Massage in the time of Social Distancing

First, let’s address the elephant in the room. This sucks! Whether you are stuck at home or an essential worker, risking infection every day to keep services running for the rest of us; this is a time of shared stress and trauma like we have not seen in our lifetimes. Most if not all of us have been thrown for a loop. Many of us have physical pain and emotional trauma coming up due to the current situation and to make matters worse we have been cut off from the services we rely on to manage that pain and stress. No expert hands to work out the kinks in our neck, no soothing strokes to release our stress, no calm massage room to escape to. So… What do we do? 

At first, I despaired as well. I’ve made my living through hands-on bodywork and also used bodywork to keep myself healthy and moving comfortably for many years. While I was grateful to Kristina for closing the business to keep the employees and clients safe, I was terrified at the prospect of no bodywork in my life. But, necessity is the mother of invention, and I've spent the last two weeks learning how much I still have to offer the people who rely on me even when we can’t be in the same room. 

Have you ever watched a Youtube video of a stretch or foam rolling technique and felt like you were doing it completely wrong? Have you ever been sent a picture of a stretch or exercise and still felt so baffled that you just gave up? Has your massage therapist or other bodyworker tried to get you to do more self-care but it just felt impossible to do on your own? This and so much more is the beauty of one-on-one virtual sessions. Not only will we have the time to explore your pain and stress in more detail, helping you to more fully understand it. We will be right there coaching you through the process of stretching, corrective exercise, meditation, self-massage and much more.

 Because when it comes down to it, our worth as bodyworkers isn’t in our hands alone. Our hands are simply the way we have expressed our expertise up to this point. You may have had the experience of your massage therapist just “knowing” where the pain is. I’ll let you in on an industry secret, that isn’t magic! It’s the result of years of carefully developed observation and communication skills. You may have experienced that a certain massage therapist just “gets you” and helps you relax in ways no one else has. Here is another industry secret, that isn't magic either! It is the result of developing intention, neutrality, space holding and empathy by that particular LMT. We each have our own flavor and strengths when it comes to this. If all you were seeking as a client was hands-on work, you could get that from any of the thousands of licensed massage therapists in the city, but you come to us. Why? Because there is something about me or Kelly or Kat, Melissa or Kristina or David that helps you feel safer than you do with other practitioners. We support your process in a way that is special and meaningful to you. And the wonderful thing, the really brilliant paradigm shifting thing, is that we can still offer that! The tools have changed but we are still here and we can still help. 

Will it be the same as a massage? Probably not. But I can tell you from personal experience that online sessions like this can be incredibly effective for relieving stress and pain and engaging with the body on a different level. We all need support during this time and here at Body Of Work Wellness one of the hardest things has been the feeling of abandoning our clients. We knew we needed to do it to keep all of you safe but it was very hard. And now we are so excited to be able to be here for you again, now in an online format. The world will keep shifting and we will keep adapting to bring our expertise to you. 

To give it a try, click the Schedule Now button and choose "Virtual Appointments". Your first appointment is just $35.

                                                                                Be well!
                                                                                            Amber Van Winkle

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