A letter from the owner...
Some of you already know the story: I'd been doing massage for a couple years, and felt strongly drawn to this slower, gentler, more profound style of massage. The more experienced I got, the more I thought "Wow, this aggressive stuff really doesn't work, at least not in any lasting or meaningful way." But it was hard to offer a more therapeutic touch when I working at spas and for chiropractors who were promising every client a super deep (even painful!) massage.
(I already talked about this "harder is not better" concept in the Danger of Deep Tissue blog post, so I won't dive too deep here.)
Finally I decided to make the leap to private practice, so I could do something truly original, truly my own.
Sage Bodywork opened in February 2020, so I got like 2 weeks in before COVID-19 shut me down. It was a scary, long, stressful lockdown (for many reasons) but in July 2020 Sage Bodywork was able to reopen.
This July, we're celebrating our 2nd anniversary.
A lot happened this last year: we renovated the room, redesigned the website, and our team of massage therapists started growing. We started offering lymphatic drainage massage and most recently, a guided meditation and breathwork massage to really help people with anxiety and PTSD.
Throughout all this change I’ve been questioning and centering on what Sage Bodywork is really all about. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is your opportunity to experience your body without pain.
That has a couple meanings: number one, we specialize in remedial massage. That means massage that relieves pain, reduces swelling, increases range of motion, etc. All that juicy therapeutic stuff. So you walk out of here with less pain.
But it also means that your experience of being here is pain-free. During your massage we don't dig our elbows into tender spots, as if we could relieve your pain by inflicting more pain. Pain is how the body says "No." We don't ignore that. Here you and your body will be honored, listened to, and collaborated with.
On the deepest level, it means this is your opportunity to notice your body through the good feelings it offers you, rather than the bad. So often we ignore our body until it’s crying in pain. We have no awareness of our knees until they hurt. We don’t appreciate normal feeling shoulders, we only notice when they’re tight. When's the last time you thought about your wrists? Probably the last time they hurt.
When you learn to experience your body through something other than pain... well, that's a powerful thing.
It creates a fundamental neurological shift that can dissolve long held pain patterns.
It allows for a new, kinder relationship with your body.
It makes it easier to enjoy having a body.
At Sage Bodywork we provide the opportunity for you to experience your body without pain.
I'm going to keep building Sage Bodywork with that ideal that our heart. I hope you can feel it every time you visit.
I'm really excited for what our third year will bring. We have a talented massage therapist joining our team next month and in the fall we're adding one of my personal favorite services. There's still so much I want to learn and offer and build upon. I'm so grateful I get to focus my energy on creating peace, wellness, and connection.
From the bottom of my heart to the top, thank you for your support.
Jesse Martel, LMT & Owner