I am a “recovering academic,” the developer of the Mindful Massage technique and a Reiki practitioner.  Having been trained as a sociological social psychologist, I researched and taught about how people assign meanings to their surroundings, especially as they develop sophisticated taste in art.  While sociology provided a rewarding and interesting path of inquiry, the office and campus politics that are such a fundamental part of a career in higher education were less desirable.  After earning tenure at a highly ranked, private, liberal arts college, I had an epiphany of sorts while visiting Cambodia during my sabbatical leave.  Realizing that job security in a job that was making me miserable was no kind of security I was interested in, I left the academy for training in massage, seeking a career that provided a more rewarding sense of grounding, simplicity and connection.
 
At Oregon School of Massage, I received training in, among other things, Swedish, Deep Tissue, and Shiatsu techniques.  I also received training in energy work through the Milne method of Craniosacral Therapy and the Usui Shiki Ryoho lineage of Reiki. 

I also attended the Nine Gates Mystery School, where I received instruction in nine different forms of mysticism from nine different master teachers.  Ilater followed up that initial instruction with instruction in Huna (a form of Shamanism developed in Hawaii) by Mark Saito. These trainings in mysticism have informed my energy work practices and are integral parts of my Mindful Massage practices.

Believing that there is no such thing as too deep, only too sharp and too fast, I developed the Mindful Massage technique that emphasizes intentionally, deliberately paced strokes, applied with forearms, knuckles and full hand contact.  The goal of Mindful Massage is to encourage the client to leave behind the stresses of work and everyday life by focusing on the grounding, simplicity and connectedness that massage provides.  When it works well, Mindful Massage is a dance between the therapist and the client, allowing both parties to leave behind their distractions and come to the clarity of existing in the present moment.  I have been building the clientele of The Celestial Dance, LLC by focusing on professionals who frequently find themselves overworked and ungrounded, in complicated lives that have isolated them from the kind of deep living that can be such an integral part of massage, meditation, and/or any other technique that allows one to live in the present moment.
 
I hope that The Celestial Dance, LLC makes an important contribution to the spiritual, cultural, and interpersonal health of this city that I have come to love:  Salem, Oregon.  While walk-in appointments are not my preferred method of booking appointments, I am always interested in talking about this stuff, so pick up the phone, send an email or come by and schedule a massage today!