People come to massage for a variety of reasons:
· To unwind and relax after a stressful week.
· To compliment an exercise program, helping to keep his or her body in peak condition.
· To help in recovering from a pulled muscle she or he developed while shoveling snow or in some other manner.
Whatever the reason, I can provide a variety of approaches to match to the needs of the patient.
 
One approach I use is to provide a relaxing massage. This approach helps the patient in releasing stress and developing energy balance. All of us encounter a variety of stresses in our daily lives, whether from outside sources (a boss, the kids, a telephone solicitor, etc.) or an inside source (our expectations of ourselves, the injury of a loved one, or a cold that is still just sniffles). Some people use massage to aid in releasing stresses like these on a weekly basis. Others, who have been under stress for long periods of time without healthy releases, may wish to use massage a bit more actively to help the body re-establish its own healthy patterns. Particularly over a period of time, the body´s systems can become unbalanced; perhaps we have too much of something in one area or not enough of something in another. A relaxing massage can help a patient in releasing any misplaced energy. This kind of massage can also offer the soothing comfort needed by many to ease the release of tension.
 
Another approach I use is that of focused massage. Some people want a massage that targets a particular area of the body. Perhaps they have had trouble with a specific movement, or they have had some kind of injury and have experienced limitations as a result. In some cases, the body may have compensated for the problems and need attention in more than one area. In this type of massage, I focus my work on the set of muscles, ligaments and tendons that have been affected. I work first to warm the tissue, then release the congestion in the tissue, smooth the tissue and relax the area so that it can heal properly. Sometimes, more generalized work is necessary to fully heal the tissue. It may be, for example, that the tissues are not receiving healthy impulses from the nervous system. Some work can help to realign those impulses and aid the body in its efforts to heal. Whatever the case may be, I tailor the massage to the patients´ needs.
 
Some patients use massage as a way to assist in their movement to a healthier life. As a dimension of my wellness care, massage can be very useful in releasing and healing both physical and emotional difficulties. Congestion can develop in any of the body´s systems, and this kind of work can help bring these blockages to the surface and aid in their release. This situation can call for a number of massage approaches, depending on what a patient needs. Here, too, I provide the techniques appropriate to what an individual client wants and needs.