The Body Artisans, Santaquin, UT (2026)

06/17/2026

We spend so much time trying to avoid mistakes. We want the perfect technique, the perfect class, the perfect treatment plan, the perfect answer. We read books, attend training sessions, and fill notebooks with information, believing that if we learn enough, we will finally feel ready.

But my favorite kind of education sneaks in through the moments when a treatment doesn’t go as planned, when a client teaches us something we didn’t expect, when we discover that the body doesn’t always follow the rules in the textbook, when we realize that what worked yesterday doesn’t work today.

Theory gives us a foundation. Practice builds our confidence. But mistakes teach us discernment.

A textbook can tell us where a muscle attaches. A class can teach us a technique. But only experience can teach us when to use it, when not to use it, and how to adapt it for the unique human being lying on our table.

The therapists I admire most are not the ones who have never made mistakes; they are the ones who stayed curious after making them.

They asked questions. They adjusted. They learned. They grew.

Nature understands this better than we do. A seed doesn’t apologize for not being a tree. It simply grows through every season it encounters. Wind strengthens it. Drought deepens its roots. Storms teach it flexibility. The challenges do not stop its growth. They become part of it.

Because the truth is, the moments we wish we could undo often become the very moments that shape us into better therapists, better teachers, and better humans.

06/16/2026

My hope for you today, dear friends.

May you bend instead of break. May you flow instead of force. May you trust that, like water, you can find your way through places that seem impossible.

When you’re caught between a rock and a hard place… be water.

06/16/2026

The Art of Alignment

One of the things I find myself talking about more and more as I teach is joint stacking. As a bodyworker, I feel like I was taught very little about this. But through my personal training certification, body mechanics became everything.

It may not be the most exciting topic in massage therapy, but after more than twenty years in this profession, I have become convinced that it is one of the most important.

I often watch therapists working incredibly hard to create pressure. Their wrists are bent, their shoulders are elevated, their elbows are flared, and their low back is doing most of the work. By the end of the session, they are exhausted and sore, wondering how long their bodies can keep up.

The irony is that pressure was never meant to come from effort.

It was meant to come from alignment.

When our joints are stacked, force travels through the skeleton rather than being generated entirely by the muscles. Bones are remarkably good at carrying load. Muscles, on the other hand, fatigue. They compensate. They develop trigger points. They become overworked trying to stabilize positions that our skeletal system was designed to support.

I often tell my students to imagine a stack of stones. When each stone sits directly on top of the one beneath it, very little effort is required to keep the structure standing. Move one stone slightly off center, and suddenly everything around it must work harder to prevent collapse.

The body works much the same way.

When the wrist is stacked beneath the elbow, the elbow beneath the shoulder, and the ribcage balanced over the pelvis, pressure can travel from the ground, through the legs, through the core, and into the client with surprisingly little effort. Instead of pushing with the arms, we begin transferring body weight. Instead of muscling through a treatment, we learn to flow through it.

This becomes even more important for therapists living with hypermobility or connective tissue disorders.

Not every body has the same architecture. Some therapists have joints that naturally move beyond the normal range. While this flexibility can occasionally be an advantage, it often comes at the expense of stability. These therapists may find themselves hanging on ligaments, collapsing into joints, or relying heavily on muscular tension to create the support their connective tissues do not naturally provide.

For them, traditional body mechanics advice may need to be adjusted.

Using forearms instead of thumbs, lowering the table, using bolsters and positioning more strategically, and choosing modalities that encourage range of motion rather than force. Taking frequent movement breaks between sessions. None of these adaptations represent weakness. They represent wisdom.

One of the greatest lessons this profession has taught me is that there is no perfect technique if it damages the practitioner.

The goal is not simply to perform beautiful bodywork. The goal is to create bodywork that your body can continue performing ten, twenty, or thirty years from now.

I believe longevity in this profession comes from understanding that our bodies are not separate from our work. They are the instruments through which our work is delivered.

And like any instrument, they perform best when they are aligned, supported, and cared for.

06/16/2026

Somewhere along the way, many of us began to believe we needed to be fixed, improved, or made into something more.

But healing isn’t about becoming someone else; it’s about remembering who you were before the world told you otherwise.

You are not the project; you are the art, dear friends.

06/15/2026

Have you ever noticed how often we measure our lives by a clock?

How long until I feel better? How long until I heal? How long until I find my purpose, build my business, mend my heart, or become the person I hope to be?

I was thinking about that recently when I learned that the compass was invented long before the clock. The more I sat with that idea, the more profound it became. Imagine standing at the edge of an unfamiliar wilderness thousands of years ago. You wouldn’t care what time it was. You would care which direction to walk. Before people needed to know the hour, they needed to know where they were headed.

Somewhere along the way, I think many of us traded our compass for a clock.

We have become incredibly focused on timing. We compare our progress to other people’s progress. We wonder why healing is taking so long. We worry that we should be further along by now. We stare at our lives as if they were races to be won instead of journeys to be experienced.

Yet the body has never seemed particularly interested in our schedules.

In the treatment room, I often meet people who feel discouraged because they are not where they think they should be. They focus on the pain that remains, the tension that still shows up, the habits they have not yet changed. But when I listen to their story and place my hands on their body, I often see something different. Their breath is deeper than it was six months ago. Their shoulders are carrying a little less. Their nervous system is spending more time in safety and less time in survival. Progress is happening, but it is happening in the language of direction rather than speed.

Perhaps that is how life works too.

The body does not heal because a certain number of days have passed. It heals because conditions change. Because safety returns. Because connection returns. Because hope returns. The same can be true for us. Growth is rarely about how quickly we move. It is about whether we continue moving toward what matters.

The compass never asks how long the journey will take. It simply points north.

And maybe that is a question worth asking ourselves from time to time. Not, “Why am I not there yet?” but rather, “Am I still headed in the direction of the life I want to live?”

Because direction has a remarkable way of bridging distance.

06/15/2026

Due to overwhelming demand, we’ve added one final retreat this fall! 🍂

This retreat is going to be something truly special. In addition to our time together in the beautiful Utah mountains, we’ll be taking a special day trip to the Utah Massage Expo and exploring a collection of some of our most-loved classes.

Throughout the week you’ll experience:

Myofascial Hot Stone
Intra-Oral Massage
Lymphatic Facial Cupping & Gua Sha
Aerial Self-Care
Core Flow: Abdominal Massage
Emotional Body Mapping

As always, we’ll balance education with adventure, connection, and plenty of time to recharge. Expect beautiful fall colors, unforgettable experiences, amazing food, and the kind of community that makes our retreats so special.

October 5-9, 2026
Santaquin, Utah

All of our other 2026 retreats sold out, so if you’ve been hoping to join us, this is your chance. There will only be 4 spots available.

https://thebodyartisans.com/products/trauma-retreat-october-4-10.

06/14/2026

Upcoming Myofascial Flow Courses

This 12-hour immersive training blends evidence-based fascial science with the artistry of touch. You’ll learn to assess restrictions, follow tissue movement, create seamless full-body treatments, and develop the confidence to work with fascia as both a structure and a language.

Move beyond technique and into artistry.

📍 Utah
June 22-23, 2026

📍 Utah
July 21-22, 2026

📍 Florida
August 28-29, 2026

📍 Utah
September 22-23, 2026

📍 Wisconsin
October 17-18, 2026

12 CE Hours • FSMTB Approved Provider

Come explore the place where movement becomes medicine, touch becomes conversation, and fascia becomes art.

Register Now
https://thebodyartisans.com/collections/myofascial-flow

06/14/2026

Hello Infrahyoids! 👋

Do you spend hours looking down at a computer, tablet, or cell phone? Have you ever experienced whiplash? Do you frequently clear your throat, or have difficulty finding a comfortable head position? Then you may want to ask your trusted massage therapist to address your anterior neck.

The infrahyoids are a group of four muscles that live beneath the hyoid bone: the sternohyoid, sternothyroid, thyrohyoid, and omohyoid. They help stabilize and lower the hyoid bone and larynx during swallowing, speaking, breathing, and neck movement. While they may not get the attention of larger neck muscles, they quietly influence the mechanics of the throat, jaw, tongue, voice, and cervical spine every single day.

Modern life asks a lot of these muscles. Every time we look down at a phone, lean toward a computer screen, hunch over a steering wheel, or spend hours with our head carried in front of our body, the tissues along the front of the neck adapt. Over time, the infrahyoids can become shortened, guarded, or overworked as they try to support structures that were never meant to live in a forward position all day long.

Whiplash can have an even greater impact. During a collision, the neck experiences rapid acceleration and deceleration forces that affect not only the muscles in the back of the neck but also the delicate tissues in the front. Clients often focus on the upper traps and neck extensors after an injury, while the anterior neck is often overlooked. Yet these muscles frequently become protective, tender, and restricted after trauma, contributing to altered swallowing mechanics, voice changes, throat tightness, jaw dysfunction, and persistent cervical discomfort.

As bodyworkers, we often approach these muscles with gentleness and respect. By understanding the locations of the trachea, carotid arteries, jugular veins, and the surrounding anatomy, we can safely access the soft tissues surrounding the hyoid and laryngeal structures. The goal is not force. It is restoring glide, reducing guarding, improving mobility, and helping the neck remember how to move with ease again.

Many clients are surprised by how much relief can come from addressing this region. Improved neck mobility, reduced jaw tension, easier swallowing, decreased throat tightness, and a greater sense of ease in the front of the body are common responses.

And if you enjoy exploring the body's more symbolic side, this area is often associated with communication and self-expression. Whether you view that through anatomy, psychology, or energy work, many people notice that the front of the throat becomes remarkably tender during seasons when they are holding back words, swallowing emotions, or carrying stories that have not yet been spoken.

06/14/2026

Intra Oral with King Julien

One of my favorite intra-oral techniques for clients experiencing ear pain, pressure, or tinnitus. The muscles surrounding the TMJ can have a surprisingly large influence on what we feel around the ear, and sometimes addressing these tissues can create a remarkable sense of relief.

There is so much we can do when we look beyond the symptoms and explore the structures that may be contributing to them.

And a special thanks to King Julien for providing the treatment narration. I couldn’t have done it without him. 😂🥰

06/13/2026

One of the questions I often receive when teaching anterior neck work is, “How do you safely access these tissues?”

The anterior neck is home to some incredibly important structures, including the carotid arteries, internal jugular veins, trachea, thyroid gland, nerves, and lymphatic tissues. Understanding these landmarks is essential before placing your hands in this area.

In this video, you’ll see me gently move the trachea and surrounding soft tissues aside to create a clearer pathway to the anterior neck muscles. This allows me to work with the tissue I intend to address while avoiding direct pressure over the major arteries and veins. The accompanying anatomy illustration highlights these landmarks, helping therapists better understand what lies beneath their fingertips.

When working in the anterior neck, less is often more. This is not an area that responds well to force. Slow, thoughtful contact, a clear understanding of anatomy, and respect for the structures beneath our hands are what make this work both effective and safe.

Side Note: Many traditions connect this region to the throat chakra, a space associated with communication, authenticity, and speaking our truth. While anatomy gives us the map, I’ve often found that this area can hold more than muscular tension. Sometimes beneath a tight throat or guarded neck are the words left unsaid, the feelings swallowed, and the truths waiting to be expressed.

The Body Artisans

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