The Maggie Story

The short version…

Hi, I’m Maggie. I’ve been a certified Massage Practitioner since 2005 and a Fascial Stretch Therapist since 2014. I teach group Barre, stretch and foam rolling classes, and I’m the creator of Release Technique. I focus on bringing mobility and ease of movement to my clients through deep massage, FST and rolling and I really, really enjoy empowering people to take charge of their bodies and learn to heal their pain.

My bodywork and exercise practice is largely informed by my upbringing as a ballet dancer and my former ownership for the well known, Oakland-based studio, Remedy Barre + Roll.

I’m interested in getting to know you, unwind your tension and work together to maintain a super functional, feel-good body. Book and session and join me!

And the long one…

Hey there and welcome. I’m Maggie. I’m a Massage Practitioner, a Fascial Stretch Therapist, and the creator of Release Technique. I’m a mom and a wife to a couple of rambunctious characters, and this is my story.

I was 3 when my mom put me in ballet class for the first time. I pretty much kicked and screamed about it my entire childhood, but she wouldn’t let me quit because she swore (and still swears, like any good ma) that I was the best one there. Now that I’m removed from that life, I can objectively say that I think a lot of the time she was right.

It wasn’t because I was blessed with a long, graceful body; in fact, I had the opposite. Looking back on those times, I realize now that I was a good ballet dancer because I felt my body in a way I couldn’t explain. When I extended my arms out to my sides they never just hung there…they constantly lengthened and subtly unfurled from my scapulae all the way down to the tip of my fingers. When I lifted my leg it didn’t just lift and stop, it grew…from my core, at the bottom of my ribs, into my hip girdle, spiraling down my leg and all the way down to my reaching, pointed toes. When I danced, energy beamed out of my limbs to no end and I could feel everything along the line of length within them. Every, tiny detail.

When I was 16 I became a bit more socially interested and stopped feeling my ballet as much. I got a little more lazy in class, didn’t try as hard and wanted to be other places. My body became a little “dumber,” I guess you could say. I wasn’t as in-tune anymore, and I didn’t really care.

I started to develop this pain in my hip. When I did any kind of leg kicks or lifts my hip would pop and it was really aggravating. The pain started to kind of always be there and I couldn’t get comfortable anymore. I went to see a physical therapist, she gave me some stretches to do that didn’t make sense to me, and said maybe I could cut down on the dancing for now.

So I decided to stop and be a teenager.

A couple years later, I moved away and began taking ballet classes again, which I’d continue until the age of 27. One thing in my life led to another (a story for maybe a different time) and I realized, without ever having gotten a massage or having any experience with bodywork, that massage therapy was 100% my calling. It was like a lightbulb had just exploded in my head and there was nothing else I wanted to do. It made sense…I was never great academically but I spent my entire life studying my own body, so why wouldn’t I be able to relate what I already intrinsically knew to other peoples’ bodies?

I was in massage school, I was loving it, and the day came when we learned some stuff around the pelvis and hips. A peer was digging into my hip when it dawned on me….this thing that had bothered me years before, this mysterious pain that I had forgotten about was staring me in the face. It was called the Psoas muscle. I realized something else:

When I was a young ballet dancer, my muscles were so strong and healthy as long as I utilized them well. When I stopped caring about ballet, I started using my muscles improperly and they failed me. Instead of accessing the deep strength I knew I could, I let my body create compensation patterns that led to strain and injury. That pain I had experienced all those years ago as a young dancer was nothing more than a psoas strain, that could have easily been released and worked on in a span of no more than 10 minutes.

Another lightbulb exploded.

Ever since my lightbulbs, I’ve been helping people realize the potential of their bodies' capabilities and disarm the mystery and fear we have around our aches and pains. In many cases your body is just asking you to pay attention, not to shut off or turn away. These little things that develop in our tissues that bother us are messages. The problem I help you to solve, is to translate those messages into tangible and actionable techniques.

After the birth of my son in 2019, I retired my traditional, sheets-and-lotion massage therapy practice. I still see people on the table for Fascial Stretch Therapy sessions every week, meet you one-on-one for virtual pain decoding and teach weekly Roll and Barre classes through my virtual studio, Release Technique. And, although I no longer dance, I still feel my ballet every day.

I guess I have my mom to thank for that.