About Hollace Detwiler:
I am a PA State Licensed Massage Therapist in Philadelphia. I have been practicing massage & bodywork since 2006. I absolutely LOVE what I do. I feel so grateful to have found my calling & passion in life. Having been an athlete when I was younger, playing almost every sport there was, I always felt connected to the physical body and movement. I am fascinated with human anatomy and how all the cells work together & communicate to create such a complex system as the human body. We are walking universes! I believe that the power we have to heal ourselves and help heal each other through hands on therapies is way beyond what most people in the Western world recognize yet but I do believe that we are on our way. My goal is to continuously enhance my skills and evolve my practice to help facilitate healing to the best of my ability.
I have been trained in many therapies including Myofascial Release, Craniosacral Therapy, Thai Massage, Thai Acupressure, Sports Massage and numerous others. I approach the body as a whole organism and strive to find the tension patterns that lead to discomfort or restriction & then incorporate whichever techniques I believe to be most effective for that particular session. I do my best to allow the clients body to tell me what it needs & support it in its own healing capabilities.
About Metta Body Therapy
'Metta' is a Pali word meaning unconditional love or loving kindness. I have read that in Buddhism it is said that metta is the way in which one should practice Thai Massage. I believe that all bodywork should be delivered with metta in order to be truly effective so I chose to call the practice Metta Body Therapy as a reminder to always work from a state of unconditional love. The actual techniques used vary from client to client depending on their condition & needs. Generally, numerous therapies are incorporated into a session but probably the greatest influence in my work is Myofascial Release. I approach the body as the 3 dimensional web that it is, connected from head to toe via the fascial system. This means that pain or discomfort in the shoulder or neck could actually be originating from a restriction in the sacrum or feet. It is crucial to look at the body as a dynamic whole rather than individual parts.
I work in a very detailed way & take the time to be attuned to the reaction of the body's tissue. I believe in working WITH the body not ON the body. I don't plow through tense muscles & fascia but rather meet the tissue at the tension point and work with it, encouraging it to change it's holding pattern. Sometimes that may require very firm pressure and sometimes it may not. As the human body is a very dynamic integrated system I believe that dynamic integrated bodywork is often what is needed to unwind and reorganize a bound up restricted body. The work I do can range from very deep and intense to very subtle and calming depending on what is needed. It's not always just about the physical tissue, ligaments, tendons and bones. A big factor in the condition of our bodies is the condition of our minds and our deeper inner being. In fact these things are not mutually exclusive. They are one in the same. For this reason I also work with the energetic body when I sense that that is where the work will be more beneficial. My goal when I do a session with someone is to understand their uniqueness (body, mind & inner being) and to sense what the best approach will be to provide optimal treatment. An Integrative Bodywork session is going to utilize various techniques to unwind the tension and congestion in the muscles & connective tissue. It may be fairly intense but will not push you past your comfort level. Generally the client will be unclothed & under a sheet (draping is 100% required). A Thai style session can also be done where the client is clothed in comfortable yoga-style clothing and lays on top of the sheet so that more involved stretching can be done. I also offer Craniosacral Therapy which is very gentle and does not require undressing.