The office of massage therapist John Webster is located on the second floor of one of Redlands' historical downtown buildings. Webster has been in practice for nearly 12 years, and helps his patients recover from traumatic injuries.
His work includes a variety of external therapeutic techniques that enable his patients to feel rejuvenated and at ease after each session. His Manager, Lisa Montano, and he are dedicated to their work, and make the atmosphere welcoming and inviting.
Webster previously worked at Redlands Acupuncture for 7 years, before deciding to venture in to his own practice. His education has allowed him to expand his knowledge and to learn new techniques that enable him to provide the best service to his patients.
John works with the body as a whole. This includes not only the structure and how the internal parts interact with each other but the environmental, spiritual and emotional components as well. He works on externally through techniques such as craniosacral therapy and visceral manipulation. His therapy sometimes, targets the emotional and physical triggers that stay stuck in the tissues and can disable the body from being fully functional.
Recently he partook in a 10-day dissection anatomy class at University of Saint Andrews School of Medicine in Scotland. This class allowed him to collaborate with other body workers, Doctors and movement specialists from all around the world. These specialists gathered to honor, learn, and share with each other, the gift that these donors chose to leave behind for science. “The whole purpose of this class was to learn anatomy and science from a perspective that is rarely seen in this profession. In some cases there are students that have more hours of dissection logged than most Doctors have out of medical school” Webster said.
Fascia is a type of neuro-webbing that many body workers and movement specialists work on in their practice. This tissue literally holds the body together and serves as an indicator of what issues may be present during the time the trauma is inflicted. It is an integral part of the curriculum involved at the class at St. Andrews.
"Often times, this part is cut out during surgery, but it's the area we [massage therapists] work in because it's where we find the most amount of connectivity to the rest of the body. There is an entire set of renowned Doctors, Anatomists, and body workers who are working scientifically with the medical community to understand that this has a purpose. It's way more than fat."
Webster has also teamed up with owner Lisa Vest of VASA yoga in Redlands. On Friday nights, he assists in a restorative Yin class which includes gentle movements, stretches, and deep breathing. Webster pairs these yoga poses with craniosacral adjustments which brings an amazing peaceful feeling by the end of class. He believes in mixing and melting different disciplines, modalities and body work to promote health and wellness.
Webster's future goals are to collaborate with other therapists and to work on patients with multi handed therapies for hours at a time. He believes by experiencing different therapeutic methods at once these patients will find ways to heal faster and deeper than what was previously experienced. Webster feels with his pursuit of continuing education, staying up on the latest modalities and techniques and his deep love of anatomy that he is truly on the cutting edge of this line of work. Asked what his favorite part of the work was, he replied with a smile, "I just love helping stuck people get unstuck".