Well, maybe there really isn't a typical massage therapist since we are all individuals with differing interests and strengths and challenges. Maybe I mean I'm not your stereotypical massage therapist. You know the ones. Those who give flowers to their clients to wear in their hair and have foot soaks and aroma-smells in the room with candle light and soft music… I definitely can create a nice quiet, low light, peaceful atmosphere for my clients, especially if I know they are here because of stress and a little space for quiet care is what is needed - and I do love to give a nice flowing, lovely, classic swedish massage, dipping, deepening and lifting, lightening, getting in the zone… letting the client melt and drift.
Sometimes I'll do some deep tissue, working hard to rub out painful areas and sink in and spread to free up the stuck feeling a client may have, when I do all the work and the client receives. However, a session with me is more and more about integrated bodywork, often involving active engagement on the clients part. I believe actively working to create change within your own body, with my help, makes for more lasting change for your body. This is true especially if your goal is to reduce or get rid of pain, to increase your range of motion, to decrease aching and tight muscles, or for assistance in healing and recovering from injury or surgery.
In addition to being a licensed Massage Therapist, I am a certified
Rossiter Coach, a level 1 certified
Neurokinetic Therapy Practitioner and well on my way to being certified in
Core Movement Integration. So I include much of what I am learning and studying, (with client consent.) I find with the many approaches at my finger tips, I can more easily meet the needs of a variety of clients. These methods include powerful active stretching, gentle, aware moving or muscle/functional movement testing and resetting the brain-to-body connection. People respond differently to the different methods. We will find what will work best for you.
At your first session I will give you a confidential intake and consent form that includes questions about your medical history. I then spend at least 10 minutes, maybe up to a half hour discussing the issues you are having, asking questions that give me a better understanding of when you hurt, why you hurt, what you do that triggers the hurt. All of the questions I ask will contribute to the bigger picture that is you and your movement patterns. I may assess your posture while you stand, observe your gait while you walk, or your movements that might cause pain. A single leg stance for instance can give me lots of information about how your body adjusts and compensates to keep on functioning despite injury or minor trauma. I may check out your active range of motion and observe how you breath.
I am then likely to have you sit or lie down on the table and do some muscle tests to determine the relationships between muscles, the compensation patterns that may be causing pain elsewhere. Which, once identified, includes massage to release and actions to activate appropriate muscles. You begin to change and move better.
Or, I might have you move. I would guide your movements to bring awareness to better movement. You practice the movements, the more you move, the easier the movement becomes, the more that ease in movement becomes part of you.
Or maybe I'll have you lie on the mat on the floor and I'll step and you will stretch creating space in your body for ease of movement and to reduce pain in joints and muscles. Often there is laughter, lots of questions, a newly acquired sense of awareness, some revelations. And homework. Yes, I give homework. Remember, being active in the process, your participation and movement of your body is a huge part of healing.
For each session after your first, we quickly review any changes or shifts in awareness of your body and movements. We revisit your goals and together work towards achieving them.
So please, give me a call and set up an appointment if you are ready to work for lasting change.
Move better. Feel better.
