winter greetings

2022 really made me    s  l  o  w     d  o  w  n   and it has been nice to continue with slowness into this new year. Even with my insistence on taking it slowly, last year went in a blur, thankfully with some sweet moments to savor; spending time with dear friends and their new child in Hawai'i; returning to a favorite childhood place (Wallowa Lake); exploring the prairie near Mount Adams; getting to see my brother and sister-in-law again after three years; and miles and miles of walks in Oregon, Hawai'i, Washington, England and Paris!

This year I look forward to a return to performing more -which begins this weekend as I am an ensemble member of Extradition's Corner festival celebrating experimental, new music composer Philip Corner- and continuing my studies in Alexander technique, Gyrotonic and Barral's visceral and neural manipulation.

I have quietly opened my schedule to new clients. For insurance, I am only in-network with Regence BlueCross BlueShield (and all of their subsidiaries) and am not currently accepting any new out-of-network insurance clients.

I'm in the clinic Sundays, Monday afternoons, and Thursday late afternoons. My online schedule is up-to-date and showing openings up to 6 weeks from now: https://deepgroundmassagebodywork.fullslate.com

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. 

August updates

 I can't believe August is nearly half over; this summer has just disappeared. Though I can't quite recall where all the time has gone, I have been enjoying early mornings and late evenings in the hammock, and chance encounters with friends during my walks on Mt. Tabor and Powell Butte. 

As cases rise in Portland (and everywhere else), I am finding it difficult to feel the recurrence of uncertainty. However I am grateful that the vaccine is doing its job; mitigating severe symptoms, hospitalization and more death. I hope you all are wearing your masks (now mandated in Oregon) and washing your hands frequently. As a slow adapter in this pandemic, I was just beginning to spend time with more folks, but am returning to some pre-vaccine habits: decreasing the number of people I see (especially the number of people I am around unmasked) and opting to gather outdoors.

To understand the state of Covid-19 in Oregon, I found this OPB article useful: https://www.opb.org/article/2021/08/12/oregon-covid-19-cases-mask-mandate-governor-kate-brown-delta-variant-vaccines-questions/

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:

March updates

My colleagues at Laurelhurst Family Clinic and I have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine!

However, none of my personal or in-practice protocols and procedures will change -mask wearing, and hand washing remains a vital part of our lives, and will be necessary for some time to come. The vaccine is another way to protect ourselves from experiencing a severe case and reduce the strain on hospitals. There is currently promising data about the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing community spread, but I am erring on the side of caution. Until we reach herd immunity (a currently unknown percentage), or have more information and data, we should continue being vigilant about hygiene, personal space and mask wearing.

And here are some Covid-19 vaccine resources I'd like to share:

• This great interview by Ira Flatow on Science Friday: How Did A Vaccine Get Developed In Less Than A Year (1/15/21) 
• CDC: Understanding Covid-19 mRNA Vaccines
• CDC: How Vaccines Work
• Local information on when you are eligible and how to schedule a vaccination appointment:  https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19 and https://all4oregon.org

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.