Bodywork

I have enjoyed doing business as Compassionate Touch since 1994. In my private practice in San Luis Obispo, CA I take a wholistic approach. Each session is unique and tailored to the person’s current situation. My main modality is Myofascial Release, with a secondary approach that combines Craniosacral Therapy, Lymphatic Drainage, and Massage. I consider the therapy session to be a dance where both the client and I are partners who contribute to the entire experience. No force is used in treatments which allows the client’s body to trust, relax, and open to new possibilities. We respect the body’s innate wisdom, first and foremost.

Newtonian Physics has had us chopping the body into smaller and smaller parts, but in my office, I see each client as a whole, comprised of various systems. Together we explore how every “part” influences the whole person.

  • The fascial system is a connective tissue matrix that intertwines and surrounds every single thing in our bodies. It is made of tough collagen protein fibers which provide strength and form, the protein elastin for elasticity, and a gelatin-like ground substance. This matrix literally holds each and every cell. The fascial system is a relatively new area of study, maybe starting in the 1960’s with pioneers such as Ida Rolfe, and my mentor, John F. Barnes, PT. This interstitial space is where metabolic activity occurs, such as flooding the cells with nutrient and oxygen rich blood, and where metabolic waste material is removed through the lymphatic system. The art and science of working with that connective tissue system is the beauty of MFR. Is it deep? Yes. Is it gentle? Yes. A practitioner learns to listen to each body and each situation to answer the call of current needs.

  • The craniosacral system encompasses the brain and the spinal cord inside a closed system of connective tissue called the Dural Tube. Inside the Dural tube is a fluid, much like blood but unique to this system, called Cerebral Spinal Fluid. This fluid is created in the brain and nourishes the central nervous system. Craniosacral Therapy was created in the Osteopathic community of doctors and brought out to a greater audience by Dr. John Upledger. CST focuses on the above described system, balancing the cranial bones, the sacrum, and the Dural tube which connects the two. The client experiences a gentle yet sometimes profound shifting as fascial restrictions are released and stuck energy is freed.

  • The lymphatic system is comprised of consecutively smaller to larger ducts, lymph nodes, and tiny pumping organs, photographed by Dr. Bruno Chikly, called lymphangions. This system is responsible for removing metabolic waste material such as foreign substances, dead cells, waste material from respiration, inflammation, etc. Without the ability to remove waste material from the tissue, the body will swell and in extreme cases, expire. “Taking out the garbage” is crucial. LDT works with the liquid of the body and is much like cleaning out the creek and river systems of the earth. Mostly the therapy is superficial but can also go a little deeper as the vessels are not just surface.

  • Most everyone in the twenty-first century knows what massage therapy is but briefly, it is the manipulation of body tissues with the focus of increasing circulation and bringing peace and calm to what is normally a hectic and busy life. The Sympathetic Nervous System, which we are in when we need to have high performance, can get stuck “on” and this is a problem. The reason is because the Parasympathetic Nervous System is where the body digests food and repairs tissues, and the two systems do not operate at the same time. When we need to run from perceived life-threatening situations, we don’t want to be digesting food! Massage Therapy creates a safe container for the body to relinquish the nervous system into a peaceful and health-promoting mode.