Why get a massage from me?

I have been a professional massage therapist for more than 30 years. In that time I have learned many different approaches and often combine in ways that will be most beneficial to my client.

Everyone is different. Every massage is different. What is needed today is not necessarily what is needed tomorrow. Each session begins with a brief conversation to clarify for both client and therapist the primary concerns for the session. The session then takes on that focus.

I began my training in 1976 in California. I studied with Robert Brown at the Soma School of Massage in Oakland, graduating in 1978. I continued taking classes including polarity therapy, jin shin do, pregnancy massage, Trager Phychophysical Integration, and sports massage. For several years I was active in the Bay Area Sports Massage Team. In 1990 I graduated from ReSource, in Berkeley, CA, with a 1000 hour certification in Western Approaches to Bodywork. I have been a student of yoga and meditation for many years. I also studied Hanna Somatics with Thomas Hanna. After moving to Connecticut, I established a private practice in West Hartford, and taught sports massage and palpation courses at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy.

I have continued to study taking many courses at the Connecticut School for Integrative Manual Therapy in Bloomfield, CT, as well as completing the three levels of Reiki.

Recently I took courses with Dr Richard Bartlett, and have been certified in Matrix Energetics. Along the way I have taken classes with Peter Levine, Carolyn Myss, Mary Browne and Gregg Braden. I am currently taking up the study of nutrition.

Massage is not a thing, it is the sum total of all that both therapist and client bring to it. Magic can happen and sometimes just the simple act of dropping the load of stress we have been carrying around with us feels like magic.

Come for a massage. Feel some of the magic that is possible for you when you step out of the ordinary routines of your life and try something new, something just for you.

Why get a massage?

People come for massage for many reasons. In stressful times, massage can help calm your system and reorient you to feeling more like yourself. More relaxed and more connected to what's most important to you rather than feeling driven by external forces. Massage can act as a "reboot" to the whole system.

Sometimes people come with a specific complaint, such as neck or back pain, a sore shoulder, a pulled hamstring, etc. In such cases the massage is more focused on the specific issue rather than the body as a whole. Identifying the particular muscles involved, whether there are alignment issues, and what activities the client is doing that contribute to the problem, are all part of addressing and correcting the situation.

In these cases there may be a "hurts good "component to the work, as in deep tissue or trigger point massage therapy. Addressing the complaint directly can have a dramatic and immediate impact by decreasing pain and increasing mobility. Identifying contributing factors, such as habitual postures, improperly configured work stations, etc, empowers clients to make changes to help maintain the gains made in the session. Sometimes homework, such as specific stretches for the primary problem muscles, is suggested to retrain muscles and maintain the gains made in the session.

Athletes are a special population who want to maintain a high level of training for competition or health. They are often training for specific sports and therefore may be overworking some areas of the body. A prime example is the tendency toward hamstring injuries in runners. Swimmers are more likely to have shoulder issues. For them the focus is on keeping them at their highest level of training and fitness, so they can continue to do what they love.

In essence that is one of the major purposes of massage therapy-to allow you to continue doing what you love and living as you wish, free from injury and pain. Another is the pleasure of touch and deep relaxation in a beautiful environment where the focus is on you. Often clients slip into a deeply relaxed meditative state. It is like going on vacation for an hour. It can be very restorative.

There are forms of massage that are specially designed to take you to a deeper state of relaxation, e.g., hot stone massage and aromatherapy massage.

Massage is the skillful application of manual techniques to the body with the purpose of bringing about positive changes in tissue mobility, flexibility and pliability, and improving the experienced sense of being embodied. This can includes such qualitative effects as decreased stress; an increased sense of ease and relaxation; decreased anxiety; improved mobility, respiration and sleep.

There are specialized forms of massage therapy for specialized purposes. For example, sports massage is specialized for the athlete and the activity with the purpose of improving performance by addressing subclinical injuries, this keeping the athlete at a high level of training; preparing the athlete mentally, emotionally and physically before a competition; helping with recovery between heats and after meets; and working very specifically with injuries to improve recovery time and outcome.

Some specialties include:

Relaxation

Deep tissue

Trigger point work

Geriatric massage

Pregnancy massage

Myofascial release

Structural balancing (such as Rolfing)

Hot Stone massage

In addition, there are adjunct healing techniques and modalities that are often used with massage or by massage therapists, such as:

Integrative Manual Therapy

Craniosacral Therapy

Reiki

Matrix Energetics

EMF

Crystal healing

Trager

Matrix Energetics

Matrix Energetics, developed by Richard Bartlett is a complete system of healing, self-care and transformation. Drawing on quantum physics, scalar wave technology, consciousness technology, superstring theory, archetypes, morphic fields, intention, awareness and observation, it has physical and observable effects.

Non-health care beginners as well as experienced health care practitioners are able to perform and utilize this work to affect changes It can be done in-person with light touch, on yourself and through distance healing sessions. Matrix Energetics transforms beliefs concerning healing, disease, chronic pain and the structure of reality.

Matrix Energetics is mind blowing fun as well as an advanced technology and as Arthur C. Clark said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Kimberly Burnham, West Hartford, CT

Services

Massage Therapy  30 minutes .......................................... $45
(all practitioners are licensed massage therapists)