About Kaja
Massage Therapist Clinical Herbalist
Visual Artist Educator
I believe therapeutic touch should be accessible to everyone. I want to support you in finding more ease and space in your body. I want to offer an opportunity for rest and I am deeply committed to bringing more collective calm and conscious care to my community.
Massage is a balm for the tension and pain that life can bring, a preventative measure as well as a focused approach to bringing each person closer to their individual homeostasis.
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My very first massage was from my mother, before I could even hold my head up on my own. Much of my internal intention comes from her wisdom as a bodyworker, supplemented with years of academic study, training, certification and the evolution of my own practice.
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I am more like a dandelion than a Spruce tree– While I may not grow deep, sturdy and immovable roots in one place over the course of my life, I nurture the ability to adapt to different environments, enriching the soil and overall ecosystem of wherever the wind takes me. I spent my childhood looking for crawdads in Pacific Northwest streams, my adolescence climbing through the lush jungles of Hawaii, greeting my adulthood by leaping into unknown situations around the world (like immigrating to Helsinki!) – All to say, each experience is carried with me, etched into my subconscious, infused into my work.
For me, massage is a distillation of memory, tradition, and connection. Having bodies is what binds us all, across cultures, space, and time. Our bodies may change, disappoint us, frustrate us, overwhelm us, give us joy, liberate us– but at the end of the day, the complex and intricate experience of having a body is something that we all share. Massage is here to connect us to our bodies and in turn help us connect to the world around us.
What does your body need today?
Educational and Experience
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Official Massage Therapy training/ certification
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​​600hr Massage Therapy Program: Lane CC, US
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550hr MT certification training: A2Z Health, US
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Bachelor's of Science: Public Health Education
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Food, Human Behavior change, Stress Response​
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2-year Clinical Herbalism Training program
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Vital Ways School of Traditional Western Herbalism​​
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2018-CURRENT Entrepreneur: Saule Massage + Wellness
2022-CURRENT Massage Therapist: Velnas Oy, HKI
2021-2022 Massage Therapist: Namina Oy, HKI
2019-2020 Massage Therapist: Chiro Health Cntr, US
2018-2020 Massage Therapist: Body Centre, US
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Commitment to Intersectional Care
Who is massage for? All bodies can benefit from massage, including:
Large Bodies
Fatness is not a moral or physical "failing": we could all eat the same, exercise the same, exist in the same environments...and our bodies would still look different, feel different, and present in different sizes and weights. Fatness is not a barrier to care.
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I offer: tables that hold 150-250kg, in-home massage, body props, and a floor massage mat option
Queer Bodies
Gender and sexuality exists on a spectrum. We can hold difficult, painful, and complicated emotions around how our bodies look + behave.
Therapeutic touch can be confronting because of past experiences we've had in our private and professional interactions.
Queerness is not a barrier to care.
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I offer: a space for all physical and emotional presentations, inclusive language and consideration, privacy, respect
Disabled Bodies
We do not all move through the world with the same level of ease.
Disability presents itself in a myriad of ways, and for the vast majority it is an inescapable inevitability if not a current, daily experience.
Disability is not a barrier to care.
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I offer: client-centered care, in-home massage options, flexible payment options, body-centric approach, assistants welcome
Visibly-Racialized Bodies
In the historical and current world, people have been and are judged by, and are treated differently due to, the color of their skin. There is a vast inequity and deep, internalized commitment to inequality that we must all push back against and eradicate from ourselves and our institutions.
Skin color is not a barrier to care.
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I offer: solidarity and mutual aid to visibly-racialized communities, reduced or nonexistent massage rates, commitment to equity in care environments
The meaning of Saule
Saule ("sow-leh") is the pagan name of the Latvian sun goddess, the embodiment of vitality, renewal, and regeneration. She is the bridge between worlds, bringing necessary golden warmth to the day and serving as keeper of the keys to the night. The tide of the sun rises and falls just as the systems of the body ebb and flow, a constant state of transition.​​
The modern world makes constant demands-- Saule Massage and Wellness exists to be a temporary refuge in the storm, an opportunity for rejuvenation. Rest is a revolutionary act and caring for ourselves and our communities is integral to our ability to thrive.
It is in these spaces that we cultivate change, working with the body to redirect the flow in a way that brings us relaxation and well-being.