About Vital Spark
My office is located in the bustling NW 23rd neighborhood, surrounded by some of Portland’s best shopping and restaurants. Parking in the area can be challenging, especially on weekends, but I am right on the 15 bus line. Please note that the space is on the second floor, and there is no elevator. I apologize if this limits accessibility.
Bodies of all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, abilities, and genders are welcome in my healing space. I do require parental signature for clients under 18, and parental supervision for clients under 14.
I burn candles and sage in my office from time to time. Please let me know ahead of your appointment if you have allergies or aromatic sensitivities.
As a Massage Therapist
I have been a licensed massage therapist since 2010, and have explored many different forms of bodywork. I spent the first half of my career primarily interested in sports massage, and worked with athletes ranging from student to professional levels. In 2016, I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training, which both deepened my understanding of muscle function, and allowed me to start seeing the body more holistically & approaching care more intuitively. My forever journey to understanding the link between emotional and physical pain began, and I started approaching muscle tension more slowly and communicating more thoroughly with my clients. Our muscles become tense for a reason, and often, they are just trying to protect us. My philosophy is that healing can only begin when our bodies feel safe and can trust the practitioner. I aim to work with the body, not against it, and listen carefully to its cues.
In addition to using massage therapy to unwind muscle tension and guide clients into the parasympathetic state, I encourage my clients to be curious about why that tension is showing up in the first place. Body carriage, past trauma, repetitive motions, and stress can build off of one another to create tension patterns and pain cycles. The path to reversing these patterns will have many components, and intuitive massage therapy can offer wonderful support.
I do my best to provide trauma-informed care and work only within my clients’ comfort level. We will talk before your session and work together to make a unique plan for each session. I do love performing deep tissue massage when appropriate, but my treatments are a fusion of modalities to avoid causing harm, and I no longer do exclusively deep-tissue sessions. Starting with warm oil application and relaxation techniques to prepare your body for deeper work, and then following up with some craniosacral or MLD, will help support your body’s protective and healing mechanisms so you get the most out of each session.
I like to communicate thoroughly before and after your massage, but for the most part stay quiet during the treatment itself. I will check in here and there, but I encourage you to speak up if anything is ever uncomfortable or if you have any questions or concerns.
As a Body Sculpting & CryoSkin Provider
In 2023, I took the plunge in expanding my massage therapy practice into body sculpting & aesthetics. As someone who has had my own battles with disordered eating, body dysmorphia and the increasingly unattainable beauty standards placed on us by society & social media… this decision was challenging & conflicting. I consider myself to be body positive, and embracing our perceived flaws can be an important part of emotional growth. However, sometimes nagging insecurities can hold us back from feeling our best, and in those cases, aesthetic treatments can make a huge difference in our quality of life.
I’m someone who exercises a lot, and really prides myself in my physique. As I’m getting further into my 30’s, I discovered CryoSkin when seeking out treatment options for cellulite and loose skin… something I know is completely natural, but was hurting my confidence. As I learned more about the technology, I became curious about becoming a provider, and did a deep dive into the world of body sculpting and all of the different treatments and devices out there. There are two key things I learned that pushed me into becoming a body sculpting practitioner:
- While liposuction is the standard choice for spot-treating fat, all invasive surgeries have risk of medical complications, are hard on the body, require extensive downtime, and are financially out of reach for the majority of the population. Discovering safe, non-invasive options (that work!) was exciting— Exciting enough for me to want to be a part of this solution for those who have body insecurities, but are intimidated by the prospect of surgery.
- “Body Sculpting” is a new industry that is currently almost completely unregulated in most states. These machines are powerful, and it’s concerning that they do not require very much healthcare education for technicians to use. With my extensive history in bodywork and client-centered care, I was inspired to become someone who could provide this work in a safe and meaningful way.
I researched a LOT of different devices before ultimately coming back to CryoSkin. If you are looking into treatment options, you know that there are lasers, infrared and RF machines, injectables, other cryotherapy devices… I spent months grilling sales reps, learning about what different machines do & their potential health risks, and trying to distinguish what is a sham and what really works. CryoSkin boasted incredible before & after photos, and I found the physiology behind how it works both fascinating and easy to understand. I liked how it has both fat-freezing and skin tightening capabilities, as many clients are left with loose skin after weight loss. CryoSkin also offered the most comprehensive training program for practitioners that I was able to find among body sculpting devices.
Since starting with CryoSkin, I’ve seen incredible results with my clients, and have also learned a lot about how to determine if it is the right fit for individual bodies. I do my best to be honest and thorough during consultations in assessing your “problem area” tissue, and giving realistic expectations about the treatment. We will talk extensively about the lifestyle component, and clients should know that showing up for appointments is only 50% of the process. In some cases, liposuction or another treatment may be a better fit, and we will go over these options and how I can support whatever you decide.
In the future, I plan on adding a cavitation machine to my practice to use in tandem with CryoSkin. I am excited to continue to learn & grow in this exciting new field that is empowering us to feel great in our skin!
As a Manual Lymphatic Drainage Therapist
I primarily became interested in the lymphatic system as I knew it played a crucial role in the fat-freezing process, and I wanted to provide the best treatments possible to my body sculpting clients. Before this shift, despite being in healthcare for almost 14 years, I barely knew anything about lymph. As it turns out, neither do most medical professionals here in America! It’s strange (and a little disappointing!) how little attention the lymphatic system gets in western medicine, as it plays such an important role in our health.
Learning about the importance of healthy lymphatic function truly changed my approach to bodywork. While most of our healthcare practitioners treat symptoms and individual body functions, it’s important to understand that all of our body systems work together. Lymph flows through all of them and plays a huge part in responding to any sort of infection or injury. As an MLD provider, it’s exciting to assist with the recovery of surgeries & sports injuries, but what’s really empowering is using MLD as preventative care, to keep my clients’ lymphatic systems healthy and ready for anything.
The gentle, rhythmic technique of MLD is such a wonderful contrast to deep tissue and sports massage (and can be a great follow-up treatment). I have intuitively felt for a long time that many of my clients think they need an elbow in their rhomboid, but what they could really benefit from is some nurturing & caring touch. The soothing psychological impact of MLD treatments is just as beneficial as the physiological. If you’ve been receiving deep tissue massage therapy for a period of time and are not experiencing long-term relief, I encourage you to try something different, and MLD may surprise you.
As for oncology and lymphedema patients, it has been shocking to me how few of my clients who have had lymph nodes damaged or removed were properly informed by their doctors about the importance of MLD. As a newer MLD provider, I am best equipped to provide care as a preventative measure, and to stage 1 lymphedema patients. I do encourage you to seek the care of a certified lymphedema therapist if you are experiencing severe symptoms.
I am trained in the Vodder method, but am currently seeking reputable training in the Brazilian method to expand my knowledge and versatility in working with lymphatics.
Certifications
- East-West College of the Healing Arts: 800hr Massage Therapy Program
- Marina Yoga: 200hr YTT
- TRE Module 1 (I am not a certified TRE provider, but the knowledge Module 1 provided about trauma, emotional response, and bodywork has helped shaped my practice)
- Ethics, Communication & Boundaries Through The Lense of the Nervous System with Jessica Larson
- Moving Mountains Institute: Craniosacral Therapy Program levels 1 and 2 under Michael McMahon
- Artemis CryoSkin Provider Certification
- Klose Vodder Method MLD Certfication under Nicola McGill
- Wat Po Traditional Thai Massage Certification
