Ending Online Booking June 1st, 2023

I’ve been described as archaic.

And I am.

I have given online booking a fair shot for about a year. There were things I liked. But I’m sorry to say, there are reasons I cannot continue to provide online scheduling.

Massage is an intimate and yet professional service. It’s important to get a real live conversation with my clients before I book them. Think about it: would you want to touch a complete stranger without first talking to them? I’d assume not. It’s important to know what my new clients expect from massage.

It’s often in my first conversation with a perspective client, that I ascertain whether they expect experienced injury treatment, relaxing swedish… or a happy ending with a casual grope of my breast.

Another good reason for me to end online scheduling is most of my regular clients know I restrict access to my availability online so they know up to book with me personally.

And finally, the main reason for ending the ability to schedule with me online: time is truly the most valuable thing any one of us possess.

Call me archaic, but I need people to connect with me… Really Fucking Connect With Me… Before I give them my most precious commodity… Not to mention probably the best massage they’ll ever experience (but I’m biased)

I do not want this to deter you from booking with me. I have to accept some of y’all will* be turned off by this. I accept that.

If you’re not comfortable talking with me on the phone, it’s ok to text or email me. But do* expect me to ask for your name and what you’re hoping to find with your massage session.

If you can do that, I will send you my available openings, and I’ll have you pick 2 different times that you’d prefer (just in case a few other requests for appointments get filled before you get back to me)

I am archaic. But I’m a very good massage therapist after 23 years of practice. I hope you give me a shot to prove I’m worth all these old-school protocols.

In health,

Yours,

Sierra Faye Kennedy LMT

Sometimes You Have To Admit to yourself that you are, in Fact, Injured

I’ve been practicing massage for 21 years, living for 42 … and I gotta say: people in fuckin denial about their injuries.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s everyone who does this. There are those of us who are self-care knowledgeable enough to admit to the broken arm or admit to having the constant pain, which then, in turn, definitely needs to be addressed, like now.

But most of us are going to sit in that denial for a while when we’re freshly/acutely Injured, and we’re gonna go ahead and keep going on with our lives like nothing even happened.

Until the injury gets worse.

And worse.

And then secondary injuries start happening cuz we won’t stop.

And then BOOM

You’re incapacitated and laying in bed – forced to deal with the fact that you fuckin pushed it and now you have to pay for your dumbass mistakes.

Harsh language, I know.

But if there’s one place, in which a massage healer is justified in getting bitchy… It’s in the case of admitting you have an injury.

Try telling an addicted runner they have bone spurs…. And to stop running.

Try getting thru to the executive who just had a motorcycle accident about how he must rest and *not move* when he’s got 3 conferences booked in 3 weeks.

It’s been my experience that sometimes there’s no getting thru.

Sometimes you just won’t stop until the injury gets too grave for you to keep going on with your life without accommodating for the injury or illness you’re rockin’.

Stop.

Stop trying to work through your pain and acknowledge your pain’s message; how loud is it yelling at you?

Do you need a break?

Do you need a massage?

Do you need a doctor?

Do you need deeper check on a persistent problem?

Guess what? I’m the professional asshole who’s gonna say “yeah. Yeah dude. Get your ass in bed, in treatment or book that appointment with the neurologist or dermatologist to get “it” checked out.”

Am I perfect in this department? Of course I am I never make mistakes.

JK. Yes I very much do.

So learn from my mistakes. Learn from your own! And when you have pain (including emotional pain) stop* and listen to it.

Wait. And heed your pain’s message.

Stress relief massage

Last week was brutal.

My heart aches, my weariness seems to go all the way down to my soul.

It seems trite to say massage will help in times of great stress. Especially when it’s just in writing that I’m trying to tell you about an experience of being held on a massage table and getting that care; that care which seems to touch that ache in the soul… And relieve it.

People have told me since before I graduated from massage school: horror stories of going into a massage with great expectations only to be misunderstood, given too much pressure, not gotten work on the place you asked for, been injured, talked at so much you couldn’t relax, or (what I think is probably the worst) being come on to or given inappropriate intimate touch.

If you, dear reader, have experienced any of these, on behalf of my entire industry: I am truly truly sorry.

I can only promise that after 20 years of massage practice, I know these things happen and I will not make you suffer them at my table.

Getting a massage is an intimate professional experience that should be mentally and emotionally comforting.

There’s so much pain in the world. My own life isn’t perfect all the time and I hurt as well. I know how important it is to get care from someone I can trust to make it about me when I’m on their table.

I can only offer a promise to be there for you; to listen and protect you while you’re in my care. I will empower you to direct me and to tell me to stop when you need me to at any time for any reason. And I will always honor your feelings when painful stuff or sensitive emotions bubble to the surface.

The session is for healing. The sessions are for you to unwind and get what you need to make you feel better.

I am deeply committed to giving you the best care.

You deserve that from your massage therapist.

Tinnitus and craniosacral

Recently I’ve heard some folks complaining about an increase in tinnitus after getting their covid vaccination.

There’s also a higher likelihood of tinnitus when one is stressed.

Whatever reason it could be that is causing tinnitus, Craniosacral can help.

Depending on what’s causing the ringing in the ears, craniosacral can sometimes cure it, in many cases reduce it and if craniosacral doesn’t seem to touch it, there’s at least a real reduction in stress.

It’s also important to remember to give craniosacral a chance to work! It’s hard to get an injury cured in just one visit of a healing practitioner.

With craniosacral, the pressure isn’t deep and the bodywork isn’t movement-based like classic swedish massage. There can be an expectation of needing to feel something – like soreness from deep tissue bodywork – after the session to feel like it “did something.”

But with Craniosacral, there’s often no feelings or sensations of manipulation afterwards. In fact, the more skilled and effective the cranio is that you received… the less you feel after the session.

You just feel better.

Rested. Calmer. More resourced. And your pain is likely reduced and your whole body much more mobile. It can be subtle.

Add up the deep pervasive effects of craniosacral work you receive over time, and you’ll find you actually have greater capacity to deal with any stress, recover from any hard workout or injury quicker and you’ll feel better in your body for a longer and longer amount of time.

Craniosacral is truly amazing. One must give it a chance to do it’s work in the body.

My new massage space in Maple Leaf

A client yesterday was saying this covid thing seems to have entered an attrition phase. It might not kill you but it might just grind and grind and grind you down till there’s nothing but a sad little stress-ball that’s left of you.

Sad.

What a happy post this is already… 😂

Let’s turn this around: MY NEW OFFICE!

It’s so beautiful! My new neighbors are all healers and they all have the best vibe.

The building is full of air filters and has a mask requirement. Everyone keeps to the code. Must follow the code 😊🙏

I have an air filter blasting in my little corner office on the 3rd floor. And as always; my housekeeping and sanitizing protocols are top notch.

Is it safe? 😟

It’s definitely as safe as we can make it.

So if you’re on the fence about getting some work from me, this information might help. I take your health and safety seriously and so does everyone in my building.

Don’t let the covid world grind you down. If this is a war of attrition, then make sure that you* win it with excellent self-care. Get the bodywork you need to de-stress and unwind your tight body parts.

I’m here to help 💜

What is craniosacral?

The most common question I get about craniosacral bodywork is “What is it?”

Simply put, craniosacral is a bodywork modality that came from osteopathy.

The more complex answer to “What is craniosacral therapy?” is such a long answer, that I started writing articles in this blog to answer that very question over time.

Receiving a craniosacral session is usually a very gentle experience, especially if you’re used to deep tissue massage. As the receiver, you lay on your practitioner’s table, commonly fully-clothed, and you experience a series of holds administered by your practitioner.

It is the intent and attention of your practitioner to feel your body’s subtle nervous system fluids as they effect the entire body.

By feeling for your body’s cerebrospinal fluid “tides” your practitioner can determine a wealth of conditions present in your body and, in turn, effect them.

The result of this attention from your practitioner is that your body unwinds and heals itself.

The guiding principle of craniosacral is – that the body holds within it, the ability to heal itself. Just as the scab heals over a cut on the skin or re-knits the deep fleshy incision of an open-gut surgery – the inner fluids and tissues of your body have the innate ability to heal your body’s tight spots and old injuries.

What craniosacral bodywork does, is help your body remember to heal itself a bit faster and more efficiently.

The problems that keep our bodies stuck in pain, disassociation and disease are caused by trauma of a physical or emotional sort.

The cranio practitioner finds the places in your body that are stuck and immobilized by that trauma and gently instigates movement and a re-connection to the body’s in-born ability to operate as a whole healthy unit.

If this seems confusing, don’t worry, it’s a lot to digest.

What I can assure you of, is the experience of receiving craniosacral therapy is a deeply relaxing and healing one. Most enthusiastic fans of craniosacral equate it to everything from being more effective than the deepest tissue massage to the most relaxing, grounding experience they’ve ever had. Some evangelical lovers of craniosacral call it a spiritual experience!

For me, as a practitioner, I see craniosacral as a non-invasive safe method for healing trauma of physical as well as emotional types. It takes a great deal of study, discipline and patience to do it and yet it is such a fulfilling and exciting form of bodywork, that it enlivens my interest in bodywork even after 20 years of practice.

Craniosacral therapy will be the method that will continue to delight and challenge me for the rest of my life.

I look forward to sharing the gift of craniosacral with you. 🙂

Hello 2022! You need a break already?

You’re not the only one who’s going through some great (or not so great) changes right now.

In every direction, there are stressors, changes and upheaval. My friends, colleagues and family all seem to be going through something kinda life-changing situation.

I am no different! Within the same week, early December, I moved out of my office AND my home! I left behind a romantic partner as well as an office mate. It has been quite the ride.

I find myself excited even though I am upset by all the change. No one likes change. It’s difficult on all the systems of the body, and all the systems of the body are intimately and inextricably connected.

Since last September, I’ve been re-educating myself in craniosacral therapy. The first time I went through the 250hr certification program, it was 2007 and I was 27 years old.

I’m taking that same program from the same teacher and the experience is far deeper and more profound than before.

I have had this blog for many years, and as you can see, posted maybe once a year.

With the change in all directions of my life, I’m finding I have much time on my hands and I am called to write!

I will be sharing my experiences about craniosacral therapy and the profound release, relaxation and healing that is achievable using this amazing modality.

I hope to entice you to join me, come see me, talk with me and live the experience of expansiveness and the healing that happens in the craniosacral field.

This bodywork modality has given me incredible levels of inspiration and reason to live fully and engaged with myself, my body and my fellow humans here in this big blue planet.

There’s so much beauty and mystery to unlock using the craniosacral modality. I hope I can capture and articulate these beauties when I share here in this blog.

I hope you will join me and participate in this journey.

Happy New Year!

GOODBYE OLD OFFICE!

2021 check-in

Hello there! Thanks for visiting my massage therapy practice site!

Please check out my other posts and pages to get an idea of what kind of massage treatments and sessions I offer.

I’m still located in Seattle in the suburb of Meadowbrook by lake city way.

I’ve been practicing all through the covid-19 crisis and I’m happy to say none of my clients or I have gotten sick. It’s wonderful to report a clean record.

Call, text or email me with any questions or to make an appointment!

Quick Update

Thanks for visiting sierrafaye.com! I appreciate you checking out my services if you’re new and checking in with me if we’ve already met.
Things have been pretty peaceful around the office despite the Covid world and social unrest.
Many of my clients have disappeared into quarantine, while others still get sessions and tell me I’m the only person they come out to see. I’m grateful for the trust there, I endeavour to keep that trust.
I see a maximum 2 people per day I’m in the office. And you can usually count on me to be in the office Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays as well as 1-2 Saturdays a month.
Cleaning between clients takes time and I like to air the place out between sessions.
I wanted to give you, dear reader, an update on my goings-on and hopefully give you sense of reliability around my presence in this world as a healer.
I haven’t gotten sick and none of my clients have come down with covid-19 since March of 2020. I am grateful for this!
That’s all from me for now.
I hope you’re keeping your self warm and safe and cozy as we enter into the winter months.
Be well.

Regarding Covid-19 and Massage

The Washington State Department of Health allows for the massage treatment of only acute pain and severe disorders.

Most of my clients have opted to stay home under quarantine. I miss them! Seeing people regularly to help them heal their bodies is rewarding. I hope they are staying sane and emotionally stable as they stay in.

My sanitation protocols are high. It’s also required of us treatment bodyworkers to wear a mask while working with clients. And just a couple weeks ago, we were informed that we should be at the ready with photo ID and our massage licenses for possible impromptu inspection.

Not a problem. It’s all covered.

What I can’t do is see anyone who’s not in some serious pain, or physical need of treatment until things open back up.

Give me a call or email and we’ll evaluate your need for treatment.

Till then, you may contact me for questions, concerns or consultation. I might be able to help you figure some things out about your body/pain and give you some experienced professional advice and guidance.

If you’re looking to get your Groupon voucher redeemed, contact me. I will honor the vouchers that have been purchased before this post’s date when the stay home order had been lifted.

In the meantime, drink water, stretch and be compassionate towards yourself and those close to you.