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"He is as close to magic as it comes. Take my word for it, I'm an expert! I will never get massaged by anyone else but Alex because I feel like our journey working together has just begun!"
- Alex D.
"He truly is a healer, not just another run of the mill massage "therapist."
- Zuri L.
"I've received hundreds of massages in my life. Alex is at least 10 times as good as all of them combined, has been doing massage for over 10 years (which is longer than 95% of massage therapists - I know, because I used to be one) and he also just happens to be the kindest and most loving person I know, so yeah, look no further."
- Rob K.
I'M ALEX. WELCOME TO REAL BODYWORK.
About
MY BODYWORK
About
MY BODYWORK
Alexander Rosan is a bodyworker, yoga instructor and healer based in Portland.
Wellness is a journey. Journey's are often done alone, and sometimes we're fortunate enough to come across people who can help us continue on our path with a new sense of strength, and courage. As we embark on our path to wellness, bodywork is the kind fellow traveler to lend a hand, and aid in our ability to move through the thick fog of challenge. It's not always easy, but the moments of clarity that are gained in travel are worth a hundred times the struggle to find it. Wherever you find yourself in the process of health, and well being allow yourself the opportunity to experience something unlike a typical massage where you can gain deeper insight into your body, mind, and spirit.
Massage is but a tree in the forest that is bodywork. The two are different in that bodywork addresses the physical, as well as how/why these ailments are effecting the other aspects of your self. This can be a range from postural, or structural disfunction, to emotional, psychological, and spiritual barriers keeping you from your continuous path to honest health.
We all store trauma of various forms, and in various ways. My job is to teach presence where we have learned resistance, and while I can give an easy, relaxing massage, I usually request you to work with me, and meet me as we embark on a path to your vision of health, and well being.
Read a great article about my work from SF Yoga Magazine here!
Modalities Used
Myofascial Release
This technique works with the connective tissue, and some deeper layers of muscle tissue. Usually this helps to put the fascial layers of muscle tissue back into a place of homeostasis.
Work with Emotion and Trauma
This is a specific area of interest to me, and my work. We all have various forms of stored emotion and trauma. Some of us are told at a young age we can't emote, or express, so it ends up being suppressed and can even act out as disease in the body. Others of us have had very physical, or emotional traumatic experiences that creates a deadened sense of self, or a dynamic trigger that seems too overwhelming to breech on our own. By using various tools that I've developed, and learned over time (like somatic experiencing), together, we can help you to overcome those traumas, and gain access to emotions you haven't had access to, as well as give you a restored sense of strength, love, and strength, and love of self.
Postural Analysis
Essential to any bodyworkers palette. Observing the body, and how it is held allows both the practitioner, and receiver to engage in what the body is carrying, where, and how that effects the rest of the systems of the body. Then the practitioner can begin to help unravel where the body is wound in both physical, and emotional capacities.
Structural Integration
Otherwise known as, Rolfing. While it is deep, and sometimes painful work, it's highly effective in aiding the body to come to a neutral state, and allows the body to move more freely by releasing areas of highly restrictive tension.
TRE (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises)
There are different ways to help the body process through the micro, and macro traumas we experience. Some of these things can be done alone, and others are necessary to do while someone is facilitating your process with you so that you feel supported in moments of vulnerability or fear.
Trigger Point
Trigger Point therapy involves finding a small point in a muscular region that when a firm pressure is applied helps to relieve that entire region. This sort of therapy works great for athletes, and people with RSI's (repeat stress injuries).
Visceral Manipulation
A work that incorporates physical, and energetic therapies to release tension of the various organs. Well known through parts of Europe but quite foreign to most people in the United States. A powerful, and immensely useful technique.
Ayurvedic Medicine
Ayurveda is the Indian form of medicine. It deals with a combination of 3 'doshas' or body/mind types to discern how that specific body can be navigated for optimal care including diet, exercise, and ways to navigate your individual challenges.
Breathwork
Many traditions incorporate breath into their practices of self-care. There are so many layers of breath that function to help the body cleanse, open, sleep, focus, and charge. Not to mention other types that offer a deep, and intense look into ourself, and the way we hold our joy, pain, availability, and challenge.
Chinese Medicine
Chinese medicine (TCM or 5 Element) deals often with acupuncture or needling (which I don't offer). However, the same system is applied with Tui-Na (Chinese style massage), qi-gong, and, Yin yoga to help open up the stagnant energetic pathways of the body. This also includes knowledge of diet, exercise, acupressure, herbs, and body types.
Herbology
Herbs are a great way to supplement the process of health, and nutrition. There are so many herbs out there that can help with everything in the book! Our prescription medicine all comes from something natural right?! So why not try to heal, and aid yourself direct from the source of nature? Herbs can assist in sleep (and dreams), pain, male, and female related issues, immune response, and so much more.
Services
SERVICES
Services
SERVICES
If you have any questions or please do not hesitate to contact me.
415.420.5747
My work is unlike anyone else's, and it's different every time.
Each session is designed specifically for you. No one session is ever alike, and that is what keeps this work interesting, engaging, and present to your wants, and needs. The kind of bodywork I do incorporates a broad range of techniques that I have picked up over the years. You can find out more about these techniques on my about page, or just scroll down.
I look forward to our session together.
Bodywork
“I’ve worked with several massage therapists but Alexander is truly outstanding. His work is nearly spiritual. You can feel that he truly loves his craft.”
- Dana L.
Bodywork involves both the practitioner, and the receiver working together to help release stored tension patterns physically, and emotionally. I explain to people that bodywork is a two-way street, and I can only go as far as you are willing.
The modalities used to engage in this work are vast, so there is no one way to explain how the work is done. However, breath, sound, concentration, trust, listening to your body (as well as learning how to listen), and commitment to your well-being are key elements to this work.
While bodywork can look, and feel a lot like massage therapy, and even includes many of the same modalities, my bodywork offers another realm of somatic therapy that massage often overlooks. Usually pressure is medium to deep, and sometimes the body is asking for something a lot more gentle in order to release in a specific way. I'm good at discerning where and when to apply which.
In short, bodywork is a two-way journey that requires an effort on both ends that produces a deeper knowledge of self, releases physical and emotional tension, and offers new tools to maintain and improve our sense of self, in its ever-changing ways.
Breathwork
“My breathwork session with Alex was unparalleled. I had no idea I could have the experience I did. It was unspeakably beautiful...I don’t think I could have let myself go there with someone other than Alex.”
-Olayinka F.
Breathwork is a powerful tool that promotes a hyper sense of self-awareness. Sessions can be 1.5-3 hours in length. These sessions are one-on-one although sometimes offered in group format. In the altered state that breathwork offers people can re-experience traumatic events, or have certain peak emotions highlighted. I am there to guide you through it, hold you in it, and help you to stay present amidst what often feels like chaos. On the other end of these sessions, people are left feeling vulnerable, and elevated. In some cases completely ecstatic and in others like they just had a 3 day cry.
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Yoga|Movement Lesson
“I’m a really inflexible person, and I primarily came to Alex for bodywork, but he has opened me up to the world of Yoga in a really approachable way. I’ve probably gained more from having Alex give me private yoga instruction than from the bodywork, which is crazy, because his bodywork is out of control amazing.”
-Corey L.
Often times after a bodywork session, I advise a maintenance plan to help keep the work we've done together. Unfortunately, there is seldom enough time to go over the array of things that will help. This is where a yoga/movement lesson comes in as being highly beneficial.
There are so many practices, all or many of which can be incorporated into a daily practice/ritual to help support, and maintain a person's health and well-being. I use a combination of various styles of yoga, chi-gong (healing form of tai-chi), somatic therapeutic movement, movement/postural analysis, assisted stretching, breathwork, visualization techniques, and more.
My specialty is in Yin yoga, which incorporates passive (no muscle engagement) poses, held for 3-15 minutes at a time. This is also a modality that works through the meridians used in Chinese Medicine, by which access is given to the vital organs of the body as well.
Nutrition Coaching
“There are a lot of bonuses to having Alex as your bodyworker, and one of the big ones that he doesn’t tell you he’s going to give you is a TON of advice about herbs and food.”
-Joseph F.
There are various ways we can learn to eat better, more mindfully, healthier. As Hippocrates states, "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food." Incorporating such a simple spice such as Turmeric (my personal favorite!) can greatly reduce inflammation, one of the main causes of disease in the body!
There are also a number of herbs that we have immediate access to, that can help us focus, stay calm, sleep better, digest better, and heal quicker! I want to offer this knowledge to as many as possible so we can learn less reliance on otherwise useless prescription medications.
Working with Emotion and Trauma
“Before I met Alex I had no idea I was even holding on to trauma, or even that I had experienced a trauma! It was all hidden to me. After working with him in just 4 sessions not only have I discovered some of my traumas but have already begun to heal them!””
- Sarah G.
This is a specific area of interest to me, and my work. We all have various forms of stored emotion and trauma. Some of us are told at a young age we can't emote, or express, so it ends up being suppressed and can even act out as disease in the body. Others of us have had very physical, or emotional traumatic experiences that creates a deadened sense of self, or a dynamic trigger that seems too overwhelming to breech on our own. By using various tools that I've developed, and learned over time (like somatic experiencing), together, we can help you to overcome those traumas, and gain access to emotions you haven't had access to, as well as give you a restored sense of strength, love, and strength, and love of self.
For more information please contact me directly.
FAQ
FAQ
FAQ
FAQ
Do you have any questions?
If you have more questions than listed below please don't hesitate to call or email.
How do I prepare for the massage?
- Please arrive on time to your appointment so we are able to take full advantage of the time we have together.
- Knock on the door when you arrive.
- Please come to your session well showered, and clean.
- Make sure to drink as much water as you can for up to 2 days prior to your appointment.
- Do not come to your massage under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
- Cover any fresh, or recovering wounds with a bandage.
- Try not to rush getting to your appointment, stay as relaxed as possible before, during, and after.
What is involved in the in-take process?
- Upon first meeting, you will come to my space and we will sit down to talk about your body. You will fill out an intake form that gives me important information on where you’re at on a physical, mental, spiritual level so I can cater our appointments to your needs. I may have you go through a few exercises so I can get a visual of how your body is functioning.
- Before the massage, I will step out of the room to wash my hands, and allow you to undress to your comfort level, and get under the sheet. I will knock before entering back into the room, start some relaxing music, make sure you’re comfortable, and our session will begin.
- During the massage I will be using bass oils (avocado, sesame, grapeseed, sunflower, jojoba) that I sometimes mix with essential oils (things such as lavender, ylang-ylang, geranium, juniper) for your betterment… a little free aromatherapy. These oils are pure, organic, and safe, unless of course you have specified allergies. I am always open to your feedback throughout the massage, as it is much better for you to speak up so you can get what you’re body is in need of.
- After the appointment, I’ll step out of the room and allow you to take your time to let the work integrate. I will be waiting outside the door with some water for you. We will sit down with each other for a few minutes, allowing you to drink some water and me to give any feedback on things I noticed, stretches that might help your body, and other suggestions that might help you in your process of health in all aspects of the word.
- After you feel integrated, I'll send you on your way in hopes we'll see one another again.
What are your policies?
- If a cancellation occurs without at least 24 hour advanced notice, full payment will be charged to the person who the session was scheduled with.
- If you come late to your session, we will do the best work we can within the time slot you were scheduled for. If you are over 30 minutes late and do not let me know you're on your way, the session will be cancelled and payment will be due in full.
What form of payment will you accept?
I accept payment in (preferred) cash, check, Venmo, PayPal, or Credit Card.
How much clothing am I supposed to remove?
You get undressed to your comfort level. Yes, there are areas that might be more difficult to access or warm up if there is clothing in the way, and it’s far more important that you feel safe, comfortable, and at ease. I work with bodies, naked or otherwise on a daily basis. I practice tight sheeting techniques so you don’t feel exposed. I maintain a professional and safe environment for your well being.
Are the sessions confidential?
Yes, completely! Anything you share with me will be kept private. There are a few outstanding circumstances in which I may share your information with another colleague as to enhance your experience, and serve you better, and in some cases recommend you to someone who may be able to better serve you. If you share that you are planning on hurting yourself, or someone else, by law, I'm obligated to report it.
Do you offer discounts/trades?
It's important to me that my work maintains accessibility. There are trade possibilities, depending on what you'd like to trade. Discounts are always a discussion, and I'm open to having those discussions.
Do you do outcalls?
Yes, I also can set up a weekly, or monthly appointment for your home or office. Outcalls cost an extra $100 plus one-way cab fare X2.
Do you offer erotic work?
I do not offer any sort of erotic work. This can be a very powerful, and healing modality for some, and that is not the work I practice. I ask that you please respect those boundaries.
Some more helpful links
Body, Mind, and Spirit
More specifically, what is bodywork?
What do people mean when they say everything in the body is connected?
Where are the meridians in the body? as they relate to TCM and 5 Element Chinese medicine
What is yoga and what are the benefits?
What is your specialty of yoga? yinyoga
What are some different forms of meditation?
Food
Madhur Jaffrey: My cooking inspiration
Post-punk kitchen: Great recipes for vegan/vegetarians
Rawmazing: The uplifting effects of raw food
Bio
ABOUT
Bio
ABOUT
I have been practicing massage, and bodywork since 2007, and teaching yoga since 2005. I found my way into the field through a community of other practitioners who inspired me so much, and lead me to believe I was meant to help other communities in a similar fashion. Through facing my own health challenges as a type 1 diabetic I've gone through an incredible process of realizing what self care looks like, and how all of us can engage in a deeper, and more sustainable way of taking care of ourselves.
My ultimate goal is to be able to teach people on a broad level how we can heal ourselves, go deeper, be more present, and offer the unique gift each of us has to offer. I want to create a community of people interested in engaging in this process not only so they can have support, but so they can also expand upon, and deepen the process for themselves, and their chosen community.
It is not that I think everyone should make this their profession, but bring this to their professional, as well as personal, lives. We have so much power to create our reality. Yet, where we have been disempowered is where we have gained a weakness. I believe through empowering troubled mental, physical, and emotional states we can heal ourselves and the ones we choose to keep close to us.
You can read a great article written up on me and my work here
Welcome to the world of bodywork!
Contact
CONTACT
Contact
CONTACT
Contact
1428 SE 19th Ave. Suite A
Portland, OR 97214
United States
T: +1 415 420 5747
E: info@alexanderrosan.com
Policy
24 hour cancellation.
Take note
I am by appointment only, please do not show up without previously making an appointment.