Massage Therapy

massage room at Kirkland Whole Life Clinic

We all hold tension in our bodies, whether due to physical exertion or mental and emotional stress. It is part of life, and each individual is unique in their own patterns. Our muscles, as our primary means of physically acting and reacting in the world, clearly portray tensional patterns operating on the cellular level, a form of memory, as the mind is not separate from the body. This often leads to chronic pain, illness, and a prolonging of the body’s healing process.

If we tell our body to work hard until it collapses or lie in bed all day, it will do so. Our mind and emotions can clearly control the body, but in its efforts to maintain an optimal balance of health, it will consistently send us messages of where it might be unbalanced, and get louder as imbalances increase. Despite the fact that these messages are always intended to support bodily health, we have a choice about whether we will listen to them. Awareness and acceptance play a critical role. Massage has been used for centuries to provide relaxation and increased circulation to the musculature, and to balance the body as a whole. A massage therapist’s job is to observe and feel each individual’s patterns of musculature, to help relieve imbalances locally and holistically, and to help increase the individual’s own awareness so that they may learn what patterns are creating imbalance. As the body returns to a sense of safety and stillness, the innate intelligence of the body is free to lead the way toward balance and wellness.  Touch therapies, when applied with this awareness, can facilitate deep healing on the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual levels. Some of the conditions in which massage has been shown to have beneficial effects include:

  • Anxiety                                          
  • Blood pressure                             
  • Depression                                    
  • Digestive disorders                      
  • Fibromyalgia                                   
  • Headaches                                     
  • Insomnia related to stress
  • Myofascial pain syndrome
  • Nerve Pain
  • Soft tissue strains and injuries
  • Stress
  • Temporomandibular joint pain

Because every body is unique, each massage session is catered to the individual. There are numerous techniques and pressures used to affect the tissue, and our therapists strive to meet each person where and as they are to see what will be most effective.

Massage Services

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Prices Based on Time Selected

60 min $100 | 90 min $130 | 120 min $180)

All services may include cupping, aromatherapy, hot towels/hydrotherapy, far-infrared heat lamp, stretching/range of motion, trigger point therapy (in deep tissue massage), craniosacral therapy, aromatherapy and gua sha as needed within your chosen time frame.

*All prices reflect our time of service discount (TOS). Read more about this in our financial policy on our Rates and Discounts page.

As a Certified Sarga Bodywork Practitioner® Shannon has been trained and certified in the safe and effective application of Sarga® Bodywork’s proprietary barefoot myofascial massage methodology and is qualified to provide this method as a professional service. She utilizes a length of fabric fastened to a massage table to aid in delivering therapeutic myofascial and deep tissue techniques with her bare feet. This length of fabric is used for stability and to add tensional and gravitational force to manual therapy methods which aim to facilitate deep relaxation and less restriction in recipients’ bodies.

Myofascial bodywork focuses on fascia, which can be visualized as white fibrous tissue encapsulating red muscle tissue. Fascia is a connective tissue that plays a crucial role in the body’s structure and function. It is also highly innervated, meaning it has a direct influence on the nervous system.

By utilizing techniques that specifically target fascia, her goal is to have a significant impact on the nervous system. This approach can be particularly effective in stimulating a parasympathetic response, which is the rest-and-digest state of the body that facilitates a deep sense of relaxation and wellbeing.

This massage style can be applied as light or as deep tissue as you need.

This is the same style as the above full body Sarga®, however, it is done within 60 minutes which allows for 1-2 areas of the body to be addressed in the given time frame. For example, you may request the neck, shoulders and back, or hips and pelvis, or the upper or lower body.

This massage style can be applied as light or as deep tissue as you need.

Therapeutic massage for auto accident and personal injury claims. Your therapist will work with you to create a treatment plan to get you back to feeling your best. A massage referral from a primary care provider (PCP) (e.g., MD, ND, DC, ARNP, PA) is required to bill your insurance, and an attorney letter if you have one for your claim.

Please note: Health insurance will typically only cover one hour of massage on any given date of service, as such we will only bill up to one hour and any longer sessions will be subject to our Time-of-Service rate and will not be billed to insurance. Read more about this in our Financial Policy on our Rates and Discounts page.

Shannon Walden, Licensed Massage Therapist, L.M.T, B.Sc.

Shannon’s approach to bodywork integrates Eastern and Western philosophies and techniques – both traditional and modern – influenced by education in massage, psychology, and herbalism, a mentorship with Dr. William Duarte, D.A.O.M., ayurveda, and yoga.

Through her own healing process, she found bodywork to be uniquely capable of and integral to the process of releasing trauma and stress, resulting in reduction of pain and symptoms of “dis-ease.” Treatment is tailored to her clients’ unique constitutional patterns. She is a Certified Sarga Bodywork Practitioner® and it is her favorite technique along with craniosacral therapy.

See more about our massage rates and discounts here or insurance and billing here.