Massage therapist practices her art

Anastacia Scott considers her calling an art.

The massage therapist recently opened an independent practice, Massage by Anastacia, at 5 Elements Healing Arts Center at 204 W. Adams Ave. in Sisters.

She said she “loves the concept of the healing arts” and feels very much at home in her new surroundings.

“I do believe that there is an art to massage,” she said. “And the art is in understanding the individual needs of people.”

It is an art that is combined with a high degree of scientific understanding of physiology and how muscles work. The art comes in applying that knowledge on an individual basis and having a “feel” for what kind of treatment will help a particular person.

“I love problem-solving; I love making people feel better,” Scott said. “It keeps me engaged because every person is different. We all have a thumb, but we all have different thumb prints.”

Scott originally learned the art and science of massage as a means to an end; she wanted to do equine massage.

She had worked as a veterinary assistant in Australia, doing animal rescue and conducting small surgeries on animals.

“It wasn’t holistic enough,” she said.

She was intrigued by the possibilities of equine massage, but it was recommended to her that she learn massage on a smaller animal first: humans.

She found that she loved the work.

“It definitely felt like the right path and I stayed with it,” she said.

She stuck with it when she moved to California and then to Oregon. She worked at Shibui Spa in Sisters before setting out on her own this month.

Scott is an accomplished songwriter and performer and music forms an important part of her practice.

“I really work with music a lot in my massage, with the rhythm and the tempo,” she said.

Her clients come to her when they are in pain — the back, the neck, the shoulders. She says massage can often relieve that pain — even chronic problems that appear headed for surgery. She said many of her clients are able to get off sleep or pain medications through the use of massage.

She recommends that people try non-invasive massage before moving on to more radical treatments for injuries or chronic problems.

“You can usually tell if something is working in three deep, specific massages,” she said.

Her practice is already busy; she recommends booking at least a couple of days in advance.

For more information on Massage by Anastacia, call 610-6221.