Hi, I’m Valerie.
Over 8 years ago, I started my career as a licensed massage therapist in Portland, Oregon. I’ve always been passionate about helping people, and nerding out about the human body.
Alongside some pretty incredible mentors and colleagues, I worked my way from Massage Envy up the ladder to the NBA. That experience gave me valuable information on how differently people move, feel, and experience the world we live in. Not only have I worked with people who want to relax and rehabilitate, I’ve worked with elite athletes who need to perform.
In the past eight years, I’ve worked inside spas, clinics, client’s homes, basketball arenas and soccer stadiums. Each day that I practice now is an opportunity to blend all the knowledge I’ve learned from those environments to provide the best I have to offer to my clients. For the first time, I’m taking my experience and skills out into the world under the umbrella of my own business.
The word Nexus means “an important connection between the parts of a system.” That is exactly the approach I bring to bodywork. Every session, every client, every day is a chance to bring a new idea or approach to working with the human body.
I always say “I’ve never done the same massage twice,” and I truly mean it. I love the process of learning new ways to work with people, their bodies, and their nervous systems. The relationship between the mind and the body is complex and unique to each individual. With intent and curiosity, I practice bodywork that meets each person where they’re at, on any given day.
If my approach to bodywork sounds like a good fit for you, I can’t wait for an opportunity to connect and work with you!
A session with me might look like:
We might get specific.
A neuromuscular or therapeutic approach might be appropriate when we’re working toward a particular restriction, movement pattern, injury, or persistent area of tension. We may use focused pressure, trigger point work, cupping, myofascial techniques, or other targeted techniques to address what’s happening beneath the surface.
We might slow things down.
Sometimes the body doesn’t need more intensity. It needs space to soften. A session may become more breath-focused, gentle, or restorative, using slower soft-tissue work and intentional pacing to help you reconnect with your body and slow your nervous system down.
Maybe somewhere in between.
Most sessions are a blend between approaches. We might spend time addressing a stubborn shoulder issue, then transition into broader work to help the rest of the body integrate the change. We may move between therapeutic, restorative, and relaxation-based techniques depending on what your body needs that day.
And sometimes, the plan changes.
What you came in expecting to address may not be what your body is asking for once we begin. I pay attention to those shifts and adapt accordingly.
Your health history, movement patterns, lifestyle, goals, stress levels, and feedback throughout the session all help guide the work.
You don’t have to know exactly what you need before you arrive.
Reconnect with your body.
Move with more ease.
Your body is individual. Your bodywork should be too.