Viveca Massage & Wellness

04/22/2025

Author, educator, and grief counsellor Dr. Alan Wolfelt is presenting two complimentary seminars on grief right here in Calgary!

The session for family & friends grieving a loss will be Tuesday, May 6 from 7-9 PM. The session for professionals working with people who are grieving is Wednesday, May 7 from 9 AM - Noon. I’m registered for the Wednesday session, and I am looking forward to meeting and learning from Dr. Wolfelt.

If you’re interested, I encourage you to sign up for the session that’s most appropriate for you.

McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes has had the privilege of inviting Dr. Alan Wolfelt to Calgary for many years to share his “Companioning Philosophy.” Based on the positive feedback we've received from past participants, we are thrilled to welcome

Dr. Wolfelt back this spring, in May 2025.This year, Dr. Wolfelt will be offering two separate seminars on two different dates.

The first seminar is for individuals and families who are grieving a loss. Dr. Wolfelt will guide us in understanding how loss affects our lives and how we can better navigate the various needs of mourning.

The second seminar is intended for professionals within the caregiving community. It will provide valuable insights for anyone looking to learn how to better support those who have experienced loss. Please join us for these complimentary seminars: "Tending to Your Broken Heart When Someone Dies: Hope for Your Healing" and "When Grief is Complicated: A Model to Understand, Identify, and Companion Grievers."

Please find both seminar dates listed below.
To register, please visit mhfh.com

04/19/2025

My clients often ask me how massage therapy works. How do I “melt the knots” or “release the tight muscles”? And I usually begin my answer by saying there is a lot we don’t know about how or why massage therapy is effective, and what we once thought we knew is not necessarily true. That isn’t to say that massage therapy doesn’t work — it certainly does! — but just maybe not in the way we once thought it did. We don’t know everything, but I try to be more accurate (or at least less wrong) about the information I give to my clients.

We now know that massage doesn’t address tissues in a purely mechanical way; rather, massage works mainly on the nervous system. This article by Mark Olson expresses it beautifully. The pressure and rhythm of a massage, the therapeutic presence of the practitioner — all send messages to the interoceptive system, changing what the nervous system will predict and feel about the tissue. The Interoceptive Model, in my view, is the most accurate (or the least wrong) about the way massage/manual therapy works.

“Manual therapy doesn’t ‘change the tissue’ — it changes what the nervous system predicts and feels about the tissue.

That means we’re not correcting mechanics.

We’re creating new internal experiences.

The pressure, the rhythm, the quality of presence — they all send signals to the interoceptive system. And when those signals are safe, novel, and meaningful, they have the power to re-map perception. To interrupt pain. To support regulation. To invite trust.”

Let’s be honest: the tissue-based model of manual therapy is not just inaccurate. It’s boring. It’s a dry story. A story about tight muscles, stuck fascia, knots, and misalignments. A story where the practitioner “fixes” the passive client, and where therapeutic success is measured in inch...

02/06/2025

A little levity, because we all need it these days. And you all know how much I appreciate a good pun. Or even a bad one.

By the way, how are you doing with your home-care exercises?

01/20/2025

My favourite bookstore is closing 😢 This store has been in my neighbourhood for nearly 3 decades, and it holds so many memories for me. When my children were small, we’d often walk there; I’d pack snacks, we’d stop at a playground along the way, and at the bookstore we’d look at books and the kids would play with the Thomas the Tank Engine railroad set up in the children’s section. In more recent years, my daughter and I always made plans to walk there for a coffee and a browse whenever she was home from uni. It was where my kids and I buy our planners every autumn. (How awesome is it that they, like me, prefer old-fashioned paper planners to digital calendars? 😉) We were so sad to learn that our favourite store was closing. I went for a last browse and sent my daughter these photos of the empty shelves. We both got emotional thinking of how much this store has meant to us over the years. Farewell, . You’ve been an important part of my community and my family’s life, and we’ll miss you terribly. 💔

01/12/2025

When you arrive home from a holiday and see that not only were your 3 cats so well cared for that they barely registered your absence, but also that your amazing and multitalented pet sitter made you a couple of adorable cat throw pillows 😻😻😻 Thanks, — you are THE BEST!! 💖💖

12/21/2024

The holidays are a joy-filled time for many people, but for someone who’s grieving, they can be particularly tough. If you know someone grieving a loss, Megan Devine from Refuge In Grief has shared this graphic illustrating helpful ways to support them during this season (and a few tips on what NOT to do).

If you’re grieving, this is your gentle reminder that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to grieve, or to mark the holidays. Only what is right for you, or not right for you. So please be kind to yourself ❤️

Grief is hard any time of year, but the holiday season can feel particularly brutal. If you’re trying to support someone you love, this comic is for you. And if you’d like some help educating friends & family on the best ways to support you, this comic is for you, too.⁣⁣
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Please share this widely, friends. Most people truly want to help, they just aren’t sure how. Let's help everyone get better at delivering the love and support they intend.⁣⁣

If you’re grieving, I recommend joining my monthly grief support group call where you can get answers to your questions about grief and spend time with a caring community of fellow grievers.

Go to https://www.patreon.com/megandevine and sign up at the $10 level to get immediate access to our upcoming Q&A clinics plus recordings of all our previous Q&A sessions.

11/08/2024

I don’t know about you, friends, but from where I’m standing, the world has felt a little heavier these past couple of weeks. So this morning, it felt good to get out for a walk with one of my besties. It had been a while since I saw her, so we got caught up on work, travel, education, family, and any other topics we could fit in during our time together. And we got to admire this view! I mean, come on — that chinook arch, those mountains, the river — how lucky am I to live here? I’m going to keep my head up and keep working to make this world a kinder, gentler place for all who are grieving, and for everyone. Make it a beautiful day! ❤️

11/03/2024

I’ve been a loyal listener of Krista Dicks’ podcast, The Radical Massage Therapist Podcast, for years. So it was such a pleasant surprise to have her contact me and ask me to be a guest on the podcast! We had a wonderful conversation, and you can listen to it in Episode 111 here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/111-the-grief-connection-why-massage-therapists-are/id1447519161?i=1000675498627 — let me know what you think in the comments.

#111 The Grief Connection: Why Massage Therapists Are Key Supporters.

In this episode, I chat with Tanya Thomlinson, a Registered Massage Therapist specializing in grief-informed massage. Inspired by her personal journey and her children, Tanya founded Viveca Massage to support clients through grief and loss. She shares insights on creating a safe, welcoming space for clients, navigating boundaries, and understanding one’s beliefs around death. Tune in for valuable guidance from Tanya on approaching grief with care and professionalism!
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10/14/2024

It’s almost time! The Self-Care for Grief Massage Therapists Summit begins tomorrow (Monday, 14 October)!

If you work with grieving clients, it’s crucial to create intentional self-care practices to enable you to keep doing your amazing and world-changing work in a healthy and sustainable way. This free online summit can give you some great tools to help you do that. Link to register is in the comments.

In her beautiful presentation for our “Self-Care for Grief Massage Therapists Summit”, Tanya Thomlinson shares how clear professional boundaries around her time and energy enable her to show up for her work with grieving massage clients in a sustainable and healthy way. 💛

As she explains in her presentation (and as I have experienced in my own work as well), the great amount of empathy we feel for our grieving clients can absolutely make it essential that we employ thoughtful boundaries around what we can and cannot give.

Because we care so deeply for our grieving clients, we could easily exhaust ourselves and burn out if we did not have kind yet clear boundaries around booking, cancellations, payment, late arrivals etc. We must take the time to craft policies and procedures that keep us healthy and well-cared-for if we hope to remain in this field long-term!

Thank you so much Tanya for the wisdom and knowledge you share in your presentation! 💛

The summit launches ✨TOMORROW 10/14✨ and you can still register! The link is in the comments! The summit is free and you will gain lifetime access to presentations from 5 experts in our field of Grief Massage.

The first presentation becomes available tomorrow morning! Join us. 💛

10/10/2024

I’m honoured to have been asked to be part of the inaugural Self Care for Grief Massage Therapists Summit and excited for its launch next week! If you work with or have an interest in working with grieving clients, you won’t want to miss this — details are below, and the link to register is in the comments.

As .lmt so wisely stated in her summit presentation, the cost of Grief Massage practitioner/teacher burnout is so great. 💛

In order to stay in this field and remain in love with the work we are called to do, it is essential that we create rituals, protocols, plans and roadmaps for maintaining our own wellness. 💛

Creating a kinder, gentler world for grievers will ask us to be kind and gentle with ourselves too. 💛

The “Self-Care for Grief Massage Therapists” summit launches on Monday with Ursula’s beautiful recorded presentation releasing that day and other expert presentations releasing every day that week through Friday.💛

The summit is:

✨free

✨evergreen (you can go back time and time again to listen and watch and learn)

✨created just for you, a Grief Massage practitioner (or aspiring one) or Grief Massage teacher

Link is in the comments, register now and you will receive access on Monday 10/14! 💛