My career, however, took a turn at the end of 2025. In October I rescued a starving adolescent puppy off the side of the road in the boonies. In November he got spooked and yanked me down where I broke and dislocated my shoulder. I then dislocated it a second time before I could get surgical repair.
On New Year's Eve, I finally had major shoulder surgery. It was an extensive open repair that involved reattaching the torn labrum, fixing the broken piece of my shoulder socket, and anchoring everything down with four suture anchors drilled into the bone.
For several months, I couldn't work, couldn't move the way I was used to, and lost my daily connection to the craft I've practiced for over a decade. I'll be straightforward: those months were hard, and I went through a genuine low point before things started to shift.
What shifted was the question I started asking: How can I get back into the treatment room to do the work I love? And, if I can't rely on my arms the way I used to right now, how else can I do this work? That led me to explore ashiatsu barefoot massage.
I discovered I could deliver deep therapeutic pressure through an entirely different part of my body, and the result is work that I'm finding hands just can't replicate. I'm now actively training across multiple ashiatsu certification programs with over 100 hours of direct instruction planned for 2026, learning to use my full body as the therapeutic instrument.
I have also moved my entire practice to the floor in order to meet my own body where it currently is, and what I've found is that working from the ground changes how my body and brain engage with the work. Novel movement patterns, unfamiliar positions, and a completely different relationship to gravity keep my nervous system actively problem solving during my rehabilitation so I can heal fully and become a more adaptive therapist. Classic hands-on massage is still part of what I offer, and my full range of therapeutic work will return as my shoulder continues to heal.
This is a year of real transformation for my practice, and I'm excited about it! My work as a therapist now involves ashiatsu but has a firm foundation in therapeutics with training in classic Western/Swedish massage, myofascial release therapy, trigger point work, deep tissue techniques, and dermoneuromodulating, alongside intuition coupled with client feedback.
My education and experience have inspired me to frame a fantastic massage with a collaborative and nuanced neurological approach to ensure that my clients receive deep relief without the unintended consequences of an uninspired massage. As a professional Licensed Massage Therapist, I hold myself to the highest ethical standards with a wellness practice that defines boundaries clearly and emphasizes a service guided by open client-therapist communication. Everything I do is in service of ensuring that you receive safe, comfortable, compassionate, effective, and deeply personalized care so that you can walk away feeling better in your body and mind.
