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.

waves

The ups and downs of these days have been a lot to manage. I have been ever-more reliant on my restorative practice of walking. Portland has a wealth of green spaces and parks in the city, and nearby. Recently, I have been thinking deeply about stress and anxiety, how these states show up for each of us, individually and collectively, and the entrenching of the semantics and pathology of Stress and Anxiety. (more on these ruminations soon.) 

 As we are well within our seventh wave of Covid19, I want to bring your attention to my Covid19 Protocol & Procedures and share a few resources I use to understand what is happening with the Covid19 pandemic, my own personal risk, and assess ways to keep my clients at the clinic safe.

Welcoming a new year

 Reflecting on a year that seemed to move at superspeed, I recall sweet moments with close friends, a trip to see the Painted Hills, a humid summer week in NYC, an Oregon coast long-weekend, a few house projects, miles and miles of walks, and meeting many delightful new clients. Though the year has been peppered with heartbreak, I am thankful for all of your kindness and encouragement.

It seems challenging to be thinking, again, of a new variant and how much more adaptable we will need to become, but I am hopeful -and grateful for vaccines, boosters, and more accessible testing.

As we look to the coming weeks of this highly transmissible Covid-19 variant (omicron), I would like to remind you to please be discerning and reschedule your appointment if you have any -however mild- of the following concerns (I will be doing the same):

• You or one of your household members have had symptoms of fever, cold or flu in the past 14 days (eg. tiredness, runny nose, congestion, sore throat, cough, high temperature, shortness of breath, aches, pains, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, or loss of smell or taste.)
  
• You have been near someone who has potentially had, or tested positive for COVID-19 through a family or work contact in the past 14 days. 

a deep breath in 2021

 A year of Unexpected and Adapting has been challenging and, has in many ways offered small gifts. Since July I have found my way to a new, beautiful clinic in Laurelhurst, and found a way to return to this work that feels safe for me, and those of you who have ventured in to see me. This includes very strict procedures and protocols, and limiting the amount of clients I am currently seeing.

One of the bigger challenges this year is the shrinking down of who we can see, and who we are in close contact with. It is hard not to be able to see everyone, and yet a small gift has been receiving emails and texts from you all, checking in. I appreciate each and every one of you. I am grateful for the ways you are supporting me now.

Many of you who have been in, know I have been interested in how wearing masks, and our collective and individual worries around a global respiratory virus, a virus spread most easily by aerosolized particles, is affecting our breathing -not to mention how are nervous systems are reacting to all of the shift and stress. After the break find a diaphragm handout with an awareness exercise for those of you who are interested.

My hope is that this new year will allow us to eventually grow back our bigger circles, and step into our larger communities in some capacity, though in the meantime I hope you reach out if I can offer my support to you, or just to hear how you're doing.

fatigue relief!

Friends, family, clients, and even I myself feel too tired most days. It is annoying to be told to try some stretch or pose or activity to alleviate this exhaustion because, I'm just too tired! However, this is a constant lesson for me: when we create time for ourselves, we find more time.

A colleague of mine, incredible visual artist and yoga teacher, Jen Van de Pol, the person who began my evening ritual of tulsi-rose tea, offered this collection of restorative poses to help combat this constant, ever-growing exhaustion.

I hope you can, as I have, rest into it to find relief.

soak it up

A selection of Woman in a Bath Sponging Her Leg (1883) by Edgar Degas

 

via Wikimedia Commons

I am a big believer in the power of a soak. 

We've come a long way in the history of bathing in America. The tradition of soaking is much longer, especially in the places with thermal pools, naturally occurring hot springs. It wasn't until mid-19th century that bath tubs were common in the States, and only in for the wealthy. At the time they were mostly used for cold plunges, to 'balance the humors'. In the mansions of Newport, RI the homes along the Atlantic had tubs with salt water AND fresh water. With the ease if modern indoor plumbing, the baths we enjoy today are much warmer and an act of relaxation.

As many of my clients know, I don't have a shower only a tub. So, most nights I find myself soaking, usually in Epsom salts. A soak is part of my evening ritual, more than just the act of bathing it is my time to slow down, reflect, and be with myself.

The benefits of soaking are innumerable. I often suggest a soak to clients after sessions, to bring heat to the muscles, to help circulation. A soak in a tub is a radical act toward your own self care. To be solitary, to be submerged, to be still, to be wrapped in the comfort of warm water.


You can get more bath inspiration from my friends at Mountain Rose Herbs: https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/herbal-bath-recipes

psoas major

Psoas Major (gif: Physiopedia)

This muscle has been coming up a lot lately. Psoas can contribute to back pain that is worse with flexion of the torso (bending at the waist), or more minutely, arching of the lumbar spine. It can also contribute to disc pain, hip pain, sciatic pain, leg length discrepancy, and instability.

deep muscles of the lower back

The psoas attaches at the anteriolateral surfaces of T12, L1-L4 vertebrae spilling down the posterior abdominal wall, over the anterior brim of the pelvis to the lesser trochanter of the femur - a common attachment site with illiacus, hence the grouping iliopsoas. Psoas is one of only three muscles that attaches the spine to the leg (gluteus maximus and piriformis are the other two).

Helping to release this muscle in its tightened, shortened state requires great focus on the table. Utilizing deep breathing techniques, as the client is supine (laying on the back), I will start to apply pressure in the abdomen between the belly button and the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS). With each exhalation a gentle move deeper, pushing aside the abdominal contents to get closer to the spine and the belly of the psoas muscles.

Stretching this muscle when you are in pain can be tricky. The easiest way is by laying on the back and bringing one knee toward the torso -this is activating the muscle. Trying not to push beyond, into resistance, allow the lower back to melt into the floor and for the femur to feel loose, free.

If this psoas/low back is not in a lot of pain here are some yoga poses I recommend: supta padangusthasana, virabhadrasana I or setu bandha sarvangasana.

plantar fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis can be a miserable, cyclical pain in the foot -or even both feet. It occurs from prolonged standing, a walking stride that strikes heavy on the heel, and improper footwear. The plantar (bottom) surface of the foot becomes inflamed (-itis), often stemming from a strain of the ligament. Pain occurs at the plantar surface of the calcaneus (the heel) and can move into the "arch" of the foot, the plantar aponeurosis  -a fibrous sheath of tissue that connects the tendons of the plantar surface of the foot.

It generally hurts most during your first steps of the day, an apprehension to step out of bed in the morning and place your weight on the effected foot. It can often take time to heal. Self-care, such as stretching, icing and massage of the lower leg can help the healing process along. Below find some useful stretches:

understanding the carpal tunnel

What is the carpal tunnel? Many clients have wrist pain here, but aren't quite sure what the structure looks like, or the pathology of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

carpal bones: scaphoid, lunate, triquetral, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate

The carpal tunnel is comprised of the 8 carpal bones (bones of the wrist) the transverse carpal ligament and the flexor retinaculum (a fibrous sheath of tissue that covers the joint to offer it more integrity). The median nerve and tendons of the muscles of the fingers and palm pass through the carpal tunnel. When the tendons are inflamed from over-use or repetitive use, they swell under the carpal tunnel, pressing on the median nerve.

I often recommend icing or an ice bath for the wrist and hands. And, stretching:

If it becomes a prolonged and severely aggravated complaint, your primary care provider might offer these treatment suggestions:

Cortisone (steroid) shot: This is an injection of the steroid -cortisone- into the joint space. It aims to reduce the chronic inflammation, beginning anew a healing process for these chronic injuries. Recovery with this treatment can be felt immediately to a week or so, and the effects can be felt for months to even years -especially when the source of aggravation is removed or amended.

Physical Therapy: A PT can provide many manual treatments, and often help to address the daily habits that might be aggravating this particular injury. By stretching. strengthening, and either avoiding or altering certain activities, pain can be reduced and recovery can occur.

Surgery: Surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome is a minor surgery, where a small incision is made in the transverse carpal ligament, which alleviates the pressure on the median nerve. The incision is then stitched back up. There is often a very small scar from the incision which, as almost all scar tissue, improves with massage to decrease the buildup of fibrous tissue. You may feel relief immediately, or within a few weeks or months. Recovery time from the surgery will take a few weeks before you can return to regular, rigorous use of your affected wrist.

sun stretch

Taking a break from insurance billing to stretch and admire the sun.

"The Sun Salutation is a graceful sequence of twelve positions performed as one continuous exercise. Each position counteracts the one before, stretching the body in a different way and alternately expanding and contracting the chest to regulate the breathing." https://www.sivananda.org

deep breath of fall

 I hope you are out enjoying this breath-taking weather, Portland!

hands

Our hands capture a lot of information everyday, our tactile introduction to the world. They can hold a lot of tension, especially in this age of technology when we all take our work with us.

2nd year on Hawthorne

It's is my 2nd Anniversary of my studio at Karuna Contemplative Living on SE Hawthorne Blvd! So pleased to practice here and serve this community!

cupping sha

Helping to release the fascial pull along the erector muscles and the latissimus doors with stationary dry cups. In my practice I used cupping as a tool to help holding patterns release and get into the tissues more deeply. The sha (or color) that comes up with cupping often gets darker after treatment and will dissipate within a couple days to a week.