Old Thyme Medicine

My name is Mary Katherine Hawk and I am a licensed  Medical Massage Therapist and life-long student to plant medicines. I focus my study on keeping alive the wisdom of natural health practices in the context of modern, expanding science and research. I live in the Appalachian Mountains and my little cabin is my temple, working kitchen and classroom. I'm a collector or rare, antique and hard-to-find books on alchemy, medicine, and plant folk remedies and history. I love hiking or exploring the world with my husky, Haley and my kitty, Stella. First and foremost, my primary source of learning is directly from the natural world. I work to bring natural therapies to others around me through my work as a massage therapist while also encouraging knowledge of traditional ways to live in harmony with the land. My life has been a series of challenges that have repeatedly been triggered when I withdrawal into nature and that is exactly how Massage Therapy became a part of my life, during a time of great turmoil.  This has helped me embrace empathizing with the pain and experiences of my clients in order to help achieve a better state of health. As always, be well. 

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What's My Technique or Style?

If you have had massage before, then you may have noticed that each therapist really does have their own "formula" or approach to how they will work on you and how they will address your imbalances. Some may choose to do a one-size-fits-all approach and do the same style of massage, every session while others might recommend different techniques each session. Each therapist really does have a different education background that effects their style as well. 

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My foundational education was with Advanced Fuller School of Massage in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The school focused on a very science-based, practical approach. I was taught all techniques and modalities, but my focus really became Deep Tissue after graduating and once I realized I had a passion for getting to the root cause of tissue immobility. I found that my pressure and strong fingers were great at suppressing the nervous system and getting into small areas of the muscle where not just knots, but tight fascia was found. Being in Virginia Beach, I worked on many military, active and retired. I found that my grounded nature was very calming for people with stressed nervous systems with a history of trauma and anxiety. In 2019 I started my certification in Medicinal Massage, completing it in 2021. My certification focused on providing assessments, understanding a wide range of illnesses and tissue disorders more in-depth and understanding how to better treat a wider range of the public such as elderly and immobile. 

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I really try to understand a person's medical history when I first meet them. I will typically provide or suggest a full-body, general massage the first time I work on a new client. This is so I can get a good overview of how the body is laid out and any restrictions or tissue dysfunctions of each joint and limb. I will typically ask a lot of questions to understand the body intricately and to understand pressure tolerances and technique preferences. Most client tell me that after the first session, they need a few days to recover. This is because I am not only able to provide a lot of pressure but I get into the tissue and I focus on reminding the client how to breathe throughout the session. Breath is a huge part of my technique and I try to teach clients how to relearn their breathing patterns as I stretch and extend the tissues. I usually incorporate various stretches in all sessions, sometimes full body assisted stretches. Following the first session or two, I prefer to keep sessions shorter to an hour or half hour because I believe the real change happens on the habits you have in between sessions. I am constantly trying to learn new techniques and hope in time to further my education.