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!

Self-Care Day 4

Meditate

I know, I know… who has time to sit and say ohhhm for a half-hour? I can’t shut my squirrel brain off that long! Who can get their body into that weird pretzel position for that long?!

Did you know you can just sit in a comfy chair to meditate? You don’t even have to say “ohhmmm”. Here are some tips to incorporate meditation into your life:

Guided Meditation

YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify… the interwebs are full of recorded guided meditations. I’m a long-time fan of Jason Stephenson on YouTube. He has a huge collection of meditations for practically anything you can think of, including anxiety relief, sleep, affirmations, and healing. He also has what I think is a very soothing voice. Find his YouTube Channel here.

Soul Soothers: Mini Meditations for Busy Lives

This is a book written by a friend that features one-page meditations that can be practiced all day—while doing the dishes, waiting at the doctor’s office, or even in the shower. See? No pretzel required. (Great, now I want pretzels.) You can find the book here.

Make It Up As You Go

You don’t have to really even have a recording or an intent. Sometimes there’s magic in just putting down the work, phone, or responsibilities for five minutes and sitting quietly, staring into space. If your squirrel brain wants to gather nuts, just let it. Sometimes you might even find a solution you couldn’t see before around all the distractions.

Bottom Line

There aren’t really any rules to meditating. There are different styles you might find you like, or you can totally make up your own. Like anything, it takes a little practice, so don’t give up after the first attempt. You got this!

Self-Care Day 1

Take a Nap

While napping may not be for everyone, I think many of us agree that the thing that we fought against as children is now something magical.

The Mayo Clinic suggests that you keep naps to 10-20 minutes in length. Much longer and you’ll just feel groggy afterward and potentially disrupt your evening sleep. A short nap can be a great way to reset when you’re feeling unproductive, tired, and/or cranky.

While a bed is ideal, I have been known to nap in my car during lunch breaks in the past. If I have time at the office, I have occasionally napped on my massage table or in my comfy chair. I also have a giant beanbag chair that is awesome for naps. Maybe you have a comfy couch or a nice recliner.

Pick a day, set an alarm (I recommend setting it out of reach to prevent hitting ‘snooze’), and see how a short nap makes you feel!

30 Days of Self-Care

A Self-Care Reset for the New Year

Happy New Year! I don’t know about you all, but I’m a bit of a mess from the last couple of years, and I was inspired to create a way for myself and any of you who want to do a self-care reset to get started.

There are a lot of self-care checklists out there, but a lot of them are geared towards just moms or include more “pampering” stuff than actual self-care. So, I scoured the interwebs and found the parts I liked the most, threw in a few of my own, and ideas from friends.

Now, I’m pleased to present “30 Days of Self-Care” – a self-care reset from Birch Tree Wellness. I will share one a day through January. They will be on Facebook, Instagram, and my website. At the end of the month, I’ll also create a checklist of all 30 so you can use it as a reference throughout the year.

An important tip: Don’t stress yourself out trying to self-care yourself. You don’t have to do them on the exact day I post them. It’s okay to skip a day. It’s okay to skip the ones you don’t like. Just do what you can and what speaks to you. That’s part of the process.

Notably, you won’t see “get a massage” on this list. That’s kind of a given, but also I tried to keep this list mostly free or minimal expense. I know you’ll get a massage if that’s what you need.

Let the self-care begin!

Now Booking Distance Reiki

I’ve been doing distance healing and Reiki work for many, many years, but hadn’t really considered adding it to the regular services of my practice until recently.

Since I’m not providing in-office services for the time being, I have set up a new scheduling program specifically for booking distance Reiki during this time of COVID-19 concerns.


What is Distance Reiki?

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction, relaxation and healing. This modality is based on the idea that an unseen life force energy flows through us and gives us life. If this energy is low, or blocked, then we are more likely to feel stressed or ill. When this energy flow is increased and blockages removed, we feel more positive and healthy.

Since this life force, in essence, flows through everything, it makes Reiki an ideal method of helping people long distance. A practitioner can focus on the person receiving Reiki using a photo or personal item and special techniques learned in advanced Reiki training.

How Will a Distance Reiki Session Work?

reiki kanji
An example of a Reiki Kanji

With this service, you schedule a day and time, just as if you were going to come into my office. However, at the time of your appointment, you can just stay home. I recommend taking a nap or meditating, or otherwise finding some place quiet to sit. During that time, I will send you Reiki and other healing/calming vibes.

I”ll contact you before your session to find out if you’re looking for any particular focus or just want me to send you the Reiki energy and let it go where it needs to go. Reiki is great for focusing on healing, immune boosting, and just overall stress and anxiety.

What Does a Distance Reiki Session Cost?

Since I don’t have to do laundry or sanitize after you, the fee for these sessions will be $20 for 30 minutes, $20 for 45 minutes, or $40 for 60 minutes. You will be required to pay for the session at the time of scheduling.

I am back to using my regular MassageBook schedule to manage all appointments. New clients may not be able to schedule their first Distance Reiki appointment online, please contact me and I will get you set up. After your first appointment, you can book online regularly. Thank you for your patience!

Meanwhile…

If you would like to know more about Reiki, you can check out my About Reiki page or visit Reiki.org. To schedule, click Book Now on my Facebook page or website and select Distance Reiki from the service menu.

Feel free to message me with any questions! Stay healthy! ~Tricia

Distance Reiki Testimonial:

I asked Tricia for a distance reiki session for a relative in another country. Did not tell my relative because I thought she might think I am nuts. A few days later I talked to her on the phone and she told me she had slept like a baby—the best night in a very long time. She was so surprised and pleased. ~Stefanie