My massage is informed by and is a fusion of many types of body work which are briefly described below.  

Therapeutic Deep Tissue

     Deep tissue is slow, patient, deep work that lets the body have time to adjust.  It's great for suggesting to overly tight muscles to calm down and it's great at waking up muscles that are underused.  It breaks up adhesions ("knots")  and scar tissue.

Swedish

      Swedish is probably the one you've seen most in movies with the formidable Swedish woman named Helga in the white smock working someone over after the sauna.  It's done with oil or lotion and a flow of strokes anywhere from rhythmic percussion with soft fists, to smooth relaxing strokes moving towards the heart.  It's both relaxing and energizing.

Shiatsu

      Shiatsu literally means finger pressure and has the same foundation in Traditional Chinese Medicine as acupuncture.  Points are held that fall along energy (Chi) pathways in the body that bring the body back into balance.

Hot Stone (coming soon)
      Hot stone is pretty much a bliss coma.   It's just how it sounds.  Smooth stones are heated in a crock pot to the perfect temperature and placed on the body.  Imagine nice warm stones sitting on your back  while  your calves and hamstrings are massaged with MORE warmed up stones, and at the very same time warm stones between your toes.  I could go on.

Myofascial Release Therapy

      This deep type of work is very useful in injury rehabilitation. It gets down into the muscle and lengthens and realigns muscle fibers. It releases the thin layer of tissue that surrounds each muscle fiber and each muscle that can get stuck and gluey if the muscle is overused, abused and not properly hydrated.   A "knot" in a muscle is where connective tissue has stuck to itself and metabolic waste has gotten trapped which in turn prevents nutrients from getting in.  Muscles can then start sticking to each other which can reduce range of motion, cause pain and tension and if it's allowed to go on it can even lead to scar tissue and real joint problems.

Trigger Point

      You may have experienced a point on your body that when it's pressed is especially intense or even has referred pain somewhere else in the body.  Trigger Point work seeks out these points and gently presses those points to release them.  I especially like this work because it is slow and the body has time to trust it. 

"PNF" or Propriosceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation
     Let's say you hold your shoulders up near your ears when you use the computer, and you hold your shoulders up when you drive.  Your body has nerve cells (propriosceptors) that tell your brain that this is where your shoulders like to be all the time!   This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't start pinching the nerves that feed your arms and hands.  PNF simply seeks to suggest to your brain that certain inefficient ways of holding your body aren't necessary, that in the case of your high riding shoulders, you can show off that  beautiful neck of yours.