Modality is the fancy term massage therapists use to talk about the different styles of massage that we offer and that are generally available. As individuals, we all have different needs, and those needs shift for us with time as well. These are the modalities I currently offer; please read and consider what sounds best for you. I'm happy to answer any questions you have as well. You can chat with me in person as we decide what your best session will look like, and you can also ask me questions in advance here.

When considering each modality type, please remember the following overarching beliefs undergirding every massage I give:

• Every massage is therapeutic because it helps the body to shift from the fight and flight (sympathetic) autonomic nervous system mode to the rest and digest (parasympathetic) mode. This is the first step to physical and emotional repair and maintenance. 
• I do not believe in no pain, no gain as a therapeutic approach. Certain techniques do work with productive intensity, but none should be painful per se. You know the difference between good, productive intensity, and just pain.
• Massage is never to be endured. If you're actively enduring your care, then you're not able to relax into that care. 
• All massage is meant to be gender affirmative and body positive. What does that mean?

Craniosacral Therapy: a system of gentle holds and manipulations to the skull and sacrum used to balance the flow of cerebrospinal fluid through the closed membrane system surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The goal is to improve central nervous system function and complement the body's natural healing processes.

Deep tissue massage: this is a wide range of muscle-specific techniques applied for deep effect aimed to directly address postural dysfunction and pain patterns. When working with specific muscles, muscle groups, and cross-body patterns of dysfunction to achieve balance, you can experience a variety of intensities. I may use controlled inflammatory response in the body to break up adhesions, increase blood flow to soft tissue, and facilitate the removal of sediments in soft tissue.

Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT): as a part of deep tissue massage, NMT helps the mind/body connection to reeducate itself when postural distortions are discovered and corrected. Longer term dysfunction changes the brain's perception of balance in the body. For example, if you have rounded shoulders, that feels like normal body positioning to your brain. To relax the shoulders out of the rounded position will feel strange. NMT uses strategic patterns of stretching, holds, muscle contraction, and releases to reset nerve signals, letting the body find balance and letting the brain perceive that balance.

Trigger Point Therapy: this technique is part of deep tissue massage. In order to achieve long-term pain relief as well as address postural dysfunction, I find tender points in muscles and tendons that feel like taut rubber bands. Those points refer sensation, that means they cause pain, tingling, or numbness in other seemingly unrelated or adjacent areas of the body. By using manual manipulation techniques such as direct pressure and pulsing, or indirect manipulation such as myofascial holds, the trigger point can release, bringing pain relief not only at the trigger point itself but also in the referred areas. A common example of this is trigger points in the shoulder girdle that create pain around the wrist and hands associated with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Hot Stone massage: this modality uses techniques common to Swedish/relaxation and deep tissue/myofascial massage. What makes it unique is that instead of using hands as the main tool of the massage, hot stones are used instead. This brings an extra kick of muscle release and relaxation while performing deep work. There are also hot-stone-specific techniques, such as tapping and using placement stones as heat therapy. For safety, the stones that directly contact the skin are changed frequently and in constant motion. Static stones are only placed over layers or draping material and/or towels. As an aside, those pretty pictures you see of hot stone massage that show huge stones lined up along a spine have nothing to do with actual hot stone massage. If those stones were hot, they would burn the skin by resting on the body like that.

Medical massage: this is massage directed to helping you manage chronic as well as acute medical/physical conditions. Each condition carries its own set of cautions and precautions as well as reasons, or indications to receive massage. In some cases, health conditions mean that massage is not safe. Often to receive medical massage, you need a physician's release form. Conditions also benefit from specific approaches. Working together, we can find the approach that helps to both manage and heal a variety of health concerns.

Myofascial Release: MFR addresses the relationship between muscle and fascia in the body to release restrictions causing postural distortion, thus relieving physical pain while allowing for long term change. Fascia is the type of connective tissue that connects and protects all soft tissue structures in the body. For example, each muscle fiber is wrapped in fascia, those fibers are then grouped together by more fascia, and then those fiber groups are wrapped in even more fascia to create full muscles; those fascial wrappings extend beyond the muscle fibers to become the tendons that attach muscles to bones. Fascia reacts differently than muscle tissue and responds to heat and sustained pressure. In this modality, I will use sustained holds, slow deep tissue techniques, and applied heat hydrotherapy to help you relieve pain.

Polarity: by gently manipulating the natural positive, negative, and neutral poles of the body, energy can find balance, the body finds pain relief, and health can be maintained. This physical energetic manipulation is just one aspect of a larger approach based on Western interpretations of Ayurvedic traditions as experienced by Randolph Stone in the 1920s. Polarity practice encompasses all aspects of life, including spiritual, nutritional, and physical.

Swedish/relaxation massage: this modality focuses on full body systems to achieve therapeutic benefits through relaxation. It is usually practiced with you disrobed on a massage table. Most commonly, I will use oil or lotion to perform basic techniques with my hands, forearms, and elbows such as gliding, kneading, percussion, friction, jostling, and vibration as well as passive stretching and range of motion.

Table Thai massage: Thai massage is commonly performed on a mat with you fully clothed. Western adaptations of this practice allows me to bring the practice to a table, and can be fully clothed sessions, or even integrated into other forms of Western massage such as Swedish and deep tissue. Common techniques are walking compressions with palms and thumbs, as well as range of motion and passive repeated stretching. Often Thai massage gets described as yoga that is performed on the body.

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