Relocation from Atlanta to the Twin Cities

Hello Twin Cities, MN!

2011 will be a transition year for Bodywork Ultra...new state, new city, new clients and a new climate! After 6 1/2 yrs and a really hot summer in Atlanta, the Twin Cities is testing my resolve! Originally from WI, I thought I knew what to expect moving back to the North. My husband, who had lived in the Twin Cities years ago, told me that the Twin Cities was a lot colder and snowier than Milwaukee/Madison, WI. Boy...he wasn't kidding! I'm learning just how adaptable the body can be! 3 major snowstorms (11", 6" and 17") and another on the way today...can't wait until Winter actually starts! I've been keeping the local outerwear stores busy with my down coat, long underwear, boots, hats and scarf purchases.

I've learned a lot in trying to set up my practice in the Twin Cities. The massage industry is not regulated by the state of MN like it is in GA (and most states). Because of that, each city adopts their own regulations. I would consider some of the city regulations prohibitive...$10,000 investment and $1500 background check for starters in one city. They are setting a clear message that they do not want massage therapists in their city. It's really too bad because people in those communities have to travel further for therapeutic massage.

After researching many locations in the Twin Cities, I have decided to open up Bodywork Ultra in St Louis Park, MN. The office will be in the Miracle Mile Mall at Hwy 100 and Excelsior Blvd. I'm really excited about this location and the people I'll be working with. The location is convenient for those in downtown, uptown and those who work/live in the western suburbs of the Twin Cities. Surrounding highways (aside from Hwy 100) include 169 , 62 (Crosstown), I-35W, I-394 and 1-494 isn't too far away either. Bike trails link St. Louis Park to downtown Minneapolis, the Uptown area, Hopkins and Chaska.

I'm enjoying my time so far in the Twin Cities...really love biking and running on the many miles of paved paths the community has to offer. I haven't tried biking since the snow fell...but many still do that! It's so nice that they're plowed in the winter! I also got out for some cross country skiing this past weekend until I realized I was not wearing warm enough gloves. It might be time to get some warmer gloves!

I look forward to working with people in the Twin Cities to help relieve pain, restructure the body to a balanced state, improve wellness and enhance overall performance.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Great Results with Integrated Massage Modalities

I wanted to share the great results of some work I did with a client last week. I have been incorporating a few basic craniosacral techniques into my sessions lately, and the improvement both my clients are I are seeing is very exciting. As I continue to perfect more techniques, I will add more into my sessions to provide more long lasting effects from the bodywork.

Now, onto my client story. This client has been scrubbing floors, cleaning out underneath bathroom counters (who doesn't need to do this??), and hauling boxed items up multiple flights of stairs. My body begins to hurt just listening to all the fun this client has been having lately!

My client complained of pain on the inside of the knee on her right leg, and very tight hamstrings. Her shoulders and upper back were also tight, but her main concern for the session were her legs and knee pain.

Initially, I spent a few minutes assessing her hamstrings. With the client lying flat on her back, I was able to raise her left leg to about an 80 degree angle before her knee starting buckling. Not great flexibility in her left hamstring, but her real problem was the right leg. When I raised the right leg, the knee started buckling at just under a 30 degree. Wow...was that possible? Lifting the leg just this little distance caused considerable pain in the inside of the clients' knee. I knew I had my work cut out for me.

Before I left the room and when the client was still fully clothed, we did a muscle energy technique (MET) for the hamstrings. In this procedure I asked my client to contract her hamstring against the light resistance I applied to her hamstring. This was repeated 3 times with the goal being to stretch the muscle further each time. We made a little progress with the MET, but there was a lot more work to do. I then left the room and the client got herself ready under the sheet and blanket.

We began the session with some very gentle and relaxing decompression techniques for the cranial bones (bones of the head) with the client facing up towards the ceiling. These techniques are used to help inner ear dysfunction, balance problems, headaches, distortion in the shoulder girdle, and pelvic distortions, just to name a few! I wanted to make sure the shoulder and back areas were addressed, as I wasn't sure how long the legs/knee work would take. By including the cranial decompression, I was hoping the muscles around the shoulder joint and upper back would start releasing before I got around to working on those areas.

After about 20 - 30 minutes working on the cranial bones, I spent a few minutes releasing the shoulder joint and elbow joint (the client's forearms were SO tight and she didn't even mention this during our pre-session interview). The forearms loosened nicely with these moves and a few minutes of additional bodywork.

Next, I asked the client to turn over so she was laying on her stomach. It was now time to relax the hamstrings. I performed some friction on the ischial tuberosity (the "sitting" bones) and the lower attachments of the hamstrings around the knee. After I felt the attachments of the hamstrings release or soften, I performed some light gliding strokes up the bellies of the hamstrings. How odd...the bellies felt pretty good without the taut bands of muscle I was expecting. The client also noted there was only minimal discomfort over most of the hamstring. We did spend some time on a few trigger points in the hammies and also in the gluteals that released pretty easily.

At about 1 hour 10 minutes into our session, I finally reached the shoulders and back of my client. I felt we had made great progress on the hamstrings and knee since there was no longer any client discomfort during the massage. Once again, I was amazed with how good the shoulder and back muscles felt before even starting to work in the area. The cranial decompression and shoulder joint mobilization performed at the onset of our session released the muscles before I even touched the bellies of the muscles. I was able to finish up the session performing more of a relaxing session as our real work was done.

After the 90 minute session was complete, we re-assessed the hamstrings. Now the left leg reached just under a 90 degree angle...not bad as it moved from around 80 degrees to 90. What amazed both of us was that the right leg (remember, it was under a 30 degree angle when first assessed), was now at 90 degrees also! The hamstring had lengthened considerably in the 90 minute session.

I'm really excited about continuing to include more craniosacral techniques into my sessions, especially if they're going to give my clients these kind of results. Not only did my client have no pain in her knee immediately following her session, her hamstrings didn't feel tight to her, her shoulder and back pain diminished and her forearms were ready to do some more cleaning! I followed up with my client the next day. She said she took an epsom salt bath that night and woke up feeling great...still no knee pain!

In addition to the craniosacral work I did on this client, I included sports massage (MET's), neuromuscular therapy and swedish massage for a fully integrated session.