Davis Community Massage and Body Therapy

11/19/2025

Alyx specializes in working with neurodivergent folks! YES YES YES! firm, intentional pressure and movements... that often means slower movements or longer holds than for neurotypicals!

This week's writing wednesday (that I have just decided it's called) is going to be in two parts. This week, we're going to talk about HYPO sensitivity, and why *some* of us need strong, firm, direct touch to feel safe in intimacy. If that's not you- your experience is valid, too. Next week we'll talk about the opposite - HYPER sensitivity , and how "too much" can become overwhelming super quickly. If you don't relate to this, come on back next week.

Let's talk about something that confuses a lot of partners: gentle, "romantic" touch doesn't work for a lot of ADHD/autistic people. We need INTENSITY instead.

There's this assumption that everyone wants soft and gentle and tender. That's what intimacy is "supposed" to look like.

But for a lot of us... soft and gentle ~is~ actually HARDER to process than intense sensation.

And people think that's weird or wrong or that we're broken somehow. My own mother has argued with me for HOURS about my work and advocacy, saying "i just don't understand why you want to be in PAIN" like I'm broken or crazy or psychologically unsound for wanting deep, firm pressure.

But here's what's actually happening in our brains.

ADHD brains need INTENSE input to focus. We need our nervous systems activated enough that we can actually stay present.

Light touch and gentle intimacy? My brain is gone. I'm thinking about work and groceries and did I respond to that email and what was that noise and goddamn the neighbor has mowed his lawn fourteen times this week alone.

But intense sensation? Suddenly my brain has something to ANCHOR to. Suddenly I can be present. Suddenly my nervous system has enough input that it stops seeking more.
It's the same reason we can focus better with music blasting or multiple tabs open or while bouncing our leg or fidgeting with something. Our brains need ENOUGH input to actually lock onto something.

Gentle touch doesn't provide enough sensory data for our brains to focus on. So our attention wanders. And then we're not present. And then intimacy becomes this thing we're physically doing but mentally we're seventeen places away.

But intense sensation cuts through all that noise.

Firm pressure. Strong sensation. Clear physical input that our brains can't ignore.
THAT our brains can focus on. THAT keeps us present. THAT actually lets us be in our bodies instead of floating somewhere in our heads.

This is hyposensitivity. When your nervous system needs MORE input to register sensation and stay engaged.

And it's not just about kink or B**M. This is why we need tight hugs instead of loose ones. Why we crank the music loud. Why we seek out intense experiences. Why you used to spin around in circles until you were dizzy as a kid- you were exploring vestibular input.

Our nervous systems are asking for INTENSITY. Not because we're broken or damaged or have something wrong with us or because you're a freaky little weirdo. (I mean, maybe you are, I see you queen).

But because that's what helps us focus. That's what keeps us present. That's what actually feels GOOD to our specific neurology.

So when we ask for firmer touch or stronger sensation or more intensity... we're not asking for something extreme or unusual.

We're asking for what our nervous systems actually need in order to be present and able to experience pleasure.

And there's **nothing wrong with that**- so long as you're engaging safely and consentually, so long as you're aware of the risks and you take precautions to keep you and your partner safe, you are allowed to ask for what you want, even if that is a new or different type of touch.

Shameless plug (sorry) Want to learn more about how ADHD and autism affect intimacy? Join my newsletter.

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11/12/2025

What are the major lineages of massage in California?
Guess what!?! Alyx is now trained in ALL EIGHT!
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1. Classical / European Anatomical Lineage

Core types: Swedish massage, Deep Tissue, Sports massage, Myofascial work.
Origins:

18th–19th-century Swedish and German gymnastics and hydrotherapy (Pehr Henrik Ling, Johann Mezger, Sebastian Kneipp).

Medical and military institutions; framed touch as hygienic and corrective.
Philosophy: The body as a mechanical system—circulation, muscle tone, range of motion.
Modern descendants: clinical orthopedic work, neuromuscular therapy, evidence-based massage.
2. Osteopathic / Structural-Integration Lineage

Core types: Rolfing, Hellerwork, Structural Integration, Ortho-Bionomy.
Origins:

Late-19th-century American osteopathy (A.T. Still) → Ida Rolf’s adaptation (1940s–70s).

Combines manual manipulation with systems ideas about fascia and posture.
Philosophy: Form and function as reciprocal; align structure to restore vitality.

3. Asian Energy and Meridian Traditions

Core types: Shiatsu, Thai Massage, Tuina, Ayurvedic Abhyanga.
Origins:

Classical Chinese and Indian medicine; Buddhist and Taoist monastic body practices.
Philosophy: The body as energy field in dynamic balance (qi/prana); healing as re-harmonizing flows.
Transmission to the West: Post-WWII cultural exchange, 1960s–70s alternative medicine boom.
4. Neurological / Psychotherapeutic Lineage

Core types: Trager, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, Somatic Experiencing, Craniosacral.
Origins:

Early 20th-century neurology and movement education; later informed by trauma theory.
Philosophy: The body as nervous-system learning environment; change arises through awareness and re-patterning.
5. Indigenous and Folk Lineages

Examples: Hawaiian Lomi Lomi, Native American bone-setting, Central/South American curanderismo, European folk massage, African diaspora bodywork.
Philosophy: Healing as ritual relationship—restoring harmony among person, community, ancestors, and land.
Transmission: largely oral; re-emerging through cultural revival and de-colonial health movements.
6. Spa / Aesthetic Lineage

Core types: Balneotherapy, aromatherapy, contemporary spa massage.
Origins: European bathing culture → American leisure industry.
Philosophy: The body as site of restoration and luxury; emphasizes pleasure, stress reduction, and consumption.
7. Medical-Integrative Lineage

Core types: Hospital-based integrative massage, oncology massage, palliative care touch.
Origins: 1990s evidence-based medicine + holistic health movement.
Philosophy: Touch as adjunct therapy within biomedical frameworks—empathy and safety over catharsis.
8. The Esalen / Human Potential Lineage

Core practices:
Esalen Massage and Bodywork, Sensory Awareness (Charlotte Selver), Gestalt-influenced touch, breath and movement integration, encounter groups, somatic education, later trauma and mindfulness variants.

Historical moment:
Early 1960s → present. Founded at Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California, by Dick Price, Michael Murphy, and teachers like Ida Rolf, Fritz Perls, Will Schutz, and Gabrielle Roth.

Philosophical roots
- Humanistic psychology (Maslow, Rogers): self-actualization through embodied awareness.
- Phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty): perception as lived, not abstract.
- Systems and cybernetics (Bateson): organism and environment as feedback network.
- Eastern and Indigenous influences filtered through Western secularism—Zen, yoga, and shamanic ritual stripped of dogma but retaining experiential depth.
- Art and improvisation: dance, movement, and creativity as integral to therapy.

Core metaphors
- The body as networked consciousness—a living sensorium that both receives and generates meaning.
- Touch as communication, not technique.
- Healing as self-organization: releasing interference so natural regulation can re-emerge.
- Relationship as field rather than subject–object interaction.

11/10/2025

What is Community Massage?

Community massage emphasizes working class aesthetics and values in the business model, therapeutic relationship, and massage technique choices rather than customizing to the tastes and preferences of the wealthy and professional classes and upper middle/management class. It is part of a larger movement of community acupuncture, community yoga, community chiropractic, community mental health, etc.

What I like most about community models is that it is a sliding scale system so it is more affordable to everyday consumers, especially those with medical conditions. We almost always have last minute appointments (because most massage sessions are only 30 min and easy to fit in).

And, it is not that uncommon for people to bring friends and family! We have an open concept plan and clients wear clothes rather than disrobe in all sessions. They can sit in on the session and I regularly teach massage techniques to partners who sit in!

11/10/2025

11/10/2025

this is a really really good article. i've been teaching a medical sociology course at the Davis Massage Therapy Institute for the last two years and I always do a 4th Industrial Revolution technology segment, critiquing the shifts in power these technologies have on patient rights and autonomy.

"care is not only a clinical task but an ethical and political practice. It is, in the deepest sense, a practice of disalienation – of recovering our sense of ourselves as singular beings in community with one another in which individual difference is valued rather than erased. That is why care has transformative power beyond health. To be truly listened to – to be recognized not as a case but as a person – can change not just how one experiences illness, but how one experiences oneself and the world. It can foster the capacity to care for others across differences, to resist hatred and violence, to build the fragile social ties upon which democracy depends."

My massage practice has been at its core about the politics of our bodies. More-so now than ever.

A dangerous faith in AI is sweeping American healthcare – with consequences for the basis of society itself

11/01/2025

We have updated our logo! What do you think!?

10/11/2025

100% this. this is how I approach massage through a neurodiversity lens