Keystone Therapies

Updates

Posted on 29-Mar-2020

Out of a desire to keep myself and my clients safe due to the outbreak of Covid-19 I am currently closed. I hope this won’t be for long. With kindness, Mike

Posted on 30-Dec-2019

Don’t massage the back of your neck when you have pain there.

It's probably not the cause of your neck pain. In all likelihood it's origin is somewhere in the front of the neck, face or upper trunk. As with all rules there are exceptions, whiplash could strain a vertebrae as could osteoarthriti...

Posted on 18-Dec-2019

The neglected muscle in joggers.
Often the small long muscle on the front of the legs is neglected when it comes to stretching, rolling and preventing pain and shin splints. This muscle is the powerful tibialis anterior, and it could be affecting your performance if it's very tight, it works anta...

Posted on 11-Dec-2019

Need ideas for Christmas?

Get a massage gift voucher to ease away the stress of the holidays! Perfect for that “impossible to get a gift for “ person; 50 or 80 minutes available.

Posted on 05-Dec-2019

Loosen the jaw to alleviate stress and reduce neck tension.

The masseter, a deep muscle in the jaw is pound for pound one of the strongest muscles in our body. It’s partially responsible for moving the jaw, which is a super complex joint able to move in 3 different planes. An evolutionary adapt...

Posted on 29-Nov-2019

Give the gift of self care this Christmas; 50 or 80 minute massage gift vouchers to help knead the stress away.

Get ahead of the pack who make resolutions for the new year and give the gift of an invigorating massage that will allow your friend or loved one to relax deeply after our work. They w...

Posted on 20-Nov-2019

Give the gift of self care this Christmas; 50 or 80 minute massage gift vouchers to help knead the stress away.

For gardeners, rock-climber and anyone with a body!
A treatment consists of a consultation, Sports, Deep Tissue or Swedish massage and some homework to continue your health into the...

Posted on 12-Nov-2019

How to protect your shoulders from injury.

Do small movements to warm up the rotator cuff muscles.
Do exercise like lying W, T and M to strengthen the small rotator cuff muscles.
Keep pec major well stretched and if you are doing handstands or shoulder press, then strengthen serratus anterior...

Posted on 06-Nov-2019

How to improve performance when climbing.

Sports massage will help increase your range of motion and I’ll show you how to free energy trapped as tension in your forearms, back and rotator cuff muscles.

I’ll also show you how to make a do-it-yourself massage tool, very helpful for relieving h...

Testimonials

a year ago

I first went to Keystone Therapies around 7 years ago when I spent a lot of time at the desk. Mike does an excellent, professional massage and he really knows his stuff. He takes existing health conditions into account and communicates with you about the amount of pressure that works for you (I am fussy about my massages as the ones I have experienced in a 'spa' environment have not quite been firm enough). I spend a lot of time at a desk at the moment and money spent here feels like money well spent. I would wholeheartedly recommend Mike.

- Iida S

8 months ago

Michael is extremely professional, in my opinion the best massage therapist in the whole city. I highly recommend him!

- Ylenia M

a year ago

Keystone Therapies has been a staple of my sports injury recovery. Mike is absolutely one of the best massage therapists I have been to, bar none. If you're in the Edinburgh area, Mike is the only person to see for bodywork. His holistic approach was the key to finally resolving some long term injuries. He really cares about you and your recovery and wants to ensure that progress is made each session. Thank you Mike

- J M

Sports Massage

What a typical session with me looks like :

We start with a 5 minute consultation to find out about your injuries and your previous medical history, also what you do for a job, what sports you play and what is your dominant hand, etc. All of this tells us about the stresses your body deals with on a daily basis and gives clues as to how it might be trying to cope with them.

I encourage my clients to communicate with me so that we can figure out where the source of the pain is - often where the pain is manifesting is not the origin. This a large part of our work together, we are trying to find the origin, this involves systematically working through different muscles.

I starting with gentle warming and kneading strokes and gradually work deeper, accessing which muscles are tight or overstretched. Using very deep strokes, Tapotement (tapping), Trigger point (finding a knot and placing pressure on it and then working the tension out of the fibres of the muscle). I use a technique called Myofascial Release which involves stretching the limbs and muscles to stretch the fascia (fascia is connective tissue that binds everything together in the body), reducing tension and restoring balance.
Communicating with the client I use a number scale to access the intensity of the pressure, there is nothing worse than a massage that is not deep enough or else one that is painful! Too much pressure is counter-productive because the body tenses to endure painful pressure as it struggles to protect itself and this also makes my work a lot more difficult as the muscles are tighter. Ideally we want our work to be as relaxing as possible!
Part of what I do is help the muscle come back into alignment (they migrate during the course of our life, over-stretching opposing muscles). I use a method called Structural Integration, where using a fair bit of relaxed pressured I 'iron' the muscles back into place with pressure and very gradual movement, using either a soft fist or the forearm, its an unusual feeling, but really quite pleasant.

Everybody's massage ends up looking different as we have varying needs.

Post massage I spend 5 minutes showing you what muscles I believe are affected and why, so you can visualise what is happening. Finally I show you a few stretches or strengthening exercises to help you continue your recovery.
( Please note that if you would like a comprehensive fully body massage I recommend booking 90min or 2hrs. This is especially true if you have dense musculature .i.e are strong and are over 6 foot tall! )

Sports, Russian Sports and Deep Tissue Massage all improve the removal of metabolic waste, increases general mobility, reduces anxiety, improves blood flow and promotes muscle recovery and tone.

Confidentiality and Boundaries
I treat all the information gathered in the name of your treatment with confidence and integrity.
As my client I respect your physical and emotional boundaries.

Training
Trained at Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Centre for 8 Years, 3 years as a Novice Tibetan Buddhist monk.
Graduated as a LMT from Utah College of Massage Therapy- Nov 2009.
Trained in The Work of Byron Katie in Salt Lake City, facilitator accredited - Oct 2008.
Studied with Zen Master Genpo Roshi in Big Mind gestalt based meditation process from 2007 to 2011.
Completed 1 year Mindfullness training with Mindfullness Association in Dec 2013.

I hope we get to work together,
Please contact me if you have any concerns or queries

Sincerely
Mike McGovern LMT