Carissa Shima Healing Bodywork

Ever notice how a headache sometimes seems connected to tension in your low back? Or how brain fog seems to show up alongside poor sleep?
There’s a tube of tissue that runs from the base of your skull all the way down to your tailbone, surrounding your spinal cord. It can hold tension too — part of why head tension and low back tension can be more connected than people realize.
When that tension releases, it’s common to feel it show up in more than one place at once.

This is why you feel wired even when you’re exhausted. 👇
If your jaw, neck, or shoulders never fully relax, the issue may not just be muscular — your body may simply be stuck in a state of holding. Precise work helps it finally register that it’s safe to let go.
Tag someone who needs this. 👇

Recurring headaches. TMJ discomfort and jaw clenching. Tension at the base of your skull that just won’t let go.
A lot of people assume this is just something they live with. But this kind of tension often responds really well to precise, hands-on work that helps your nervous system stop bracing.
If headaches and jaw tension have become part of your normal, it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Wondering what an actual session with me looks like?
It starts with a postural assessment — looking at how your whole body is functioning, not just the spot that’s bothering you. From there, depending on what you’re dealing with, I might use deeper structural work, lighter and more precise techniques, or both.
It’s never a single technique done the same way for everyone. It’s whatever your body actually needs that day.

I get asked this all the time, so I wanted to explain it clearly.
What I do isn't massage, chiropractic, or physical therapy. If you're active and dealing with pain — a tight neck, an achy low back, tension that keeps coming back no matter how many massages you get — I look at how your whole body is working together, and find where one area is overworking to cover for another.
That's usually exactly why pain and tension keep coming back. I work hands-on to release what's actually driving it: fascia that's been holding tension for years, a nervous system stuck in guard mode, structure that's out of alignment and forcing other areas to pick up the slack.
This work holds best when you keep moving — that's part of what makes it last. I'm not replacing your chiropractor or your massage therapist. I'm the piece that helps everything else actually hold.

Most people’s first move is to book a massage right on that spot. And it feels great — for a couple of days. Then it’s right back again.
I understand why. That’s where it hurts, so that’s where it makes sense to go. But here’s what’s actually happening: that tension between your shoulder blades is often being driven by something much lower in the body — your pelvis.
When the pelvis is out of alignment, it changes how your entire spine stacks, all the way up through your shoulders and neck. Working only on the spot that hurts gives temporary relief, because it’s not actually where the problem is coming from.
This is why I never just work on the area where someone feels pain. The whole body is connected — and treating just the symptom means you’re back in the same spot again in a few days.”
Hook on screen in first 3 seconds: “Tight neck, sore shoulders, that knot between your shoulder blades that won’t go away?”
Caption: Tight neck. Sore shoulders. That knot right between your shoulder blades that never seems to fully go away.
Most people’s first move is to book a massage right on that spot. And it feels great — for a couple of days. Then it’s right back again.
Here’s what’s actually happening: that tension between your shoulder blades is often being driven by something much lower in the body — your pelvis.
When the pelvis is out of alignment, it changes how your entire spine stacks, all the way up through your shoulders and neck. Working only on the spot that hurts gives temporary relief, because it’s not actually where the problem is coming from.

Does it ever feel like your body is tense even when nothing actually happened? Like you’re braced, on edge, holding something — but you can’t quite point to why?
Here’s something most people don’t realize: chronic stress creates the exact same kind of fascial holding pattern as a physical injury.
Your body doesn’t fully separate emotional stress from physical trauma. Either one can cause tissue to guard, tighten, and hold — and stay that way until something addresses it directly.
So if you’ve been carrying tension for a long time and can’t trace it back to any one specific injury, this might be exactly why.

Tightness and pain in your hips and pelvis. A low back that feels tight, achy, or overworked. Tension that seems to travel — into your rib cage, up through your shoulders and neck, sometimes even into your head.
If any of that sounds familiar, you’ve probably also noticed your low back has more of an arch to it, or that your pelvis feels like it’s sitting forward. That’s often something called anterior pelvic tilt — where the pelvis sits forward and the low back is arched. It’s incredibly common, and most people have no idea it’s happening in their own body.
This is Emily. When I did her postural assessment, I could see it clearly — her pelvis was out of alignment, and that was affecting everything above it, all the way up through her rib cage and shoulders.
We worked directly on her pelvis to help it find a more balanced position. And when that changes, everything stacked on top of it starts to change too.

So many clients come in assuming grinding and jaw tension are purely a stress response, and I understand why — it's the explanation most of us have always heard. Stress can absolutely play a role. But when I look closer, I usually find other pieces of the pattern too: how you breathe, where your tongue rests, and how your jaw is positioned — and this isn't just something that happens during the day. It's happening all the time, including while you sleep.
I work alongside airway-focused providers — myofunctional therapists and dentists using corrective devices — because breathing and tongue posture are deeply connected to jaw tension, and addressing the whole pattern tends to create more lasting change than focusing on stress alone.
In session, I work directly with the muscles and tissue around the jaw, neck, and head to help release what's already built up.
If you wake up with a sore jaw, deal with tight neck and shoulders, or get headaches that seem to come out of nowhere, it might be worth looking at the fuller picture.

Stiff hips. An achy low back. Legs that feel tight and heavy. If you feel like you've lost the spring in your step, this is a simple one to try.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Let both knees fall gently to one side, then the other, like windshield wipers. Keep it slow and easy.
As you move, notice the knees releasing out from the front of the pelvis.
Now take that same noticing into walking. As you walk, see if you can feel your knees moving out from the front of the pelvis with each step — not forcing it, just letting it happen.
It's a small shift, but it's part of what gets that spring back in your step.