When coming to get massage this is what I want to hear from you:
I am not sick nor have I been around anyone who is sick or have roommates who would bring it home. If they are sick and I'm not sick. I will inform my therapist. Whether I wear a mask or not and I am not feeling well or feel under the weather, I will reschedule my massage. I will take my own temperatures and not expect the faculty to check me for me. I will take responsibility for my health status before I get a massage.

Whether your test is positive or negative. Whether its a cold or covid. A run down immune system that isn't feeling well is still something your therapist can get. So please reschedule if you don't feel good whether your test is negative or not.

This may help you, it may not: I am taking immune support such as vitamin c, chlorella, cbd, rescue remedy, fungi tinctures, colloidal silver, and allicin as needed.  I want to be at optimum health so I can be there for as many people as I can. I am doing meditation and healing currents for myself 1-3x a day to keep clear, balanced, and to keep my immune system fully functioning. I would say I am spiritually healthy. I drink very clean water and am working to get my body more alkaline. If you want to know why being alkaline is helpful for optimum health or why I would use this or that or more about my spiritual practices or practices that can help you please ask.  I

I will never check or ask you your vaccine status or will share my views on it, politics around it, or ask for you to share yours. You do you. I wont come to work when sick or under the weather and you won't come see me if you are sick or about to be. Wear a mask, don't wear a mask. You're an Amercian. Live within your rights. You get me sick or I get you sick we can fire each other. I won't put up with that kind of behavior from any client or friend who puts my life in jeopardy. I won't put yours in jeopardy, don't come get a massage when you are ill, sick, or your immune system is breaking down. How ever you want to see it and I will reschedule when I feel crummy or run down.

I am open to having a conversation about how our immune systems are functioning and how to help your immune system function better. I am not here to talk about what you put in your body that you think will help mine. We are not each other doctors so lets keep a medical conversation within the confines of body injuries, scars, sprains, and knots; along with the mental and emotional tension around it.

​Here are my sanitary practices:

What I am practicing in between sessions:

• All surfaces and products used will be sanitized before and after use including metal surfaces like door knobs, bathroom fixtures, coat hanging fixtures, railings, even my keys will be sterilized. 
• I will have an air filter in sessions in the room, along with the salt lamps,I usually have in the room
• Sanitizing sprays or hand gel with be available
• My hand hygiene if I sneeze during a session, I will either leave the room and wash my hands or use the sanitizer in the office
• I wash my hands and forearms with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after sessions
• I wipe down all surfaces, door knobs, chairs, tables with disinfectant
• There are paper towels in all bathrooms instead of towels
• I am creating more space between appointments for sanitizing and circulation
• You always get a new set of sheets and face rest with all your sessions every time.
• oil pump so every pump is fresh with each application of moisture
• I will wear a face mask by request

Healing music to pass the time:

Here is a Youtube playlist for healing tones to help you relax and boost your
immune system until we connect again
If you like these tones check out Listening to Smiles and get 40% off using Stefanie Veon code. 
Hopefully well be coming out with some medicine and self care ceremonies over the next year.
Click here for more information

 




Deep tissue is to every therapist a different technique. Let's talk about what you might think of as deep tissue and maybe bust some myths and teach you about some new techniques to look for or ask your local therapists about. Deep tissue is often viewed as deep pressure during any massage. Almost any massage you want at a typical spot will ask what pressure you want. You can get a deep tissue or a swedish. What a therapist wants to know is why you want deep pressure and what you are your concerns. As a swedish or other gentle long relaxing strokes might just assume that you want to relax. Who ever said that deep tissue couldn’t be relaxing? Many people who have received the typical response “you have to feel the pain to get the pain out.” Some of us like that but for others who don’t it's really put a burden on the extent of restoring the body that a licensed therapist can really do. A new term that you may hear or see as an option is therapeutic massage. Some therapist see that as an opportunity to combine their techniques to help you get the best out of your treatment but also respect your pressure needs but again not all therapist will respect your pressure needs. Please always speak up and ask for a different technique. If your therapist doesn’t have that ability know how to respect your boundaries because light pressure techniques are not in their tool box.  There are other therapist out there that can meet your needs, you have to look, ask, and make sure to reach out to them to schedule or at least try to let them know to reach out to you if you forget to.

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Let’s talk about why we would get a therapeutic massage and what kinds of bodywork can assist and what their level of pressure and results are like. When we get a therapeutic massage we can ask does it have to be deep to get these knots out? Is there another way you can do this? What is hurt so good?  What is a knot anyway? Its an inflamed part of your body where the trigger point in the muscle at some point was screaming at you to pay attention to it and you probably ignored it. It started to build up scar tissue around the trigger point to ensure that you could continue doing whatever you were doing. This scar tissue blocks lymph and blood flow and shortens other muscles around it which can cause another painful area to scream at you to pay attention and the cycle continues. When we feel those tender painful areas while getting a massage those are the knots you long forgot about that might actually be the root of the pain you came in for that you are feeling in another part of your body. 

See pictures below to see how knots form and what trigger points can look like
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It's a whole chain of connections disrupted and a limited range of motion calling out to be seen, felt, and heard. Let's talk about gentle ways to use bodywork techniques to unwind this painful tissue before even having to do deep work. We will also talk about other complementary therapies that can be done to help you get into a healthier place after you get these painful areas worked out and why you may not want to do these therapies without getting these areas worked out. Let's talk more about painful tissue first. Often times trigger points and scar tissue might need to be released but so does the congestion in the tissue. Often times a painful touch can be the lymphatic system begging to be moved first before you go into the deep painful tissue. An educated therapist could do that for you. Also many establishments would probably recommend receiving a lymphatic drainage treatment or lymphatic massage if they even offer it before you got a massage. That's how these businesses work, everything is a specific kind of treatment. Some of us out there actually combine all the therapies. Be sure to educate yourself and ask your therapists if they would even consider doing a massage like this.  Sometimes the front desks of these centers are rooting for their favorite person whether or not that person knows anything about these other modalities. I would be sure to ask for the therapist email or personally talk to the therapist before you take the front desk word, not always but has often been the case with me.

A gentle modality is ortho-bionmy I integrate in my practice. It is very similar to myofascial release and I often integrate the two modalities.  It's a gentle non invasive therapy that allows your body to realize what it's doing and your body will unwind itself. It's something I have been studying for the past 3 years whenever I can afford to take a class. I will at some point have an associate in ortho-bionomy and hopefully will become a teacher. Right now all I can do is integrate into your bodywork when you come to see me for therapeutic bodywork.  There is also SMR, NRT, cranial sacral, myofascial release, body repositional release which is similar but has its differences. When I am doing ortho-bionomy. I find after I do a technique that I can follow the fascia lines and release without any problem to the receiver; especially if they are hypersensitive to touch whether its pain, fibromyalgia, or some other disorder that causes you feel pain when touched. Even just thin skin and the effects of aging and not moving around too often. If you are a nurse, cna, doctor, or anyone really. You can take a class and apply it in your practice to help your patients feel at ease. My favorite side effect of receiving ortho-bionomy is that you end up swimming in waves of deep relaxation. There is nothing like it. I am trained in cranial,  visceral, spine, and extremities and more in orthobionomy. The principles are simple, less is more. Lymph massage and ortho-bionomy and similar techniques might be the way to go. There are people out there. They may be far and few in between but they do exist. Don’t give up on your search to find relief in a kind way. Especially if you are looking in Pittsburgh for yourself or for a family member. The only time an orthobionomist can’t work is on broken bones. Its the kind adjustment you never knew you could have. It's a slow process like myofascia release but very healing and worth its weight in gold. If you are willing to try it out, Id recommend 2-4 sessions to explore unwinding some old chronic pain, scar tissue and pain associated with surgery, joint restrictions, repetitive strain injuries, trauma, emotional imbalances, stress, sleep distruption, and the list goes on. Even if you don’t have any of these issues. It’s main focus is to increase the body’s ability to communicate within each of its systems. It innately provides more resilience, a stronger immune system, and a greater capacity to heal from injuries.
Some of these techniques include:
Positional release
Range-of-motion exploration
Isometric and isotonic techniques
Gentle rocking
Static holding
Subtle or minute movements
Postural re-education and self-care exercises
Work in the energy field of the body
Cranial and visceral balancing
Neurolymphatic balancing
Neuroendocrine balancing
Resetting the nervous system
Releasing trauma from the body
 
Let's talk about Deep Tissue. You can scan your mouse over each modality to find a link that can tell you more in detail. Especially the ones I don’t offer. There is Rolfing, Thai , Neuromuscular, Triggerpoint, Ashiatsu and Sports. There are probably so many more. All of these can also be combined with the more general techniques but these therapist are unlikely to know of ortho-bionomy but it's always worth a shot to ask. I practice Neuromuscular and trigger point and occasionally sports. Some may say that people can’t tell the difference between a deep tissue and a sports massage. Some might say that Thai is a form of Sports massage. Neuromuscular works with starting on the most superficial tissue and working the way down through the layers relieving each layer first and when we come across a trigger point releasing it as we move deeper into the layers. I find that ortho-bionomy is very complimentary here. Neuromuscular lets me get deep and find these layers but whenever I find a tender area or a point not responding I can bring in the principles and techniques of orthio-bionomy into play. I feel the body unwind after that. Sports massage is similar to Thai in that it stretches you but using a fast moving technique called strumming that is very relaxing but very hard on the therapists body to do all the time. It's very effective and often used in pre and post massages for athletes that last about 15 min each on specific muscle groups that will be used during the sport. You can see how all these modalities and names vary differently. You may be receiving all kinds of techniques and not even realize there is a name for each one.  I hope that helped clarify a bit more about the different kinds of modalities and the effectiveness of the treatments.

When ever you go back to the PT and Chiropractic care and you wonder why it may not be working. Think about combining massage therapy into your preventive and restoration self care protocol. Get those knots out with a massage therapist, then get your spine adjusted with the chiropractor, and your muscles stronger with the care the PT gives you. You will end up getting some kind of bodywork anyway you might as well start a regular practice to stay clear of the issues that will come with life's obstacles, future surgeries, posture imbalances, restrictions, and stresses. You don’t have to suffer while you get stronger, if you are hurting it might be a knot that is making it harder for you to stay in alignment. If you want to learn more about what I do check this link out. Also love teaching friends and couples how to help each other. If you suffer with chronic pain and have a willing friend to help you out. I’d be happy to show you two how to help one another. Learn about that here. Any questions email or text me anytime! I look forward to helping you find balance within wherever & whenever that may be.

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Visceral Listening and Complimentary Therapies
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In today’s world we often discover ourselves being pulled and yanked and our attention is being activated in multiple directions. When do we have the time to be heard and felt? Do we remember the last time we really sat down and listened to our cells? What would it be like to listen to our the message of our organs? What would it be like to know where we carry our stress? Would it change how we continue to hold ourselves? Would we start a preventive wellness practice? How would it look? Would you create a regular bi weekly schedule? What would that feel like? How would it change our life?

Manual therapy is a beautiful way to learn about ourselves, let go of the stress and feel  invincible again. Some people like it deep and some enjoy a deep subtle light therapy. Although I specialize in both therapies in multiple ways. I have been studying the deep yet subtle light therapy lately. I would love to work with people who not only carry stress but people who have PTSD, emotional and physical traumas, adrenal fatigue, ADHD/ADD, Fibromyalgia and learning disorders and all ages with chronic pain who are ready to have a long lasting sigh of relief through manual therapy. I received the extra training to offer you various styles of assistance. I’m now trained in geriatrics and have some training in Orthobionomy. Ortho-bionomy is a gentle, non-invasive, osteopathically-based form of body therapy which is highly effective in working with chronic stress, injuries and pains or problems associated with postural and structural imbalances. 

I have been trained and practicing Cranial Sacral for quite some time. I have yet to really get into the juicy fun facts about it. Cranial Sacral and Orthobionomy and Visceral therapy all work very much on a similar wave of thinking. This thinking is that your body can heal itself by being whatever is out of balance simply to be witnessed. There are also many mental therapies that observe this kind of therapy. Orthobionomy and Cranial Sacral core practice is in listening and being heard. The art of listening to our nervous system is an art whether from your point of you view or your practitioner's point of view.

Orthobionomy (view of Visceral therapy or organ manual therapy or massage) Is all about tuning into your organs for flushing, release, and balance. It is so gentle that you will either get an awesome relief or nothing will happen. There are no side affects except relaxation, relief, and release. It is so gentle that broken bones can even be worked on (or as an orthobionomist might say listened to and noticed). The first time I had someone work on my kidneys was the best day of my life. It felt like all this fear I’ve been holding in had a place to be let go. I felt like I was finally being held the right way. Another example is when a friend has a hard time getting drunk. She had her liver flushed through Visceral Orthobionomy and she got drunk on one glass of wine. Another helpful subtle way this can help is with indigestion and chronic acid reflux. Those problems often cause us to pull our diaphragm in. Our diaphragm is this giant muscle that holds our lungs and is wrapped around the body and overlaps with the stomach and liver. If you’re having mid torso tension it might be wise to have a visceral therapist release your diaphragm.

Some people go to orthobionomist for visceral therapy to get fertile. Sometimes we can’t hold the babies in because our pelvis is tilted or our uterus isn’t positioned or is holding extreme tension which can sometimes cause a miscarriage. Orthobionomy goes great as pre therapy to getting eggs planted inside you because it removes all restrictions in your pelvis and around it before you get implanted with your eggs. One more thing that I loved about this class was learning about how to release old pain in our colon. I was astonished and grateful that part of the process was in my upper thighs where the lines could of been structural but in my case the achy feeling in my thighs is connected to my colon. It was a relaxing light yet deep release of old energy trapped in my legs and in my colon. Can you imagine having a visceral session with me to let go of that excess tension that has yet to be digested completely? Can you imagine releasing that old fear trapped in the kidneys and adrenals; longing to be gone by being held?
​ If so, let me know!!!


Cranial Sacral works wonderfully with organ massage and/or Visceral Orthobionomy. I am trained and enjoy giving in Che Nei Sung which is the Chinese version of organ massage. It’s more of a deeper manual movement of the fascia and lymphatic tissue rather than nervous system and subtle fascia movement. When I mean fascia I am talking about tissue and muscle tissue of sorts. Cranial sacral rebalances the nervous system and helps stimulate cranial and spinal fluids. It helps people with chronic anxiety, brain traumas, autism, adhd/add, ptsd, all kinds of traumas, headaches, neck pain, etc.  A full Cranial Sacral and visceral therapy session is about 90 minutes. For working with a chronic issue takes around 5-10 sessions depending on how the person responds and integrates it into one's lifestyle.  We can mix deep myofascial release therapy with cranial if you would like. It gets us deep into our cells and allows great release but it doesn’t mean we can’t also release that stuck fascia of tension and stress that we didn’t already let go through the Ortho-bionomy and Cranial Sacral.

   Special Offers
 
​​Today I am offering a package of 3 
 1 hour cranial sessions for
$175 but receive $10 off when using check or cash.
You are saving $50-60
Cranial Sacral sessions are usually $75


​Ortho - bionomy usually sessions will be $75 - 90 for a session but I have much  practice to get in. 
I am offering practice sessions
for spinal, visceral and extremities for 
$30 a session
which can range from 45 min-90 min


How does a practice session differ from a regular session?
It might involve me having my book out to see what I am doing is aligned with what I am feeling. There will be more activity from you and active feedback so I can feel and know what I am doing is effective for the Ortho-bionomy techniques. Of course a medical history involving what we are working on. I might stop and write something deep down we just discovered. Timing can change. It won’t be my typical work. Of course you can ask to mix in a typical session with a regular session. The charges will be different but it is possible. Practice sessions will be outside of normal office hours. 
Also both sessions are done with clothes on

​What is your job?
Being open to a different kind of touch and change in your body. Having willingness to share what your feeling with the different techniques. Being comfortable with me stopping and writing something down or looking up something to then try and apply.
Scheduling a time that works for both of us. Being honest to what you are noticing. Sharing what has changed for you is important part for me feeling comfortable in offering this technique to others. A big part in practice sessions is not falling asleep; because your feedback is so important! Come open with little expectation and flexibility.
 Be sure to book ahead of time or let me know days/times that we can be flexible together.
I am so grateful to work with you
  Kindly,

        Abby Samuels