Forgotten Muscles Massage and Bodywork

05/03/2026

What an amazing 4 days of learning how to work with the fascia, hard frame (bones, ligaments, joints), and organs of the thorax in Minneapolis!
Receiving the work during practice labs was truly incredible, the work with the lungs, diaphragm, ribcage, ligaments of the clavicle, and the phrenic nerve had me breathing the best I've ever breathed in my life and also had a great calming effect on my digestive organs by improving the intercavity pressures of the body.

The mid cervical fasica work I think is going to be great for TMJ cases because of the attachments to the hyoid bone (attachment for tongue and jaw opening muscles) and infrahyoid muscles (muscles that open jaw). The midcervical fascia, subclavius, and clavicle work will be great for headache cases to help the blood flow to and from the head. Of course in Barral's work we only treat these areas when our listening assessment goes to them, but I have a feeling they'll be involved in a lot of cases.

I was happy to be joined by Milwaukee area therapists Laura and Todd (their second time taking this class) and Basia all of Heartwood Healing in Brookfield. We tried to get a Milwaukee therapist pic after class but Basia already left and the rest of the class that was still there all jumped in 😆

04/27/2026

Propioceptors are sensory nerves that tell our body where it is in space, speed and direction of our movement, amount of effort being used to do a movement, and amount of tension.

This technique is called tapping in shiatsu or tapotement in Swedish massage. Each hand position is light and percussive and helps the brain map the area of the body more efficiently to reduce tension and improve movement.

We're doing this technique on one side of our partner's back today to give them a side to side comparison to measure effectiveness, but traditionally you'd have one hand on each side of the spine to tap both sides at the same time.

(My husband only let me do 1 take so sorry if my talking is a little messy 😆)

04/23/2026

I was walking around the mall with my husband this weekend and noticed a twisty feeling in my leg. I stopped at a bench to see if my ankle was tight, but it was fine. I then tried to rotate my tibia in and out and realized it was locked up, so I did the 1st tibia exercise in this video and went back to walking- no more twisty feeling AND my knee and foot felt so much happier! If I hadn't stopped to check out my tibia, my knee and eventually hip would've been in a world down the line!
In The Franklin Method (https://franklinmethod.com/) we explore something called bone rhythms- the natural movement of the bones in movement dictated by joint surface, ligaments, etc. When the knee bends in walking the tibia has a little internal rotation, when it straightens it has a little bit of external rotation- if these motions aren't happening it'll cause unnecessary tension and compensations in the knee joint.

04/20/2026

I'm always amazed at how simple and easy it is to create change in the body. Just feeling and giving focused attention to an area of the body improves our mind body connection and wakes up proprioceptors- these are the nerves that tell our brain where our body is in space, speed and direction of movement, levels of tension, amount of force being generated, and works with our vestibular system to maintain balance.
REMEMBER: We are noticing positive CHANGE not perfection. We're really good at noticing what's wrong, so we're working on training our brain to notice positive changes, even if it's just a 1% subtle change :)
Remember to do the other knee after you compare sides! (I also like to do 1 leg knee bend comparisons, forgot to include in video)

04/18/2026

Our brain is constantly receiving sensory information and creating motor outputs based on that information. One of the most important sources of info-according to the brain- is our eyes (there's 4 whole cranial nerves devoted soley to them)! So we're going to give our eyes a different input to change the motor output of a movement that feels tight for us!
Remember- we are looking for positive CHANGE not PERFECTION. Even a 1% improvement is improvement and every 1% improvement builds over time :)
Because cranial nerves are paired (left and right) you'll get different results doing the exercise in each direction. This can be from having one eye slightly weaker than the other, tendency to look towards one direction more than the other, etc. The direction that increases your range of motion is the direction your brain likes, so that's the one you should end with and continue doing throughout the day :)

04/18/2026

In a previous post I discussed how tension in the connective tissue of the liver can cause right shoulder pain, right neck pain, and headaches so here's a little self care routine you can do to make your liver happy!
Make sure to do both sides to give the liver a twist in each direction! :)
The towel is there to give you a little side bend and to open the vertebrae on the side facing up! Liver and stomach love side bends and rotations!

04/16/2026

It appears that there's a turkey here looking for a massage 😆😆😆 What an unexpected visitor to the business!

04/16/2026

New instagram video- a short self foot massage!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXLDU4pESsY/?igsh=MWQyMnM5a2ZvYzAycA==

04/11/2026

I've started posting fun little movement exploration videos on Instagram under forgotten.muscles! I'm new to instagramming so please excuse the amateur video quality 😆

01/30/2026

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and will not have internet or cell service until I return on February 12th. I will respond to texts and emails once I have service!
Until then you can book appointments through https://www.vagaro.com/forgottenmuscles
Thank you!

I will be out of town on vacation from January 31st-February 12th and won't have internet or cell service to respond to messages, will respond to any questions as soon as I return!Bodywork by Ashley Cianci (Daoust) LMT.

11/28/2025

The part 2 of the article that is linked goes over some gentle ways to return the body back to its ability to squat. Many of you have probably heard me rant about how bad chairs and shoes are, so here's some more reasons to back up my stance! 😆

"The Lost Human Posture"
In much of Asia, the deep squat is an ordinary resting posture. People wait for trains, chat with friends, play cards, stretch their backs, or work close to the ground with their feet fully planted and torso upright. In the United States, most people lose this natural ability by adolescence. Chairs, cars, and soft couches replace floor-level movement, and the body gradually adapts to sitting at ninety degrees. We assume this loss happens because of aging. In reality, it begins decades earlier through disuse.

Read our 2 part article at: www.chinesehealth.com?id=159

11/10/2025

Had an awesome time learning last week!
I have some awesome new techniques for ankles, knees, hips and abdominal muscles! RAPID is all about treating pain with acute inflammation by stimulating nociceptive nerves. You may be thinking "but I thought inflammation is bad?" Chronic inflammation is bad, but acute inflammation is necessary in healing tissue- if the body doesn't effectively go through the inflammatory stage it cannot go through the proliferation and remodeling stages. When acute inflammation happens blood vessels open up to send in immune cells like M1 macrophages and neutriphils to eat up debris and bacteria. When we use ice or NSAIDs during this stage we're shutting down the highways for these immune cells to go to work and then they just add to the debris and overtime start to irritate the nerves causing chronic pain. When left to do their jobs properly M1 Macrophages turn into M2 and their jobs switch to tissue repair and wound healing- if they don't get to switch over they'll just continue to eat away at stuff! Using RAPID we signal to the brain that it needs to reset the healing cycle in one of these unresolved areas by causing a very very brief moment of discomfort via areas with lots of c-fiber (nociceptive) nerve endings like the periosteum of the bone and ligaments! We use active, and sometimes passive, movement of the client to give the brain both motor and sensory information at the same time to really get its attention. The treatment is a little spicy and requires movement from the client so it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is a quick and effective way to treat pain!

On the gentler end of things, yesterday I went to a craniosacral study group where I found a more effective way to use positional tissue release which is great for my clients that require a gentler approach! :)