MASSAGE THERAPY

The deep tissue massage therapy I perform allows your body to literally transform during and after the treatment session. The therapy releases restricted body patterns and removes the physical blocks to vibrant health. Harmony and balance are integrated back into the body structure as techniques appropriate to one's condition are applied.

When your body experiences trauma, it can become physically locked into unhealthy and unbalanced patterns. Additionally, pain, tension and stress will create physical blockages and restrictions. This can literally weigh the body down since tight, inflexible muscles require more energy for the body to move. You unknowingly expend extra energy in your efforts to achieve equilibrium and correct posture. And as you counteract the structural disharmony and restrictive patterns, this effort can exhaust your body's energy.

With my therapeutic massage techniques, we remove the trauma, pain, tension and stress from your body. This elevates your vitality and gives you more energy to heal. Released from the restrictions, the energy in your body goes where it can be better utilized. During, and after the treatment, your body begins to re-pattern itself so that it functions in a more harmonious and healthy way. You will actually feel lighter, with more flexibility and greater range of motion.

With my treatment, your equilibrium is restored and the mechanics of your body become more efficient. Less energy is expended in movement and in responding to the pull of gravity, and an increase in energy is experienced as your vitality improves. My massage therapy treatment can boost physical performance, speed recovery periods, and will allow you to experience vibrant, radiant health.

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The human body is malleable. In other words, the human body can be reshaped and molded by the efforts of an experienced therapist. And there is no bodywork on the planet that does this more profoundly than Traditional Thai massage.

The greatest advantage of Thai massage is achieved because this work is performed on a mat on the floor. This allows the therapist efficient and increased leverage to manipulate the client's body. Additionally, the therapist uses not only his hands when delivering the treatment, but also makes use of his feet, knees, elbows, and overall bodyweight to apply the techniques. The amount of effort that is used on the client's body has just enough power to achieve the desired result. However, great care is taken to not over power the body with too much force which would leave the client feeling injured.

Thai massage is delivered in a tranquil meditative state. In this treatment, we allow the client's body to open in a profoundly relaxed manner. This leads to even greater relaxation as we work deeper into the structures of the body. As this process unfolds and tension is released, the body opens not only structurally, but also energetically. We are working with an intention to improve the health of the body and adjust, or balance out, it's energetic constitution. Thai massage integrates the whole body into balance and harmony.

The Thai massage treatment is dynamic. It treats the entire body structure from the toes and feet to the top of the head. The client's body is systematically moved around the mat and therapeutically manipulated to work deeper into the structures and joints of the body.

Performed properly, there is nothing superficial about Thai massage. Because no oil or lotion is typically applied, there is never a moment wasted in superficially appling some agent across the surface of the skin. Every stretch, every palm, foot, or thumb press is intentional and specific, with immediate results.

The techniques employed in Thai massage have been tested true in Thailand though approximately 2500 years of practice and direct experience. The Thai people have refined this healing art into a comprehensive system for treating the entire body, not only on the physical level, but also on the energetic level. Thai people believe that good health and freedom from pain result from the unhindered flow of vital energies throughout the body.

For those of you that are interested in more of a technical description of the work Robert can perform, here is an Assessment and Statement of Treatment that he wrote for one of his client's doctors and her insurance company:

[The client] describes a "constant clenching pain" and a "real tightness" in the neck which she experiences running down the middle and to the right side of her neck. My assessment revealed a massive knot of restricted tissue centered around the transverse process of the third cervical vertebra on the right side. The second cervical vertebra was found to be severely restricted in its mobility. This lack of motion causes the third cervical vertebra to compensate through hypermobility which exacerbates [the client's] condition in that area. [The client's] range of motion for her head is severely limited by the restrictions in her neck and the tension running into her shoulders.

The therapy we perform focuses primarily on the following muscles in the neck and shoulders: Trapezius, Splenius capitis and cervicis, Semispinalis capitis and cervicis, Spinalis capitis and cervicis, Longissimus capitis and cervicis, Scalenes, Levator scapula, Rhomboideus minor and major. And, especially, the deeper Interspinalis cervicis, Multifidus, Intertransversarii cervicis, Obliquus capitis superior and inferior, Rectus capitis posterior major and minor and lateralis.

The techniques employed are primarily slow, deep compression with the fiber of the muscles and also cross fiber friction. Some pressure point techniques are used but the main intention is to stimulate movement into the restricted tissues. Deep stretches and joint mobilization techniques are also employed in the cervical region to mobilize the articulations and affect the ligaments.

The therapy we perform relieves the restricted tissues in the neck and shoulders. This allows dammed up fluids to be released and allows fresh fluids to flow into the previously restricted areas. This brings immediate relief but also aids the healing process in the long term. Our goal is to provide relief from pain and stress and to restore normal range of motion for the head, and in the neck and shoulder areas.

[The client's] condition seems to stabilize with more frequent visits which allow her to function better and engage in light physical activity with only moderate discomfort. After working with [the client] for over six years, it is obvious that massage therapy, when applied at more frequent intervals, is extremely successful in ameliorating her painful condition for a sustained period of time. [The client] requires massage therapy once a week in order to effectively assist the healing process and support her in pursuing a normal life. Treatments every other week should prove effective as well. But the most we can hope for by treating her condition once a month is temporary relief from pain, muscle tension and stress, and a steeper up hill climb toward total health and normal functioning. If [the client's] Doctors concur, I recommend that she receive massage therapy on the effected areas for one hour every other week, if not every week, for the next year. At that future point in time, we should reevaluate [the client's] progress and the frequency of treatments.