Welcome!
I am Alyssa McClure d.b.a. Healing Haven Therapy. I offer Soft Tissue Release Therapy, using gentler versions of Neuromuscular and Myofascial techniques, and Swedish massage modalities ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours. I use firm, slow, and consistent pressure to aid your body in releasing tension and reconnecting with its innate balance and wholeness. These techniques are also friendly for those who are ticklish, as I do not use quick or brushing strokes.
I use communication, intuition, and reading body language to ensure your comfort and respect throughout the professional, therapeutic massage. I hope to establish open communication and comfort between me and each client, so that even those who have a hard time communicating are heard and respected.
Each of these sessions can be tailored to focus on certain areas, or to avoid any areas.
Clients will always be securely and appropriately draped, at all times, in areas that are not being worked. This is your space to embrace relaxation, release, and reconnection with wholeness.
I do also like to inform clients that, as with any therapy, light touch massage is not a one and done therapy. The neuromuscular/myofascial modality that I practice works with each fascial (elastic tissue) layer to release "stuck" areas. This works from superficial to deep and lasting results will be felt as the body creates new fascial habits and habit pathways.
A great visual for the difference between loose (healthy) fascial layers and stuck fascial layers can be seen in delicate steaks and tough steaks. The toughness in a tough steak actually is caused by tightened fascial layers. So, next time you buy a steak and it is tough, just know, that cow probably didn't get enough exercise and really could have used a massage. However, a juicy delicate steak that can be "cut like butter" came from a healthy, mobile cow who got plenty of exercise, bloodflow, and most likely had a better quality of life and less muscle aches.
Fascia itself looks like a web (as if a spider web were made of jello) and stretches very easily when it is healthy, mobile, and hydrated. This state of fascia is usually found in young children and people with supple skin. You might be thinking "If healthy fascia easily stretches, then my grandma has better fascial layers than my five year old!" That isn't true. As much as healthy fascia can stretch incredibly beyond its habitual length, it actually keeps your skin from sagging; it keeps it firmly connected and supple. Unhealthy, brittle fascia is what causes sagging. This is why you can see some aged people who look very young: they most likely have very healthy fascial layers and stay hydrated and mobile.
You can tell which areas of your body are getting less hydration and blood flow, and have tightened fascial layers, by the temperature of your skin. Have you ever had a back ache and your back suddenly feels cold? That is the tension reducing blood flow to your muscles. On the opposite end, hot skin indicates inflammation. Warm skin often indicates health and proper blood flow. (This is why you feel really warm after a workout).
Receiving therapeutic massage, focusing on soft tissues, releases the stuck layers that cause restricted blood flow, and opens up the layers so you can experience a feeling of expansion, blood flow, and mobility. This helps to reduce stress and relieve pressure in mind as well as body.
If you are ready to experience wellbeing, click my booking link here, and get your relief in the books!
Blessings and health!
Alyssa McClure,
Healing Haven Therapy: Gentle Touch Massage