We recently connected with Kimberly Ries and have shared our conversation below.

Kimberly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was your school or training experience like? Share an anecdote or two that you feel illustrate important aspects or the overall nature of your schooling/training experience.

Massage school was WILD. It’s the first time I’ve felt completely responsive to a learning environment. You know how people have different styles of learning that resonate with them? Well, I never fully got that concept until I threw myself 110% into BMTI’s training program. It seemed I was in good company with other Kinaesthetic learners as well. I had found ‘my people’. We weren’t just learning how to palpate different parts of the body, but we were also exploring energetic fields, and the ‘felt sense’ of things infront of us.

There was a really cool moment I remember in my Pathology class. Our teacher was a Doctor of Osteopathy from Canada, that was practicing in Colorado as a Licensed massage therapist, because his DO licensure wasn’t able to transfer to the states. He was a literal GENIUS. He was also French Canadian, and a bit cool around the edges. Very matter of fact. We were learning different pathologies of the digestive system- Chron’s, Ulcerative colitis, IBS, etc…and then palpating each others abdomens and learning some different massage techniques we could perform to help people suffering with some of these digestive issues. Dr Alexi asked me to come up and be a demo body for him. He explained to us how he was assessing the ‘energetic field’ of my pelvic/abdominal area first, and then slowly placed his index and middle finger together just medial of my hip bone. Without palpating anything-and just having contact with the right side of my lower abdomen, he announced to the class that I drink too much alcohol and eat too much sugar and that my psoas muscle was stuck to my ascending colon on the right. He then proceeded to pull them apart by doing some acupressure holds and myofascial scraping. My mind was blown-but he was totally right…and I felt fantastic after he ‘released’ whatever was going on in the lower right quadrant.

I was slightly embarrassed from being outed to my classmates, but also just in awe of how much physical touch and energetic readings can do to help people with all sorts of things other than tension headaches and tight shoulders. I later went on to help 1 of my first regular clients in private practice with relief around having some very large and painful softball sized fibroids. We worked gently and in strong communication to help separate some of the fascial restrictions that these cysts had been causing her for years! The power of thoughtful, educated, and heart led touch is profound.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My love for helping others feel more confident, comfortable, and pain free in their bodies, is what led me to bodywork. What has kept me here is the love for this work, the love for my beautiful clients, and the endless problem solving, presence, and creativity that this craft offers each day.

I am a huge anatomy and kinesiology nerd-and I love to find out how my clients are using their bodies and what is causing their pain/stress/disconnection. I talk to them about how things feel during different movements, how certain experiences make them feel, and help to guide them towards fuller mind-body connection. Nothing in life is black and white. Nothing that causes pain is purely muscular/structural or mental/emotional. There is often a combination of things going on to create restriction/pain/dysfunction, and I try to work through that all with my clients. Validating their experiences, their feelings, and their needs-it’s all part of the healing process.

I am also certified as a personal trainer and yoga instructor. I pursued these modalities after starting my private bodywork practice, so I could speak with more authority on helping folks with corrective exercises and alternative movement therapies to complement their bodywork sessions. I haven’t figured out how to clone myself to have enough time to offer these modalities a ton-but as my daughter gets a bit older, I will find ways to offer more teaching/instructing. For now, I offer semi-private and private personal training out of my home garage gym, and sub some yoga and strength classes at a local Longmont studio.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

If I could go back and do it again-I’d choose massage over and over. But I’d have done it much earlier in my life. I was in my 30s when I went to massage school, and never finished my undergrad at UNC-Asheville. I was not one of those kids who knew what they wanted to do right out of high school, but I never had a choice either. I was going to college-whether I was ready or not. I had a writing scholarship to UNCA, and jumped into a major in Fine Art. I wish I’d explored more with an advisor or mentor and found Kinesiology-because I would have excelled with that major. I’ll eventually go back and finish a bachelors degree, but for now-my focus is on my 10yr old daughter, 2 yr old husky mix, and soon to be husband. Life is full-in the best way.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

There’s a very high percentage of massage therapists who don’t make it past 5yrs in the profession. Most of these stats come down to burn out. Feeling alone (the product of working for yourself) and missing colleagues, chronic pain from repetitive stress on joints and certain muscle groups, and feeling energetically drained by clients. I’ve found it’s extremely important to:

1. Be your own bodyworker. Strength training, functional fitness, and myofascial release practices keep your body strong and resilient through the physical aspects of this profession.

2. Create community. Having regular trades with other bodywork pros is essential. Not only do you get the chance to receive-but also to talk shop. Tough clients, tough pain patterns, etc. makes you feel like you actually have work colleagues.

3. Some kind of spiritual practice. Yoga, meditation, kundalini, etc. this work is energetically taxing and you need to learn to protect your own field, and move things through you on a regular basis.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.peak-therapeutics.com
• Instagram: @peak_therapeutics_massage
• Linkedin: Kimberly Ries
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@kimberlyries991?si=B2QwZ6u50YjnEXbs

Image Credits

Noah Berg Photography