About

Carlos Cruz LAc LMT

History

I became a massage therapist in 2014. My journey to bodywork began while serving in the United States Army as a medic. Working in the Western medicine epicenter of a level1 trauma center I was quickly jaded to the ideas of the quick fix that most western medicine seemed to focus on. Deciding to still stay in the medical field I became an Occupational Therapy Assistant in 2012 and began to study manual treatment techniques. Becoming certified in Active Release Technique(ART) for the Upper body and Graston Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manipulation, 

I began to see the wonders of manual techniques and their holistic approach to injury/pain treatment. Exiting the service in 2013 I quickly started massage school where I learned the basic swedish massage techniques while at the same time getting as much information on Deep Myofascial Techniques of which ART was somewhat based on. Starting with Anatomy Trains( a great book by Thomas Myers), I began my journey with Structural Integration(SI) techniques learning a variety of modalities from many different schools of Structural Integration. As of May2014 I have become certified as a Structural Integrator from the Soma Institute of Neuromuscular Integration.

 My work at the moment revolves around using Somassage and SI work to rid people of both chronic and acute pain and body imbalances. I can do focus sessions but the longer time I have the better I can help the body with issues that is going on.  I hope to bring this work together with my eastern medicine practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine of which I started at OCOM Fall 2016.

As well as my medical knowledge I also bring my background in fitness being a certified Crossfit Coach with deep understanding of Barbell lifting( Power and Olympic styles) as well as a growing knowledge and proficiency in Gymnastics, Bouldering and general Rehab/Prehab and Strength and Conditioning. As of late have started on my quest to getting a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Today I live in Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR area with my beautiful wife Stefanie and 5 kids Reverie, Milo and Maggie and new additions Phoebe and Luna.

As of October 2019, I now offer Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Prescription to my available modalities.

As of April 2020, we now offer group or private Kinstretch sessions as a Certified Kinstretch instructor.

I hope that we can work together and that I can impact you with bodywork, Functional Range Systems or Oriental Medicine the same way it has had an impact on me physically as well as mentally and emotionally.

 

Get in touch

Our main goal at RHS is to help you meet yours, whether that be decreasing pain, increasing resilience in tissues of the body or total body wellness.

Let us know how we can be of service.

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