Alyssa Jean (AJ) Soracco, Licensed Massage Therapist

 - The New School for Massage, Bodywork & Healing - 2005

 -Iillinois Board of Higher Education Certified Instructor of Bodywork and Massage Therapy since 2006

 - Certified Prenatal Massage Therapist since 2006

 - Certified Intrinsic Coach since 2010

 - Certified in Myoskeletal Alignment Technique (MAT)  since 2012

 

I believe in helping my clients create balance in their lives.  This includes physical, emotional, work/life, stress, health, wellness...almost anything!  I used to subscribe to the "No Pain, No Gain" philosophy.  Over time, I have learned that "less is more" some times, and/or for some clients.  Sometimes it is better to make less progress in a session if that's all the client's body/mind/spirit is able to do in that day.  Sometimes it is OK to deviate from a treatment plan because something else became a priority between the last session and the next one.  Massage and bodywork have a cumulative effect.  There are no magic pills or panaceas.  It takes time.  It ebbs and flows.  Progress is rapid sometimes, and can stagnate in other sessions.  When we create and maintain a trusted partnership, we can discuss and modify treatment plans based on short, mid and long term goals.  

I believe our bodies and minds are one thing.  Emotional health and physical health are one and the same thing.  No one single thing we do, say, ingest, feel or experience in our daily lives is the cause of all of our worries and ailments.  Nor is one single thing the solution.  It's the combined experiences, healthful choices and interactions we have had and continue to chose that make us who we are, right at this moment!  In another moment, it will change subtly, and the next, and the next, etc.  Massage and bodywork is a part of making these consistent choices day after day, week after week, etc. that cumulatively have an effect on us.  We have to keep making those good choices as consistently as reasonably possible over and over to achieve, maintain and transcend the good, healthy lifestyle goals we desire.  Not just one massage, one dietary change, nor one walk by the lake will cure us.  We have to keep making these choices throughout our lifetimes.

Why I do what I do:  

I have been giving and receiving massage and bodywork since the late 70's/early 80's.  Back then, I thought of massage as part of my training regime for competitive swimming.  We had a "no pain - no gain" philosophy of wellness, training, fitness and performance.  (By the way, those are four totally separate things, but we will talk more about that in our sessions.)  We worked out for 2 hours, twice a day (before and after school).  We qualified for State and National Junior Olympic Teams year after year, and competed and won medals in the annual State level competition.  It was an intensely demanding commitment physically, mentally, emotionally and in the amount of time sacrificed from social, family and other obligations.  Our Coach used an Old World European philosophy of conditioning and massage as part of the training and recovery process.  Massage works very well with a training program to help muscles recover faster.   Training causes intentional damage by tearing muscle down so it can rebuild and become stronger/faster/more sculpted, etc…or whatever the goal of the training is set to achieve.  Massage enhances the recovery time and quality of results achieved by the training to help the athlete with their performance.  Coach trained us to massage each other before and after training and events.  We were supposed to partner up and just work in pairs, but I loved it so much I was massaging more than I was resting and recovering.  Doing massage made me feel good, knowing that I was helping my teammates feel and perform better in competition.  It felt good be able to contribute to the team both in my individual successes and by helping my teammates excel in theirs as well.

 It didn’t occur to me that massage could help with other parts of people’s lives such as relaxation, recreation, health and emotional wellness, etc. until much later.  In the 90’s, massage because part of my life for a new reason; stress and pain management!  After college, I was lucky enough to start a career with a competitive actuarial and consulting firm.  I worked hard and I worked long hours.  I was the first one in and the last one out.  I put in the hours and proved myself for gradual increased responsibilities and promotions to supervision and eventually management.  I traveled to client sites and also other office locations within the Firm to do internal diversity, leadership training, and associate development.  I worked the profitable client side of the business while also building the level of quality of our internal human resources within the Firm.  I used massage as a way to “sharpen my work tools” of my body and mind so I could do my best work for the Firm and our clients.  At first, receiving massage helped me manage my workload and stress levels. Massage helped me be calm and balanced, even while negotiating millions of dollars in contracts, and thousands of dollars in pay structure conversations with my subordinate associates.  After working nearly 80 hour weeks for the last 5 years of my career with the Firm, I finally realized I needed more work/life balance than receiving massage alone could provide.  

I left the corporate world for unchartered territory.  I was searching for a career where I could feel fulfilled by helping people and also have some autonomy over working directly with the client to create custom solutions for their concerns.  I also wanted a career where I could form lasting relationships and continue to be of service to my clients.  I wanted to find ways to enhance people's lives through whatever product/service I would provide.  While I was searching for this still unknown-to-me career, I was still receiving weekly massages to help ease my transition and recover from the years of overwork, stress and honestly what we now know is called corporate abuse.  At that moment, I decided I would take 6 to 18 months off and do what made me happy.  Massage.  I decided to go to massage school for 6 months while I took time off work and time off figuring out what I wanted to do, and just do what I loved to do to make myself happy:  Massage.  

Well it’s been about 16 years now since I stopped looking for my next career and instead just focusing on doing what I love.  Quitting my 'real' job to take care of my own health and wellness turned out to be the greatest career move I've ever accidentally made.  Thank you for reading this all the way through.

 

Be the change...