understanding of the needs, identities, and barriers to care that many LGBTQIA people experience so that this community receives the most equitable care possible. It is our duty to openly acknowledge the disproportionate effects of racial disparities and trans phobia on those with other marginalized identities (people of color, low-income, or disabled), and to politely address if or when oversights or mistakes are made by people who lack an understanding of how to interact with LGBTQIA people.. This can also look like bringing awareness to the visual representation of information and images presently displayed in public spaces and recommending a change that would affirm and communicate acceptance and equality.
Within my practice, we provide LGBTQIA inclusive pregnancy and birth care that is compassionate, respectful, culturally appropriate all clients, parents, babies, and families. We aim to educate ourselves by asking questions about our client’s individual needs, explain the intention is to provide safe, responsive, affirming care. Ask “what pronouns do you use?” and make note of their responses. We use language that is inclusive of all experiences and identities. For example, using the terms “expectant”, laboring”, “birthing”, or “gestational parent” to describe and name the person who is pregnant and giving birth. Use the inclusive term “partner” or “birth partner” to describe the person supporting the birthing parent through pregnancy and birth. Use neutral terms such as “lactation” or “baby feeding” rather than breastfeeding for those who don’t identify with the term breastfeeding. Always ask permission before touching their body, honoring body autonomy. Recognize and honor that many LGBTQIA people may have traumatic experiences of harassment, body shaming, and history of assault.
Offering several types of holistic therapies to help you find and maintain balance in your emotional, spiritual and physical body. View the website to learn more: https://www.kneadingtimeholistictherapy.com/
