The beginning of 2019 marked my 10th year of practicing massage in Auburn California and my 9th year of earning my NCBTMB massage and bodywork certification. I thought this would be a good time to reflect on this important milestone and share a bit of my story.
I began my bodywork career after earning my Bachelors Degree and working in community media for non profit organizations in Washington State. After several years of work, mostly with at-risk youth, I felt burned out and ineffective and was acutely aware of my need for a quieter more introspective life in which I could focus on health and wellness. I moved to California and turned my attention to a career path in the healing arts, finishing a massage school certification I had begun more than ten years earlier in Nevada City, California.
After completing my certification I quickly built a practice within a chiropractic office where I primarily treated patients using clinical, therapeutic deep tissue massage. Trained as a birth doula and passionate about childbirth, I’ve also specialized in pregnancy massage since the very beginning. Between 2009 and 2014 I briefly worked in a couple other locations, including a spa and a fitness center but found that working with my own clientele was much more rewarding. In late 2015, after almost seven years working within the chiropractic office, I moved my practice to downtown Auburn where I have been (in a few different buildings) ever since.
My practice is now fairly well rounded and I’ve added energy work and CranioSacral work to my modality tool box. I still work a lot with pregnant and postpartum women and their families and in the past couple of years have been working with many children and youth between the ages of around six to seventeen. The addition of CranioSacral Therapy to my practice has given me tools to help with a wider range of physical, mental and emotional concerns and clients with a wider range of ages and life situations. People come in for many reasons and I feel grateful to have tools to help in many ways. When I don’t have the skill or experience needed I love to refer to other local practitioners.
Ten years seems like a long time, but not nearly long enough! Understanding the human body, mind and spirit is an endless, amazing journey and each transition in my own life brings me to a new perspective on all of it. My second decade of practice begins with me as the mama of a two year old, with my tender heart wide open after the transformative experience of birthing a child and myself as a mother. I strive to provide a safe, nurturing space for my clients to experience healing on multiple levels, whether it is body, mind or spirit.
To be quite honest, I’m really not sure what the next ten years will bring! I have goals to pursue more education in child development, craniosacral work, somatic psychology and mindfulness education. I love being a mother to my children, cooking, gardening and herbs, spiritual practice, and helping my husband with our small mushroom farm, Foothill Fungi. My hope and dream is for a peaceful, creative life in which healing work, business pursuits, parenting and abundant living interweave in reverent and playful community.
CST is light touch, full clothed therapy which leaves clients in a deeply relaxed state. Clients often experience decreased pain and a sense of overall well being that continues long after the session is over.
Denise Obray, Certified Massage Therapist in Auburn California, has been working with a variety of communities, helping people for over 30 years. She is a compassionate and dedicated therapist who holds space for healing with each of her clients. For over 18 years she was a business owner who provided sign language interpreting services to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities throughout the nation. After becoming a Certified Massage Therapist, Denise was drawn to CranioSacral Therapy and helping people heal with the distinct light-touch techniques taught by The Upledger Institute and welcomes all clients, including those experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression and PTSD.
Trauma and Emotional Pain: How does Massage and Bodywork help?
found a significant decrease in cortisol (average 31%) and significant increases in serotonin (average 28%). In this fascinating study, researchers looked at depression (including sex abuse and eating disorder studies), pain syndrome studies, research on autoimmune conditions (including asthma and chronic fatigue), immune studies (including HIV and breast cancer), and stress on the job, the stress of aging, and pregnancy stress.
In Practice
er capacity to connect with other people. I kept my interpretations to myself out of respect for Joan’s inner wisdom and in recognition of scope of practice as a bodyworker and not a psychotherapist.
Joan’s wall had been transformed from an isolating barrier to a