I’m Flanagan MacKenzie, and I practice in San Luis Obispo, California. I specialize in head, neck and shoulder relief.
My practice ranges from infancy through all of the stages of life. From colic to concussion, car accident to rebalancing after illness or surgery; there are many ways make use of the therapies I employ.
Many of the words used to describe these light-touch modalities can be overwhelming to those who just want relief. It’s really simple. No matter how many syllables are used to describe the body part or protocol, all of the actions are light, simple and easy for the body to understand.
I follow the body’s lead. The body shows what it needs by what it does and how it moves. Speaking to the body in a language it understands melts its resistance to change, and allows it to decide on a better balance of all of its systems. Who doesn’t like to be listened to?
The light touch supports the body so it doesn’t need to resist. The process caters to the body; which helps it to let go and move more fluidly with less or no pain.
The Head is a Part of the Body
Many of us, thinking of the mind/body connection accidentally separate ourselves at the neck. The body goes all the way up, and restricted tissues anywhere in the body could be affecting anywhere else. Many causes of headaches are from restrictions somewhere else in the body. It is more likely to find the source of pain somewhere other than the site of pain.
Many times after balance is achieved the habit of decades of favoring one part of the body over another begins to pull the body back into its old pattern. Working with the client and her awareness of her movements, helps changes become permanent as she learns a new way of moving in her new balanced body.
“I’ve tried a lot of massage therapists and it didn’t work for me. They were always trying to fix me. Flanagan was the first one who just let me be. It made a huge difference.” M Crandall, Nipomo, CA
Osteopathic Modalities
Most people are familiar with Swedish massage, and maybe one or two other forms of bodywork, like Chiropractic. Osteopaths, who are part of the medical community in the United States practice medicine in all the same ways that allopathic doctors do, writing prescriptions, doing surgery, using the same diagnostic tools. Osteopathic medicine developed with a manual manipulation aspect to their medicine. Although not all osteopaths practice manual manipulation, several Osteopaths taught these techniques to members of the medical and complementary communities. I regularly use several different osteopathic modalities in my practice.
Craniosacral Therapy
The main form that I use in my practice and a great love is Craniosacral Therapy. Craniosacral Therapy is a light-touch therapy that provides support to the body. It focuses on the central nervous system, and its ability to communicate clearly to all other systems of the body. my touch engages the connective tissue of the body, called fascia, and gently moves to a better position. CST follows the main precepts of osteopathy: The body is a self-healing unit when you provide the support it needs to generate change. It is gentle and calming, and is capable of amazing changes.
When the body feels heard, profound changes can occur.
Ortho-Bionomy
Ortho-Bionomy uses the same light touch, the same theory to support the body as it decides what it wants or needs to resolve the pain, injury, stiffness or stress. These two modalities work seamlessly together, and share the same theoretical foundation.
We move in the direction the body chooses, rather than looking at a chart to see what the body is supposed to do. My conversation is with the body.
“I had heard about receiving bodywork and then being out of pain, but it was amazing to experience it.” RS, Grover Beach, CA
“Flanagan is one of the most gifted and intuitive practitioners I have ever come across. Each session I have done has been powerfully transformative, releasing deeply held trauma that I wasn’t able to reach with other kinds of work I had done in the past. She has done amazing work with my children and my husband….and for many of the friends I have sent to her. She has especially helped a dear friend of mine who is in the middle of a difficult physical and emotional crisis. She is a tremendous resource for our community and I am so grateful she is here sharing her gifts with us.”
“. . . feeling calm, healthy, and flexible. G and I keep talking about the improvement in our moods after your work with us: Joyful, hopeful, grounded, content in the now but curious about our future. Thank you for sharing your wonderful humor, conversatilon and superb knowledge and healing abilities with us.”JD Morro Bay, CA