Why Total Pause Feels Different
Many massage therapists work with muscles, joints, and connective tissue.
At Total Pause, the work also includes an awareness of the nervous system and the subtle ways stress, emotion, and life experience can be held within the body.
In addition to being a Licensed Massage Therapist, I am trained in Reiki and energy-based healing practices. While massage works through skilled therapeutic touch, Reiki training cultivates a deeper awareness of energetic and nervous system patterns that may be present during a session, something I like to refer to as a “Reiki-infused massage.”
For some clients, this simply feels like a greater sense of relaxation, presence, and ease. For others, it may feel like a deeper connection between body, mind, and awareness. Regardless of how it is experienced, the work remains grounded in therapeutic massage and individualized care.
Unlike traditional Reiki sessions, which are often performed with little or no physical contact, Reiki at Total Pause is integrated into therapeutic massage when appropriate. This allows the benefits of skilled bodywork and energy-based awareness to work together within the same session.
The result is not a separate modality layered on top of massage. It is a more complete way of listening, responding, and caring for the whole person.
My background in philosophy, my own lived experience of burnout, nervous system dysregulation, and recovery, and my training in clinical bodywork all converge in the treatment room. I work slowly. I listen closely — to what your tissues are saying, to your breath, to what's held and what's ready to shift. I'm not trying to fix you. I'm here to create the conditions in which your body can do what it already knows how to do.
Credentials & Training
What’s Reiki?
As my practice deepened, I noticed something emerging in my work that the clinical training alone didn't fully account for — an intuitive, energetic quality in the therapeutic exchange that seemed to matter as much as anatomical precision. I sat with that awareness for a few months before acting on it.
That led me to pursue formal training in Reiki — a system of energy work rooted in the concept of universal life force energy. Reiki isn't something I impose on a session; it's a layer of presence and attunement that some clients will feel and others simply experience as an unusual depth of calm. Level 1 and Level 2 certified, I now integrate it where it's appropriate and welcome.
Energy work
Reiki Level 1 & 2 — Reiki Academy (2025)
Academic
BA, Philosophy — DePaul University (1999)
Licensure
Arizona LMT — MT-30396
School
Arizona School of Medical Massage & Wellness (2024)
Advanced technique
Primal Reflex Release Technique, Level 1 (2025)