Biography of Cathie Woods

Education:  I graduated from massage school and was licensed in Oregon in 1989.  I attended the University of Alaska Massage Therapy Program in 1999, taking courses in Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology and Advanced Massage Techniques.  I am nationally certified and in addition I have 100 hours of acupressure training.    I have completed the Foundations training in Svaroopa Yoga that allows me to teach simple, easy yoga poses to help restore health to the spine

Experience:  I have over 20 years of experience as a massage therapist.  For fifteen of those 20 years I specialized in deep tissue massage with an emphasis on pain relief and joint mobilization.  I worked out of a chiropractor’s office for seven years in Eagle River, Alaska.  Over the past five years I have combined my knowledge of anatomy, massage techniques and acupressure to achieve a gentler, more holistic approach to bodywork.  I have taught anatomy for a reflexology certification program and have taught classes in acupressure for people who want learn to work on each other to relieve common muscular complaints.  I teach yoga classes that concentrate on simple, easy poses that have a restorative effect on the whole body.  This class is especially beneficial for those with chronic, low grade pain in their back, neck or hips.

Motivation:  In my early twenties I suffered a “slipped disk” in my mid-back and was in acute pain for a number of years.  Thirty years ago bodywork was relatively unknown.  I have experienced the hopeless feeling of being in pain and having only the temporary remedy of muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory.  As a result of this experience I became passionately dedicated to understanding the body and to developing techniques to relieve the pain and suffering of others.  I do not believe that pain is the natural result of aging.  I believe that most of the pain that people suffer – back pain, joint pain, neck pain can be relieved with the help of a knowledgeable body worker.

Techniques:

Deep Tissue Massage: Deep tissue massage differs from relaxation massage in the depth of the tissue it affects.  While relaxation or stress reduction massage primarily employs long light strokes to relax the body; deep tissue massage uses knowledge of the attachment of muscles to achieve release of muscle spasms around joints.  Muscles, tendons and ligaments become shorter as a natural process of aging.  Because muscles often span joints, with the reduction in muscle length there is less room for the joint to perform its function and the likelihood of injury is increased.  It is one of the reasons we are so much more prone to injury as we get older.  Achieving joint mobility and maintaining it is important to a vital and active aging process.

Acupressure: Acupressure uses the same system as acupuncture for its effectiveness without the needles.   Acupressure is a gentle, whole body approach that can address not only muscle contraction but also can be used to treat such conditions as asthma, stomach problems, migraines and insomnia, to name only a few.   One of the great benefits of an acupressure treatment is that it can be done with the client fully clothed.  This treatment is ideal for people who don’t get the bodywork they need because of modesty concerns.

Relaxation or Stress–Reduction Massage: Due to the pressure and busyness of everyday life, many people find they have forgotten how to really relax.  Without the down time of deep relaxation the body becomes more and more stressed as time goes on. Relaxation massage, because of its long soothing strokes, can help even the most stressed out person let go of both the tension in the body and the constant chatter of the mind.  Many people find that a session on the massage table helps to restore that almost forgotten feeling of deep physical and mental relaxation.