I provide modern, evidence-informed bodywork to all kinds of people, for all kinds of reasons.
I treat comprehensively. Every time you visit, we unwind your entire musculature and settle your nervous system. Here's what you get:
Most of my practice is serving regulars who have a monthly appointment with me as a kind of ongoing healthcare and performance tuning. These are people who understand that maintenance is the way — that maintaining your health and equilibrium makes life less stressful, more productive, and more fun.
Having said that: regular appointments are not required. You can also come see me occasionally, or just once.
My message to you: helping your body helps everything.
— Mike Papciak
In-office appointments are two hours. Cost is $450, no gratuity. A first appointment is usually forty minutes assessment and consultation, and an hour-twenty on the table. Subsequent sessions are usually ten minutes checking in, and an hour-fifty on the table.
I also offer 60-minute video sessions. Cost is $250, no gratuity. Working virtually, I provide assessment, consultation, self-treatment instruction, and practical, doable ways to deal with problems and feel good in the body you have right now.
It's totally unlike traditional massage. Will you like the way I work, and find it helpful? Let's try for no surprises:
Surprise #1) It costs what other professional services cost in this area. Historically, massage therapy has cost much less than other private-practice healthcare or professional services. This is changing. The science is in and now everybody knows: life really is short and stress really does kill.
Surprise #2) It doesn't hurt a lot. Fifty years ago, practitioners thought they changed the body by pressing really hard, so people came to think that bodywork had to be painful and intense to be effective. That's how you know you're getting serious therapy, and not some wimpy spa massage — right?
In fact, pressure is placebo. Decades of research show that we do not change human tissue by pressing really hard. Our session helps you feel better and perform better, but not because we dug some bad stuff out of your body. Not because we forced your muscles to obey. What actually happens is: your nervous system feels safe and understood, and allows your body to unclench. More of that science stuff!
When I explain this, some people think: oh, the work will be delicate. It's not that, either. It's not dainty or artificially gentle. And it's not uselessly painful. It's a middle way.
Surprise #3) We never spend the entire session working only on the problem. I carefully treat your whole system every time because — maybe you've heard — it's all connected. It may seem like your problem is in just one spot or one muscle, but the human body is never actually like that. Science again: your body is a complex system, where everything affects everything, in ways that are not always predictable or controllable. So I treat broadly. Your entire musculature and your nervous system, every time. This is the way.
Surprise #4) Relaxing and enjoying the session amplifies its benefit. It feels good! Often we expect healthcare to be difficult or unpleasant, but you can't switch over to repair mode unless your nervous system feels safe and comfortable. When you relax and enjoy the session, the downregulation of your nervous system produces a surge of neurochemical and hormonal benefits. I call this burping the brain. Stress chemicals simmer down and the good molecules flourish, boosting immunity and recovery.
Surprise #5) A permanent fix never arrives. This is because you are a living organism. Your body cannot be permanently fixed. Your body is maintained. Hello, reality.
Surprise #6) I'm only part of your solution. It would be nice if you could just come see me from time to time, and your body wouldn't need anything else. That won't happen. You'll only thrive, or heal, or improve sustainably if you also take care of yourself in other departments like strength, sleep, mental health, and nutrition. Yep: more reality.
Surprise #7) It's not emergency medicine. If you just destroyed your shoulder in the gym yesterday, or threw out your back and now you're crawling to the bathroom, it's too late for me to help much. Come see me when you're out of catastrophe, if you want to work preventatively to keep it from happening again.
Surprise #8) Athletes, read carefully. Because I am a lifelong athlete myself, and because well-known athletes come see me and say nice things in public, I get a lot of interest from the athletic community. I repay this honor by being clear, here on this webpage, how I work and how I don’t work, before you spend time and money. If you've read this far, you should know if I'm what you're looking for. Once more just in case:
If you're seeking treatment for a sports injury, see a rehab specialist, not me.
If you want to focus all of the attention on your symptoms, ignoring what doesn’t hurt, and if you want to feel hammered and sore afterward, see a different practitioner.
If you want to feel completely untangled from head to toe, totally refreshed for a season or a competition or a project or a deload, and that you’ve done something deeply restorative for the body that you drive so hard, come see me. That’s what I do. In a word, we could call it: recovery. Your new secret weapon?
Surprise #9) There's no fancy name for it. It's my own method and I like using that simple word for it: bodywork. I work with your body.
I use myofascial and deep-tissue techniques, non-physician osteopathic techniques, trigger point techniques, craniosacral therapy, relational therapy, structural integration from the Rolfing/Hellerwork tradition, some ideas and tools from the ancient instrument-assisted and manual therapies gua sha and tui na, and some ideas from Zen practice, like staying with reality instead of what sounds appealing but isn't true.
There are no gimmicks. Using hand skill, expertise, and kindness, I unwind your body, settle your nervous system, and tune you up for recovery, performance, and health.
Hygiene info:
There's no waiting room. I meet you at the building entrance and we go directly to my office.
Like many healthcare providers, I wear a mask during treatment, to protect myself while we're indoors in close quarters. Client masking is optional if you are symptomless. I always have surgical masks on hand if you want one or need one.
I wipe everything down between appointments just like you'd hope I do. There's no sharing of linens between clients. All linens are dried in a hot dryer before use.
I run a couple HEPA filters and there's a ceiling exhaust fan in the treatment room.
I wear nitrile gloves, which might seem unusual in a massage therapy setting, but my method unwinds the deeper structures of the body, instead of gliding on its surface. Gloves are no impediment.
Copyright © 2024 Mike Papciak