'Our structure is designed to remain in motion'

Karola Lüttringhaus

I am a licensed massage and bodywork therapist LMBT  CA #76349 and am offering massage therapy and movement education in Davis, Sacramento and San Francisco, CA.  I teach Continuing Education Courses regionally and nationally.   I hold a BFA in Dance, A MA in Scenic Design and am currently enrolled in the Performance Studies PhD program at UC Davis, CA where I investigate the concept of articulation, both physically, referring to joint function and movement, as well as artistically and emotionally, in terms of expression, communication, and creativity.

Short bio 
I began intersecting with the profession of Massage Therapy as a dance student in North Carolina in 1991. Frequent injury brought me to manual therapists and they helped me tremendously through a rigorous education in Modern Dance and Choreography at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA).

I began an apprenticeship with a manual therapist in North Carolina in 1991 and eventually became certified as a licensed massage therapist in 2009,I graduating from the Asheville School of Massage and Yoga (ASMY) .  I have worked as a performing artist, a director of Alban Elved Dance Company and a movement educator; work that is still all ongoing and continues to intersect with manual therapy in wonderfully enriching ways.  

As adjunct faculty, I taught my movement classes 'BII - The Body's Intrinsic Intelligence' (DAN220) in the Movement Science major at Salem College for several years with great enthusiasm.   I have been studying the complexity of   human movement with the Axis Syllabus (axissyllabus.org) since 2011,  work that changed my life, and continues to challenge and  inspire me  profoundly.

Over the years, since 1991, I received training in Swedish and Deep Tissue  Massage, Trigger Point Work, Orthopaedic Massage with James Waslaski, Shiatsu, WATSU, Hannah Somatics, Reflexology, Energy Work, the Axis Sylllabus and many other modalities and body inquiries.
 

Philosophy
I am inspired by the healing power of touch, by movement, the body, by the healing and freeing qualities of water and by individual, creative expression.

I believe in listening and responding rather than attempting to impose methods or set routines onto individuals who all have uniquely different needs.
​My studies with the Axis Syllabus International Research Community (www.axissyllabus.org) have profoundly inspired and shaped my work in recent years both in massage therapy and in movement/dance.  I continue to be amazed at how important movement is, and at how complexly interwoven it is with the rest of our physical and emotional well-being and function.

As a massage therapist, I firmly believe that movement and movement education are  essential and irreplaceable parts in prevention of and recovery from injury.  Movement and  manual therapy are uniquely entwined in my work and in my life.  
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I dedicate my work to integrating movement and manual therapy. Once the body's components all begin working in agreement with each other, alignment is a natural result, which facilitates  agility and freedom from pain.