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.

June 30

The dates demarking changes to our safety practices seem arbitrary as our world continues to suffer from COVID-19 infections. I am charged with keeping you, your families, and our community safe and I will continue to do so to the best of my ability.

With Oregon amending its COVID-19 mask and physical distancing mandates on June 30, I am still asking you to wear a mask into the clinic and throughout our session and wash or sanitize your hands upon entering the building. I will be wearing an N95 mask and gloves, and our air filters will still be humming.

We will no longer request responses to the COVID-19 Screening Form. And when you arrive, you may enter the building (using the key code) and wait in the lobby if you chose.

Below are the changes to our COVID-19 Protocols and Procedure:

what to consider before opening

I hope this finds you all well, and staying safe. Thank you for reaching out and checking on me over the past months as we all are doing our best to keep each other healthy (and sane), it has been wonderful to hear from you.

The governor is asking we continue to:

• limit visits to higher risk populations, 
• limit gatherings,
• limit travel, 
• increase hygiene, cleaning and sanitation, 
• telework when possible, 
• stay home when sick, and 
• wear face coverings when in public.

As our governor and counties begins to lead us through "opening" the state, I wanted to share with you what that is projected to look like, following guidelines put forth by the governors office for personal service providers (like me). Personal service providers will not be able to resume work until their county is in Phase 1. As I am sure you already know, Multnomah Country has not yet open to Phase 1. I don't know when we might achieve that. And, it is important to note that the governor might reinstate closures to non-essential business if COVID-19 cases begin to increase.

This uncertainty as a business owner is very difficult. And I am asking myself the question, is going back to work worth the risk for you and your families or for me and mine? Some of you might be saying, Yes! I am in desperate need of a massage. And I hear you -I haven't seen my genius massage therapist since March and am feeling deeply the importance of regular bodywork for my physical, mental and emotional health. Though I am having a hard time negotiating the risks to do this work.

When the timing is right, and I secure a new studio location, adequate PPE and cleaning and sanitation supplies our sessions might feel very different to properly implement safety and sanitation protocol set forth by the state, and recommended by ABMP. A draft version of what you might expect is after the jump.

In addition, I want to let you know that I am feeling pretty cautious. I am in deep acknowledgement that this virus will be with us for some time, and that we will as a community and society be greatly impacted by it -but we can help to shape what that impact is by really sitting with our own expectations and our own desires.

I will continue to stay in touch periodically as we learn more, as the situation becomes more clear. Please feel free to reach out. I am here.

Take care.

a somatic practice

I have been practicing massage since 2010. In this time I have learned that the more awareness we have of/in our bodies, the deeper impact the work can have. Sometimes change can't happen through force, but the gentle reminder that transformation occurs in ways we often don't see. I have been practicing Contemporary Alexander since 2017 and have begun to take more courses that integrate this somatic awareness into my massage work. Many of my clients have experience this integration in real time, as I share my own practice of finding my bones, my alignment, explain self-care practices (like Constructive Rest) and commiserate on the struggle of deep movement and stillness patterning and how to remind our bodies that there are more choices for us to make in movement, that we can find less restriction and stiffness through very subtle and gentle practices of listening. I am grateful for the openness and acceptance of this subtly profound practice as it weaves it way onto my table. I look forward to sharing more of this work as it integrates into my shared bodywork.