COMPASSIONATE, EFFECTIVE THERAPY FOR RENEWAL, HEALTH & CONNECTION
trauma-informed care
My —
PHILOSOPHY
I believe massage should feel great to you! Massage allows us to connect with ourselves, stay active, and find some moments of peace.
My practice is based on compassionate and effective treatment. Connecting with people and helping them attain renewed health and real relaxation is my passion. I have a strong emphasis on empowerment and consent and all people are welcome. I treat kids, older people, any body type, all gender IDs, pregnant people and people who have had a hard time with massage before. I will do everything I can to make you feel comfortable.
I specialize in using massage to help you manage stress, overwhelm, headaches, jaw dysfunction, inflammatory conditions, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and ADHD. For PTSD/CPTSD I prefer to have a conversation first to make sure massage is the right step for you and answer any questions you might have.
I have a thorough understanding of movement, injury and healing from my Kinesiology degree and Wilderness First Aid background, as well as my massage practice. I enjoy working with people looking to stay active and move more freely and with less pain!
I treat responsively, adjusting the pressure and pace to suit your nervous system response. My treatments are intuitive, informative, and tailored to you! I use a blend of slow-paced relaxation techniques mixed in with therapeutic work, vagus nerve stimulation, stretching/muscle activation, and massage cupping to help you build a strong body-mind connection and get long-lasting symptom relief. I work collaboratively with you and with other practitioners to create a treatment plan that gets the best results.
I am a graduate of Vicars School of Massage Therapy (2200 hrs diploma), the University of Calgary (BKin) and am an Advanced Wilderness First Aid instructor.
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I'm working with the awesome team at Riverside Sports Therapy in Cochrane. Located in the new plaza on Griffin Rd next to the PetroCanada.
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Alanna-
"When you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything."
- Lao Tzu
MOVE MORE OFTEN. MOVE MORE FREELY.
MOVE WITH LESS PAIN.
SERVICES
You are always in charge of pressure, level of undress and where on your body we work. If you are nervous about massage, or have had a bad experience in the past please get in touch! I’d love to help you renew a positive experience with massage.
THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE
Effective treatment for musculo-skeletal conditions. Special interest in athletic injury, jaw dysfunction/TMJ, and headaches
RELAXATION MASSAGE
Slow down and let your nervous system relax. Soothing, relaxed and comfortable treatment with pressure to suit you!
CHRONIC PAIN
We will work together to find the right blend of relaxation, Vagus nerve stimulation and therapeutic techniques to help manage your pain.
VAGUS NERVE STIMULATION
The Vagus Nerve is vital to our physical and mental well being. We will learn about and practice vagus nerve stimulation through massage.
TRAUMA-INFORMED MASSAGE
Trauma-informed massage means that we recognize that anyone can be suffering from trauma and that trauma has real impacts on the body. I'll use extra communication and even more emphasis on consent than my regular treatments. If your main priority is calming your nervous system, trauma-informed massage is a good choice. We can work on helping you manage symptoms of stress, overwhelm, depression, anxiety, ASD and ADHD. If you have a PTSD/CPTSD diagnosis, please contact me first so we can make sure massage is a good fit for this stage of your journey. You are welcome to contact me with any questions. You can let me know you'd like to explore trauma-informed massage in the notes section when booking an appointment, or in person when you come for your treatment. You are also welcome to contact me for a free meet and greet to see if this is a good fit for you.
TRAUMA -
INFORMED
MASSAGE
ABOUT TRAUMA-INFORMED MASSAGE
Trauma informed massage is focussed on safety, collaboration, trust, empowerment, resiliency and awareness.
Safety: I believe you need to feel safe to experience healing. We will work slowly, adjust pressure to get just the right experience for you and only work where you are comfortable.
Collaboration: You are an expert of your body. You get to decide what type of massage you like, what goals will be set for each treatment, and whether we are meeting those goals. We will work together on your treatment.
Trust: A big part of building trust is communication and consent. These are always priorities in massage but even more so in trauma-informed care. You have the ultimate say over what part of your body you want worked on, your level of undress, timing, lighting, music and anything else about the treatment.
Empowerment & Resiliency: Trauma-informed massage focusses on the skills and resiliency you already possess. We emphasize the wins.
Awareness: We understand that trauma can affect anyone and that while living with trauma does not define you or your story, it can have a huge impact on you, including on your body. We do not work directly with your trauma in trauma-informed massage, there is no mental health counselling. We work around your trauma, striving to ensure that massage is not triggering or re-traumatising and helping you to reconnect to your body in positive ways.
Tory, Calgary
Alanna is one of those massage therapists whose intuition and training both culminate in an experience that allow both your body and soul to heal. Recommend unequivocally.
Malann, Cochrane
Alanna is wonderful at asking questions and getting to know your needs. She’s professional, yet friendly and very knowledgeable. A must try in the Cochrane area!
Heather, Calgary
I saw Alanna for headaches and got really great results. I have way fewer and less painful headaches now! Her massages feel effective and very relaxing.
GET IN TOUCH
I'd love to hear from you!