
Hi! đđ˝ Iâm Stephanie. Pronouns She/He/They. Your neighborhood gender fluid Licensed Massage Therapist. I believe all bodies, fat bodies, queer bodies, black bodies, bodies of color, other-abled bodies etc. have the ability and capability to heal, and receive therapeutic touch in an inclusive, supported environment. I believe that things we experience inside our bodies that generally arenât socially acceptable to talk about, can be talked about. And quite frankly must be talked about in order for us to fully heal. I believe however you show up on a given day is worthy of love and belonging (yes, BrenĂŠ). That being said, I understand some challenges that might get in the way of receiving this care.
Firstly, Massage Therapy is still pretty well known as something of a luxury; a simplistic, superficial way to treat yourself. Which isnât fully the case. Yes, massage is a great way to treat yourself and it can definitely feel luxurious sometimes. And I know every time you let someone touch your body, itâs an incredibly vulnerable place to be in, so itâs far from simplistic and superficial.
Another challenge may be the financial aspect of it. It might be hard to justify spending $80-$110 biweekly or monthly to get regular massage. Whatâs the point? Itâs just a massage right? The thing with massage and bodywork, touch, is that itâs the first form and truest form of healing and relaxation. And itâs considered Preventative Healthcare. (Hello buzzword!) Similar to humankind not wanting to get on board with darwinism and now with quantum physics, researchers and scientists havenât felt the need to study the expansive affects and effects of what happens within the body during and after receiving trained touch. There is just now beginning to be more and more research to back what we as practitioners already know: applying touch, skin on skin contact quite literally saves lives (1), and relaxes the body so it can heal itself. Connection literally improves the immune system (2). Massage Therapy supports the release of dopamine and serotonin in the body. (3)Â It helps to turn on the self-awareness center of your brain which has to be turned on in order to fully integrate the fragmented pieces of you. (4) Massage is a building block to keeping you healthy long-term. Just like we change the oil in our car, or else itâll blow up, we get to give ourselves maintenance too. So I ask, how can you afford not to? Youâll likely âend up paying for itâ one way or another. And youâre worth having agency with how you show up for yourself.
Lastly, this challenge is why youâve come to the right place. You might not want to access your body. To be a fully embodied person in a minority niche in the world right now is a challenge in itself. Because that means youâll feel your whole self and youâll be your whole self. And not everybody likes that. And Iâm here to tell you, we need you. We need you as you are, expressing your being, your consciousness through your body, however that shows up. It ainât no gimme, it’s risky. And the bigger risk is staying numb. The world needs you embodied. Being embodied means the world is shifting into expanded consciousness. And in order to do this, I get, there needs to be safety, support, community, and space for you and your process. Space for your courageous self who showed up here at this time on the planet to be who the fuck you are. And Iâm here for that. Iâm here to support you. To be with you. To resonate with you because I get it. And when I say I get it, I mean Iâve experienced pushback in my own way. So youâre not alone in how that shows up for you. Through various research experiments, massage has proved to be most effective in supporting people in establishing presence in their body, healing from trauma, and being able to enjoy quality of life. (5) And deep work like this requires a practitioner whoâs doing their own deep work too. (oh hey, itâs me )
As you can see, a lot happens internally during your bodywork sessions, even if you donât feel it. Typically established and consistent change occurs over long periods of time. We arenât one and done people, and massage isn’t either. Thereâs patience here, thereâs space here, and thereâs.. water! (oh and humor, because thatâs what weâre ultimately getting to right?) You can expect a clean, disinfected treatment room, 10 minutes each session dedicated to discussing whatâs present for you and what youâd like to work on bodywork wise that day, and me, Stephanie
doing my best to hold space for what shows up.Â
Thanks for being here. I look forward to working with you and continuing to work with you. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to book a session. Iâm currently booking new and return clients on Mondays | Wednesdays | Saturdays.
Resources:
(1) Touch by Tiffany Fields
(2) (3) (4) (5) The Body Keep the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk