FAQ

I am female.

I graduated from the Healing Spirits Massage Training Program in Boulder, Colorado in 2010 with 755 practice hours. The program’s biggest strength was how it balanced clinical proficiency with the holistic arts. My California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) License # is 95959.

I am also the original developer and innovator of the 4-Way technique. It is not offered by anyone else.

The 4-Way Massage Therapy technique is a system of moves that I developed because I saw a huge hole in more mainstream massage curricula for both clients and practitioners. Prioritizing each client’s unique needs, my system is characterized by synchronized touch from several sides of up to all four limbs to offer clients a “4-handed” experience by one person. And a complex, thorough treatment. My techniques are innate to how I inhabit my particular body with all of its strengths and challenges. Dance, acrobatics, and aerial arts have been cornerstones in my life.

I would love to have a text, email or phone conversation with you to discover if we are a good fit to work together. Most of my current clients are people who have had a lot of massage therapy before and know intimately its spectrum of quality. They’ve had disappointing massages in the past and they’ve seen videos of how I work and conclude that my techniques can deliver depth, complexity, traction, precision, and harmony that typical massages might not. On the other hand, some of my clients prefer a more traditional massage or subtle energy work and they come because they vibe with me for me and I am happy to offer what is best for them. I always encourage you to trust your intuition.

Upon arrival, you will be invited to have a glass of water and use the restroom. We will have a conversation about what your needs, preferences and goals are for the session. We will determine if there are any contraindications. My table has an optional warmer. There is also a blanket available. I will ask you if you’d like any peppermint essential oil in the face cradle to help keep your sinuses clear. You will be invited to unclothe completely or down to your comfort level. Undergarments can be on or off. Either way, you will be professionally draped at all times. I will step out of the room for a moment while you ready yourself on the table. You will be invited to let me know if I can make you more comfortable at any time throughout the session.

The integration period immediately following your session can be quite impactful. The body has just undergone a radical increase in blood flow. Some even enter altered states of consciousness as the massage inspires the slowing of brainwave activity. Most move out of the Beta wave state (required for active thinking and alert problem solving), and into Alpha or Theta brain wave states. Alpha brain waves are associated with calmness, relaxation, and light meditation. Theta waves are associated with the drifting of awareness, and the individual directly experiences the connection between mind and body. Some are fortunate as to even reach Delta wave states on the massage table, associated with dreamlike states. All of these drops in brainwave activity truly optimize the benefits of the massage. The best thing to lock-in the benefits of having entered these healing states is to prolong them with a spacious integration period: Almost everyone has wistfully joked about wanting to take a nap on the table after their massage, and they were onto something scientific and logical. I decided to make Integration Naps a reality because all of us who have craved that nap are pointing at something significant.

What you receive:
After your massage, I will offer you brief guided meditation, and (optionally) smudge the space with sage or palo santo. This process invigorates the energetic field and cleanses stagnant energy from it. Supportive music will play softly in the background. I will leave the room.

The space is all your own. You may let go completely into your healing process. You are invited to nap. Tears are also welcome. After your requested interval (15-min or 30-min), I will gently wake you.

Sometimes strong emotions like grief or anger can come up at any point during your bodywork session. These can be anything from feelings related to daily life or deep ancestral trauma. Emotional release during a bodywork session is normal, natural, welcome, healthy and encouraged. In fact, experiencing an extraordinary emotional release from the tissues can even go so far as to heal chronic pain completely. You are welcome to cry, laugh, move, vocalize, verbalize, yawn, breathe audibly, or do what is needed to process your emotional release on the table. Bodyworkers are ultimately sacred space holders, and it is an honor for me to offer you the space and time for your unique process to unfold.

Particularly if you have requested a deep tissue session, it is normal and even expected to be varying degrees of sore for a day or two after your massage. By day three you will likely have moved through that stage and will be flying high with increased range of motion and cellular clarity. Deep tissue massage is a detoxification process, and old cellular waste has been freed from where it was trapped in the muscle fibers so it can move out of the body, so hydrating thoroughly after your massage is a must. Even better with electrolytes. It’s ideal to rest for at least a few hours or otherwise take it easy right after your session to best allow the benefits to take hold.

Sometimes those who have had a powerful emotional release during their session will experience lasting impact in the days following. This can take many forms, including grief for the passing of old patterns. I invite you to hold yourself in compassion and celebrate these often uncomfortable seeds of inner transformation. You’re welcome to reach out to me if you need support.

There are two types of clients, both perfect as they are. The first favors skillful deep tissue that balances bearable discomfort with the promise of maximum relief afterward. The second client constitution contracts at the “no pain no gain” approach. Working within their bounds is a priority. Your session is a customized, collaborative effort between both of us and you are always invited to communicate no matter where we are at in the session. I am able to offer the 4-Way technique at controlled medium pressure and I stay intuitively connected to you while you are receiving. I integrate traditional techniques for clients needing lighter pressure. Notably, clients have told me that receiving knee-based deep tissue is significantly more pleasant than receiving elbow-based deep tissue because it comes with a broader surface.

Bodywork’s spectrum of application goes far beyond pain relief and relieving physical problems. Safe, skillful touch is so important for our mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. It can help us to reconnect with our bodies. In some cases, we may not be directly experiencing pain because we have had to dissociate from our bodies to get through life’s challenges. Touch can wake our dormant parts back up. It can bring us back into awareness of our bodies after being shut down or shut off. When we have that access, we are able to access emotions and feelings we didn’t know were there, so we can call them up for examination and processing. When we have processed them correctly, huge shifts and upgrades can start to happen in our lives! In our perceptions. In our relationships. In our capacities and livelihoods. In all our levels of potential. When our bodies are fully online, we trust ourselves more. And when we trust ourselves more, we trust the world around us more. Having expansive space held for us where we feel safe, seen, and nurtured is the beginning of all our upgrades.

I use unscented Biotone Pure Touch Organics Massage Creme. IAn ingredient list can be found here. It has the perfect amount of glide and will not leave you greasy and wanting to shower after you get off the table. It’s moisturizing, minimal, and disappears right into your skin. I tend to use only the amount of lotion necessary because the fascia is more easily engaged with less lubrication.

Please let me know prior to arriving for your session if you have any relevant allergies.

Not at the moment. Right now I am overjoyed each day to work out of my beautiful studio space that is precisely calibrated to be a 3D living altar in reverence to healing and restoration.

Bodywork is a broad umbrella term that includes massage therapy and other specific clinical modalities like myofascial release and trigger point therapy. It also includes the guided therapeutic exploration and release of emotional and ancestral traumatic holding patterns stored in the tissues. “Bodywork,” and “bodyworker” are increasingly my preferred terminology for my practice and the scope of my practice, but I use both because “massage therapy” and “massage therapist” are more commonly recognized.

While I hear often that 4-Way Massage kind of looks like Thai, their goals and applications are quite different. The intention behind 4-Way Massage is to synchronize multiple points of therapeutic contact to the muscles, soft tissues, and fascia. 4-Way Massage is done on a table unclothed with draping and lotion, as gliding effluerage is a big part of the experience. Thai yoga massage is practiced clothed on a floor mat. Its emphases are stretching, exploring range of motion, and compression techniques along the body’s energetic meridians.