Bodyworker and co-founder of Somatic Recoding
Atabey
Story
Atabey works where the body, the mind and the sacred meet. He spent the first chapter of his life building machines that print living tissue. He has spent the second learning how living tissue remembers, and how, met with enough presence and the right touch, it begins to change.
Before bodywork, there was a laboratory. He studied computational biology at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founded BioBots, one of the first accessible 3D bioprinters for living tissue. Its printers went on to work in hundreds of labs across dozens of countries, and he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2016.
From the outside, it looked like momentum. Inside, the milestones kept arriving and the baseline in his own body stayed the same. That gap became the question that redirected everything: if achievement cannot settle a nervous system, what can? For more than a decade he has studied in retreats and in silence, through meditation, yoga and breathwork, and above all at the table, learning bodywork from teachers on several continents and from the bodies of the people he works with.
He co-founded Somatic Recoding with René Refi, and together they lead its practitioner training on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca.
“What I really offer is presence. When I am present with you, you become more present with yourself. And from there, something honest can begin.”
Training and lineages
Atabey's hands and teaching draw on these lineages.
- Osho Rebalancing: deep tissue work, joint release and awareness, meeting the body and its held emotion together
- Thai massage: rhythm, pressure and assisted stretching, the whole body moved as one
- Nahuatl massage: traditional Mexican bodywork carried in the Nahua lineage
- Reiki: still, light touch that works with the subtle body
- Cupping: suction that lifts and opens tissue, a direct conversation with the fascia
- Meditation teacher and yoga teacher: the practices that train the quality of attention in his hands
- Sound ceremony practitioner
- Computational biology, University of Pennsylvania: the scientist's mind he brings to fascia, the vagus nerve and neuroplasticity
Teaching history
- Co-founder and co-lead teacher of Somatic Recoding. With René Refi he leads the 7-day practitioner training in Mazunte, Oaxaca. The next cohort runs 18 to 25 February 2027.
- Has taught and held sessions throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
- Leads the free Somatic Recoding Practitioner Labs with René, including The Weight We Carry (neck, shoulders and breath) and What the Belly Holds (the belly and psoas).
- Guides The Enough Program, a four-month nervous system protocol for high performers.
- Author of Singing Tides / Cantos de la Marea, a bilingual book of poems.
- Offers private somatic sessions on the Oaxacan coast and online.
What students say
“Atabey holds a strong and powerful presence as a teacher who lives in integrity with his practice.”
“Atabey's breadth of knowledge in healing arts is remarkable. He held space and empowered me marvelously. His expertise combined with his powerfully gentle way of teaching, facilitated a truly life-changing experience.”
“He's more than a massage therapist, each treatment is a session where he worked with me to ease out years of tension through his unique deep massage technique and profound understanding of the body.”
“He is truly trustworthy to navigate the sensitive and sometimes unfamiliar waters of my inner world in a gentle, loving way that allows me to feel seen, held, and safe as I journey deeper within.”