Mary Murphy LMT

exactly so 🙏💜

A client recently came in asking for the hardest pressure we had. She mentioned her last three massages had left her sore for days, and she thought that soreness was the sign it was working.

We hear this often. Somewhere along the way, the wellness world equated pain with progress and force with results. The body tells a different story.

When pressure crosses into bracing, the nervous system reads it as a threat. Muscles guard. Breath shortens. The very tissue you're trying to soften quietly clenches tighter beneath the hands working it.

Nurturing Touch moves in the opposite direction. Slow, lingering strokes signal safety to the nervous system, and that's where true release lives. Depth, in this context, isn't measured in pounds of pressure. It's measured in how completely the body lets go.

The quiet afterward tells you everything. No soreness the next morning. No bracing through your shoulders for days. Just a softer, more integrated version of you.

If you've been taught to white-knuckle through your sessions, here's a phrase worth practicing with your therapist: "I'd like to explore what release feels like without force today." Notice what changes. 🌿

In order to provide excellent care to my loyal clients - the ones who pay my bills - I do not accept transient clients. If you are visiting the area, I am happy to provide referrals to other local therapeutic massage therapists who I know personally. Have a safe and enjoyable visit to our beautiful Black Hills 🌲🌲🌲

see you soon!

in case you're wondering who's *really* in charge!