Do you believe me? No? Are you sure? Well, you shouldn’t.

I’m not perfect. None of us are. And even though we may wish that our bodies always worked and felt perfect, we’re usually a greater or lesser distance from perfection.

While true perfection isn’t possible, all healers are dedicated to healing.

I’m grateful to my loyal clients in Seattle and beyond, who have stuck with me through the years. Thanks for coming up to Greenwood and getting your massages with me.

I’m not perfect, but most of my massages are solid gold and worth more than anyone could ever spend.

Tell me what’s going on in your body. Communication is so essential in giving and receiving the massage you need, that day, for a particular moment in your life.

There are many rewards to continuing to practice massage 12-25 hours a week, for 12 years. Professional integrity is shown in my recommitment to be even better, wiser, more caring in my massage treatments.

Healing can be rough for people. Healing one’s way out of bad habits can be slow, cumbersome, and yes, challenging. Healing out of a painful injury can be hard stuff, but it happens with help, over time.

When you come and see me for a treatment, you know you are literally in good hands.

I know my way around most any type of injury-affected or surgery-scarred body.

I know what it takes to really listen to a body and care for it with massage, so that the healing we get done in even just one session can last an entire lifetime, or at least lead to the path of that lifelong healing.

Perfection may not be attainable, especially living in these bodies that age and get bumped around by just the act of living. But on our best days we’re all aiming for something higher, aren’t we? Especially in how we feel and deal with living in our bodies day-by-day.

Being a massage practitioner for a dozen years can do things to a person; bring out a lot of different sides of one’s self, over time. A lot of powerful energy gets released and exchanged between hands, minds, arms, emotions—and bodies.

People get helped by the work I do for them, and they know this, in their bodies.

People tend to hold the healing practitioners known as “Healthcare Providers” up to a higher level—Doctors and Specialists. We act like these folks are some type of all-knowing oracles of good health, and as if they should be totally healthy themselves, of excellent moral character, and possess a depth of moral integrity most people in society just can’t live up to.

Do healers of every sort need to be model citizens for our clients to trust us and take us seriously? Is being a good person the same thing as being a good healer?

Have you ever wondered why your doctors and dentists and other high-ranking healthcare providers have such elaborate measures dedicated to creating a barrier between you and their treatment/consulting rooms? Is it about healing or about a power dynamic that has outlived its usefulness?

Maybe they don’t want you to think of them as real people with issues and foibles and secret junk food habits, or gasp, as cigarette smokers.

They want you to think of them as an authority on every aspect of health, which translates to your health.

But really, they’re just people. People with elaborate office set-ups that make people wait, feel uncomfortable, and worry. Why do doctor’s offices feel like a place where you’re always waiting to get bad news, and not the other way around?

What I want to point out is that all healer types are just human beings. They have flaws, messy relationships, and crazy ideas that don’t fit into their day-to-day place in the world. They have feelings, opinions, coping mechanisms… everything that everyone else has, including their patients.

In our current screwed-up healthcare system, massage practitioners are put into a referral system that is anything but intuitive and organic. It doesn’t reflect the real needs of people in pain, and it is far from easy to comprehend and get anything done with. It seems as if it has been put in place to prevent healing, and not the other way around. And while jumping through hoops may be a fine Olympic sport, forcing health providers of every type to do so is a waste of time and energy, and it does anything but facilitate healing.

In the world of massage, where I’ve been practicing bodywork…the façade isn’t important. I’m dedicated to healing people who come to me, healing myself and making myself clearer, and doing both with greater integrity and honesty. Every day, I strive to make healthy decisions. And help people who really need help.

There’s a price to pay for immediate gratification.

Check in with all your relationships with foods, drinks, substances and people.

Are they making you feel instant awesomeness and then a bummer down that lasts after?

Are they giving you sustainable goodness in your life with no obvious or apparent toxic or painful effects?

Awareness heals. Assess your life and be gentle with yourself. Be grateful for where your life is healthy and giving you love and life… And expand that joy.

This post isn’t really going to help that.

It’s to help you. And simply, I ask:

are you engaged in your own healing process? Do you care?

How long do you think about booking a massage session untill you reach out to call or email to do so?

And when you do call your massage person of choice… Finally… do you not ask for their next available appointment: Today?

Me; my massage schedule is booked out for 3 Weeks, currently.
You might get lucky if I have a recent cancellation.

Next ideas: call spas and cheep eeevil joints like massage envy and get what you paid for… And waited for.

Moral of story: don’t wait to book a real good working massage therapist for your massage session.

I know we’re all conditioned to expect our needs to be met now and today but massage, real treatment, that actually heals you deeply, doesn’t work that way. Those healers have schedules and they don’t work cheep. If you got a last minute treatment session once; you got lucky, dude.

Just like a good doctor, you must book the healing massage session in advance and then you must wait for your good massage treatment session.
Or you can get a cheep session  today that probably won’t do much for the deeper issue that pains you.

Sooooo
How long are you going to wait to book that massage your body is crying out for? You going to throw your aching body a cheep instant rub after it’s been punished by your daily habits of life for the last few months and/or years or are you really going to fulfill your Body’s deeper need for healing by doing a little planning, scheduling and budgeting?

Just wondering. Just curious over here.
Are you?

While they often think about getting a massage, they don’t.

They know it’s about self-care, and they don’t schedule because they have issues around taking care of themselves. Self-neglect? Maybe.

So I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone in Seattle who’s reading this now:

Massage is one of the only things I know of that feels fantastic and it’s actually good for you as well. And the more you receive massages, the better you’ll feel because your body is being healed on a deeper level each time.

And how many things in life have these qualities? (Not many.)

Most of the time…when something tastes really good or feels really good, it’s kind of bad for you. Or, if you have too much of that good thing (whatever it is) it turns out its bad for you to have it too often.

When people want to take care of themselves for health reasons, it can be a problem for them to get around to it because, often, things that are healthy require hard work or getting out of their zone, and out of a situation where discomfort makes procrastination happen.

So here’s massage: a way to feel indulgent and pampered and it supports a healthy lifestyle, while reducing stress, and helping to cure acute and chronic pain.

Why’s there such a resistance to getting a massage? I’m not sure.

I hope this will remind you to get massage regularly for health, and you’ll work it into your time budget and financial budget.

And I urge you to consider treating yourself to a massage whenever you feel like pampering yourself. Instead of getting a big dessert, or a bottle of alcohol, or a pretty little object from the shop down the street—you can be pampered in luxury while healing yourself. All in all, a pretty good way to spend an hour.

I’ve been coming out of a 6 year funk (that’s right, 6 years)
During that dark-night-of-the-soul, I’ve had to come to terms with just how much I’ve compromised and sacrificed my ethics, body, massage practice, creative, intellectual, and spiritual pursuits lately.

It’s humbling to realize I’ve given up so much for the indulgence of dark side/ negative ego desires.

I tried a few years back to give massage classes to couples and found I was not up for the challenge.

In retrospect, I see clearly how I was choosing to be drained of my creative power by destabilizing my moral foundation by giving in to baser needs.

It’s a bummer and it hurts to realize you’ve given up way too much for gain that has to be rationalized. It’s a big cost to compromise yourself and deny that the cost is far too high.

As I’ve been healing from my losses, I’ve been gaining my power back!

Creativity and ideas are bubbling up and I’m feeling excited in ways that can actually be sustained. I know I’m not being drained anymore. Now I can actually pursue projects and ideas with confidence that I will have the motivation in me to see them completed.

My latest idea has been to Co-teach a couples massage class with my good buddy and colleague, Alex Gwozda LMP.

He tried to get his own couples massage class going but it was a no-go. He couldn’t generate the interest.

I have a good feeling that this Co-teaching idea for a couples massage workshop will not only  be popular but will serve as a way for me to remind myself that I can still be powerful and contribute to the world in a useful and positive way.

Namaste!

We’ve weathered the snowpocalypse, and we’re ready to make it through the rest of winter, fortified with soup, tea, and supplements and healers we trust.

One thing everyone wants to do is get past the troubled, challenging times we’ve all lived through for the past several years. For so many people, life has been pretty far from perfect. But at least perfection is something we can all head toward, in our minds, hearts, lives. As for me, I seem to be attracting more of the perfect clients, ones that are just right for me.

We all make choices and are trying to create lives better for ourselves and those we care about. Choosing to work with one massage practitioner over another involves many small choices, and several large choices. Every massage therapist I’ve ever known is a giving person. Hell, they might even consider giving away their services…if they could. Unfortunately, people can’t just give away valuable services. Our culture just isn’t set up that way. Trouble is, we are all also trying to live lives and take care of ourselves.

As massage therapists, if we are amazing at what we do we get paid what we’re worth and we deliver a deeply healing experience.

Clients want a quality massage, and body workers want to live a good life. It is a good exchange when it works for both parties involved. Quality costs in all manner of purchases in our culture, cars, flat screen TVs, and nice clothes. But somehow, things seem to be worth more than an experience that’s going to last and improve your quality of life. Take a deep breath, feel how your body feels, and ask yourself what feeling your best is worth.

Welcome to my business blog. This will be the voice of Sierra that you will get on the web for now.

I have found that Facebook is like some sort of addictive problem on some levels for me so I have decided I am better off without it.

This post is the post I hope my buddies, family and friends will find when then notice that I am not to be found on their facebook.

I can imagine there will be a number of folks thinking that I unfriended them. That sucks but I’ll take the blows as they come.

I will be communicating with more frequency and only slightly more casualness on this blog as I will be filling a need I have found while in the throws of facebook addiction.

I need to blog

I might not have that “blogging gene” people in the SEO world talk about but I sure like to state my opinion and press “publish.”

Some articles Will still need to be edited and sent my rock and foundational business badass Russell Smith, but some posts… well, they’re going to be less formal.

I have been thinking about this for so long too. I have been thinking to myself… “shit, i need to get my business blog going somehow…. oy what’s happening on facebook… oh derp… years lost… oh crap… business blog… what do I do? I think I need to blog more casuallly… no no can’t do that. … too unprofessional… will frighten the civilians.”

and yet

here I am

needing to explain, in a nicely vague manor, compassionately sparing any raunchy horrifically loathsome details

why sierra faye kennedy … lmp.. is not on THEFacebok anymore.

for now

I might go back to it. all the invites to things and all.

I guess I should say… Don’t panic. Don’t panic folks, I am more than fine.
Bodywork has been the central preoccupation of my life. The focus, compassion and attention I give to my clients is beyond most of the practitioners you’ll find in this fair city full of a million massage therapists.

My business acumen has, unfortuately been lacking as some of my recently scheduled clients might agree.

I think it’s time to admit my mistakes and move on with re-commitments to calling and emailing people back with haste and courtesy.

I have been doing massage for 12 years and running this business for 8 years. I’ve changed the business name and niche twice and had two locations.

Sometimes one can get a little deep into a business rabbit hole and find themselves forgetting their professional ethics and letting things slip.

I guess I have to admit my jadedness.

long time in the field will do that to any person.

SO

here I am

not on facebook.

check me out here and I think you may find me here in  a way that suits your need to interact with me online.

Take care of yourself.

brush your teeth, drink water, work out, don’t avoid your problems and keep a positive attitude.

love yourself and always strive to forgive those who have been the cause of your pain.

release and let go.

be free and…

for God’s sake… get a fucking massage already.

Questions about my life seem to come up at odd moments and in mysterious ways when the season turns and there’s a chill in the air. Where am I in my life? How are my clients, these people who live in warm human bodies that I help with my massage practice? Where am I in my mental, physical, and emotional bodies? How much exercise am I getting? Could my diet be healthier? Why am I not posting more blog posts? Hey, wait, I’m doing it now…writing something that will connect with others…since I can’t be the only one having these thoughts…

I’m busy with new and long-term clients and I’m glad. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I relocated my business this year, up in Greenwood, in a sweet little nest of a house. I’m passionate about what I do, and when I perform deep tissue massage for people, I like seeing how they come out of my space…feeling lighter and more flexible…and in less pain. And my rates may be slightly higher than what’s now considered “market rate” for a massage in Seattle, but there are many reasons why an experienced massage therapist charges what they do. Such as…experience, knowledge, and being able to help people in ways that someone just starting out isn’t capable of doing. No matter one does for a living, there’s a dollar sign attached to it, and we should all be getting our true worth for our services.

When you go to a traditional Western doctor or hospital, they tell you how much it’ll cost and you pay with your credit card or write a check, but you don’t complain about it. There would be no point, you think. Same should be true with non-traditional  healers. If through your own healing experiences, you’ve found out that regular massage and Eastern modalities (like acupuncture and herbs) help keep your body in tune and on track, you are grateful to be healthy and aware of it, and you’re willing to pay for what works with your body. So, life, healing, seasonal shifts…and money as a fact of life…everywhere in the world. I invite you to ask your own seasonal questions, and find out why you’re feeling in a dark place, or maybe in a lighter place than people around you. What’s weighing you down, or making you feel lighter? How are you taking care of yourself as we enter the busy Winter Season?