What is massage therapy and what are the benefits?
People often seek out a massage when feeling tired or stressed, in pain or preparation from an athletic event. What you may not know is how it works or that is a very old curative method written about in many cultures. Massage therapy combines ongoing knowledge of science, the art of touch, as well as the intention of bringing about healing and positive growth creating a powerful tool for helping ourselves move more efficiently toward health. Our bodies, when functioning well, have an amazing capacity to heal our own wounds. It is this capacity that sometimes needs support when our health reserves are down. Massage therapy supports your own natural process of healing by softening tissues in the body, improving circulation of fluids and helping restore a healthier body environment for healing.
Marie’s massage therapy practice:
I offer home-based services specializing in massage therapy for immediate care-givers, elders, particularly those with Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia or other diseases that effect mobility, cognition and motivation, and health care providers.
I use an integrated approach based on the client’s concerns, complaints and goals. I use the following techniques: Swedish, Shiatsu, Trigger Point, Hydrotherapy, Polarity and Essential Oils.
How I became interested in massage therapy….
After years of dancing and dance/movement therapy work I finally pursued another great interest: massage therapy. Why? I know first hand the power of massage therapy after receiving weekly massage after my own significant injury. I really understand the benefit of regular massage as part of healing and maintaining well-being. I had another pivotal moment when working as a dance/movement therapist and using therapeutic touch to bring awareness to a client who had several strokes. The relief on this client’s face with just this simple touch, just on her arms, reawakened the long-held interest I had in learning massage.
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I have been working with Marie Carstens on a regular monthly basis for about two years now, and have found her unequivocally to be the very best and most creative, intuitive, compassionate, resourceful, massage therapist I have ever worked with. She uses an array of techniques including my faves deep tissue, shiatsu, acupressure, and stretching, as well as using heat and the wondrous mineral oils she mixes up specially each session by request. She has helped not just my body, but my spirit and my energy during times of good health and times of injury. The following day, she always checks up on me reg how I am feeling. Her range and understanding of body, mind, and spirit are deeply rooted in multiple creative and intertwined disciplines, as she is also a trained Isadora Duncan dancer, a therapist, and an adjunct dance professor. She brings to her massage therapy work broad knowledge, powerful talent, kindness of heart, and magical energizing hands. It is a pleasure and a privilege to know and experience Marie’s massage therapy, and I am most grateful for the time we spend together.
-LG