Many times in conversation with people about what I provide, the question of "What is the difference between massage and bodywork?" comes up 75% of the time.
The answer: There is no difference.
In terms of licensing nationwide, all massage therapists and "bodyworkers" have passed the MBLEX - Massage Bodywork Licensing Examination. We are regulated by the same agency as nurses; The Department of Health.
I am a Soft Tissue Specialist, a bodyworker providing long term results for people with chronic physical pain. After receiving my masters certificate from the National Holistic Institute's Advanced Neuromuscular Therapy Program, I apprenticed for years with Aaron Mattes to master his revolutionary technology; Active Isolated Stretching. Continuing to move my skills upscale, I spent years to download the transformative technology of Structural Energetic Therapy, developed by Don McCann.
10 years into my practice, every conversation I have about bodywork, I access the power of my words with confidence and authority to translate, there is always a different way.
Upon conversation with someone having this question, I redirect their attention towards my rehabilitative process and expected outcomes instead of saying the most frequent terms used to describe massage like "relaxing", "therapeutic", and "wellness".
I see people's bodies in patterns.
These patterns have layers I see as physical imbalances; left inside arch dropped, left knee rotating inward, back of right hip to rib cage scrunched together, right ribcage pulling in and down, right shoulder tipping forward, neck pulling forward 1' in front of shoulder -observing clients to the front, back, side, and other side, in every postural evaluation I perform.
These asymmetries are developed over years like the layers of an onion. Pull back the top layer of pain like an acute shoulder glitch or neck pain, and I'll find the next layer being a knee injury/surgery from one decade ago which only healed to a small degree, now the shoulder glitch pain is increasing. Imagine having the roots of your onion addressed and the rest reinvents itself to stand up straight without pain?
I see people's bodies like an architect.
The largest weight bearing joint is the low back. Due to any imbalance there, the body will compensate with every other piece of flesh affecting every joint from the feet all the way to the head. Our Divine being is held together by a model called "Tensegrity" stemming from Buckminster Fuller's "floating compression sculpture" and the work of Dr. Levin.
My bodywork adjusts your body by altering the guy wires and cables of your fascial net.
What?
Yes, the body is deeply connected by a 3D matrix, "body bag", and "organ of form". This system has been discovered and published in medical journals for the past thirty years as the Fascial Network.
Cranial Structural Mobilizations Part 1
A chiropractor will adjust with force your bodies joints into proper alignment, and a massage therapist will provide stress relief mostly doing flowing strokes with a "full body" effect.
I gently move the bones in your skull to release your whole body into a new weight bearing capacity which holds 99.9% of the time.
First, I will work the tissues around your 22 cranial bones (maybe) inside your mouth to release whole body patterns which have kept you stuck for decades in minutes. Yes, every cranial bone has a reciprocal body part -similar to a reflex. My techniques originate from Cranial Osteopathy by Dr. Sutherland and others. Nowadays, these techniques are seldom taught to medical students getting their DOs.
With my Cranial Structural Mobilization techniques I am addressing the root causes of your pain, starting in your cranium, affecting your pelvis, your feet, all the way up to the head. Your whole body bag responds immediately, priming the body for very deep myofascial release.
For example; The sphenoid bone represents the front of your hip bones, the ASIS. To keep it simple, if your sphenoid is side bending to the left, your upper body is likely tipping to the left to compensate for your hips being out of alignment or a glitch in your right hamstring or right shoulder.
Deep Myofascial Release Part 2
Yes "myofascial release" is a big trendy word these days. Hooray!
I work one large area of your body at a time per session basically moving the entire structure into a new alignment because I specifically first test your brain -in your cranium- each session to find out what fascial subpatterns are presenting that day. Correcting these each session produces the highest potentials for long term healing before I begin Part 2. This creates a process of bringing your body back to full weight bearing support.
If you have or haven't experienced myofascial release, what I do is very different. I work your body, your fascial network precisely carving, breaking, and stretching almost every heavy piece of soft tissue (muscles, fascia, tendons, and ligaments) in a given area of your body to bring your bodies structure into this new alignment slowly, with plenty of 'spicey" moments. This plasticy "body bag" I refer to is an incredibly resilient and pliable to my hands. What do I mean? The willingness to make a new choice, change and get better is always available. The tissues of the fascia respond to energy, vibration, and frequency.
I am a wizard and site clearing contractor for your body combined.
Voilá
The outcome of my structural bodywork is people get out of chronic pain, sleep through the night, and stay better. I love having my clients see me less and less because their pains are disappearing. Ultimately, the body knows how to heal itself, often it takes a median like me to guide the body (sometimes plow it over) back to balance even after all the other treatments, surgeries, and limiting beliefs based on past experiences.