The Knee That Started Everything
When I first moved to Austin, I knew all of two people. I was a new hire at a big tech company, sitting all day, and filling my free time with 5am five-mile runs and 90-minute Bikram yoga classes. I had no idea what prehab or strength training meant. I was pretty clueless, and I didn't realize I was headed somewhere painful.
After months of overusing my body, I started feeling an odd sensation in my knee. Back then, I heard things like "pain is weakness leaving the body." I cringe at that now, but at the time I ignored it and pushed on.
It only got worse. It felt like someone was holding a candle to my knee. Stiff, burning, constant. I stopped running. I stopped yoga. I gained weight. I went to doctors, got referred to an orthopedic surgeon, and walked out more frustrated than when I walked in.
The surgeon mentioned surgery without ever discussing what was actually causing the pain.
A coworker suggested a massage school nearby. I was desperate enough to try anything.
The massage was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. The therapist worked fast and deep, and I squirmed through the whole session convinced it wasn't working. Then I sat up, put my feet on the floor, and the burning in my knees was gone.
She explained that my knees weren't the problem. They were just where my trigger points were referring pain. The real culprit was my quads. My mind was blown. I enrolled in massage therapy school about a month later, and I've been doing this work ever since.
Finding Applied Neurology
For years, even after resolving my knee and hip pain, I had to foam roll almost every day just to stay ahead of the discomfort. Anyone who does this consistently knows how uncomfortable, sometimes painful, that practice is. It worked, but it meant managing pain through more discomfort, day after day.
When I found Applied Neurology, I went from foam rolling almost daily to maybe once a month, if at all.
Applied Neuro treats pain like what it actually is: a signal from a nervous system trying to protect you. Simple, targeted exercises give your brain clearer information, and when the brain feels safe, it turns the pain dial down. No pressure, no equipment, no gritting through it.
I still keep regular Ashiatsu appointments, but not because I'm afraid of what happens if I skip one. I go because it supports the work I'm doing with my nervous system, and because it genuinely feels good. That shift from managing pain to not needing to manage it anymore is what I now help clients find too.
Where I Am Now
Since 2011, I've been working with people dealing with low back, hip, and knee pain in Southwest Austin. My approach has evolved from clinical massage therapy alone to an integrated method combining Ashiatsu Barefoot Massage with brain-based Applied Neurology.
The clients I work with have already tried the chiropractor, the PT, the orthopedic specialist. Some have had surgery. They want results that hold.
I practice what I teach. The same tools I use on clients are the tools I use on myself.