Stick Work
Release years of built up physical and emotional tension and pain by retraining the nervous system to let go of it all
This is your opportunity to have your soul listened to and treated for the pain and suffering its holding on to.
Whether you’re carrying intense trauma or you simply have something nagging at you and don’t know how to let it go, stick work will allow your body to be heard so that the tension you’re carrying can be released.
This goes beyond talk therapy and straight to the source of what is creating the discomfort: your body.
As I listen to your body, I pinpoint the areas of your body that are holding the tension, teaching it to release while I also coach your mind to be at ease.
In doing so, you’ll find yourself experiencing life in a new way.
What is stick work?
Stick work is a nervous system retraining using hands and objects (such as massage sticks) to help the body release fear and tension.
The nervous system is where we hold our patterns of tension. Targeting centers of tension and pain in the body allows the focus to be on where we have conditioned patterns of living in our lives. These conditions and patterns have served our lives with a purpose but may not be necessary to living a life full of freedom. Without these patterns of living, life might feel a little off, but new possibilities to act on ones own accord have greater possibility. Together we’ll retrain your body to let go of the tension on its own so that you can gain that freedom to act.
This is more of a conscious effort than a typical massage, but not in the way that you have to think through anything. You simply have to have the willingness to let go and relax. It is that conscious release that makes this such a powerful technique in reconditioning both the mind and the nervous system. Once you finally let go of the inner tension is when you finally drop the baggage you’ve been holding onto.
What does a typical session look like?
I begin every session listening to the body and asking it what it needs. What is it that it is asking to let go of? How can I best facilitate that release?
I’ll then work through what I’m called to. Typically this is using my massage sticks to open up the spinal muscles, releasing the spinal tension, opening up energetic channels to flow. I’ll then move to acu-point work with the sticks. This releases specific areas of the body that hold the most tension (think muscle knots). Then I’ll move to a softer massage that helps to ground the energy of the body. Finally I’ll use percussive massage to help the body release whatever else it is holding onto and allow for a deep relaxation to set in.
There isn’t a solid routine that I follow every time. Your body is unique and has it’s own intelligence that it asks for. My most important job is to listen to your body as it communicates to me what it needs.
If there is ever something that you know you need and I can help with, let’s explore that. The greatest healer for your body is you. I’m only here to help facilitate that healing.
My Training
Stick Work, as I have learned it, has been developed through Bob Gardner, someone with significant martial arts and energy healing training (Russian Systema, Kung Fu, Tai Ch’i, etc.). In his search for how to end his suffering with depression, addiction, and anxiety, he stumbled upon Russian Stick Work. After his first session he came home a different man and he knew he had stumbled upon powerful healing modality.
Combining his experience with Biodynamic Cranial Sacral Therapy and many other healing modalities, he honed the practice to help others release their emotions and inner burdens to return to the lives with a new sense of being.
On top of training with Bob, I have trained with his mentor, Alexsej Sopronov, a wonderful man from Latvia who has dedicated his life to this work.
I’ve also spent much of my time practicing Russian Systema, the marital art that holds the elements that help someone relax through the session.
If you’d like to learn more about Bob and his experience follow the link below. I also highly recommend attending one of his retreats.
Stick Work Origins
A video, created by my mentor Bob Gardner, describing Stick Work.
Stick Work Demonstration and Explanation
Demonstration by Bob Gardner from The Freedom Specialist LLC.