I write from a small apartment in Alfama, with a window that opens onto a courtyard and a cat that has decided the windowsill is hers. I came to Lisbon four years ago after a long stretch of working in product design, mostly in cities where the lights stayed on too long.
Soft Tingles is the journal I keep about what I have learned, in the slower years that followed, about touch. Specifically: slow, gentle, mostly-with-your-own-hands touch — scalp work, the kind of light pressure on the back of the neck that the body responds to in a way that surprised me, the small daily massages that hold up an evening when nothing else does.
What I write about
- Soft pressure and where to apply it on yourself, for everyday tension
- The quiet end of the senses — what attention to touch can do that attention to thought can't
- Small self-massage routines for sleep, for afternoon slumps, for difficult evenings
- The body, when you stop arguing with it
What I'm not
I'm not a massage therapist. I'm not a doctor. I'm not certified in anything I write about. I'm a person who has spent several years applying small slow pressures to her own body, and writing down what changed. If you have a real condition, please find a real professional. If you have an ordinary tired body, you might find something here.
The letter
A short letter every other Sunday. A new piece, a small practice, sometimes a quiet observation. You can subscribe on the homepage. There is no series, no upsell.
Writing to me
The fastest way: [email protected]. I reply slowly, on Sundays. I keep the long emails about strange somatic experiences in a folder I am quietly fond of.