I've had many different jobs over the years, some much harder on my body than others.  When I waited tables; my lower back, legs and feet suffered.  When I was an administrative assistant, constantly on the phone or bent over a keyboard, it was my upper back, neck and shoulders that made me miserable.

Now that I'm a massage therapist, I'm performing the most physically demanding job I've ever had, yet my body has never felt better!  It's because a big part of my massage training was the study of ergonomics and the use of proper body-mechanics.

So where ergonomics fits the job to the worker, body-mechanics is a little different.  It's 'the study of proper body movement to prevent and correct posture problems, reduce stress and enhance physical capabilities,'  or in other words, body mechanics fits your movements to your tasks.

A basic understanding of these two sciences can be invaluable to anyone who does ANYthing repetitively, whether they are a computer-programmer, a manual laborer or the care-taker of an active two year old!

One of my goals is to educate each client with the basic information that will help them become as fully functional as possible.  In addition to handouts and explanations, at your request I will also demonstrate the proper techniques and walk you through the movements themselves, so that you can truly know what it feels like to move properly.

But education alone isn't usually enough.  Many of you have been doing what you're doing, the way you've been doing it, for a very long time.  To address this, I decided to develop therapeutic treatments specifically designed to help correct years of postural abuse:


The Lower Body Massage - 1 hour
Designed specifically for those always on their feet, such as doctors, surgeons, nurses, teachers, wait-staff, salespeople, et. al.  These people aren't necessarily good about taking care of themselves in general, so I decided to incorporate just a bit of pampering into an intensively therapeutic treatment:

It begins when you're seated in a comfortable armchair, with massaging cushions placed at your low back and behind your neck.  For 10 - 15 minutes, your feet are soaked in a warm, mineral-rich bubbling footbath laced with pure lavandar essential oil.  Listen to relaxing music or a guided meditation, if you'd like.  After a gentle rinse, you'll move to our massage table for a 40 minute intensive foot, leg and low-back massage, specifically addressing the issues most common to active people. 
(You'll leave walking on air!)


The Upper Body Massage - 1 hour 15 minutes
This treatment was designed initially for sufferers of 'Forward Head Posture', a condition common to many populations, such as students, computer operators... even competive swimmers, sound engineers, basketball players; anyone who habitually has their head and shoulders rolled forward repeatedly or for prolonged periods of time. Some of the symptoms associated with forward head posture are fatigue, headaches, pain, carpal tunnel, TMJ and even fibromyalgia, just to name a few. Forward head posture has been linked to many neck and upper back conditions.  In extreme cases, lung capacity can be reduced by as much as 30%, the gastrointestinal system (particularly the large intestine) can be effected, and range of motion can be significantly reduced.

Identifying Forward Head Posture:
To assess whether you may have forward head posture, stand normally in bare feet with your arms by your sides.