MAGIC HANDS - POSTED By Airika Casebolt “Baltimore Beauty Examiner” May 23, 6:15 PM
Before we begin, do me a solid and go to my favorite Baltimore classic rock radio station,
100.7 The Bay, and use their online request tool. Type in “Magic Man” by Heart. As soon as the
song starts, please continue.

Is it on? Good, I think it will help set the mood.

I am fortunate to have been the recipient of many professional massages in my life, particularly in my
tenure as an aesthetician. It’s one of the extra-sweet perks of working in the spa industry, to be sure.
Massage is kind of like pizza-even if it’s not exceptional, it’s still good, ’cause pizza is just yummy by its
very nature, and it feels good to be touched, whether it is a back rub from your sweetie or a
deep-tissue extravaganza from a pro.

However, an hour-long session with a massage therapist is considerably more expensive than a
pepperoni pizza. In the current state of the economy, you feel a lot more disappointed if you pay
a hundred bucks and get a mediocre massage than if your $2.50 slice is too greasy. It is for this
reason that I feel a responsibility to you, dear reader, to inform you that The Greatest Massage Of
All Time is right here in the City of Charm, and I can prove it; the other day, your Beauty Examiner
was the grateful recipient of The Greatest Massage Of All Time, heretofore known as The GMOAT.

This is the room where I experienced The GMOAT. Sigh…
The GMOAT was performed upon me by a magic human called Ryan, and it took place at (a spa he is no longer involved with)* nestled between Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill.

From the moment his hands touched my skin, I felt almost as if I was humming with a sort of warm,
gentle kinetic vibration. Within the first ten minutes, after following his gentle instruction to breathe
into the pressure, my ravaged muscles began to succumb to the GMOAT. After twenty minutes, a small
puddle of drool formed on the floor beneath my slackened lips. I lost all concept of time and space, but
I think it was around the thirty-minute mark that I proposed marriage at least once. I am fairly certain
that I tried to convince Ryan to run away to a tropical island with me. “We’d have a good life”,
I reasoned. “You could massage me all day and we’d live off of coconut cream pies, like on
Gilligan’s Island.” Ryan politely demurred, as he is extremely professional, but I think it’s a flawless
plan.

During The GMOAT, Ryan had performed a few different techniques; the Therapeutic Massage
involves a variety, depending upon Ryan’s assessment of the client’s needs. I experienced a
transcendent combo platter of Craniosacral, Hot Stone and Deep Tissue therapies. I’m pretty s
ure the Craniosacral. which is where Ryan makes incremental adjustments in the connective
tissue in the skull, affected me the most, because I felt weirdly floaty for several hours afterward,
lighter and more clear, somehow.

After The GMOAT, Ryan brought me cool water and suggested I wait a little bit before trying to
get up, which turned out to be a good idea because I could not steady myself to stand for a few minutes.

The true mark of a great massage is how you feel the next day. I received The GMOAT on
a Monday, and on Tuesday I noticed that not only was there no pain (unlike most other
massages I’ve had) but my hips felt more even, and my legs were crackling with vitality.
I have Degenerative Disc Disease, so this sensation was both a relief and a pleasure.

So many components make up The GMOAT, but the primary one is the exceptional skill of the
therapist. Other things are important too, of course; the atmosphere of the location in which
you are being treated is calm, soothing and safe. The table you’re laying on is of high quality,
sturdy and firm yet more comfy than any piece of furniture in your house. The temperature in
the room is controlled, so that you don’t get a chill, but you never feel too warm. All factors
were firmly in place, but the magic hands really make The GMOAT.

To schedule an appointment with Ryan to get your own GMOAT, please call  443-450-4339*
From a client of Her Majestie’s Healers, I got this mention….

“I treated myself to an hour-long massage at Her Majesty’s Healers, making a special request for Ryan Ogle, of www.magickhands.com. He is truly well-named; his hands really are magick. He loosened up some particularly stubborn knots in my shoulders which had been brought on by the new physical technique I’ve been relearning lately. If ever you’re in need of some serious bodywork, I can highly recommend him.” - Rosanna Tufts-Prothero, Professional Vocalist and Opera Singer. October 2006

Prenatal massage shares many of the goals of regular massage — to relax tense muscles, ease sore spots, improve circulation and mobility, and just make you feel good. But it’s also tailored specifically to the needs of pregnant women and their changing bodies, and therapists who are trained in prenatal massage adjust their techniques accordingly.

• emotional support and nurturing touch;
• relaxation and decreased insomnia;
• stress relief on weight-bearing joints, such as ankles, lower back and pelvis;
• neck and back pain relief caused by muscle imbalance and weakness;
• assistance in maintaining proper posture;
• preparing the muscles used during childbirth;
• reduced swelling in hands and feet;
• lessened sciatic pain;
• fewer calf cramps;
• headache and sinus congestion relief.

The paperwork finally got processed to accept the last few credits required by Maryland’s MTAC. I am now officially a Maryland Certified Massage Therapist.

This means I can now accept medical referrals from other healthcare practitioners, such as Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Doctors and Nurses. It also means that you may be able to be reimbursed for my services by your insurance provider, based on their policies regarding massage.

Due to the wording of the MTAC regulations, insurance companies do not have to honor my billing direct. Therefore I can provide proof of services rendered, however I will still need to bill individuals direct.

Check with your insurance provider to see if they are willing to work with Massage Therapists on your recovery program.

WOW!!! The past few weeks vending at Four Quarters Interfaith Sanctuary during Gaian Mind, along with Drum & Splash has really filled me with great amounts of self-confidence. The great people I’ve met in such beautiful natural settings has truly brought to fruition some lifetime goals and made me realize an entirely different plateau of this healing craft.

In doing so I’ve extended my summer season to include Sirius Rising (July 16 - 22) and Starwood (July 24 - 29) at the Brushwood Folklore Center in Sherman, NY. Daveed Korup also contacted me this past weekend to partake in vending the BIRDS Annual at the end of September in Downtown Baltimore.

If things continue to pickup, this website may become more necessary then ever to nail down my location and availabilty.

I will no longer be offering service through the Red Door Spa in CrossKeys. I’ve left the company due to differences in perspective regarding retail sales and ethical differences. I welcome any of my previous Red Door Clients to come seek out my services elsewhere. Feel free to email me via info@magickhands.com to request information about my current whereabouts and availability.

I am also welcoming special event and work opportunities with the summer months ahead.

I have just returned from Virginia Beach, where I spent the past several days connecting with some wonderful bodyworkers and manual therapists over the Upledger Institute’s CranioSacral II training. We worked with the bones of the face through various intraoral techniques, and were introduced to the deeper work of unwinding the limbs, arcing, and the beginning techniques of SomatoEmotional Release. The work is fascinating in its depth and I look forward to offering these newly acquired tools to my cliental. During the sessions, we also observed our instructor Charles Gilliam working with 2 infants and the gentle yet powerful techniques that are used with pediatric clients. Upledger Institute suggests completion of CST level 5 - training prior to accepting the young ones as clients, and I do not plan on bending that consideration, but it was truly mesmerizing to watch the gentle way in which Charles connected with the little ones. Thank you much to the parents for allowing me to witness this.

I offer 90 minute Hot Stone treatments. Due to the amount of preparation this massage requires, it is necessary to give prior notice that you desire this service.

ABMP’s journal Massage and Bodywork offered a great supplemental article this April/May issue which revues additional safety concerns and procedures regarding stone work, due to the large amount of uninformed individuals practicing the procedures and the increasing amount of litigation due to injuries sustained, the majority of which are burns.

Informed practitioners who work with stones, can offer fantastic results for individuals who suffer from longterm chronic pain, when combined with deep tissue massage. Stay tuned for more information.

I attended a marvelous professional certification seminar with Upledger Institute this past week (2/22 - 2/25) at the Tremont hotel here in Baltimore, MD. I have to say I’m deeply moved and the subtle power of the modality and look forward to utilizing the tools in my practice. I am currently gathering experience with the 10 Step protocol, in anticipation of taking CranioSacral Level II in April. This will allow me to seek out the CST (Cranio Sacral Therapist) professional certification, as well as enable me to provide CranioSacral treatment while on duty at the Red Door as well.

My instruction was provided from a gentlemen by the name of Tim Hutton, from Washington state. Tim is an ex-physicist from MIT, who switched his careers after an overload of heavy metals and radioactive poisoning threatened his health, and he came to CST to find relief and healing. It was soon after that he switched his life path to full time healing, as a massage therapist with CST as the main focus of his work. He is a most pleasant individual with a wonderful calming presence. I truly enjoyed the structure of the Upledger training and the support that was offered through the addition of the Teaching Assistants, that made themselves available throughout to make certain that we could all “get it!” as it were.

My fellow therapists ran the gamut from Occupational Therapists, Massage Therapists, Physical Trainers, Nurses, Physical Therapists, and Psychiatrists. We all seemed to be open-eyed and awe inspired by the simplicity and synergy of learning the modality while in tandem receiving the work from each other. Although the four days were fairly transient for me, I feel that the short amount of time that I spent with those individuals was a deeply bonding experience. I hope all of you that attended had as powerful an experience as I did.

National Geographic, recently featured an article making mention of the therapeutic effects of CST.

CST was pioneered and developed by osteopathic physician John E. Upledger following extensive scientific studies from 1975 to 1983 at Michigan State University, where he served as a clinical researcher and Professor of Biomechanics.

CST is a gentle, hands-on method of evaluating and enhancing the functioning of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system - comprised of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.

Using a soft touch generally no greater than 5 grams, or about the weight of a nickel, practitioners release restrictions in the craniosacral system to improve the functioning of the central nervous system.

By complementing the body’s natural healing processes, CST is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and is effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction, including:

• Migraine Headaches
• Chronic Neck and Back Pain
• Motor-Coordination Impairments
• Colic
• Autism
• Central Nervous System Disorders
• Orthopedic Problems
• Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries
• Scoliosis
• Infantile Disorders
• Learning Disabilities
• Chronic Fatigue
• Emotional Difficulties
• Stress and Tension-Related Problems
• Fibromyalgia and other Connective-Tissue Disorders
• Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome (TMJ)
• Neurovascular or Immune Disorders
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Post-Surgical Dysfunction