Myofascial Release Therapy/Biosynchronistics®

Fascia is the new 'buzz' word in bodywork therapies and it really should be.  Fascia is a type of connective tissue that wraps around all of the muscles, organs, veins, arteries, etc in the body to allow for glide among body parts and to provide stability and structure.

If we do repetitive movements or chronic postural positioning, the fascia will thicken and bound down (an adhesion) where it is needed to provide for more stability.  This adhesion then has the effect of limiting movement in the tissues that can effect body parts far removed from the local adhesion.  Injuries and accidents will also cause adhesions to form.

The link below is for an excellent Ted Talk explaining fascia and how one adhesion (we all have many) can effect the whole body and cause pain and restricted movements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v54l3wDTJHg

Myofascial release therapy/Biosynchronistics® works to release these fascial adhesions to help restore body alignment and mobility.

This is achieved by looking at the whole body and the entirety of forces or impacts that the body has had to compensate for over one's lifetime, including specific injuries, overuse, everyday tasks, etc.

This therapy is done with the client wearing comfortable clothing as different positions (sitting, standing, lying down) will be utilized to facilitate the releases.  You have a 'lifetime' of adhesions in your body by the time you come to see me, so each person's treatment process will be different.  It make take few sessions or more to unravel deeply rooted patterns.

"I went to see Karen based on a recommendation from a friend when I was literally on the floor due to back pain. Karen responded to me right away, and was very flexible with fitting me into her schedule. After an hour I was able to move again and left with several tips regarding my posture (the root cause).  Following her advice, and continuing to work with her, I have gotten taller (seriously, I got back a half an inch), and have unraveled several other issues. One surprise after my first appointment was the knee pain I had lived with for years was gone. I didn’t even mention it, but Karen worked found it.  I was not familiar with biosynchronistics before this, but I would highly recommend it over traditional massage for getting or keeping your body healthy and functioning."  C. Weigold​

"My son is a young competitive cyclist who suffered from back pain for nearly a year.  We had reached out to several professionals in the cycling community who were unable to help.  Karen was recommended to us from a fellow cyclist.  After one visit, she not only determined the cause of the pain, but taught stretching exercises to alleviate it and help prevent future injury.  Karen is attentive and gentle in her therapeutic massage.  She listens to her clients and works with them to strengthen and heal.  I highly recommend Body Sage Massage Therapy.  Thank you again for all you have done.  In Owen’s words, it’s a “game changer”."  K. Goguen

 

Massage Therapy

Therapeutic, deep tissue, sports massage, relaxation-Swedish massage tailored to your specific needs.

Therapeutic Massage utilizes various techniques to work through a specific injury or pain pattern.  The focus will generally be on the problem area and entail utilizing the techniques listed below.

Deep Tissue Massage is an extremely effective means of releasing chronic pain or tension in the body.  The connective tissue of the body can become damaged either through direct injury or from chronically held patterns (ie, cradling a phone).  The damaged tissue becomes shortened and thickened, causing pain and pulling underlying structures out of alignment.  Deep Tissue Massage uses slow, firm pressure directed at the deep layers of the muscle where tissue has been damaged. It helps to lengthen shortened muscle fibers, breaking up thickened areas and helping the tissue regain proper elasticity and hydration.  It is normal for some soreness to occur after a Deep Tissue massage.  It is important to drink plenty of water after a massage session, but in particular after deep tissue work.  Some light stretching will help as well.  When done properly, soreness from a Deep Tissue session should not last longer than two days.

Sports Massage an important part of training for any athlete, whether the most competitive athlete training for a triathlon or the casual athlete who exercises moderately or sporadically.  Sports Massage helps prevent injury by keeping muscles mobile and elastic.  Your recovery time will be shortened since massage helps oxygen and nutrients flow, flushing out toxins in muscles that have been pushed hard.  If you are working through an injury, Sports Massage helps speed up recovery time.  When left untreated, an injury can cause a buildup of scar tissue, affecting injured tissue, as well as causing tightening in nearby healthy tissue.  Sports Massage uses techniques to break down that scar tissue to prevent further pain and additional injury.  Your session will be tailored to fit your needs as an athlete. 

Swedish Massage is applied to the more superficial layers of the muscle.   Swedish Massage stimulates both the circulatory system by returning blood flow to the heart and the lymphatic system by flushing out wastes and toxic debris.  Swedish Massage strokes may be incorporated into sessions in order to help flush out tight muscles after deep strokes have been applied and as warm-up techniques to help prepare the tissues for deeper work.

 

Personal Training

Personal Training To Change Your Body and Health

• Address dysfunctional movements
•  Improve posture
•  Increase muscle mass
•  Drop body fat
•  Reduce risk of injury
•  Improve energy
•  Get better sleep

Functional patterns exercises work to improve standing, walking gait, running gait and throwing motion while decompressing your joints.  By optimizing these four basic human functions, achieving better health is an inevitability.  This is a truly integrative approach helps you get out pain and bad patterns while get stronger and healthier.

" I was spending a lot of time hunched over my computer or driving my car, but I thought that if I kept mountain biking and trail running, that would make up for all the sitting. Unfortunately, all the sitting led to body imbalances that affected my posture. I made it through my first trail ultramarathon, but over the course of the race, I slowly fell apart. My back hurt, and I ended up with a serious case of lower hamstring tendinitis. After months of PT, I learned that my body-mechanics needed a tune up if I was going to finish an ultra-distance uninjured and feeling good. Karen started teaching me functional patterns early last spring. I struggled at first. Despite all the work I had been doing to improve my posture and movement patterns, I still had a long way to go (I still do). However, with Karen’s help, I found myself able to run pain-free for longer distances, and I’ve finished several ultra-distance runs in the past year. Karen knows her stuff, and despite having to do all of our sessions virtually, she identified areas of my body and my movements that needed work and gave me the tools to fix them." E. Allen

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