About

It started with sports…

I became a competitive athlete at a very young age. I’d grown accustomed to sore muscles, even minor strains, and thought that a little bit of pain was just evidence that I’d simply done a good job on the field or on the court. Then I suffered two major ACL tears, one within a year of the other, which led me to be in rehabilitation for almost two full years.

As an active girl who’d always used her body to challenge and express herself, this was devastating…until I discovered how to help my body to heal in a more holistic way.  I was prescribed physical therapy, alternative therapies, and different modalities of bodywork to complement my treatment and, as a result, I healed and returned to full physical capacity.  While these methods helped me to fully recover and get the most out of rehabilitation, the greatest discovery was that I suddenly had a sustainable self-care program that allowed me to prevent injuries and maintain full-body wellness. To this day it allows me to continue skiing, snowboarding, participating in crossfit, hiking, and indulging in my latest obsession: surfing.

Healing has been a lifelong interest for me.  My early studies were in Psychology. It wasn’t until much later that I decided to pursue massage therapy. While on a backpacking trip through Southeast Asia and South America, I received a reflexology massage in Bali that further awakened in me a new awareness and interest in bodywork. I came back home to New York and decided to enroll at the Swedish Institute in order to study and obtain my license.

I love massage because it is something that can help foster healing as well as helping to prevent injury. It challenges me on a daily basis and because of the nature of our bodies, is never the same. We are always evolving and individualized treatment plans have to as well.

For me, bodywork doesn’t simply treat the physical body of a client, but their spiritual and emotional needs, too.  I look at each treatment plan and strive to implement the best approach for that person based on a composite of what’s affecting them at that particular time, from an aggravated chronic injury to an argument in their workplace.  My approach can change session by session, just as the body may be feeling different on any given day.

I believe in the power of massage because I know first-hand how beneficial and amazing a regular bodywork regimen can be.  I feel like a different person when I am embracing all means to be in control of my health.  For me this means proper nutrition, a variety of exercise, and tuning in to how my body feels, what it’s telling me it requires.  Acknowledging how we feel and seeking out what can better serve us allows our bodies to recover.

If you’ve never had a massage or are curious about the benefits, please don’t hesitate to reach out and email me with any questions.  I’m happy to share with you any insights that I can.

Treatments

Swedish Deep Relaxation Massage

Swedish Massage helps to relax, rejuvenate and relieve stress. Some of the many benefits of Swedish massage include: positively altering your mood, increased circulation, reduced pain and joint stiffness, improved sleep patterns and digestion, improved immunity.

 Deep Tissue Massage

Deep Tissue massage is used to treat chronic muscle pain. In cases of chronic muscle tension or injury, it is common to develop adhesions in muscles, tendons, or ligaments. These adhesions can obstruct circulation, causing pain, inflammation, and limited movement. Two of the techniques used to address these adhesions are Trigger Point Therapy and Myofascial Release. A trigger point is a hyper irritable spot usually located within a taut band of skeletal muscle. Trigger point therapy is a treatment that resolves trigger points and deactivates them by stretching muscle and elongating the effected structures along their natural pathways. Myofascial Release is a soft tissue therapy administered to relieve pain, balance the body and improve range of motion. Techniques include manual massaging for stretching the fascia and releasing bonds between fascia, bones and muscles. The fascia is manipulated to allow connective tissue fibers to reorganize in a more flexible, functional manner.

Sports Massage

Common sports injuries helped by massage: strains, sprains, shin splints, plantar fascitis, calf/ achilles strain, elbow issues (medial and lateral epicondylitis), shoulder issues (bursitis, delt/ rotator cuff/ biceps strain and tendinitis), low back strain. Upper Cross Syndrome. Lower Cross Syndrome. Some techniques that I will be using include: muscle stripping, sustained compression, cross fiber friction, transverse friction, stretching, tense and release technique.

Education & Affiliations

Boston University, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Swedish Institute, Associates Degree in Occupational Studies

Licensed Massage Therapist, The State of New York

Member of American Massage Therapy Association

Additional Resources

Some amazing benefits of massage:

· increases circulation, lowers heart rate and blood pressure
· induces relaxation in muscles and relieves tension
· encourages deep breathing and enhances sleep quality
· improves flexibility and range of motion
· improves posture
· moisturizes skin
· decreases anxiety and depression
· sedates or stimulates nervous system depending on technique
· increases alertness and mental activity
· enhances immunity by increasing lymph flow
· relieves headaches

What is a trigger point?
A trigger Point is a hyper irritable spot usually located within a taut band of skeletal muscle. The point is painful on compression and can evoke characteristic referred pain and autonomic phenomena. Trigger points can be found in muscle tissue and/ or its associated fascia, or in skin, ligaments, joint capsules or periosteum.

Trigger points are thought to develop due to increased activity in the post-synaptic membrane at a muscle’s neuromuscular junction. This causes a sustained contracture of the sarcomeres in the vicinity. These contracted sarcomeres form what is called a contraction nodule or contraction knot. These contraction nodules further cause the sarcomeres on either side to be stretched tight, causing a taut band of muscle stretching the length of the muscle fiber.

Trigger Points can be caused directly by:

Excessive motional repetition
Sustained contraction of a muscle
Chilling
Direct trauma

Trigger Points can be caused indirectly by:

Other trigger points
Visceral disease
Arthitic joints
Emotional distress

Here are some of the many benefits of myofascial release:

· Creates elongation of the connective tissue.
· Releases fascial restrictions and adhesions.
· Increases ROM if fascial restrictions and adhesions were limiting movement.
· Aids in relieveing postural distorations (by lengthening adaptively shortened tissues and disinhibiting eccentrically lengthened tissues).
· Increases circulation in chronically congested or ischemic muscle tissue.
· Helps relieve trigger points.
· Helps to relieve muscle spasm.
· Increases Golgi Tendon Organ firing which can reflexively calm the muscles,
· Relieves pain cause by:
· Fascial restrictions on cutaneous neurons where they pierce the fascia.
· Tension on nerve roots as the exit the vertebral column.
· Entrapment on terminal nerves as the travel through muscles.

Common injuries helped by massage: strains, sprains, shin splints, plantar fascitis, calf/ achilles strain, elbow issues (medial and lateral epicondylitis), shoulder issues (bursitis, delt/ rotator cuff/ biceps strain and tendinitis), low back strain.

Some techniques that I will be using include: muscle stripping, sustained compression, cross fiber friction, transverse friction, stretching, tense and release technique.

Bodyworkers I recommend:

Lauren Haythe (KMI Practitioner): laurenhaythe.com

Po-Hong Yu (Acupuncture): taoofpo.com

CrossFit South Brooklyn

Ask about special CrossFit rates.

http://www.crossfitsouthbrooklyn.com/massage-with-inka/

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