Restorative Bodyworks

I do a lot of deep tissue, sports massage kinda stuff. These Thai style massages are so underrated! The rhythmic compression and gentle movement becomes almost psychedelic at times for both therapist and client. Book a longer 2hr session so we have all the time to rock you to sleep. 😴 💚

Trying to write a caption while on the stair climber at the gym…you’d think my brain would be more oxygenated but it doesn’t feel like it 😂
Anyways, it’s Monday, the start of a new week. Maybe think about making time for some self care this week!

Rest is super underrated when it comes to treating pain. Dysfunctional movement patterns exist and are treatable with a proper dose of strength training, mobility work, and massage.
But maybe this week you went a little harder in the gym, tried some new exercises, spent extra time doing yardwork… and now you have some back pain because you did more than your body is accustomed to.
Society tells us to just “push through”
We’ve been conditioned to view rest as weakness but more often than not, it’s exactly what we need to do. Life has never moved at this pace. It’s exhausting. Trust that the world will keep turning if you sit on your ass and do nothing productive for a day. I promise it’ll be ok.

Arthrokinematics (cool big word, huh?) refers to the effect that muscle tension has on joint alignment. When the muscles surrounding a joint are relatively balanced, the joint itself will be centered, mobile, and stable through its whole range of motion.
However, when we start to experience altered recruitment and muscular imbalances, this can pull the joint slightly off center. It’s not “out”, but it’s not properly “in” either. A lot of the time this is no big deal. Just about everyone has some degree of muscular imbalance. But it also has the potential to restrict full range of motion, cause painful impingements, and reinforce the altered muscle recruitment that caused it in the first place. No one is ever going to be 100% optimal in their mobility, but we shoot for perfect so we can hit pretty good. Because anything outside of optimal reduces your efficiency of movement and increases your risk of injury.

These wildfires really suck for the air quality. It didn’t seem that bad just being outside but with some exertion it quickly felt like fire in my lungs. Not a good time to be outdoors here.
Y’all know I’m not a big supplement guy but when it’s called for, I do it. My naturopath has always recommended NAC as the best supplement for lung support. I took one after my workout, closed all the windows, and put on the air purifier. There’s so much area burning and who knows what kind of particulate we’re breathing in out there. Stay safe everybody! 💚

Lots of big powerful muscle groups in the hips. Underneath the big gluteal muscles are a group of smaller muscles, the deep hip rotators. Most of the time during a glute massage it’s actually these deep rotators that we’re targeting. It’s fairly uncommon for the larger glute max and medius to become overactive. They’re usually turned down a bit. And to match, the hips are not usually restricted by them. More commonly with movement assessment it’s hip rotation that is restricted. The most well known of the hip rotators, the piriformis, crosses over the sciatic nerve and can mimic symptoms of sciatica, nerve pain shooting down the back of the leg. “Piriformis syndrome” is much easier to treat than true sciatica which originates up in the lumbar spine. Releasing the hip rotators can make such a huge improvement to your quality of movement and minimize injury risk to the low back and knees!

I appreciate the sentiment of loyalty. Just like we need to occasionally switch up our workouts to achieve balanced progress, you may need different therapists at different times. I think I’m a pretty great massage therapist, and there are other great massage therapists out there who do drastically different work than I do. Craniosacral for example is an amazing modality, that I do not offer. Lymphatic drainage massage is another modality that I do not offer, yet is hugely beneficial!
Btw if you’re looking for lymphatic work, I highly recommend Alicia
I can’t speak for all massage therapists but I promise, I won’t have hurt feelings if you see someone else. I want you to get your needs met, however you can!

Massage benefits go far beyond relaxation and pampering. It’s preventative medicine. It’s injury recovery. It’s chronic illness management. I continue to be pleasantly amazed by what some intentional connection can do.

As a massage therapist trained in corrective myofascial and neuromuscular techniques, and a human movement specialist trained in functional anatomy and corrective exercise techniques, our sessions may feel very different than a typical massage at a spa or clinic. Physical therapists are at a much higher level than I am and I’m not saying I can do everything they do. Special testing for specific injuries, dry needling and reading imaging results for example are out of my scope of practice. But movement assessments, targeted soft tissue release, joint mobilizations, and prescribing exercises are all very helpful techniques in my toolbox. In many cases that may be all you need to get moving and feeling better!

I spent this past weekend learning more about deep abdominal work and the connection between the diaphragm-iliopsoas-QL. We didn’t just focus on releasing the tight muscles but activation and timing, neuromuscular reeducation to train the hip flexors to fire and release efficiently. These muscles do so much that we take for granted.
Stabilizing the low back, pelvis and hips.
Drawing deep nourishing breath.
Running, kicking, balancing gait.
Supporting our internal organs.

When they’re not working properly they can throw off pelvic balance, inhibit gait patterns,restrict breathing, cause all sorts of digestive problems, hernias, low back/sacral pain…

The abdomen often gets left out of “full body” massages as it’s seen as unnecessary or too vulnerable. The work we can do in the abdomen though has potential to improve every other area of the body because the body always finds a way. But if you’re compensating for a weak or imbalanced deep core, nothing will work optimally. It definitely is a vulnerable place to work but with a gentle touch we can affect great change in the body!