What is Tricia’s Massage Style?

Photograph of Tricia Griffith

Tricia, Licensed Massage Therapist

If you haven’t been in to Birch Tree Wellness for a massage yet, maybe you’re wondering if my massage style is right for you. Here’s a little bit of information about how I approach each massage.

What Do You Need in a Massage?

The first thing I want to know is, what are you looking for? Are you in pain, and don’t care so much about relaxing as long as the pain stops? Are you feeling physically fine but mentally drained? I can adjust each session as needed to address what you need that day.

Massage for Pain Relief

Before we start the appointment, we’ll chat about where your pain is and how it is affecting you. I want to try to get a feel for the source of your pain before we even start the massage. I’ll find out if you want full body work, or just a focus on the pain area, as well as if you prefer deeper or lighter pressure.

Occasionally, massage is not a good idea, and I want to make sure I’m not going to hurt you more. It’s important to know if you have any disc/spinal injuries, recent acute injuries such as fractures, or surgery. I may ask you about how the pain affects your range of motion and general movement. Are there times where it’s worse or better? Do you remember any specific incident that led to the pain?

Pain Relief is Relaxing

photo of a shoulder massage

Each massage begins with gentle Swedish massage. These are the long, slow strokes that help calm the nervous system and relax your muscles. Starting out with lighter pressure warms your muscles up. If I just dove right in to deep pressure, you’d leave your massage hurting more than when you arrived.

I believe that even a therapeutic massage can be relaxing. This is why as I start working on your problem areas, I incorporate relaxing strokes and gentle, but firm pressure. Occasionally, a hot stone may help loosen up a tight muscle. I may stretch your arms/shoulders, neck or legs/hips. Stretches or heat can help reduce how much deep work is needed to get cranky muscles to let go.

I’m a big believer that massage doesn’t have to hurt to work. I know there’s some amount of “good hurt”, but if you’re holding your breath, it’s probably too much. Don’t hesitate to let me know if it hurts too much. For the most part, I employ gentle techniques to get your muscles to release.

Science!

photograph of a person receiving a scalp/neck massage

Among my favorites is a “positional release” technique. This gets all “science-y.” If you have a sore neck, I target a specific tight neck muscle, and slightly move your head in the direction that muscle is trying to pull it. Then, I’ll hold it there for around 30 seconds. This sends signals to the muscle telling it that it’s done it’s job and successfully moved your head… good muscle! The muscle then lets go (and stops hurting). Science! (Magic!)

In other science news, you may also notice I don’t necessarily start right where it hurts. This is because many times a muscle hurts because it’s over-stretched, meaning the muscle that does the opposite action is tight and has been pulling it out of whack (a technical term). For example, if your upper back and shoulders hurt, it’s often because your shoulders are curled forward and your pecs are tight, over stretching those back muscles and making them sad and painful.

Checking In

If we’re working on a specific problem during your massage, I may check in with you periodically. It helps to know if what I’m doing is making a difference. I may also ask you to do something, such as resist against my push, or test your range of motion.

My “default setting” for massage is generally a medium to deep pressure without beating you up. I find this to be an effective amount of pressure, and most people find it comfortable. I can always back off or press harder as needed, don’t be afraid to let me know. That being said, the type of massage where it’s all elbows and painful deep pressure is really not my style. If you want to be beat up during your massage, I’ll help you find someone who likes to work that hard on you.

Just Shut Off My Brain

photo of a woman with hands on her head

If pain is less of an issue, but mentally you’ve just had it, I can still help. Massage is an excellent way to help manage chronic stress, anxiety or depression. For those of you who just need a mental break, we’ll slow down the massage and go back to those nice, relaxing Swedish massage roots. I often incorporate Reiki or just a gentle, soothing intent into the massage.

Massage decreases stress hormones and increases positive hormones like dopamine and serotonin. By keeping the pressure around a medium to light level, and not doing anything too painful, we can give your brain a break. Sometimes, that’s all we need to reset and get going forward again.

Quiet, Please

Lastly, in generally I try to follow a “Don’t speak unless spoken to” rule during your appointment. I believe that not having to worry about carrying on a conversation improves your massage experience. Several chatty clients have tried out being quiet during their massage and commented that it seemed like the massage lasted longer. That being said, if you just need to vent for a while, that’s okay, too!

Don’t Hesitate to Ask

Feel free to email me at tricia@birchtreewellnessmassage.com or message on Facebook if you want to talk about your massage needs, or have questions about my massage style. I look forward to meeting you!

Taking a Time Out

Not Accepting New Clients at This Time

photo of a child in time out

With the schedule being filled several months ahead, I've stopped accepting new clients for the time being.

If you have a gift certificate, I will do my best to accommodate you. If you've signed up on my waiting list, I am still keeping you in mind for potential openings. Just know that while I am trying to get you on the schedule sooner, it could still be a few months.

If you want help finding someone to get into sooner, I know a bunch of great massage therapists and will be happy to help connect you. If you have your heart set on coming to Birch Tree Wellness, I can put you on the waiting list, but know that it'll be a while!

Current clients, if you haven't booked your next few appointments, you may want to click that "book now" button on my FB page or website and get yourself scheduled.

Thank you to all of you for being so awesome and for helping my business grow/thrive/explode. You're madly appreciated!

xoxo ~Tricia

30 Days of Self-Care Summary

Thank you so much for following #30daysofselfcare – I hope you found a handful of ideas that you’ve already tried or that you’re looking forward to trying out. Remember, you don’t have to do them all in one month. You don’t even have to do all of them. Just pick the ones that speak to you and maybe make a practice of doing them once or twice a month.

I’ve put them all together in this full 30-day compilation so you can bookmark it or save it somewhere to refer back to whenever you feel like you need a little pick-me-up.

Take care of yourselves!

graphic featuring 30 days of self-care suggestions

BONUS! Self-Care Day 31

Take Yourself on a Date

self-care graphic: take yourself on a date

Just when you thought #30daysofselfcare was over, POOF! Day 31! Here’s a little bonus self-care tip. Take yourself on a date. I learned about this tip from Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way” – as a tool for helping boost your creativity. She called them an Artist Date, but you can call it a Vet Tech Date or a Nurse Date or a Tired Mom Date, or whatever makes you happy.

Take a little me time. Find a way to get away for an hour or a whole afternoon. It doesn’t have to be an expensive date. Take yourself to a museum or art show. Go to your favorite cafe. Go for a walk in your favorite park. Treat yourself to lunch at your favorite restaurant.

The key is to do it by yourself. And don’t let it turn into a date with a bunch of errands. Try to do it on a day when you’re not in a rush to get back to work. Just take some time for yourself to do something that brings you a little peace, joy, or relaxation.

Where do you plan to take yourself for your date?

Self-Care Day 30

Clear Out Your Wardrobe

graphic self-care tip clear out your wardrobe

I am the least wardrobe-oriented person I know. I have clothing that is so old I don’t even remember where/when I bought it! When you wear a uniform for work, it certainly reduces the need for a lot of extra fancy work clothes.

That being said, I am actually TERRIBLE at getting rid of clothes I don’t wear. I have some stuff in my closet I never wear, but you know, I MIGHT need it!

There are a few ways you can get rid of old clothes. You can donate them, of course. Various thrift stores, shelters, and charities accept clothing.

Another neat thing I found is ThredUp. ThredUp is an online consignment and thrift store. Not only can you shop for quality used/upcycled clothing, but you can request a “clean out kit” and they’ll send you a bag you can fill with all your unwanted clothing. Once they receive the bag, they will process it and post it for sale on their site, and you get a portion of the proceeds added to your account that you can spend on the site!

There are possibly other sites that do this, this is just the one I’ve tried and liked. Maybe you can make a little extra space in your closet/dresser this week! Where is your favorite place to donate clothing?

Self-Care Day 29

Random Acts of Kindness

self-care tip random act of kindness

Doing something a little nice for someone else can be a boost to your own mood. It could be financial, like leaving an extra big tip or giving a friend a gift card. It could be making scarves and hats for the homeless.

Maybe brushing snow off your coworker’s car if you’re leaving before them, or mowing an elderly neighbor’s yard. Donate used towels or blankets, or pet toys to a shelter! Do a web search for “acts of kindness” for more ideas!

Self-Care Day 28

Look Through Old Photos or Happy Memories

self care look through old photos

It can be a nice little walk down memory lane to dig out old photo albums and look back at fond memories. Maybe you’ve got some old photos that need to be sorted into albums *coughcough*me*coughcough* – A perfect little task for a rainy weekend!

Self-Care Day 27

Start Learning a New Skill

self-care learn a new skill

I think most of us have something in the back of our minds we have always wanted to learn. Maybe it’s as complicated as a musical instrument or a new language. Maybe you want to learn to knit or sew. Whittle? Origami? Cake decorating? Tap dancing? (I know someone who can help you with that if you’re into it!)

Pick a new skill and give it a whirl! It’ll stimulate your brain, get you out of a rut, or give you a new way to make gifts, have fun, or create a little side hustle!

Self-Care Day 26

Buy Yourself Flowers or a Treat

self-care buy yourself flowers

Who doesn’t love receiving a special treat? Who doesn’t like waiting until special occasions like birthdays, holidays, or anniversaries to get special treats?

You don’t have to spend a ton to treat yourself. Maybe you spot a pretty bunch of daisies at the grocery store, or you stop and get a single rose from the flower shop. Take a little side trip to your favorite specialty chocolatier and get a couple of sweet treats. Go to a local artisan shop and treat yourself to a handmade treasure.

Invent your own special occasion! Maybe you’re celebrating getting some of the trickier self-care tips done! You deserve a little treat.

Self-Care Day 25

Print Some of the Photos on Your Phone

In our house, we tend to read/watch a fair amount of dystopian fiction (no, not just the nightly news). One of the themes I’ve seen come up a few times is when there’s no power, a character is carrying around a dead cell phone just hoping for a chance to look at a photo of their loved one again.

While I’m not saying that we’re headed for a dystopian future (fingers crossed), how many happy memories or fantastic photos of loved ones do you have that only exist on your phone, computer, or up in the cloud?

Pick a few this week and get them printed! If you have a decent home printer, you can usually get some photo printing paper and check the printer for photo printing settings. Remember One Hour Photos? They still exist in a more digital format. Many department stores and drug stores have kiosks where you can print your photos. If you want to get really fancy, there are specialty printers just for printing from your phone.

You can frame them relatively inexpensively with frames from a craft store or even a dollar store. Put them on your fridge with magnets. Display them in your office. Get a photo album! Put them somewhere where seeing them makes you smile!