massage in Philadelphia

Common replies I hear when I tell a client that their Reiki or massage treatment is over:

“That went by so fast!”

“The shortest hour ever!”

“Already?”

And my all-time favorite?

“Nooooooo!”

It’s not that I’m cutting sessions short; truly an hour has passed, but it often doesn’t seem that way because in a relaxed state, time isn’t linear.

Many people experience altered consciousness during a session. Not quite asleep, not quite awake, someplace in between.

I suspect some enter a delta or theta brainwave state. This is the zone where deep healing happens.

In the in-between, minutes don’t matter, nor do they tick by in the way we usually experience them.

I’m usually in a flow state while providing sessions, so I have to keep an eye on the clock because time is different for me too.

Time might be relative in the treatment room, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable. Please believe me when I say that nobody is playing tricks with the clock!

You get the full benefits of a session, even if you’re asleep or in-between. Maybe even more as the healing can bypass any resistance from the conscious mind.

Time might be relative in the treatment room, but I can say with 100% certainty that when that happens, so does healing.

Time Flies When You’re Getting a Session

Common replies I hear when I tell a client that their Reiki or massage treatment is…
I’ve been collecting life-force energy for some time now. Having more deposits than withdrawals is part of my healthy aging plan. I think this is a brilliant strategy for wellness of all kinds, but is particularly important as we age.

What most people think of as “aging” is what I see as the compound interest of lifelong energetic debt. We can get away with neglecting of our bodies, even abusing them, for some time, but eventually the consequences catch up.

Every decision we make can include an awareness of this simple math. Will this action yield more or less healing energy in my system?

Don’t get me wrong- I’m no teetotaler. I don’t always opt for the supremely healthy choice, but when I don’t, I do the math first to decide if the results will be worth it.

Today, I went out for lunch. I usually prepare my own meals, but for the past 24 hours, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about bread. Very strange. I wondered if perhaps it was my body speaking to me? More likely a long-silenced part that never got onboard 25 years ago when I learned I had a wheat sensitivity. Whatever, the thoughts became a craving and I figured a sandwich would do the trick.

I knew that mediocre bread wouldn’t cut it. And gluten free bread isn’t usually great. It’s either crazy expensive, has questionable ingredients to make up for the gluey gluten goodness that traditionally holds bread together, or crumbles in your hands. I couldn’t think of any way to satisfy this desire at the grocery store and I had nothing at home that would suffice.

So off to the bakery I go. I chose what would be considered healthy fare by any American standards. Chicken salad on walnut raisin. Not a hoagie (hero, sub, grinder or bun the size of my head), just two slices of bread. It was most satisfying and quelled that incessant loop in my head.

As I stood up to bus my plate, I had to cough. This is highly unusual for me. Suddenly, there was a lot of phlegm in my throat. As I walked out the door, I noticed I was sniffly. Shortly thereafter, I was gassy. And then my ears started to itch.

No big deal, really. My body can manage all of this. But it’s using life-force to do so. I don’t need to feel guilty or worry or make amends. It’ll all even out if I offer an extra deposit- such as time in nature or meditating.

If this was my habit, though, it’s easy to see how I’d eventually end up in life-force deficiency. And I’d get chronically stuffy, which could create the perfect environment for a virus to move in. Or I could medicate the symptoms, ignoring the root cause and accrue even more problematic symptoms.

I thought of my friend Mika, who carries a digestive enzyme supplement with her for times like these. There are definitely ways to mitigate less than stellar decisions. But what I really want to point out is that I recognized these symptoms because they aren’t the norm for me. Many people wouldn’t identify phlegm-iness as a result of food choices.

The more active I am in building my life-force savings, the more obvious the costly fees are because the contrast is so great.

There is no one-sized fits all life-force savings plan. I’m not suggesting that you don’t eat out, or you don’t eat chicken salad sandwiches, or you go wheat- free. But I am suggesting you do some detective work, some experimenting, and begin an honest exploration into your expenditures and investments.

If you find yourself digging in your heels, unwilling to give up certain behaviors you know to be problematic, that’s ok too. To balance things out, you can put your focus on life-force deposits. So rather than taking something away, you can think of adding in a beneficial practice like yoga or tai chi. Or build a monthly session of massage and/or Reiki into your budget and calendar.

Find ways to make more deposits, even if your withdrawals remain the same, and you’ll accrue wellness credits over time. The benefit to quitting the habits that have less than desirable results, at least for a few weeks, is that your body can recalibrate and you’ll be better able to notice its reaction to something as simple as eating a sandwich for lunch.

Accruing Life-Force and Healthy Aging

I’ve been collecting life-force energy for some time now. Having more deposits than withdrawals is part…
Recently I shared a short video about why I usually don’t recommend stretching for my clients with muscle tension.

What?! 😳

Yup. Very often it doesn’t create the desired results because stretching doesn’t address why a muscle is tight. So it may or may not help in the moment, but rarely has a lasting effect, if any at all.

Here’s what you can try instead if you’re not getting anywhere with traditional stretching.

Of course, massage and Reiki can help with this too. Book a session if you need extra support- I’d be happy to put my skills to work! AND even if you’re getting regular bodywork, daily interventions like this can really make a difference.

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A Holistic Remedy for a Tight Upper Back

Recently I shared a short video about why I usually don’t recommend stretching for my clients…
Tight muscles are literally my business. It’s common knowledge that stretching will help, but I usually disagree.

To be clear, I mean deliberately holding a stretch to remedy muscle tension. I think that stretching like a cat and moving through the body’s range of motion is great for maintaining mobility. But sustaining a forward bend to address tight hamstrings, for example, often backfires.

So I made a three and half minute video to explain why.

P.S. I created a follow up video outlining what I do recommend.

I don’t recommend targeted stretching, and here’s why.

Tight muscles are literally my business. It’s common knowledge that stretching will help, but I usually…
A new client returned for his second massage to report that after his first session, he had slept without discomfort for the first time in months. Oh the joy of hearing updates like this! We still have work to do releasing patterns created by overuse and postural habits, but he was feeling hopeful.

He went on to tell me that his previous experiences with massage were so intense that he had been in massive pain for three or four days after each treatment. After experiencing relief from our session, he had come to the conclusion that the previous “strong sensation” (aka painful) approach had actually been making the condition worse.

I concur.

We had a brief chat about pain, the fight or flight reflex, and the resulting release of stress hormones and contraction of muscles. It’s my intention to create the exact opposite effect by encouraging the relaxation response: the release of feel-good hormones, unwinding tension, deep breathing, and muscle melting. It’s part of my mission to educate people about the power of coaxing the body into relaxation rather than attempting (and almost always failing) to force it into submission.

The thing that brings me even more joy is the next step in healing where people recognize that wellness is the result of listening to the messages their bodies deliver, treating themselves kindly, and taking good care of themselves. We live in a world that values doing more, going faster, powering through the upsets, and pushing ourselves incredibly hard. Until we begin to value wellness, relaxation, pleasure, and comfort equally as much, if not more, we will continue to suffer with chronic pain and promote the internal conditions that contribute to chronic and debilitating disease.

If you’re interested in a gentle, therapeutic massage and you live in the Philly area, this is my jam. I’m a no-pain specialist. The goal is to meet muscles where they are, sinking in until the first hint of resistance says stop, and lingering there while inviting the tension to soften. Schedule online here.

If you live elsewhere, I’d encourage you to do some research before scheduling a session. Some therapists are firmly entrenched in the “no pain, no gain” agenda and therefore going gentle is not in their repertoire at all. There’s a local studio that uses 💪 💪 💪 next to each of the providers’ names as an indicator of pressure range. Just like the 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ rating in a Thai restaurant, you can better choose appropriately if you know what to expect.

(I’ll add that out of a possible five 💪, none of these therapists offered a level 1, and only two of the eight offer level 2. There was a whole lot of hoopla about seven of them going all the way to the max. Sigh.)

If you call a spa and ask for a certain kind of pressure, you’re likely to get a “yes”. Yes, sir, how high sir? The goal in a spa is to book lots of sessions and the front desk folks are eager to get you in the door. You might try asking which therapist they would recommend given your desire to relax instead of suffer. Since they might never have had a massage, might enjoy something entirely different, or don’t know the staff’s strengths and weaknesses, this approach is hit or miss.

Instead, I’d suggest going with an individual in private practice. Someone who works for him/herself and has hopefully created some content online so you can get an idea of what to expect. Sure, the spas and the franchises will have glossier websites with lots of bells and whistles. But this mission is about finding a good match for your needs, and that’s likely to come from a humble site like this one.

You could start simply by saying that you enjoy a relaxing/gentle/medium or light pressure/full body treatment and wonder if that’s available. Then listen to what they don’t say. They might agree, but with hesitation suggesting that this is out of their comfort zone or that they just aren’t into work like this, even though they can do it.

Personally, I’d rather have no massage than to suffer through one that hurts or to have to constantly ask the therapist to back off. AND there are enough of us providers out there, I feel confident that you can find a compatible practitioner if you do a little exploring.

Massage doesn’t have to hurt. I truly believe that it shouldn’t. But you’re going to have to advocate for yourself because much of the world doesn’t know this yet.

Painful Massage is Not the Answer

A new client returned for his second massage to report that after his first session, he…
If you’ve ever followed someone’s advice for healing an ailment and found yourself disappointed in the results, you aren’t alone.

Lots of people share with me the tricks they use for xyz and often they are things I’ve already tried to no avail.

It’s frustrating.

The thing is, the root of the problem is often hidden. Two people might have frequent headaches, but the same treatment might not be effective for both of them since the causes are different.

If you’re dehydrated and have a headache, a big glass of water can work wonders. You can go on to write a book about water being the miracle healer, yet it will be 100% ineffective for someone with a mold allergy or a tension headache.

No worries, though. Your body knows. There is an innate wisdom within and you can learn to access it. I’m not saying it’s easy, at least not in the beginning, but like any skill, you can hone it with practice.

My suggestion is to be like a cat. They move in ways that feel GOOD! Now, don’t go researching “how to move like a cat”. That’s something I would have done in the past. 🙄

Instead, feel into what movements your body would enjoy. Let pleasure be your guide.

It all starts with an intention to tap in and honor the messages that come from your body. Next, you’ll need to create time and space to listen. Many of us are just running around all day, every day, so that we can’t receive the messages that come through.

Remember the olden days when phones were atttached to the walls of homes? And you had to be at there when the call came through? And then you had to pick it up, at that moment, and listen to the voice on the other side?

It’s a lot like that.

Your body will tell you how it wants to move and rest, what it wants to eat and when, and all sorts of other information- if you pay attention.

But you have to be available to pick up the phone.

Yes, this means forgetting about tons of external rules about how many steps you should take or what your target heart rate is. It might mean shaking things up in your family, workplace, or circle of friends.

But, let’s face it. If you keep on doing what you’re doing, you’ll continue to get what you’ve already got. I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you’d prefer a different outcome.

Why not go directly to the source of wisdom?

I find Reiki incredibly helpful for increasing my clarity, motivation, and capacity to receive messages from my body. If you want to do the work, it could help you too. Or if you prefer to receive support and let me do the work, that can also help. It’s not the only way by any means. As far as I can tell, it’s the simplest, easiest, and most accessible though.

One of the things I really love about Reiki is that the healing energy sinks beneath the symptoms and addresses the initial imbalance. It might be in the mental, emotional, spiritual, energetic, or circumstantial realm which would have been overlooked by modern medical treatment.

What would your body appreciate today? If it’s Reiki or some gentle bodywork, why not schedule a treatment? Or perhaps you’d like a walk, a bath, some time on your yoga mat, or a nap. Only you know for sure.

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Healing Isn’t One Size Fits All

If you’ve ever followed someone’s advice for healing an ailment and found yourself disappointed in the…
A new client just left my office. After the session was over, she proclaimed, “That was crazy!”

I’m always delighted to hear what people have to say about their time on the table. Everyone uses unique words to describe their healing experiences.

“I was floating on waves of peace.” Mmhmm, that sounds nice!

A lot of people drop into a deep place, not quite awake, not quite asleep. I suspect they are going into delta or theta brainwave grooves, but have no way of measuring. I just know that it’s an altered state that opens the gate for profound healing to happen.

I remember a time when I received a treatment from a friend. I’d been in her space dozens of times before, but on this particular day when the session ended and she left the room, I thought to myself, how did the door get over there?! I’d been so deeply immersed in the spiritual realm that the 3D space seemed off.

Some people see colors or hear music. Everybody is different. Most people just feel a warmth or a sense of calm and relaxation that eclipses their ordinary reality.

I wonder if this is how we’d feel most of the time if we lived lives more closely connected to our natural rhythms.

I guess I’ll never know, but it’s my goal to help people go there, into their deepest selves, as best I can. It’s like having a two week tropical vacation condensed into an hour- with no sunburn or hangover!

Want to surf the waves of peace? Get yourself some Reiki! And if you’re in the Philly area, go for the combo and try my Reiki-massage combo.

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Waves of Peace

A new client just left my office. After the session was over, she proclaimed, “That was…
I met a client this week who shared after her session that she was surprised that I didn’t painfully dig in to her muscles. (She came to me by way of a gift certificate and hadn’t seen my website where I very clearly state that my style of bodywork is NOT painful.)

It gave me the opportunity to address what I believe is a very common myth that pushing really hard on sore muscles is the way to create relief. In my experience, this is absolutely not true! At least for me and the thousands of people I’ve worked with.

What happens when the body feels pain? It tenses. How does that help? It doesn’t.

And when someone is experiencing chronic pain, their muscles are already tense and their nervous system set to hyper-protection mode. Even the hint of pain activates an instinct to fight or flee. How does that help? It doesn’t!

Instead, I find that a soothing, gentle approach allows the nervous system to calm and the muscles to melt. I meet the painful areas with a curious and compassionate attention: “Hello, I see you there, what can I do for you?” Rather than an attack: “Bad muscle, I’ll pummel you into submission!”

I don’t know where where this “no pain, no gain” mentality comes from in the massage realm, but it saddens me that people think that they need to suffer to experience relief. Or worse yet, that because they are unwilling to suffer, bodywork is not for them.

There are tons of deep tissue therapists out there who want to jab an elbow into your achy spots. If that’s your thing, you’ll have no problem finding someone to hurt you. But it isn’t me.

If you are pain averse and want your session to be enjoyable while leaving you feeling relaxed and gooey, that’s my wheelhouse.

Working with the nervous system, musculoskeletal system, endocrine system, emotional and energetic bodies is a lot more nuanced and effective than pushing hard on a sore spot.

It doesn’t mean a feather-light touch, either, just in case that’s a concern. It means meeting the tissue as it is, sinking in as far as it allows, and responding when it says stop.

It’s a technique that respects the body and its innate wisdom rather than trying to force an arbitrary solution from the outside.

If you’re in the Philly area, I’m here to be of service. If you live elsewhere, don’t be afraid to inquire with the provider before you book a session. Any respectable therapist will be able to answer your questions and confirm if they are able to offer a pain-free experience.

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Massage doesn’t have to hurt!

I met a client this week who shared after her session that she was surprised that…
I’m getting older and let me tell you, it’s pretty amazing! Today is my birthday and rather than lamenting the fact that I’m aging, I’m celebrating. I’m not supposed to tell you that I’m 53, but I’m delighted to do so! I’m not ashamed to be in my 50’s. Quite the opposite. I find it quite empowering.

I know who I am and what I want in ways that I never did when I was younger. It’s very refreshing! No more am I trying to fit myself into someone else’s expectations and the sense of freedom is invigorating.

We’ve been sold a narrative that once you reach a certain age, health begins to fail. Well, that’s just bullshit! It’s perpetuated by the marketing industry trying to sell us stuff that treats the surface symptoms, but never the root cause. If it treated the cause, we wouldn’t need to buy it anymore.

The vast majority of symptoms that I see are simply a result of chronic stress, energetic overspending and under-receiving, suppressed emotions causing a continuous cortisol drip, exposure to toxic chemicals, and neglect/misuse/abuse of the body.

We have control over much of this!

This is the work I do. Relieving stress and pain, integrating emotions, supporting the body’s needs so it can detox and repair, and filling up the energetic tank. I see it working day after day in my clients and students and I am a living, breathing, joyful example that making healthful choices consistently has a tremendous impact on well-being.

What is one thing you can do today to nourish yourself?

What is one thing you can do today to support your body, mind, heart and spirit?

What is one thing you can do today that reduces your exposure to chemicals- be it in food, water, personal care products or your environment?

What is one thing you can do today to protect your energy? It might entails saying NO, better yet, HELL NO! to something you don’t want to do.

What is one thing you can do today to move your body in a way that feels pleasurable?

Just one thing! Do that one simple thing for a week or two and then add another thing.

I bet you already have a thing in mind. Something that you’ve been thinking about for a while and just lacking the motivation to take the plunge.

Today is the perfect day to get started on the next level of your healing journey. Any empowered action in the direction you want to go will ripple outwards and affect others as well.

If you want, you can get started right now by placing a hand on your heart and making a commitment to yourself.

Perhaps you’d like to repeat these words from the mindful self-compassion tradition:

May I be safe.

May I be healthy.

May I be at peace.

May I be kind to myself.

May I make choices to support my overall wellness.

If you’d like some support, that’s what I’m here for! I do Reiki healing sessions for people around the globe and soothing, nurturing bodywork here in Philadelphia. It’s my mission to spread this message of self-care and empowerment. I’d be delighted to work with you if that sounds appealing.

But not today. Today, I’m going on a hike, eating fabulous food, reading a fun book and connecting with my friends. I’ll be back in the office tomorrow and ready to give from my overflowing tank.

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I wrote an article over on Substack about my process of reviewing the year through a holistic health and spiritual journey lens. Check out Annual Review if you’d like to learn more about this radical way of thinking.

Radiant Aging and Birthday Bliss

I’m getting older and let me tell you, it’s pretty amazing! Today is my birthday and…