Episode 38: Interview with Kasey Kohtala and Jirah Willis
Are you curious about how massage can elevate your well-being, both mentally and physically? Tune in to this captivating episode as we delve deep into the world of massage therapy.
Listen Here:
Spotify | Apple | Google Play | Amazon Music
Show Notes:
Introduction to Guests:
Kasey Kohtala, owner of Massage Heights in Atlanta.
Jira Willis, a skilled massage therapist at Massage Heights.
Kasey's Journey:
Turned to massage during personal grieving.
Transition from a client to business owner.
Jira's Background:
Shift from psychology and nursing to massage therapy.
Emphasis on the therapeutic and holistic aspects of massage.
The Interconnectedness of the Body:
Reflexology and its impact on various health concerns.
Massage's role in the autoimmune system and white blood cell regeneration.
Facial Massages:
Benefits of gua sha and roller techniques.
Addressing sinus issues, acne, puffiness, and headaches.
Benefits of Deep Tissue and Sports Massages:
Importance for all ages in maintaining flexibility and range of motion.
Preventive measures for posture-related issues.
Stress Management and Wellness:
Importance of regular massages and other wellness practices.
Special focus on women over 40 and the management of stress and cortisol levels.
Encouraging First-Timers:
Overcoming hesitations about the intimacy of massage.
The value of communication with a professional therapist.
Personal Insights from Kasey:
Reflections on stress, cortisol, weight management, and self-care.
Closing Remarks:
Endorsement of massage therapy as a powerful health tool.
Information about Massage Heights and resources for listeners.
Key Takeaways:
Holistic Benefits of Massage:
Massage therapy is not just for physical relief but also offers holistic benefits including emotional stress relief, improvement in sleep, and support for the nervous system.
Impact on Overall Health:
Regular massage can positively influence the autoimmune system, manage cortisol levels, and aid in overall health, particularly for individuals over 40.
Importance of Professionalism and Communication:
The effectiveness of massage therapy is greatly enhanced through professional conduct and open communication between the therapist and client.
Self-Care is Crucial:
Even those in the wellness industry, like Kasey, need to remember the importance of self-care and regular wellness practices like massage.
Massage as a Preventative Tool:
Massage therapy serves as a proactive measure for maintaining health and preventing issues related to aging, stress, and poor posture.
Transcript:
Welcome back to Better Than a Pill. Today, I'm so excited to have both Kasey Kohtala and Jira
Willis with us. Kasey is the business owner of a popular massage brand in Atlanta, Georgia
called Massage Heights, and she's passionate about her business and the world of massage
and wellness. And Jira is a highly skilled massage therapist who works at Massage Heights, and
she has a passion for the healing power of touch and many years of experience with the world
of body work, including a special focus on therapeutic massage for clients of all backgrounds
and needs. So welcome to both of you. I'm so excited to have you on today.
Thank you. Thanks for having us. I'm excited to be here.
Great. Excellent. So we're going to talk about massage and you know, how it can be beneficial
and especially for women, women over 40. But let's first off start Kasey, what, you know, what as
a business owner made you choose massage as your focus?
That's a good question. So I think it's important. I say I'm a receiver and believer of massage.
I'm not an expert here. Gyra is a trained therapist. I've just always really loved massage. I found
it. Massage early on. I was going through a, uh, I lost my mother suddenly. I was going through
a grieving process and someone had recommended it to me.
Hey, you know, part of self care and kind of working through grief is treating yourself very well.
And they recommended giving me a gift card for a massage. I went and got a massage. I was
going to a popular place here in Atlanta, uh, called Natural Body. And, but it was really
expensive. I was going like every other Friday, sometimes twice a month, but I could never really
get an appointment sometimes.
It was really expensive. And, I kind of went looking for a more affordable way to get a massage
and I wandered into Massage Heights and I bought a membership and I was a member for, Four
or five years. And I just loved it. I love the brand. I love the upscale feel, I love the price. And so I
kind of became a loyal member and you know, I was looking at different concepts.
I was a medical sales rep and I was looking at different concepts to open a business. And I got
to know the owners of that Brookhaven store, they helped me, they mentored me, and then I
opened our first location in Decatur, Georgia in 2017. Wow. That's awesome. I love that. I love
that you were actually getting massages at the center that you're now running and you had no
idea that you were going to be opening up, uh, uh, uh, your own center at that time.
I bet. Right. Yeah. If someone would have told me I would have said no way. But when I looked
around at Decatur, because that's where we lived, there was no option for affordable massage. I
mean, we had very limited options in Decatur, so it's turned out to be a really good spot. That's
great. So how exciting and you know, Jara, I would love to hear a little bit more about your story
and how you found massage as a therapist.
So for me, I originally was a psych major and I've always been like an active person. I was a
psych major for only just a year because something happened with my financial aid and then I
took a year to kind of find it. 18 or whatever. So I then went to school for nursing and I was like, I
love it, but it's my jam.
But I really like it. I guess I was captivated by physiology and anatomy. And psychology,
because those are, uh, courses that you have to take in nursing school, so, that, I was like,
okay, this is not my jam either. So, I, then, kind of like, I don't know, I was in this weird spot
where I was just working retail, but I was like, I want to do something, I've always been up to,
that people came to, to talk out with, I've always been into, uh, just taking care of the body and
they always have this ongoing commercial that would run on like And it was that guy who was
like, I see you. You're sitting on the couch. And that was the school that I actually ended up
going to, I went, I said, you know what? I'm going to go to the orientation and see, you know,
what it's all about.
And they have full programs, a lot medical based, but then they have massage therapy. So I
was like, okay, massage. Seems like, okay, I'll go to the orientation. We're going to see what
we're talking about. Now, in my mind, I was like, first of all, I'm not touching any feet. I'm not
going to do it. No feet allowed.
I just hated feet at the time. I was like, don't put your feet around me. I really was going in there
with that mindset that I was just going to be. But reflexologist, nothing, uh, therapist, you know,
but when I got in there and I, the, the orientation, it just was a lot of the things that they were just
saying a lot of the things that I was already interested in, things that I've already explored.
And it was just like all compacted into one, you know, you have the physiology and anatomy
with massage, but you also have like the therapy, you know, it's a. Like to speak on, uh, Casey's
situation and therapeutic, you know, I have a lot of clients who come to me now to this day who
are Hiding my counselor today and sometimes just showing up and being there for people and
uh is a part of the the session, you know so that's pretty much how I got it kind of got into it and
as You know, I continue to take these courses and, obviously finishing the program.
I just fell in love with it. I've been doing it for nine years now, so that's pretty much it. That's
pretty much my story. Yeah. Great. Thank you for sharing that. And, and now you've been doing
it for nine years and it sounds like you have been targeting a lot of the therapeutic aspects of
massage.
And I got a massage. I love massage. So I, you know, you know. I know it can be helpful for pain
management, injury prevention, sleep, and a lot of emotional stress you know, anything I'm
missing, share some things on that. You're hitting all the key components of massage, it
definitely reduces the body's, uh, production of stress hormones, which is mainly like cortisol.
That, that, uh, specific hormone, basically, it, it increases the sugar, the glucose, the ability to
break down sugar and things like that. It also is just kind of one of those, it's, I don't want to call
it a no no because your body needs everything that, you know, that is in, within it, but it's one of
the hormones that definitely affects the body, and it's fight or flight.
I always talk about that too because the nervous system is super duper important. It holds a
record of trauma. It holds a record of injury, it's your fight or flight system and cortisol when that
is lowered via. Massage that helps our ability to handle stress a lot better. It, uh, it helps us to, it
helps our body to remember, okay, I've been injured before, but now I can heal a little bit
quicker, you know, or I've gone through stressful situations before, but now I, my body, my
nervous system is remembering like, okay, I can breathe.
I can relax a little bit quicker than before, especially when you incorporate massage. So cortisol
is that, that number one hormone that really kind of takes us, it has been a choke hold
sometimes, you know? Yeah. And so that's the key is what you're saying. Basically, if we're,
through the therapeutic touch, we are slowing down the nervous system and thus kind of
lowering the levels of our stress hormones, cortisol being one of them.
Yes, for sure. You're, you got it. You, you got it for sure. And, and so, you know, in, in working
with people and what kind of chronic conditions are you, are you seeing, are you like
autoimmune inflammation? Yeah. I definitely within my time as a massage therapist, like within
my experience, I've dealt with, Or not dealt with, but worked with, people in hospice.
I've worked with, people who have cancer. I've worked with people who have, neuromuscular
dysfunction. I have worked with people who are depressed and have anxiety. I've worked with a
lot of retired athletes and active athletes from all players, baseball players, pro time WWE
wrestlers, and all of those things kind of go together.
When it comes to like, I can see like with, when it's someone who's definitely in sports, they're
more active, right? So with them, you're going to see a lot of the inflammation occur. You're
going to see a lack of range of motion. You're going to see a lot of muscle tightness, a lot of
muscle tension, and Their lymphatic system is, is, isn't the best.
They're gonna, they're gonna be a lot of areas where they've been impacted, so there may be
trigger points, residing in certain areas. And A lot of the time I'm doing a lot of lymphatic and
neuromuscular anyway, guiding basically those, that fluid, guiding the lymph nodes back from
where they are and back to the heart.
The heart is very important when it comes to stress levels. You know, we obviously know when
we're dealing with anxiety, stress, those things definitely affect our ability to breathe. It affects
our heart and how quickly or how slowly that pace is going. And. I tell people all the time who
deal with, you know, chronic issues that they need to kind of definitely incorporate massage
more than once a month, more than twice a month, because for them, it is definitely a life or
death situation.
And with that being said, it's like, I, I've worked with people who have come consistently. And I'm
talking about like twice a week, mood is better. Health is elevating. Sugar levels are low. They're
happier. And that in itself helps you heal faster when you're relaxed and you eliminate that, that
not eliminate, but you lower that cortisol level.
Oh my goodness. It's like. I don't want to say it's 50 50 from what the doctors probably would
prescribe you versus what I'm doing, but it goes hand in hand. Yes, take your medication. Yes,
go to your appointments and your treatments, but also definitely incorporate massage,
incorporate yoga, drink your water.
You know, it sounds super basic, but they have a great, great impact for sure. Yeah. And, you
know, there's so many different types of massage. And so, you know, we can get, you know, my
experience, I know I've had deep tissue or, you know, not so deep. So what is it? It's
individualized. It's an individualized choice, but speaks a little bit about all the different types of
massage.
Of course. Okay. So, I usually do deep tissue, sports massage, uh, lymphatic drainage,
neuromuscular, prenatal, trigger point therapy, stretch therapy, reflexology, and I think... For, oh,
you can't forget about aromatherapy as well because those like aromatherapy and things like
Reiki or Thai, those are definitely more meditative sessions and modalities.
And those are very important too because they kind of go hand in hand with things like, oh,
meditation and yoga and things of that nature. So definitely with deep tissue, deep tissue is
going to release. It's kind of like deep tissue and neuromuscular kind of go hand in hand
because they both deal with releasing of the trigger points.
Sports massage is also incorporated with those two as well. And you're going to see a lot of
interweaving with these, uh, modalities. You're going to deal with people. You can tell me neck,
back, shoulders. Those are those three areas. In areas that I hear, and those also affect the
functions of our lower extremities, the ability for us to bend down, the ability for us to reach and
squat, you're going to feel that in your neck, back and shoulders, and it's so funny, people are
like, oh, you're working on my feet.
How do I feel this in my neck right now? And usually it's because I take them back to grade
school songs. You know, your thigh bone is connected to your thigh bone, you know, your thigh
bones are connected to your knee. Everything is connected. Everything is inter interlocked. So
you're going to feel with reflexology. Oh my God.
I came in with a headache. Why are you working on my feet? Because in reflexology, there are
lines that run throughout the entire body from your hands. to your sinuses, all the way to the tip
of your hair follicles. There are, it runs all the way through and constantly pumping blood is
constantly flowing.
And that is super important to muscle tension relief and muscle tightness. And just massage in
general, any modality that I'm naming right now is going to help with the autoimmune system
because you're constantly regenerating white blood cells and you want to be able to get, it
pumps it faster, if that makes sense, you know, so, especially when you're dealing with sinuses,
it's always good to, I think now we see it's, it's not commercialized, but the gua sha, you know,
you put, or the rollers for your face.
good for sinuses. Those are the little suction cups that you can put on your face. You're moving
all of that lymphatic stuff. You're moving your sinuses. You're relieving, creating blood flow. You
know, you're relieving tension, attention, and headache. We, at Massage Heights. We have a
face massage. I recommend that if you have acne, if you have puffiness in the face, if you have
sinus issues, if you have a headache, because everything literally is connected.
It's really good if you come in for a deep tissue massage and then let's say you do have that
headache. Okay, now let's get you some hemp. Let's get you a face massage as well. And it
sounds like a lot, but they all benefit. You know, when it comes to deep tissue and sports
massage, I recommend that to anyone.
I don't care if you are 95 or 15, people need to be stretched. Age really starts to kick in. They're
hunched. They're hunched over. They have the ball right here on the back of their neck. I have a
client. She started going to the chiropractor and coming to see me. Her neck, she didn't even
know it was six inches away from her spine.
So it was a whole, but you couldn't tell, but her neck was. Forward a lot. And when she's faced
down, you can feel like, when you're working on the neck, you can feel that space, you can feel
that hump and you can prevent it. Even if it's already there, you can still work on it to prevent it
from getting worse.
You want to be able to maintain flexibility. range of motion and basically those in the joint areas,
your spine, your hips, your knees, your nose and your shoulders and your neck. You want that
range of motion because it's going to be more difficult, you know, especially when you get older,
you can't do certain things, especially as we get over 40.
I mean, you've hit it. Jira said it best, like 40 and forward is like, when you really start to, you
know, I'm in my forties. A lot of our therapists are in their forties. Uh, and it's, you're right, you
start to feel, you know, when, when you're at Massage Heights. It's funny working amongst a lot
of massage therapists because you know, they're always correcting you.
Like, I, I see you, I'm looking at you. And we don't even realize it until we get on the table. Yeah,
a hundred percent. Yeah, for sure. As a woman, over 40, right. Our body goes through
tremendous changes and the message is one preventative tool here. Right? That can really be
helpful in so many ways. And you know, in what I do, I teach a lot of movement, but we also
incorporate fascia release.
tools to help empower people to do things on their own, in addition to getting regular massages.
And I know that's been a lifesaver for me, but there's something to be said about getting the
actual work done. And I think, what you said, Jara, really resonated with, you know, spending
that much time with a therapist can really have tremendous effects, you know, above and
beyond, injury prevention and pain management, it can go into the nervous system, which, you
know, as a woman over 40, we may have issues there going on with cortisol and other things,
right?
You're getting into the change, you know, and with that is going to spike. Stress becomes more
your tolerance for, just day to day things become very limited, you know, especially if you
incorporate kids and a family and work and traffic and being in a long line. And it's like all these
things, you're just like, God, like, oh my goodness.
So you incorporate massage, you incorporate yoga, movement, fascia release, all these things.
You want to incorporate these things, drinking water, breathing. These things are going to help
the nervous system to continue to get weaker and weaker. If we do not continue to upkeep it
with these tools, you know?
Yeah, no, it's what you shared all. Thank you so much for coming on today and sharing all of this
and your knowledge and your firsthand experience doing the frontline work daily as a massage
therapist. And if there's anything that You could say just to someone who's never done massage
before, what would you tell them?
Give it a try. Do not be too nervous. Do not, you know, you have to get past the intimacy of it all.
Because it is intimate. It's very vulnerable. You're literally on the table. You have to get past that
part because once you are there, if you are dealing with a professional licensed misogynist,
they're going to make sure first and foremost that they communicate.
They leave that door open for you to let them know what you want, makes you comfortable,
what you need, what you don't need. I tell people all the time, I don't want you to pay your
money and waste your time. When you need more pressure and I'm giving you less, you know,
or you need to talk and I'm not responsive or vice versa.
Get past the mental part of it because it's beautiful. It's wonderful. Most women get massages
and when they bring their husband or boyfriend in there, they're always like, Oh, this is not my
thing. But I tell you, I have had countless. Like guys come back and they're like, I'm so happy.
My wife brought me because I don't know what my problem was before, because I, you just,
because they, they, they understand the benefit.
They feel so much better after they've been stretched. You know, women will definitely be the
one to stretch and to breathe and to drink the tea and do all that stuff. But when they do it, it's
like, Whoa, where have, where have I been? You know, and this goes for anyone, you know, just
try it. I say, just try it.
Yeah. No, thank you. And thank you for sharing that from a professional standpoint, because I
think that there's a lot of massage out there. And I know myself, I've experienced, scenarios
where, uh, I would never go back for a massage, right? And what you just shared about
communication is key and being able to leave with a sense of improvement, can all be done, but
through a professional, somebody that knows what they're doing, I think is key here.
I'll just. Wrap us up here and say Jaira is a phenomenal therapist. I mean, she really she really
is and I every time we talk I learned something from Jaira and what she just shared about your
tolerance for stress and cortisol being heightened over the age of 40 I never thought of it before
it's you know, I'm 43 and The weight comes on it's harder to get the weight off and it's the belly
fat, you know, it's, it's your struggle with it and it's cortisol.
And, you know, you think there's so many benefits of massage you don't even think about. And
that's one of them, maybe it would help with the weight loss. It does. I know. But I know, and I
haven't, you know, people say, Oh, you know, all of our massage therapists, they get out, you
know, they get a massage every month in the house just to take care of themselves.
But even as the owner, we get busy and I haven't even gotten on the table in like two months.
And she's reminding me today, like. Oh, yeah. I need to pop in. I need to get it. I know I'm the,
I'm the most non compliant patient that we have or guests but yeah, this she's, she's awesome.
That's all I can say.
Thank you. Thank you. You're awesome.
Well, thank you guys both. You're both awesome. And I have to say that this episode is great
because I think people out here need to hear that. Maybe this will say today, you know, like,
listen, massage can be a very powerful form of medicine and it may be just what you need to
help you.
So thank you for sharing. Both you guys. And if you want to learn more about massage heights,
I will be including the links to the website in the description, as well as the social links for both
Instagram and Facebook. And remember we do new episodes every week on Wednesday, and I
look forward to having you join me then.
