Personalized Bodywork for Optimal Health

At Nohobodyworks, I offer a range of integrated services designed to enhance your health and well-being. With my expert training, I provide personalized care through various bodywork and wellness techniques to ensure a unique and effective experience for each client.

I use Structural Integration, Myofascial Release, NeuroMuscular Therapy, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and Actve Isolated Stretching to deliver a deep-tissue massage that helps release and unwind restrictions in your tissue and fascia. Additionally, I tailor functional strength training and stretching sessions to meet your individual needs.

Structural Integration

Structural Integration 12 Series

In June 2024, I completed a 14-month, 640-hour Anatomy Trains Structural Integration training course. This approach typically involves a series of 12 sessions that address areas of restriction in the body, focusing on where support is needed in terms of length, ease, or function.

The sessions target myofascial restrictions and postural patterns that often cause pain and dysfunction, following the myofascial meridians described in Tom Myers' Anatomy Trains system.

What is Myofascia?

"Myo” refers to muscle, and the term myofascia better describes the relationship between muscle fibers and fascia. Fascia forms muscle cell walls and is more than just an internal structure; it acts as a communicative system with nerves, making it almost as sensitive as skin. It also holds memories of emotional scars and adaptations to trauma.

When approached with intention, patience, and attention to breath, fascia can lengthen. It cannot be forced; instead, it responds gradually. Fascia behaves more like a plastic bag that retains its new length when stretched slowly, rather than a rubber band that bounces back. More than simply getting muscles to relax, we are encouraging change in one's structure. When lengthened carefully with movement, the fascia holds some of its new length.

Fascia shapes and enables our movement.
Fascia binds us together.
Every cell in our body is surrounded or encased in fascia.

Understanding Tension Patterns

Throughout life, extra tension accumulates from injuries, surgeries, imitating others, repetitive activities, or adopted attitudes. These tensions create patterns in the body. While exercise and posture adjustments may help, much of this patterning occurs below conscious awareness and becomes ingrained in one's being.

These patterns manifest in muscular tension, skeletal form, and the connective tissues in between. The Anatomy Trains Structural Integration approach aims to release binding and shortening in these connective tissues, known as the “fascial network,” and to re-educate the body toward more efficient and energy-sustaining patterns.

What to Expect

This process unfolds over a series of sessions. The Anatomy Trains Structural Integration involves 12 progressive sessions, though the actual number needed may vary. At the start, we will review your history and set realistic goals for the process. If desired, we can take photos to document your starting point or simply assess your postural pattern in front of a mirror.

Most sessions are conducted in underwear or bathing suits to access the tissues restricting movement effectively. Your comfort is essential, but direct access to these tissues is necessary. Sessions primarily take place on a treatment table, with some work done on a stool or while standing. I will interact with the tissues and ask you to move to release old restrictions and restore natural movement.

We will determine the depth and gentleness of the treatment based on your preferences. Although we follow a structured approach, each session is tailored to the individual. I invite you to start this journey and explore the transformations it brings to your body.

Please note: oils and lotions can interfere with the "hooking in" to the fascia and make the fascial connection impossible. Please avoid using them on treatment days. Each session begins with a body read. Please wear undergarments that you are comfortable in. Bras with parallel straps allow the most access to your back.

Structural Bodywork

I offer Structural Bodywork sessions that combine NeuroMuscular Therapy and Myofascial Release. NMT employs techniques such as static pressure, cross-fiber friction, and long gliding strokes on soft tissues like muscles, tendons, and connective tissue to release trigger points and knots.

This therapy targets five key elements that cause pain.

Ischemia: lack of blood supply to soft tissues, leading to hypersensitivity to touch.
Trigger Points: highly irritated muscle points that refer pain to other areas of the body.
Nerve Compression or Entrapment: pressure on a nerve caused by soft tissue, cartilage, or bone.
Postural Distortion: Imbalance in the muscular system due to deviations from the body's longitudinal and horizontal planes.
Biomechanical Dysfunction: An imbalance in the musculoskeletal system that results in faulty movement patterns, such as poor lifting techniques or improper mechanics in sports and computer use.

Craniosacral Therapy

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle, non-invasive treatment based on the concept that each cell in the body breathes and carries an original blueprint of health formed during embryonic development.

Despite disease or unresolved physical and emotional trauma stored in the body, there is an inherent ability to align with this health.

The practitioner starts by tuning into the system, observing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fluctuations and the various tides it creates. The CSF not only bathes and protects the brain and spinal cord but also carries vital intelligence and life force, mixing with other bodily fluids through the dural membrane in the brain.

How It Works?

A biodynamic craniosacral therapist develops deep perceptual and listening skills along with knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Gentle holds, including those on the feet, head, and sacrum, are used in each session to help the client’s system access its own inner resources and innate health.

This approach is based on Cranial Osteopathy, founded by William Sutherland, DO. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is divided into the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) branches. The "fight or flight" response is often dominant in modern culture.

Inherent Healing

As Hugh Milnes, DO, explains, "Cranial-Sacral work is based on the understanding that any one bone is a hologram of the entire dream body, the body-mind-spirit unity. When it is balanced, it exerts a profound balancing effect on the whole."

Cranial work promotes a return to the parasympathetic division of the ANS, encouraging deep relaxation and allowing the body to heal from everyday stresses. It is based on the belief that the body possesses inherent knowledge of its needs.

Beneficial For

Personal Training

I have been a Certified Personal Trainer with the American Council of Exercise since 2005 and have taught Group Exercise classes at the Hampshire Regional YMCA since 2003.

I believe in proactively maintaining health through daily exercise, increased heart rate, and body challenges. The key is finding enjoyable activities and integrating them into daily life. My focus includes core conditioning, strength training, and multi-plane movement using free weights, stability balls, and body weight exercises. I incorporate Active Isolated Stretching (AIS), a dynamic technique that lengthens and strengthens muscles while releasing fascia, into my training and massage sessions.

I emphasize a holistic approach to health, combining exercise, fresh foods, mental stimulation, and bodywork. Outside of teaching, I enjoy hiking and road biking, which helps me stay connected with nature and my body. Regular exercise leads to achieving health and fitness goals, reducing tension, and significantly improving overall well-being.

Experience the Difference

Discover the difference with my personalized approach to health and wellness. I’m here to help you reach your goals through tailored exercise programs, effective stretching techniques, and comprehensive bodywork. Feel free to contact me to discuss how I can support your journey to better health. Let’s get started today.

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