Detail Work
Effectively treat the most common issues seen over 20 years experience.
Detail Work is the core of my Deep Bodywork™ practice and can pinpoint exact causes of tension, pain and immobility with focused creative attention for extraordinary results.
The Neck’s Best Thing
Breathalyzer
The Hipster
Runner’s High
2 Hour Massage
The Neck’s Best Thing
Consider getting this work if you are suffering from headaches, if you have pain, intractable tightness or exhaustion in your neck and shoulders, or just want to feel like you can think straight again (yes, that’s you).
Although the average head only weighs 12 pounds, every inch of forward posture increases the pressure on the neck by 10 pounds, making it a biomechanical disaster for many. This creates tension that can radiate down the shoulders and up into the jaw, temples and occipital region at the base of the skull. Additionally, the pectoralis muscles at the front of your shoulders can become shortened as you collapse forward, thus cementing this posture into place! Worse still, I have seen chronic pain in this area eventually convert into emotional exhaustion and an inability to focus.
In this session, direct and specific pressure is applied to the structures of the neck as I gently roll your head back and forth, opening up the muscles for more freedom of movement. With your involvement, I work up around the top of the shoulders and strip the edges of the scapulae (wing bones) for big relief in the deepest muscles of the upper back. The chest muscles and the structures in and around the armpit will be penetrated and stretched for maximum freedom and ideal posture. Each session is finished with face and head work on the extremely flat, yet sensorially rich muscles encasing the skull.
The fact of the matter is that just about everybody needs neck and shoulder work on a regular basis. It can provide dramatic relief and I recommend making it a part of your ongoing massage treatment program.
The Breathalyzer
This work is a great way to support your nervous system for optimum resilience. If you are suffering from anxiety or trauma, want to prime yourself for a triathlon, or just want a greater capacity for oxygen uptake, this sequence can be a game-changer. I’ve been getting great feedback on this work!
This sequence was developed during the pandemic, when I saw that many of my clients were gasping for air and unable to inhale deeply. They were in need of a somatic intervention and a conscious reconnection to the muscles that allowed them full access to their breath. The chest and abdomen are often left out of massages, yet clearly hold so much of our stress!
This session provides deep opening work on the breathing muscles of the chest, upper back and neck area. The sternum, intercostal muscles, and abdominal muscles will all be addressed. The pectoralis (chest) muscles and the structures in and around the armpit will be penetrated and stretched to facilitate maximum lung capacity. Most importantly, the diaphragm will be accessed through a gentle release at of the edges of the rib cage in time with your respiration. You will leave feeling expansive, relaxed and breathing deeper and more comfortably than before. Clients have told me that they have also enjoyed an emotional lift from the work, including feelings of calm presence and an elevated sense of well-being.
The Hipster
This session is ideal if you are looking for more freedom of movement, have low back or sciatic pain, or are just interested in getting to know your hips better (yes that’s you). My clients have been raving about this incredibly productive work.
As the place where your lower and upper halves meet, hips are one of the most biomechanically complex parts of the body. It is also a common location of general tightness and pain that occasionally radiates up, creating an ache in the lower back, or down the leg, manifesting as sciatica and/or weakness.
Very specific techniques and positioning will be applied which allow me to access the deep muscular and ligamentous structures that connect the legs to the pelvis and the pelvis to the lower back. During this sequence, gluteals, TFL, piriformis and all the deep internal rotators will be addressed. Abdominal work may be required to release the psoas and other buried anterior hip flexors. Clients are often put on their side, so the tissues of the deep low back, the side of the hips, as well as the IT band can be worked directly.
Runner’s High
Consider this work if you are a runner or walker, have nagging pain in your feet, ankles, knees and hips or would like to experience a 3-dimensional treatment that addresses more than just the front and back surfaces of your body. (Yes, that’s you.)
Consistent running and walking is great for the cardiovascular system and for increasing strength in the legs and hips. However, due to constant stabilization of the body during sustained forward movement, the “shadow side” of this type of exercise is pain in the knees and tightness in the hips, caused by chronic shortness of the gluteus medius, iliotibial band (ITB) and the deep muscles of the inner thigh.
For this reason, most of this session will performed in a side-lying position. While on your side, the structural support muscles of hips and legs can be deeply accessed, as I make my way from your lower back all the way down to your feet. Manipulation of the anterior hip flexors and psoas muscles may also be included during this session. Many find my detailed work around the tops of the feet and ankles heavenly. This can have bio-mechanical benefits radiating up throughout the entire lower half of the body. My running and walking clients benefit greatly from the regular application of this treatment.
2 Hour Massage
I know, I know. CRAZY. However, the depth of relaxation and amount of reorganization that can be achieved in the body during a session is dramatically enhanced by taking the time to put the nervous system at ease and unwind the soft tissue layer by layer. The deep sensory satiation of the longer treatment is serious somatic medicine and a true gift to oneself.
Because working at a snail’s pace is the foundation of my technique, I have found that the only limit on the efficacy of my work is the time that I have to perform it in. Any one or more of the detail sessions can be integrated into this massage.
Consider a 2+ hour massage if you’ve been under extraordinary stress for a long period of time, are an athlete of any kind, have a nagging musculoskeletal issue, or if you just want a really, really long massage. (Yes, that’s you.)