Center for Massage Therapy Offers a Touch of Class

The first couple of lines on the company’s homepage says it all: “Health is more than the absence of illness. Health is the presence of energy, joy and relaxation.”

Who could argue with that? In this day and age -- despite unprecedented access to technology and a plethora of conveniences that previous generations could only dream of -- it seems as if we are truly hamsters on the wheel with no possible way of jumping off.

We’d do well to recharge our proverbial batteries every once in a while. (And, no, I’m not talking about indulging in a third frothy, sugary, caffeinated concoction du jour when we know we shouldn’t.) I’m talking about really -- truly -- giving ourselves a much deserved rest.

Plymouth’s Center for Massage Therapy is just the place to do it. With a menu of Swedish massage, hot stone massage, yoga, and more, this peaceful sanctuary headed by Margaret Grutza is where one comes to refill the well.

Plymouth Patch: Running a center such as this one not only seems like a fun profession, but also an extremely gratifying one because you are directly impacting the quality of people’s lives. How did the Center for Massage Therapy come to be?

Margaret Grutza: I worked many years in the corporate world, and then my husband and I owned a busy restaurant. I learned during those years about how to take care of ourselves through the mind-body connection. Massage therapy helped me a lot during those years with stress, both physical and emotional. So when I decided to make a [career] change this was a good choice for me because I believed in it. The center itself started as my little one-room office about 10 years ago, and then I just kind of brought people in, one at a time, and built bigger and bigger space…my mission is to create an environment where both my clients and therapists feel respected and valued.

Plymouth Patch: You offer such a wide variety of massage here at the center. Some that are more familiar -- like Swedish and Sports massage; others are less known. Tell us about myofascial therapy...

Grutza: Myofascial therapy -- as well as the term neuromuscular -- are components of what we do. Everyone here is trained in all modalities, and we like to incorporate everything we know into each massage session. Fascia is connective tissue that runs all through our body, between all of our organs and supports everything so it’s not free-flowing, and it also lies under the skin, from the feet all the way up to the head. When the fascia starts to get knotted up in certain areas it causes muscular misalignment, and vice versa. Myofascial work is important in all of the massages that we do because we’re helping to fuse the fascia as we help to relax the muscle.

Plymouth Patch: And what about Hot Stone Massage, which sounds absolutely amazing! But how effective is it compared to the magic that is worked by a therapist’s hands?

Grutza: The nice thing about the hot stones is that they hold the heat really well, and when your tissues -- your fascia, ligaments, and muscles -- are warm, then they are going to be a lot more pliable. They are going to respond better to the massage. They kind of let us in better, so to speak. Everybody does hot stone massage differently, and what I do is, I’ll take a warm stone, smooth it all over, for example,  the leg and hamstring area, and then I’ll set it down and come along with my hands and work the muscles. So I’m still doing massage, I’m just adding the hot stone in as a nice addition to help relax the muscle.

Plymouth Patch: You also offer yoga at the center. How long have you been teaching?

Grutza: I’ve been teaching yoga for almost five years, and it was kind of born out of my knowledge that I already had about anatomy. I was forever getting on the floor after giving a massage and showing my clients a certain yoga posture because they needed a hip opener. Because I belong to the American Massage Therapy Association and because I am nationally certified, I need to have a certain number of continuing education credits every year. So when I was looking one year for a class I’d like to take,  I saw Yoga for Health Care Practitioners, and said, That’d be fun…I then took a yoga teacher training through YogaFit. In the classes I teach, I like to remind people about alignment…I’m very big on that and core strength and how we’re engaged from the pelvic floor to the crown of the head. It’s Hatha yoga. We also have a lady here in the office who teaches Thai Chi Easy, and another who teaches Anusara yoga, which involves a lot of twisting and opening of the body.

Plymouth Patch: It seems very fitting that you provide both yoga and massage under the same roof. Talk about how the two services complement each other.

Grutza: Absolutely…and that’s what led me to it. I’ve practiced yoga for years, and, like I said, I’d be working on a client and I’d think, They need hip openers. The two [massage and yoga] complement each other in everything from relaxation to body awareness. It’s not so much about doing something to yourself, it’s more about building a better relationship with your body.

Plymouth Patch: In addition, you offer something called Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy. What’s that?

Grutza: I started doing that about two and a half years ago…it is barefoot massage, and I walk on my clients. It is great. It is the deepest massage I could possibly give, but it is deep without what we are typically used to with a deep massage, which is elbows and knuckles jammed into us. I have teeny-tiny ladies who get it and great, big police officers who get it, and I can gauge the amount of pressure I’m applying because I just add more body weight, if I need to. It unlocks the body.

Plymouth Patch: Are all of your services by appointment only? What about your pricing?

Grutza: Definitely by appointment only. I charge $85 for Ashiatsu [an hour and 15 minute session], and that’s a really good price. I charge $65 for other one-hour massages. I want what I do to be doable for people, and I want them to be able to make it a part of their healthy life. If they’re sweating it and trying to figure out how to pay for it, that’s not cool.

Plymouth Patch: Well, I don’t know how you do it, massaging people all day. My husband is a big guy, and I tire from just rubbing his shoulders for five minutes. My fingers actually cramp up! What am I doing wrong?

Grutza: It’s funny that you say that because I’ve had so many of my clients say the same thing! So I started doing this class here called Couples Massage, and it’s different from your typical couples massage. No one else does it. I have couples come in, and they’re here for a couple of hours with me, and they take turns learning how to give the other one a massage without being exhausted. It’s a lot of fun.

Plymouth Patch: Sounds like it! I need to look into that.

Center For Massage Therapy of Plymouth
 1200 W Ann Arbor Road,
Plymouth, MI 48170
(734) 737-9926
http://www.massagetherapyofplymouth.com/

What could be worse than being sidelined (read: house-bound) during your first pregnancy? Being Type A and house-bound during your first pregnancy. But Plymouth Patch columnist Courtney Conover, with the help of her husband Scott, a former Detroit Lions offensive lineman-turned professional chef, is taking it all in stride. Join her on the journey with "Waiting for Baby," a weekly column that will chronicle what goes on inside the head (and home) of a mother-to-be as she prepares for one of life’s most anticipated (and frightening) experiences: Motherhood. Check back here Friday, June 10 at 10 a.m. for her first entry.