welcome 2026

Happy new year dear clients!

The fervent march of time has been most palpable in the past year. Where did 2025 go? As always I will work toward more spaciousness and slowness in the new year, a years-long practice, which fruits successes and failed attempts.

(L to R: construction Stephanie in the new addition, Florida sunset, Puget Sound sea star, early summer garden and the sauna shed, Tom and I hiking in Bellingham, my parents and I on the Oregon Coast, a performance at Word Virus Books, December sunset over the Willamette on my favorite walk.)

This year I will try to keep a few appointments available every week to get folks in ASAP, when those pesky pains start talking a little more loudly. Likely these appointments won't be visible on my online schedule -though it never hurts to check as there have been some last minute appointments become available- if you reach out I should be able to get you in.

https://deepgroundmassagebodywork.fullslate.com

It is a new year, and I need up-to-date information for my records. If you haven't already, please take a moment to fill out the intake form before your next appointment. I appreciate you taking the time to help with this administrative task.

2026 marks my 16th year in practice as a bodyworker. As an old friend said the other day, your practice can drive! I am grateful for this work, my continued inspiration from my mentors and colleagues, and of course, you!

I also want to mention that my friend, Becky Miller, and I are starting up a monthly endometriosis meet-up for folks experiencing this debilitating pelvic pain. If you are or know someone who might benefit from a hour-and-a-half guided somatic practice and resource sharing session, send them my way! Our first meeting with be Saturday, January 24th at 3pm in SE Portland.

I look forward to seeing you sometime this year!

endo friends

After a particularly tender appointment with a client who experiences complex-chronic illness, I was moved to start a semi-regular gathering for my clients, friends and community members who experience complex chronic pelvic pain. And then my friend Becky reached out with a very similar idea. Together, we are creating a gathering for folks experiencing pelvic pain and endometriosis.

Some of you may know about my experience with endometriosis and my rocky maneuvering of the symptoms for the last 20+ years. You may also know of my 16+ years of work and learning as a somatic bodyworker and 30+ years of training as a vocalist and performer. In the past decade I have met more and more people with endometriosis, and have even helped them discover their diganosis and subsequent care. I hope that my combined skill set, along with my Becky's, and the collective experience in the group, will be a deep well of resource, in a path that can often feel desolate.

This gathering will be a space for those of us experiencing the challenges navigating the ups and downs of unexpected flare-ups, a space for somatic check-ins, resource sharing and space to share feelings and experiences of living in a body that is having a hard time finding ease and balance. Maybe we can find it together, even if for a moment, once a month.

We hope to collaboratively attempt a somatic awareness practice through breathwork, visualizations, movement, sound and writing, and in future gatherings, we hope to bring in guest bodyworkers and somatic practitioners to share their talents.

Our first meeting is Saturday, January 24th at 3pm in SE Portland. Reach out for more info: deepgroundmassage@gmail.com

sensing sensations

I have had a lot of clients wonder if they could ever get enough bodywork that they would no longer have any tension. How many times a week would it take?

I think this inquiry begs a few clarifications. I’m not talking about Pain. I want to distinguish between the discomfort of tension in the body and chronic pain or other neurological disorders. Pain due to tension is an expected signal from the body to the brain that it’s uncomfortable. Chronic pain is when these signals aren’t functioning as expected, in a constant feedback loop of discomfort that typically gets worse as the pain-signal lingers. Discomfort might be interpreted as painful, and the spectrum of interpretation within these very subjective words is vast. This discomfort causes temporary pain, and how we compare this acute pain from chronic pain is how long we endure it, and what ADL’s (activities of daily living) it impedes.

So, back to imagining a body beyond it’s tension. What is your baseline? It is a sticky question because our memory can be inaccurate, and our bodies are dynamic, meaning they are ever-changing, adapting in real time to the actions and stressors of our day-to-day. Often these adaptations can lead us away from alignment, or balance, which can lead to weakness from patterns of imbalance in repetitive motions. Another sticky question, is weakness perceived as pain?

updates, and...

It is my 10th anniversary of opening my practice in Portland! I have been a LMT for 15 years, and the vast majority of that has been here, with you. So thank you for your support of my practice, and thank you for letting me support you.

At Apex Wellness Clinic, Dr. Rebecca Schacker has retired and Dr. Krystal LaPlante, DC has returned to a full time schedule at the clinic. I refer all of my clients looking for chiropractic work to Dr. K, she is attentive, thorough and a delightfully collaborative practitioner.

2024 begins

It is a restorative practice to reflect on the past year, especially at the transition into a new one, as it can feel so futile. 2023 brought so much change: A new tattoo! A new space for my practice in Foster-Powell! A big surgery, and recovery! A haircut; lobbing off 15 years of long hair! Travel around the Salish Sea!

2023 was also a year full of various creative endeavours: performing with Extradition for a festival and our quarterly showings, performing with Linda Austin in 3 miles of possible and improvising with a large-scale installation at Building 5, and designing/building a beautiful tool shed for my backyard.

I imagine 2024 will be more of the same; performing, building, and continuing our work together at my studio. At the end of this month I will begin a new course, Neural Manipulation, with the Barral Institute. I am especially excited for this work, as it integrates the nervous system and how our bodies hold and/or process trauma, with manual therapies to address whiplash injuries and chronic neck and spine discomfort. 

Summer update: NEW location

 I am so excited to share that I am moving into a thriving wellness clinic in Foster-Powell, Apex Wellness Center. This clinic may be familiar to those of you who began to see me 7-8 years ago, though I will be in a new room. I am excited to move my practice to this lovely space, full of incredible practitioners. I will start seeing clients there beginning June 1^st.

Please let me know if you need to update any currently scheduled appointments. I realize this new location may impact the days and times you’d prefer to schedule, or travel times. I hope this move won’t be too inconvenient. After the past three years of a temporary landing at Laurelhurst due to Covid and subletting between two rooms, I am so excited to stretch back into my full practice. I will be opening up my schedule with more availability, and able to get you in when you need.

Check the schedule here: https://deepgroundmassagebodywork.fullslate.com

Spring updates (masks, and other news)

Spring is here now, the bulbs are really popping up, the trees budding out. I am welcoming the light. The longer days have me imagining bike rides and long walks, yard projects and picnics with friends. 

Though the Oregon Health Authority will remove the mask mandate in Oregon healthcare settings beginning April 3, the providers at our clinic have agreed to continue to require masks out of respect for our immunocompromised clients, our community elders, and our own health in this work that requires such close proximity. We appreciate your continued care of the community of people and families that thrive at our clinic.

I've gotten very use to wearing masks.