Balance Bodyworks: Seattle Massage Therapy — Local services in Seattle

While visiting Seattle this week I was doing a lot of walking, and oh my does Seattle have a lot of hills! So I looked for a massage in the Queen Anne area and found Balance Bodyworks. I saw all the 5 star reviews on Yelp and decided to book a 90 minute massage, the house specialty.

I get pretty regular massage at home but I'm telling you, I've never had a massage like this before.

First of all, the environment at Balance Bodyworks it's beautiful. Great ambience. The music was different, better than most places I've been and the receptionist, Maddie (a small Labradoodle) is the sweetest! Wanna steal her!

I informed Ben and I was having some low back tension and could use some relief in my neck and shoulders. He asked me a few questions to make sure he knew exactly which approach to take and we were off. He had me begin to face up, which I had never had before. I got on the wonderfully heated massage table and was instantly de-stressed.

He began by reaching under my body down along my spine to my low back and pulled firmly up along my spine all the way to the base of my skull. That felt amazing! I knew right away this is going to be the best massage I've ever had. Then he continued to stretch and move my body, unlocking all of the tension in my shoulders and neck. Then he placed a hot towel under my neck and gave me the best foot massage ever!

When he turned me over I smelled the most wonderful essence of lemon in the face cradle. He used hot towels on my back holding and compressing my low back area and then started to do a dance with both of his forearms along my back muscles. I was drooling. No joke! Then he did some really wonderful work on my butt! Maybe I should say glutes? Either way I've never had anybody be so thorough whilst working my butt muscles before but I could feel my low back unlocking.

This guy is Magic. I can now turn my head like an owl! I might have to fly up from LA regularly to see...

I treated myself to a 90 minute massage with Lisa (Windelev) as a post-grueling work stretch treat and wow, it was exactly what I was looking for! She briefly sat me down to do some exploratory stretching while asking me what was bothering me and gave various options to help alleviate my chronic nerve issues, but she never pushed one thing, just general knowledge which I very much appreciated. Once the massage started, I knew I was going to leave feeling amazing. Her intuitive touch was the perfect level of firm yet gentle, and she always knew right were my limit was, never once crossing that line. I didn't want someone prescriptive who would go through the motions, but someone who would seek out my problem areas and focus some specific time and care to what hurt while also holistically addressing issues that connect to the main issues. A big ask, I know, but she checked all of my boxes. She was respectful of the quiet, breaking the silence to inform me what she was going to do and ask after my comfort level, gauging my interest level on conversing. She briefly informed me of how and why the body is balanced and possible reasons why my body is feeling the way it is, so I can avoid compounding these issues in the future, but then gave way to the relaxing silence (so if you worry about getting a talker like I do because of my social anxiety, rest at ease that she takes her cues from you and puts your needs at the front!)

I felt such relief after, I am not ashamed to say I teared up a little. Living with chronic neck and shoulder pain is so hard, but made all the easier for caring souls with good touches like Lisa. I will most definitely be coming back, for more healing vibes and excellent massages. I have only had the pleasure of experiencing Lisa's massage so far, but if her character is anything about the company she keeps, I would trust anyone at Balance Bodyworks....

I have had appointments with both Lisa and Ben here and thoroughly appreciated each of them. I don't think it is possible to have a bad experience at Balance Bodyworks as they have a great intake form that gives you a lot of opportunity to be clear about what you are looking for, and based on my experiences with Lisa and Ben, it seems like you cannot go wrong with any of the therapists here.

Lisa was a really amazing listener and worked to address all my concerns while also educating me about the techniques she was using. She used a few new ones that were extremely effective and really targeted my problem areas. I walked in feeling like I could barely move from the pain and I walked out pain-free and totally mobile again. Not only did she do an amazing job, but at the end of our session, she sent me home with some handouts on resources to follow up on all the issues I had told her about which was extremely thoughtful.

More recently, I had a session with Ben and he similarly worked some sort of magic on me because I walked away feeling 20 pounds lighter from how much tension disappeared. He targeted muscles that I literally didn't know existed, let alone that they were carrying so much of that tension. He was really easy to talk to, educational, and very attentive. Often, he knew when I was approaching my limits before I even had to say anything, and I am still not sure how he did it. I prefer really deep-to the point they are painful-massages and I don't think I have ever had a massage therapist take that seriously AND produce amazing results. It is usually that they won't actually use enough pressure or if they do, it's a bit over done or in spots that don't need it much but Ben never missed. It hurt so so good and was definitely one of the top three best massages I've ever had. I have no notes from my session with him,...