I help people with tension and pain using a very light touch and a principle of doing no harm. I aim to give a doorway into relief and tools to apply on one’s own to keep the pain from returning while requiring a minimal number of sessions, sometimes only one.
My practice is informed by working through my own chronic back pain which I managed for over 15 years. I found many tools along the road, swapping massages with people in my community, taking a 40 hour course in Thai massage in Chiang Mai, and practicing body awareness meditation to release tension on my own including multiple 3-week silent retreats. I sought help from many different modalities, including experimenting with tai chi, qigong, yoga, Rolfing, acupuncture, and Rosen.
I read networks of tension by resting my fingertips on the back and shoulders, offering gentle invitations through very light pressure for muscles to release on their own and breath to move back into an area. It’s quite slow, gentle, and often a bit surprising.
I am grateful for George. For three or four months, I had been suffering from a debilitating, searing pain running down my lower right spine. Kneeling, twisting, laying in bed, sleeping, and even standing would make me cry, and I couldn’t find any relief or a comfortable position. I tried treatment from a well-known acupuncturist and had five visits to a chiropractor, but they made zero difference.
That’s when George suggested I try his “gentle muscle manipulation technique.” I agreed, but deep down I had little hope that anything would actually change. Still, I had nothing to lose.
As I laid on the table, George gently pressed and circled his fingers at different points on my back. Honestly, I didn’t think he was doing anything and that it wouldn’t work. I believed my pain was something that required surgery or something I’d just have to live with. “He is too gentle,” I thought. After about 40 minutes, I slid off the table onto my feet, hoping for some relief. And there it was… a bit of relief. But the real “Ah Ha!” moment came two or three days later. When I woke up, I had no pain. I could roll on my side and stand without the urge to cry or vomit from the pain. I couldn’t believe it.
Thank you, George.
-Warren J