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No Tipping
No nickel-and-diming here! I don't charge extra for add-ons like essential oils or new skills I have added to my toolbox. Plus, I don't expect tips! Save your money and put it towards your next massage.
Punctuality
Appointments always start and end on time. Provided you arrive 5 minutes early, my goal is to maximize your hands-on time. My hands don't leave your body until the clock hits your appointment end time.
Peace & Quiet
Goodbye, noisy clinics. Hello, massage bliss. My massage room is tucked away at the back of a peaceful office space, so you can enjoy your massage without interuption.
YOU Are In Control
No aspect of your massage should come as a surprise. We'll conduct a thorough intake at your first appointment where I explain my treatment plan in detail. I will continue to communicate with you throughout the session on pressure and comfort level. Your session is about you, not me.
Custom-Tailored Treatments
I keep track of your preferences—everything from your favourite essential oils and your love of scalp massage to your ticklish feet and your music selection. You're not typical; why should your massage be?
Knowledgable Massage Therapist
I enjoy furthering my knowledge and learning new skills. I am always researching new ways to help you!
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Music For You
I have amassed a massive collection of relaxing music that's actually good. I even create customized playlists for my regulars. Want an all-Trance massage? I can make that happen!
Safe Space
I provide a body-positive, LGBTQIA+-friendly space where you can relax and ignore the outside world. Leave your insecurities at the door; your comfort is my utmost priority.
No Talking
Sometimes, you just need a moment to yourself. I love a good chat, but I won't initiate a conversation with you during your massage. I follow your lead.
Cleanliness
I disinfect absolutely everything in between appointments. I follow strict COVID-19 sanitation protocols under the guidance of the
Department of Health.
Health At Every Size
I use an extra wide, extra long hydraulic massage table and large sheets to accommodate all body types. You won't have to worry about feeling uncovered.
My Signature Approach to the Body
Working Through The Layers
I’ll choose the types of massage/techniques that I use based on my professional training and experience, taking into consideration your body’s needs. I carefully evaluate what will work best with your specific tissues texture (think knots and ‘tight’ places), your posture, and anywhere you feel pain or discomfort. I'll also take into account your medical history including medications you take, stress and activity levels, previous injuries, and requests you make. This is why all of my massages are called "Integrative Massage" because all of what you read on this page is integrated or mashed up together to create the perfect massage and treatment plan for you.
Fascia and Trigger Points
I like to tell my clients that I am working my way through the layers of the body. Meaning that we always start with the fascia (also called connective tissue or scar tissue), which is a web-looking casing that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. This is why fascia is so immensely important to the way our bodies function.
When fascia becomes tight or is injured, it creates scar tissue. When scar tissue is left untreated for too long the fascia becomes tangled and creates little bundles called trigger points.
When you get a massage from a therapist that knows how to manipulate the fascia (like me!), they can work with the fascia first before anything else. This is extremely important because if the massage therapist rushes into the muscles without firstly addressing the fascia (the outermost layer of tissues) it can cause injury and create more scar tissue and pain in the long run.
Regulating the Nervous System
One of the goals of massage is to bring your nervous system into a regulated or balanced state.
This is where the autonomic nervous system (ANS) comes in to play. We are going to focus on two very particular parts of the ANS, your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS).
Your PNS, commonly called "rest-and-digest" is a network of nerves that relaxes your body after periods of stress or danger. It also helps run life-sustaining processes, like digestion, heart rate, and blood pressure during times when you feel safe and relaxed.
Your SNS, commonly called "fight-or-flight" is the activity and energizing focus dedicated part of our nervous systems where we are alert in the day, we’re trying to get things done, and we’re active. We’re increasing in activity and stimulation (stress).
During a normal day, there is supposed to be a flow between the PNS and the SNS. This is when our system is in balance.
When there is TOO MUCH STRESS going on and it’s not discharged, which means it’s stuck in our bodies and doesn’t know where to go, we are then stuck in a constant state of fight or flight.
Some of us may switch into what’s called “STUCK ON” where our nervous systems are on hyperdrive. The sympathetic nervous system—which is the alert and active part—kicks in really hard, where the person is spinning in anxiety, they’re trying to be really active and get onto tasks. These tend to be the folks who push themselves really hard, have a hard time settling, spin into being hypervigilant, are very irritable, have digestive issues, etc.
Then there are some of us who go down into the “STUCK OFF” position in our nervous system. The systems shut down. People get really slow and sluggish, they have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, they have a hard time focusing because it requires so much energy which they don’t feel like they have, there’s very low activity in the body, low blood pressure, etc.
If you find yourself resonating with these experiences, you’re NOT ALONE and you’re NOT BROKEN. There’s nothing wrong with you, but it does mean that you’re HUMAN and knowing your limits is actually a good thing. It’s telling you now is the time to limit all that you’re carrying and focus back on YOURSELF and try to bring your nervous system back into a balanced state. Massage helps to bring the nervous system back into a balanced state. The type of pressure, stroke, or length of time used during a massage session can help stimulate or soothe the nerves to create the desired outcome.
Combating Muscle Ischemia
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The chart in the middle shows how a muscle progresses from a healthy muscle that has great blood flow and is able to deliver nutrients and oxygen throughout the body to an unhealthy muscle. Due to injury or overuse the blood vessels become constricted or shortened and unable to function properly, creating muscle ischemia or lack of blood flow in the muscles. Massage works to lengthen shortened muscles and create room for the blood and nutrients to pass through again.
As massage therapists, we always say deep tissue does not mean deep pressure. As I mentioned before, there are layers in the body that need to be worked through in a meticulous order to prevent injury and pain. After working through the fascial layers, and regulating the nervous system, we can start to get into the muscles. And even the muscles have LAYERS!
The left and right (top and bottom on mobile) pictures above show the different layers of the muscles on the front and back sides of the torso. Any massage therapist will have a hard time pushing through the outermost layers without loosening them up first to get to the layers beneath thus, creating unnecessary scar tissue and injury. Thus, why finding an educated professional who can work through the layers is SO important!
Ligaments
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Orthopedic massage is a type of massage that focuses on ligaments, ligaments are the strands of tissues that connect bone to bone, making them our deepest and final layer of the body. Examples of the types of ligaments in our body can be see in images 1, 2, and 3. Cross friction fiber massage is a specific massage technique that involves applying deep pressure backward and forwards across a ligament or tendon. It is often used in the treatment of medial knee ligament sprains to help stimulate the healing process and re-align newly formed scar tissue (progression from image 4 to 5). Sprains are when your ligament is injured and forms little tears. Often times when we sustain injuries to our ligaments, scar tissue forms and heals incorrectly (4), using cross fiber friction, your massage therapist can go in and break up that scar tissue, loosen the surrounding tissues and allow the tissue to heal correctly after your massage (5).
How the Muscles Work
I want you to envision the muscles as a pulley system, muscles contract and relax, when muscles contract they get shorter and when they relax they get longer. As seen in the image above with the bicep and tricep, as the bicep contracts or shortens, the tricep relaxes or lengthens and vice versa. They balance each other out, which is the way it is supposed to be. If muscles are overused they become contracted/shortened even when they are in a relaxed state, then the opposite muscle becomes over-lengthened and starts to knot up to protect itself even when it is in use. This creates imbalances in the structure of the body or the skeletal system. This is when you start to see things like hyperkyphosis, which is the hunch you see in people with poor posture. This is an imbalance between the front and back sides of the torso. As a massage therapist, I can help to relax and lengthen the muscles that are stuck in a contracted or shortened position and release knots in the over-lengthened muscles. Then I can give you the tools to help strengthen the muscles that are weak and over-lengthened to start to create balance in the body again.
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