My Practice
I have been a sole practitioner of massage in the same lovely, historic office downtown for over twenty years. My practice is very small with many deep relationships. I believe that this tight focus has allowed me to cultivate a particular style of therapeutic, structural massage which is inquisitive and results-oriented while not denying the human aspect of the work.
I draw from a body of knowledge that encompasses anatomy and physiology learned through academic study, and an intentional, athletic nature. My education has followed the conventional massage school model of multiple techniques involving deep tissue, traditional Swedish approaches, myofascial, craniosacral, pre-natal, and Thai massage. I believe that these techniques and education, while relevant to the practice of massage, are optimally a background experience that enables me to flex dynamically and speak to the moment.
We are defined by our subjective experience as well as that which can be observed objectively – I am attempting through my work to address you as you are, in the moment and on the day. I regard massage as a collaborative process with success dependent on good communication and rapport as much as a refined technique.
Restorative Structural Massage
I'm working with your body as-is, to move more easily within or despite old injuries, chronic conditions, or immediate complaints.
Though I have significant conventional training in a variety of techniques, my real skill is in understanding how to read the interrelationships between parts that may seem unconnected or for various reasons segmented, compartmentalized, contracted, or blocked from the whole of the body.
I'm often working at the margins of different muscle groups, or in two different areas of the body at the same time. I'm interested in engaging disparate parts, exploring how tight muscles relate to less tight and relaxed areas in order to create more suppleness and adaptability in the system that is you- to integrate and enhance rather than to "fix".
Somatic Advocacy
A client recently asked me what I mean when I say that I help people to take off their armor. I imagine an absent-minded knight walking off the tournament field, eating his shepherd's pie and going to bed with his equipment still on. Or you tucked in with your bike helmet, work boots, or suit and tie- staring at the ceiling wondering why you can't sleep. Our posture and our muscular tension are our armor, and at the end of the day we need to unwind or disentangle those tensions. Sometimes the invisible nature of it means we miss a buckle, or it's too easy to skip that piece that won't come off easily. Sometimes we become too attached to that which protects us. It can start to get in our way. Occasionally we need a good squire to find the stuck, dented and rusty pieces, reverse-engineer the repairs, and polish it up. That's my job.