Held Massage Therapy

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Held Massage Therapy Soulful massage that heals. Nurturing experiences for those who are grieving, burned out, or hurting.

These little toes belong to the daughter of a legit Viking descendant (!) who birthed her baby at 4am in 4 pushes. Anoth...
01/28/2024

These little toes belong to the daughter of a legit Viking descendant (!) who birthed her baby at 4am in 4 pushes. Another babes is coming tomorrow… send coffee and sweet birth vibes please! 💕💖

There’s only one way to stay a doula for any length of time, and that’s caffeine. Oh wait no 🫢 I meant a circle of other...
12/23/2023

There’s only one way to stay a doula for any length of time, and that’s caffeine. Oh wait no 🫢 I meant a circle of other trusted doula women you can call at 3am, and whom you’d hire for your own birth. Women who show up, hold you calmly, and never visibly flinch. 💜

Jade says: New Jersey has some amazing Perinatal professionals.

But this group right here have been each others Doula life line. We back each-other up when births collide or, someone gets sick. We work together to navigate the predictably unpredictable landscape that is Birth work.

We celebrate our clients births and, grieve together when the journey is less than ideal. Every single Doula in this photo is wildly passionate about the work we do. To spend an afternoon breaking bread, laughing and sitting in the company of others who just get the life we live was so great for my soul.

We missed Labour Day Doula Lynn Christensen and Mamma Mia Doula Anne M Schuchman but, babies gotta be born! Jill Gerken Wodnick and Held Massage Therapy Jess Larsen, MommaArts Kim Collins DoulaMomma, Montclair B.A.B.Y. Kelli DeFlora, Britt Sando Hummingbird Doulas and Renee Miller Hennings Daylily Doula Service

Humble supports; surprising results. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​After a birth OR a massage, it’s funny what you remember. Because...
12/23/2023

Humble supports; surprising results. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​After a birth OR a massage, it’s funny what you remember.

Because the complexity and nuance of interaction are endlessly variable, a tiny thing someone says or does can make all the difference in the world. Doulas know it.

We trade in meaningful gestures that we hope you’ll remember. We are f’ing *great* at sensing the moment a humble ice pack will make all the difference. We know that a hug or hand squeeze can have ripple effects that change clinical outcomes, improve lifelong memories, and strengthen close relationships.

I think that's why doulas make amazing massage therapists: we are trained to sense the energy within someone's body language, and know how to interject calm confidence and love. We're comfortable with tears and silence.

And most importantly, we believe in you and your capacity to survive and thrive amid hard changes and real life.
If you remember anything from a session with me, I hope it’s that.

The founder of the modern hospice movement coined a phrase called “total pain” that’s helpful in understanding why some ...
12/20/2023

The founder of the modern hospice movement coined a phrase called “total pain” that’s helpful in understanding why some moments in life truly, utterly suck. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We know that pain isn’t just a physical experience, so “total pain” refers to the ways that physical, psychological, social, and spiritual components of a moment INTERACT and IMPACT one another. 😵‍💫

Mental pain makes physical pain worse.
Living with chronic pain will drive you up a freaking wall.
Spiritual pain morphs into social consequences and isolation.

Our minds flail to make meaning of all that we’re going through, and then we freaking JUDGE ourselves harshly for it. 🤮

It’s a hot mess. Sometimes we can’t catch a break.
Being human, sometimes, is a hot mess. 💩

We really get that.
And guess what?

The way we offer massage and hold space - it helps with allllllll of those components.

We do that on purpose. Because *total pain reduction* is our goal.

Not just your aching shoulders.
But also your aching shoulders.
We’re good for that too. 💜

Oh, she SURE did! 😂😂😂 How about you?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We are all doing the very best we can and most of us are pretty da...
12/18/2023

Oh, she SURE did! 😂😂😂 How about you?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We are all doing the very best we can and most of us are pretty damn threadbare.

If you can swing a monthly massage - with me or ANYONE who will take their time and respectfully listen! - your body and brain will thank you.

If you can come quarterly, also great!

Bottom line: when you create regular space for parasympathetic rest and restoration, the more easily and deeply your body and brain will reset. You'll build a more peaceful baseline. You'll sleep better and feel (hopefully!) a little less anxious or depressed. You deserve that, love.

❗️Here's a PSA: No more bu****itty back rubs, please. Simple shifts *totally* change the quality of comforting touch. I ...
12/12/2023

❗️Here's a PSA: No more bu****itty back rubs, please. Simple shifts *totally* change the quality of comforting touch. I originally developed these notes for newer doulas, but they're also great for rubbing your kid's back to sleep or massaging your beloved's shoulders in a tough moment. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

✋🏻 Use the *whole surface area* of your hand and pretend tiny magnets connect your palms to help them glide over contours, curves and joints. Forget pinching, forget fingertips. Yuck, yuck, no. Save your thumbs and arm strength for, uh, whatever else you need them for.

😑 Listen closely with your hands. Pay attention to layers of tissue and how they differ. For god's sake, don't push on bones. Relax your hands and pay close attention for a body’s subtle physical responses. If they jerk away, probably no bueno. If they sigh, soften or fall asleep, you're on the right track. 🏆

🐓 Ever try to pick up a live chicken? No? Well. Hold chickens the wrong way and they're all floppy limbs and flapping wings, a great experience for precisely no one. If you're holding any kind of creature whose bones meet intersections, hold their freaking joints, please. It's comforting when chickens (and humans) sense that you're in gentle control.

🧚🏻‍♀️ Intentions are palpable. If you're making a shopping list in your mind, quietly despising the person you're touching, or haven't earned trust before touching — everyone will know it. Meditate, pray, focus on a wish for your beloved, follow your own breath... whatever it takes to stay present and supple.

Someone inviting your touch is a precious and magical gift. Please, babes: treat it that way. 💜

Sharing this with you makes me a little antsy. I’m thrilled that many folks leave massage with experiences like this (an...
12/11/2023

Sharing this with you makes me a little antsy.

I’m thrilled that many folks leave massage with experiences like this (and beyond!), but the truth is that we humbly set the table and let your highest and best good come through.

I can’t predict the experience you’ll have, and - to be frank - the details aren’t really my business, if you don’t wish to share.

But I LOVE to know what happens when your mind, body, heart and spirit know that you’re deeply safe.

And surprises occur when we slow down, commit and pay attention, deliberate in our presence.

No rushing.
No going through the motions.
Simple presence.

It’s not always easy, and - I say this with a laugh - results may vary. 😅

👆🏻This beautiful circle was a poignant space with ; an autumn wellness day for bereaved mothers of stillborn babies. It ...
12/08/2023

👆🏻This beautiful circle was a poignant space with ; an autumn wellness day for bereaved mothers of stillborn babies. It was a heart-aching day of connection and love that goes beyond a human lifetime. The only configuration I know of that can possibly hold that kind of space is a sacred circe. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​I'd tell you the formula if I knew it, but circles as I know them are mysterious and ineffable. They're the space in which daily life and the sacred mix most palpably, ahead of breathwork and some forms of plant medicine we won't go into here. 🥰

Interpersonal magic transcends allll the bu****it we carry, and - when the space is held with integrity and coherence - a palpable safety means you can open up, even just to yourself, in surprising and healing ways. The first time you come will be nothing like what you expect.

I recently recorded a podcast with about exactly that, and will share as soon as it's edited or whatever. I'm also hoping that you'll join us next time around - dates coming real soon, and all are welcome. 💖 Until then, big love to you, sugar.

Oh and hey circle OGs and - thank you for your mentorship in this sacred art. Love you so. xo

💜 There’s something of a maternal archetype in approaching our work this way. and I are mothers to only 2 legit Held ba...
12/07/2023

💜 There’s something of a maternal archetype in approaching our work this way.

and I are mothers to only 2 legit Held babies (omg look at them together 😍) but instead a spirit of comfort, spaciousness and nurturing are always at the heart of spaces we hold. Seems like that’s what folks need when they’re hurting or struggling; who would have thought? 😂

I was sitting with a younger mother yesterday and she was talking about massage and self-care, and how she'd been "falli...
12/06/2023

I was sitting with a younger mother yesterday and she was talking about massage and self-care, and how she'd been "falling down" in that way. Respectfully, no. Massage isn't self-care; it's something far more rich, sustainable and rare. Massage is *community* care; it's interpersonal magic. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​If we could massage ourselves, or therapy ourselves, or dental care ourselves, that would be one thing. But we can't, and let's not mistake rampant isolation for independence or freedom.

We need to be held by each other in healthy ways. Therapeutic presence and touch are an antidote for loneliness and touch hunger. You never know what relief, the new energy or the transformation that may occur in that space. I'm surprised all the time by what evolves when we don't do it all for ourselves.

Cheers to you, love. xo

Sneak peek from behind the scenes at the Brazen Cabaret....
10/27/2023

Sneak peek from behind the scenes at the Brazen Cabaret....

🌻 Wanna spread a little sunshine in the world? Anonymously send a domestic violence survivor a bouquet of flowers. It’s...
10/26/2023

🌻 Wanna spread a little sunshine in the world? Anonymously send a domestic violence survivor a bouquet of flowers. It’s $45 or $65 and all the money goes to ending domestic violence in our area. 💐

Click here 👉🏻 and I’ll make the magic happen. http://bit.ly/brazen-flowers

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1285 Broad Street
Bloomfield, NJ
07003

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