Kauai Massage Therapy

01/22/2026

“healing is not a moral victory, it’s a biological one”
The body will relax when it feels safe.

Understanding Trauma - The Two Wolves

I remember the first time I heard the story of the two wolves. An elder tells a child that inside every person live two wolves, one driven by fear, anger, grief, and pain, and the other shaped by love, calm, connection, and trust. The child asks which wolf wins, and the elder answers, “The one you feed.”

For a long time, I thought this story was about choice and willpower. About deciding to be better, calmer, a more healed version of myself. But years of working with bodies, including my own, taught me something gentler and far more honest. Sometimes the wolf that rises is not the one we chose to feed; it is the one that was fed for us, in moments when survival mattered more than understanding.

Trauma changes the way the body feeds those wolves.

When something overwhelming happens, the body does not pause to consult our values or our hopes for who we want to be. It reacts. The nervous system floods with stress chemistry. Cortisol and adrenaline sharpen focus, narrow awareness, and prioritize survival over reflection. The vagus nerve shifts out of its regulating role and sensation becomes louder in some places and quieter in others. The body feeds the wolf that knows how to keep us alive.

Our emotions often lag behind this process. They arrive later, or all at once, or in waves that feel out of proportion to the present moment. Grief may surface years after the loss. Anger may ignite when safety finally appears. Fear may linger long after the danger has passed. From the outside, this can look confusing. From the inside, it feels like being pulled by forces that do not agree with one another.

This is where many people begin to judge themselves. Why am I reacting this way? Why can’t I calm down? Why does my body keep doing this when I know better? But trauma is not a failure of insight; it is a mismatch between what the body learned in survival and what the heart longs for in safety.

The body feeds the wolf it knows will protect us.

The emotional system feeds the wolf that needs to be felt.

Neither is wrong. They are simply out of sync.

Over time, this dissonance can embody the tissues. Fascia holds these patterns like a memory that never learned language. The body is not stuck in the past, it is simply repeating what once worked.

Healing is not about starving one wolf and forcing another to behave. It is about changing the environment inside the body so different nourishment becomes possible. Safety feeds regulation while presence feeds integration. Slow, respectful touch feeds the part of the nervous system that knows how to rest, and when the body begins to feel supported, the emotional system no longer has to shout to be heard.

This is where touch changes the conversation. It meets the body where learning first happened, beneath language and logic. The wolf that once guarded every moment can soften its watch, as the wolf that carries love, curiosity, and connection does not have to fight to survive; it is simply fed.

Holding onto trauma does not mean the wrong wolf won. It means the body did exactly what it was designed to do when safety disappeared. And healing is not a moral victory; it is a biological one. When the body learns that the threat has passed, both wolves can finally rest, and the system no longer has to choose between survival and feeling.

12/28/2025

If you or a client are stuck in shallow breathing patterns and your body won’t let go, here’s what actually works. 👇

Two breathing patterns that shift the nervous system from fight or flight into rest mode:

Option 1:
Sip the inhale in slowly, then a longer hissing exhale. This one comes from Yogalign, a modality I trained in here on Kauaʻi. The longer exhale is what matters. It expands the breath into the back and lengthens the spine without collapsing forward.

Option 2:
Two quick inhales through the nose, then a full exhale sigh out. Think of a kid calming down from crying. That’s this breath. Huberman talks about it, pilates uses it, and it works.

Both improve vagal tone and reset the nervous system. I use them on the table when I notice tension that won’t release.

Try them yourself right now. Your body will tell you which one works best for you! 🫁

12/26/2025

The Night Before Christmas

On the night before Christmas, I sit with you near, no fixing, no rushing, no urgency here.

The world has grown quieter, the light soft and low, and finally, beloved body, we both begin to slow.

I know what you have carried, the weight and the strain, the silent endurance of unspoken pain.

You tightened and held when the days asked for more, you stayed ever ready though weary and sore.

So tonight I bring presence instead of asking for repair, I offer you time and unburdened care.

Let warmth find the places that hid from the light, let fascia remember how softness feels right.

Let breath move deeper, unforced and unled, let vigilance rest, and the nervous threads shed.

I ask nothing of you but rest in this space, where healing arrives at a gentler pace.

Tomorrow will stir you with motion and sound, but tonight you are wrapped where stillness is found.

With gratitude glowing in candlelit fire, I honor the work born of your love and desire.

So soften, dear body, the night holds you tight, wrapped in peace, and in light, this oh holy night.

Merry Christmas, Dear Friends!
- The Body Artisan

12/23/2025

The neck & upper back is impossible to reach with a foam roller, so here’s a two-minute release you can do against any wall.

All you need is a ball and a pillowcase.​​ 🎾

Let me know if you try it or share it with a client! ⬇️

12/22/2025

Dry myofascial work creates that big wave you see in the tissue. 🌊

It’s effective, but it is uncomfortable for the client and hard on your hands.

Massage oils and creams are less viscous. You glide faster with less resistance, so you also get less of that fascial wave. It’s smooth, but you move too quickly for deep myofascial engagement.

MYO.RUB by sits right in the middle.

It creates just enough tack and drag to get that myofascial glide without the uncomfortable friction of working dry. And because you’re not sliding too fast, you can move at a pace where the nervous system actually tracks what’s happening.

This is what I use for most of my myofascial sessions. It’s designed for this kind of work specifically.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Highly recommend! My clients definitely feel the difference. 👐👣

12/16/2025

Sarga Bodywork was created here in Hawaii. 🌺

You can learn it anywhere in the world now, but there’s something different about learning it where it was created.

You’re steps from the ocean, fresh poke from a local spot, sunsets that make you stop whatever you’re doing. This island has a way of slowing you down in the best way possible. ❤️

Come train and leave recharged. Start your Sarga journey with a full tank instead of running on empty.

I’m teaching on Kauaʻi through 2026. Message me if you want details.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 🙏

12/14/2025

Those muscles running along the side of your neck from behind your ear down to your collarbone hold a lot of tension.

When they get tight, they can cause headaches, dizziness, jaw tension, neck stiffness, even vision issues.

A lot of people chase those symptoms without realizing they're all connected to tight neck muscles.

They get tight from looking down at screens, sleeping in weird positions, stress that makes you clench your jaw, or just holding your head in one position too long.

The good news is you can work on them yourself. I'm using the massager here, but you can also use your fingers.

Work slowly down the length of the neck from behind your ear to your collarbone. If you find a tender spot, pause there and let it soften before moving on.

Your body will tell you when it's too much. Listen to it.

Small, consistent self-care like this can shift patterns that have been building for months.

If this doesn't work, find me at on Kauai. 🌺👐

12/11/2025

A beautiful perspective

Because Community is Medicine
Thoughts on The Massage Championships

Massage has always lived somewhere between science and poetry. It is felt more than measured, and experienced more than explained. Because of this, the massage championships can stir mixed feelings. How do you evaluate something so personal, so subjective? And yet, within that subjectivity lives a deep and recognizable art form.

To me, a massage championship is not about crowning the “best” set of hands. It is about witnessing mastery in motion. Technique becomes brushwork. Ergonomics becomes longevity and self-respect. Flow becomes a conversation the body understands before the mind does. Communication becomes the bridge of trust. Innovation becomes the courage to speak your own language of care. Judges look not just at what happens on the table, but at the entire arc of the experience, from the first breath to the way the body leaves the room changed.

But more than anything, these championships are about community.

They are gatherings of artists who work in flesh instead of paint, who sculpt change through listening hands. To participate is to step into the circle, to both offer and receive, and to feel the many ways healing can be expressed. You receive bodywork that reminds you why you fell in love with this work in the first place, and you give bodywork that carries your signature, your rhythm, your story.

Some of the most meaningful connections in my life were formed in these spaces, between tables, between sessions, between moments of mutual respect. Friendships born from shared vulnerability, curiosity, and the courage to be seen. These are not competitions that divide, but mirrors that reflect what is possible.

I am sincerely looking forward to supporting my local organizer, Megan Reed, in the 2026 Utah Massage Championships. It is a joy to stand behind practitioners who bring heart, dedication, and artistry to their work. The Body Artisans will also be donating a four-hour class to the competitors, because growth, learning, and shared knowledge are what keep this profession alive.

The Massage championships are not about perfection. They are about presence. They are about honoring the many beautiful ways touch can heal. And at their best, they remind us that while our styles may differ, we are all working from the same intention, to care for the human body with skill, integrity, and soul.

And if competing isn’t your path, come to witness. Sit in the room. Watch the art unfold through the hands of your fellow bodyworkers. There is so much to learn just by observing how each person listens, flows, and tells their story through touch.

utahmassagechampionship.com

12/09/2025

When you do a thorough intake, you're not just gathering information. You're looking for patterns.

Ask about their work. Ask about recent stress or changes in their life. Ask how they sleep, what their family situation is like, if anything major has happened recently. Ask about their daily routine and how they actually use their body.

The answers tell you what's really going on.

Stress shows up as fascial holding patterns. Sitting all day at a desk rounds the shoulders and tightens the chest. Driving long stretches can create low back tension. Trauma changes the pace and depth of your breath.

When you understand the full picture, you know which techniques will actually help. You're not just chasing symptoms. You're addressing the root pattern.

This is what separates effective bodywork from just making someone feel good for an afternoon. We work with the whole person, not just the part that hurts.

The body doesn't separate physical pain from life stress. Your assessment shouldn't either. ❤️‍🩹

12/07/2025

I work with fascia. I don't necessarily work with meridians, or at least I'm not trained to.
They're technically different, but as the science of the body evolves, we're learning that maybe, they're not.

Western anatomy gives us one language for the body.
Eastern medicine gives us another.

You can call it vagal tone, you can call it a knot, you can call it blocked qi.

They're both describing the same tissue, the same systems, the same patterns. Just from different angles.

I don't think we have to pick one framework and dismiss the rest. The body doesn't live by a single map. It's chemistry and memory and fascia and energetic flow all at once.

What I've learned from studying multiple approaches is that they all see something true.

Fascia is mechanically responsive and it follows pathways that look a lot like meridian lines. Lymph moves like a tide and it stalls when we're stuck.
Organs hold emotional patterns and they also shift with breath and touch.

I'm not interested in proving one system right and the others wrong.
I'm interested in what happens when you understand the body through multiple lenses.

As bodyworkers, we're translators. We listen to where the systems intersect and the stories meet.

I hope I inspire you to embrace the systems that resonates most with you. 🧬

12/03/2025

12/02/2025

I'm opening up my 2026 teaching schedule for Sarga 101 👣

Four courses on the island of Kauaʻi in Kapaʻa, small groups of 6 practitioners each.

🌺 March 4-7, 2026
🌺 June 17-20, 2026
🌺 September 16-19, 2026

35 CEUs when you complete both the in-person and online portions.

I keep the class size small because I want to actually work with you, not just demonstrate at the front of a room. You get focused 1:1 attention throughout and your questions answered as they come up.

If your hands are tired or you're curious about working more sustainably, pick a date that works for your schedule. Learn more at https://www.kauaimassagetherapy.com/learnsarga 👣