Jenna Rae Boow - Registered Massage Therapist

Golfers, this one’s for you. 🏌️ (Part 1 of my stretch series)

That tightness through your mid-back after a round? Your thoracic spine is built to rotate, and when it stops moving freely, your lower back and shoulders pick up the slack.

Thread the needle opens that rotation back up - so your swing moves the way it’s meant to, with less compensation everywhere else.

Do it before you golf to prime your body, and after to release what the round locked in. A few rounds per side, holding a breath or two each time, most days of the week.

Save this one for your next tee time. ⛳

Part 1 of a series - more golfer stretches coming your way.

You asked for Part 2, so here it is 😂 I save these up because honestly, you all keep me laughing through every shift. Drop the funniest thing you’ve said on a massage table 👇🏻.

A few gems from the table 😂 RMT life is 50% bodywork, 50% comedy. Drop the funniest thing you’ve ever said mid-massage 👇🏻.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the way nature wears its adaptations so openly.

A tree can grow uneven, scarred, twisted toward light, shaped by every storm it’s lived through… and somehow we still view it as beautiful. Strong. Worthy of admiration.

But when life shapes us, physically or emotionally, we often meet those same adaptations with criticism instead of compassion.

Working with the body has taught me that people carry so much more than tension physically. The body reflects protection, compensation, emotion, memory, exhaustion, resilience

And I think there’s something incredibly powerful about being met with compassion in those places instead of shame.

Maybe not every part of us needs to be “fixed.”
Maybe some parts simply need to feel safe enough to soften.

Where can you meet yourself with some love & compassion today 💛.

Heavy legs. Sore feet. Tight calves. Achy knees. Low back tension.

I’ve been hearing this from so many people lately — and honestly, your body makes a lot of sense. 🤍

Your lower body carries you through life every single day while also working against gravity to circulate blood, oxygen, and lymphatic fluid back up through the system. Add stress, long hours, nervous system overload, decreased movement, shallow breathing, workouts, standing, driving… and the body starts talking.

Sometimes as heaviness.
Sometimes as tension.
Sometimes as exhaustion.

The body is always communicating — we just have to learn how to listen to it a little differently.

Massage therapy can help support circulation, tissue mobility, nervous system regulation, and overall movement through the body so things don’t feel quite so “stuck.”

Sometimes your legs aren’t weak.
They’re just working really hard. 💛.

I think a lot of people confuse pressure with progress.

Like if you’re not constantly pushing, stressing, overworking, or holding everything together… then somehow you’re falling behind.

And yes - discipline matters.
Growth takes effort.
Showing up for yourself matters.

But living in a constant state of tension isn’t the same thing as being committed.

At some point, the body starts keeping score.

I see this all the time through massage therapy and nervous system work.
People become so used to clenching, rushing, overthinking, and carrying everything alone that they forget what it feels like to actually relax.

To breathe deeply.
To feel safe in their own body.
To move through life without always being in survival mode.

And I don’t think healing or growth comes from forcing ourselves harder and harder.

I think real growth happens when effort and self-connection can exist together.

When you can work toward becoming better without abandoning yourself in the process. That’s true alignment.

Ever finish a long day, sink into the couch, and feel like your hips just won’t let go?
Or maybe there’s that nagging low back tension that seems to come out of nowhere - even though you haven’t done anything “to” your back?

Your quads and hip flexors might be the culprit.

These muscles are working constantly - every step, every drive, every hour spent sitting.
When they’re chronically shortened and overloaded, that tension travels. It tilts your pelvis forward, compresses your lumbar spine, and creates a chain reaction that shows up as low back ache, knee discomfort, or that deep “I just can’t stretch it out” feeling no matter what you try.

Most people stretch their quads and call it a day - but when tissue is truly holding, it needs more than a 30-second stretch.
It needs hands-on work to release the deeper layers, calm the nervous system, and remind those muscles what length feels like.

That’s exactly what we work on in a session. If any of this sounds familiar, your body might be ready for some attention.

Chronic stress doesn’t just live in your mind, it lives in your tissues.

When your nervous system is stuck in a prolonged state of activation, your body responds accordingly: elevated cortisol, increased muscle tension, disrupted sleep, shallow breathing, digestive issues, a heightened pain response.

These aren’t separate problems.
They’re one system under pressure.

This is where massage therapy goes deeper than relaxation.

Skilled, therapeutic touch communicates directly with the nervous system. It activates the parasympathetic response -
shifting the body out of survival mode and into a state where healing, regulation, and rest are actually possible.
Fascia softens.
Breath deepens.
The nervous system gets the signal: you’re safe.

The mind-body connection isn’t a wellness buzzword. It’s anatomy.

As RMTs, we’re not just working with muscles - we’re working with a whole person who has been carrying something. And sometimes the most profound shift isn’t in the tissue itself, but in the moment the body finally remembers how to let go.

If you’ve been “managing” stress for months (or years), your body may be asking for more than just a day off.

What does your nervous system need today?