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.
Hi, I’m Nathan.
I attended and played baseball at Willamette University, and earned my degree in Exercise & Health Science in 2019. While deciding if I wanted to go into grad school for physical therapy, I shadowed incredible DPT providers for 160 hours in CA & OR. My senior year, I wrote a thesis focused mainly on prehabilitation vs. surgical intervention. Having numerous injuries throughout my athletic career, especially as a younger athlete who did not understand my own body and how to take care of it—caused several setbacks. Using what I learned in college and under mentorship, I created a recipe of performance and health knowledge to implement into my career.
Before applying to get my doctorate in physical therapy, I gave myself an offseason to try out for professional baseball teams. I worked my way up from a Division 3 athlete to competing against some of the best competition in the world. Over the last 6 years as a professional athlete, I have been refining that recipe I used to keep myself healthy while elevating my performance on the field. I now provide assistance to athletes and non-athletes who want to stay healthy and improve their own performance. I enjoy working with those who want to elevate and become the best version of themselves.
I look forward to connecting to see how movement and performance coaching can help you.
A session with me might look like:
Situational Assessment
Whether it’s walking easier or performing at the highest level in the sport, improvements can always be made. An athletic movement is achieved by the whole body working coercively. We will assess what is currently going on with your body and discuss goals together and how to get there.
Bodywork Plan
The human body is designed to move energy efficiently. When it does not, performance is hindered and mechanical breakdown may cause pain and lead to injury when not addressed. The plan to improve is never a rigid one but a process by which we will collaborate dynamically in the process. During sessions I will have the equipment necessary to either help you change a movement pattern or strengthen an already existing one, and in some cases both.
Who I work with:
People who want long term improvement. People who want to understand why they may be under performing or getting injured. People who are curious why their habits are resulting in the body breaking down. People who want to be active in their own self improvement.
Reconnect with your body.
Move with more ease.
Your body is individual. Your bodywork should be too.