Sage Wellness and Massage

12/19/2025

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A review of scientific literature by MD Anderson Cancer Center shows how massage therapy can help improve the quality of life for individuals with cancer. The benefits of oncology massage may include:
⭐ Improved relaxation, sleep and immune function
⭐ Relief from anxiety, pain, fatigue, and nausea

12/18/2025

12/15/2025

New at Sage, Fern Naturals skin care products made right here in New Hampshire! Dry winter skin? Try grass-fed beef tallow lotion to soften and sooth your dry, itchy skin. We carry Lavender Chill Body Lotion, Vanilla Drift Body Lotion, Bare Earth Face Lotion and V***r Rub. These make a wonderful stocking stuffer or a gift to yourself for some self care.

12/08/2025

Today I want to bring you into the quiet interior world of the body, a place where science and sensation coexist, and where even the smallest structures hold stories. Before we explore the deeper art of myofascial trigger point therapy in my next post, I want to lay a foundation that feels both beautiful and true.

Many bodyworkers were never entirely taught the science behind trigger points, and many clients know them only as “knots.” But the truth is far more elegant, far more human, and far more poetic than that. When we understand them correctly, the body's whole landscape begins to make sense.

Inside every muscle are tiny contractile threads called sarcomeres. I often imagine them as thousands of delicate accordion folds lined up end to end, expanding and contracting in a rhythm that mirrors breath. In a healthy state, these folds open and close with ease, like the petals of a flower responding to light. But life doesn’t always keep its softness. A moment of stress, a pattern of overuse, a season of guarding, or the quiet residue of something emotionally overwhelming can cause a cluster of these little folds to clamp down and refuse to release. They hold tight, far tighter than the body ever intended. This is the beginning of a trigger point, a small place in the body's fabric where movement stops, and holding begins.

When these sarcomeres remain contracted, blood flow cannot fully enter the area. The tissue becomes a tiny pocket of drought. The body calls this ischemia, but you can imagine it as a river narrowing until only a trickle can pass through. Without fresh blood, oxygen cannot arrive, nourishment cannot circulate, and the natural byproducts of muscle activity begin to collect instead of being washed away.

These metabolites, harmless in motion, become irritating when trapped. They gather like stagnant water behind a dam, slowly altering the tissue's chemistry until the nerves around them begin to react. This is why a trigger point aches, burns, radiates, or surprises us with sharpness. It is not just tension; it is nature trying to move again.

Fascia, the body’s great communicator, becomes part of this story too. Because fascia is one continuous web, a single small obstruction can create distant echoes. A trigger point in the neck might send pain into the jaw or temple. A trigger point in the glute might imitate sciatica. A point in the diaphragm might reshape breath and ripple into the lower back. These are not accidents. These are the fascial lines speaking their language, sending signals through the body’s interconnected map. What happens in one place is felt everywhere.

And hidden beneath all of this is something more subtle, something more tender. Trigger points often form not only from physical strain but also from emotional tightening. The jaw clenches around unspoken words. The diaphragm holds back tears. The belly tightens around fear. The hips brace for imagined impact. Over time, these emotional reflexes crystallize into physical ones. The body remembers its history in the places where it stops moving.

This is why understanding trigger points is so important. They are not random knots; they are small dams in a river that longs to flow. When we release a trigger point, we are not just softening tension; we are restoring circulation to a starved pocket of tissue. We are dissolving chemical stagnation. We are freeing a section of fascia so the whole body can move with more grace. We are interrupting a protective pattern the nervous system has been holding onto, sometimes for years.

In the next post, we will step into the artistry of how I approach myofascial trigger point work, the breaking of the dam, and the waves of release that can change an entire region of the body. For now, let this be your gateway.

Trigger points are small, but the story they tell is vast. And once you understand them, you begin to understand the deep intelligence of the body that carries them.

12/08/2025

Everyone is starting to realize how important fascia is when it comes to training the body, but most people still underestimate how deeply it influences movement.

Hydrated fascia behaves very differently, down to the cellular level. Not only does it participate in bioelectric signaling, it also plays a major role in how much range of motion your body can access during exercise. When this tissue is loaded correctly, it becomes elastic and responsive. Your muscles coordinate better, your posture improves, and energy becomes more stable because your body isn’t fighting itself to move.

When this tissue loses its elasticity and structural organization, your body begins moving in ways that increase tension, stiffness, and joint stress in the wrong areas. This is when people start experiencing the movement degradation that eventually leads to pain. Hydration in the body isn’t just about drinking more water. It depends on restoring the mechanical conditions that allow fluid to move through your tissue with minimal friction.

The visual on the left is exactly what we help you overcome through our training. This is what you see in the transformations we help people achieve, where their bodies begin to look more viscoelastic and full.

If you want to improve your movement, you not only need to strengthen the muscles that are weak, you also need to build the mechanics that distribute tension efficiently throughout your fascial system. The quality of your movement determines the quality of your tissue.

12/04/2025

The truth? Regular massage can have cumulative, long-term effects on health and well-being.

While a single session may not be a permanent fix, maintaining a consistent schedule can support lasting relief from pain, reduce stress, and enhance overall physical function. 💛

Discover what the latest research says about massage therapy on our website: https://www.nhpcanada.org/holistic-health-info/research

What other myths about massage therapy do you want to clear up?

12/02/2025

Migraines are not simply headaches. They are storms that rise from the deepest architecture of the nervous system, electrical, vascular, and emotional, all at once. To the person inside the storm, it can feel as though the world is tightening, pulsing, and collapsing inward. To the outside eye, nothing appears different. This is the quiet cruelty of migraines, and the reason our hands, presence, and understanding matter so profoundly.

Inside the skull, the brain behaves like the weather. A wave of electrical activity known as cortical spreading depression can sweep across the surface like lightning rolling across a horizon. Blood vessels constrict and swell in response. The trigeminovascular system, which links the dura and cranial vessels to the trigeminal nerve, begins to send alarms. The brainstem, keeper of light and sound, nausea and pain perception, becomes exquisitely sensitive. None of this is imagined. It is biology in motion.

There is so much living beneath the surface of this work that it deserves to be explored slowly, layer by layer. So let us begin with one of the quiet places where the body hides its truths.

At the base of the skull lies a place where the body whispers its oldest stories. A small, hidden meeting point where deep muscles touch the dura mater, the membrane that cradles the brain and spinal cord. This quiet connection is called the myodural bridge, and though it is often overlooked, it shapes the way a person carries their head, their thoughts, their protection, and their pain.

Anatomically, the myodural bridge links the suboccipital muscles to the dura. These muscles are tiny, intricate, and sensitive to even the slightest shifts in posture or emotion. The dura, by contrast, is a vast sheath of protective tissue rich with nerves that respond instantly to tension. Together, they form a living conduit between the musculoskeletal world and the central nervous system. When the neck stiffens, the dura feels it. When the dura tenses, the whole head responds.

For many clients, this is where headaches are born. It is where migraines gather like storms. It is where the body braces against stress without conscious permission. Long hours of screen work, unresolved emotional load, old whiplash injuries, shallow breathing patterns, and chronic sympathetic activation all feed tension into this tiny meeting place. The result is a pressure that is both muscular and neurological, both structural and emotional.

This is why, when bodyworkers place their hands beneath the head, something profound can happen. Suboccipital release does more than soften the muscles. It eases the pull on the dura itself, giving the membranes around the brain a moment of relief. Gentle traction at the occiput invites space into the cranial base, allowing cerebrospinal fluid a smoother rhythm. Craniosacral holds can soften the bracing reflex around the brainstem, creating an opening where the nervous system can finally breathe.

Clients often describe the shift as a warmth spreading behind their eyes or a slow release deep inside the skull. Some feel their breath drop into their body for the first time that day. Others experience a quiet emotional unbinding, as if the mind has been gripping something too tightly for too long. These moments are not accidents. They are the result of easing a structure that sits at the crossroads of sensation, pressure, memory, and protection.

The myodural bridge is not just a piece of anatomy. It is a translator between the spine and the brain, a tension bridge between past and present, a sentinel that reacts to our stress long before we can name it. When it is softened with skill and intention, the entire system recalibrates. The head lightens. The neck lengthens. The nervous system steps back from the edge.

As Body Artisans, this is one of the most sacred places we touch. Here, beneath our palms, the physical and emotional selves meet. Here, the body reveals how it has been holding the world. Here, a new story can begin to unfold.

When the myodural bridge softens, the whole person softens with it. The head finally exhales. The spine listens. And the nervous system remembers what ease feels like again.

12/01/2025

Massage gift certificates make a wonderful and personal gift that always fits just right!
SageWellnessAndMassage.abmp.com

11/19/2025

“Why do massage therapists charge so much per hour?”

A question we hear often — and a great one.

The hour you spend on the table is only a fraction of the work your therapist does. Massage is incredibly physically demanding, so we’re limited in how many clients we can safely and effectively treat each day.

Behind the scenes, there’s a lot more happening: endless loads of laundry (yes, every client gets fresh, clean sheets), marketing, scheduling, cleaning, client notes, and bookkeeping. Add to that the overhead no one sees — rent, taxes, insurance, continuing education, and the steady supply of oils, tools, and linens that keep a practice running.

And unlike traditional jobs, massage therapists don’t get paid vacation or paid sick days. When we’re sick or recovering from an injury, we simply can’t work. Our rates help us save for those unavoidable days so we can continue caring for you long-term.

But here’s the real heart of it: regular massage isn’t just a service — it’s an investment in your body’s long-term well-being.

For many clients, consistent treatment reduces chronic pain, improves mobility, calms the nervous system, and restores a quality of life they thought they’d lost. The value of waking up without that constant ache, moving without fear of a flare-up, or finally sleeping through the night is priceless.

When you book a session, you’re not paying for just an hour of massage; you’re supporting skilled, thoughtful care that helps you feel and function better every day.

Thank you for supporting the work that supports you. 💛