Kelly Rice
Kelly is a Southern California native. Born and raised in San Diego, naturally, she loves the water. In elementary school and middle school, she was a junior lifeguard at Silver Strand State Beach and dabbled in water polo in high school. All throughout high school, she volunteered to be a football manager and could be found seeking information from the team’s sideline medical assistance. She furthered this interest by taking a ROP (Regional Occupational Program) class in physical therapy and took strength and conditioning classes with the football team.
After high school, Kelly attended San Diego State University, majoring in Kinesiology, with a plan to go into Athletic Training. Kelly found another path forward in the way of helping people in a way that better suited her personality. She completed 1000 hours of Massage Therapy Studies at Maric College in 2008 and has been practicing as a Certified Massage Therapist ever since.
In the early days of her massage therapy journey, Kelly took pride in her role as a massage therapist at Bear Creek Chiropractic and Medical in Wildomar, CA. For over two years, she got to practice massage in a clinical setting, working alongside two seasoned chiropractors who taught her aspects of ART (Active Release Technique) which she continues to implement in some massages today. This is when she realized there was more that she could/needed to do for those in pain. Touch is powerful and her intention is to be able to provide preventative measures to pain and injury as well as facilitate healing while being a conduit of health through her hands and educating people to move often and move well.
The lion's share (13 years) of Kelly's massage therapy career was spent at Dcompress Downtown in Downtown San Diego. This is where Kelly really honed her craft and developed her unique technique and style of massage.
The Vibe
What sets me apart from other therapists is that I really listen to my clients in an effort to not only address their needs for their massage session, but also to open the lines of communication to always make sure they're as comfortable as possible. Whether a client wants to relax and decompress or they need to work out some stubborn trouble areas, I find the perfect balance of pressure to provide a therapeutic session and keep my movements fluid to create a calming, sedating experience. I am from the school of thought that massage should never hurt, so I don't subscribe to the notion of "no pain, no gain". Even in a deep tissue massage, I integrate Swedish massage techniques so that trigger spots are not only worked out, but the muscles feel nourished and pampered. My specialties include prenatal massage and techniques to alleviate lower back, hip, and sciatic pain. I've also had amazing results over time with clients who were having range-of-motion issues in their shoulders and arms. I've had my hands on somewhere in the ballpark of 12,000 bodies, so I have the confidence to back up my skills, but if you are the type of person who likes to feel like you just got beat up after a massage, I might not be the right therapist for you.
My touch has often been described as nurturing. Picture your mom baking you cookies, wrapping you in a warm blanket, and tucking you in with a bedtime story, but with more elbows and knuckles. My style of massage can be described as integrative and intuitive. I take techniques from many modalities of massage to tailor each session. No two clients are exactly the same, so no two clients should receive the same cookie-cutter massage. Some clients may fall right to sleep while I get to work and some may get to be part of the action and participate in some active stretching techniques to lengthen the muscles and increase mobility. A good massage therapist knows all the moves in the book and can put them into action. A great massage therapist not only brings their knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and movement, but also tunes into the client and is guided by energy and intuition to create space for deep healing and relaxation.
My ideal client is any age, shape, size, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. I will always go out of my way to try to accommodate any differently-abled client. I don't have an "ideal" client because I don't want to be pigeon-holed into working on the same types of clients all the time. Seeing a variety of people with a variety of issues and preferences helps me keep my skills sharp and inspires me to continue learning new and better techniques. Variety is the spice of life!
