Therapeutic Massage
Therapeutic massage supports your body’s ability to stay healthy, relaxed, and flexible. Our experienced massage therapists will work with you to customize each session based on your body's unique needs.
Thai Massage uses assisted yoga stretches, joint mobilization, and rhythmic compression along energy lines to release stale energy from the body, making room for fresh energy. Clients remain fully clothed, wearing comfortable, loose-fitting clothing (not jeans).
For more information and to schedule an appointment, contact our massage therapists directly using the email addresses provided below.
About Our Massage Therapists
Availability:
Sunday and Monday afternoons
Contact: massage3@circleyoga.com
The human body has interested me since I was a child growing up in Siberia, Russia. I graduated from the P.F. Lesgaft Academy of Physical Education in St. Petersburg in 1987 and taught physical education at a local college until 2000, when I left Russia and came to the United States. Settling in Maryland, I completed my training as a massage therapist at the Potomac Massage Training Institute in 2003.
As a massage therapist for more than 20 years now, I have worked with a large and diverse clientele, blending different techniques to provide clients with massages tailored to their needs. I’ve also stayed up to date with continuing developments in massage therapy techniques, such as lymphatic drainage massage, neuromuscular massage therapy, and Shiatsu. I’ve worked with clients suffering from chronic ailments, physical traumas resulting from accidents, severe arthritis, and more.
While I do not see massage therapy as a panacea for the world’s ills, I believe it has the power to offer a tremendous positive impact for people and give them relief, physically, mentally, and spiritually. We’ve all seen or read stories of infants in orphanages who, because of a world crisis, are left bereft of families and are unable to cry because, as psychologists point out, no one has ever picked them up or held them. This is what I do as a massage therapist: I touch my clients, I hold them and, hopefully, I pick them up.
Availability: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Contact: massage2@circleyoga.com
Ruth Anne Keister is a massage therapist and teacher of Alexander Technique, Shaw Swimming, and yoga. She helps people deeply relax and move with ease with massage therapy (Swedish, Deep Tissue, Myofascial, Craniosacral, and trauma treatment) and the Alexander Technique, occasionally including helpful yoga poses. She graduated from the Potomac Massage Training Institute in 1999, Chesapeake Bay Alexander Studies in 2010, Shaw Swimming Teacher Training in 2013, and Circle Yoga's 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training in 2023. She also offers swimming lessons in the Shaw Method, applying Alexander principles of ease and efficiency to swimming at two DC area pools. Ruth Anne is a lifelong student of mindfulness meditation and yoga, as well as an avid swimmer, cyclist, hiker, and ice skater.
DC Massage License MT83
Sorry, Stefanie is not taking new clients at this time. If you would like to be notified when she does have openings again, contact her at massage@circleyoga.com.
Stefanie Vale, LMT is an avid believer that bodywork therapy can be a powerful ally in your healthcare regimen. She understands that successful therapy often depends on the smallest turn of the hand, done with clarity of purpose and full attention to detail.
Stefanie graduated from the Cincinnati School of Medical Massage in 2003. With over a decade of experience in a variety of settings and client populations, Stefanie has demonstrated expertise in addressing such wide-ranging conditions as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and competitive athletic performance optimization. Her specialties include Orthopedic Assessment, Sports Therapy, and Neuromuscular Therapy.
Before joining Circle Yoga, Stefanie built a solo practice in Ohio and North Carolina. She also worked in several integrative health practices, collaborating with chiropractors, physical therapists, and acupuncturists to address patients' needs for pain management, injury recovery, and stress reduction.
About Our Thai Massage Therapist
Availability: Saturday afternoons
Contact: thaimassage@circleyoga.com
Linda has studied and practiced bodywork for many years and is a licensed massage therapist and certified Thai massage practitioner. She studied Thai massage at the Sivananda Ashram in Val-Morin, Quebec; at the Thai Institute for Healing Arts in Arlington, VA; and with Pichest Boonthumme in Chaing Mai, Thailand. Linda is also a yoga teacher and is certified through the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Linda believes that feeling more ease in our physical bodies not only relieves emotional stress and improves physical function, but can also lead to insights that facilitate personal growth. Prior to becoming a massage therapist she had a long career as a mediator, facilitator, and conflict resolution trainer. When not practicing bodywork or teaching yoga, Linda enjoys biking, gardening, and vegan cooking.
Schedule an Appointment
To schedule an appointment for massage, contact the therapist directly using the email addresses above. Our therapists manage their own schedules; we do not book massage appointments at the front desk.
Pricing
For New Clients
We ask new massage therapy clients to complete an intake form (download the intake form here) and bring it to the first appointment. Please build in a few minutes prior to your appointment time to discuss any particular needs or concerns that you may need addressed during your session.
Cancellation Policy
Please notify the therapist at least 24 hours in advance if you need to cancel a massage appointment. Full payment is required if the cancellation is made less than 24 hours in advance.
