About Us
Our Contributors
Nick Ng
Editor and Massage Therapist
Learn more about Nick
Dr. Ravensara Travillian
Licensed Massage Practitioner, PhD
Learn more about Ravensara
Ravensara has been a licensed massage practitioner in Washington state since 1992. In 2006, she completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical & Health Informatics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
She practiced at the Refugee Clinic at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for more than eight years, providing massage therapy for pain relief, insomnia, and other symptoms for refugees living with the after effects of having survived war, genocide, and other forms of trauma.
She has served the profession as a Board Member for the Massage Therapy Foundation and as Chair of the Best Practices Committee. She is currently completing a book on massage research and information literacy, and exploring the feasibility of developing a master’s degree program in advanced-practice professional massage therapy for vulnerable and underserved populations.
Dr. Penny Goldberg
Sports Physical Therapist
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Penny Goldberg, DPT, ATC earned her doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Saint Augustine and completed a credentialed sports residency at the University of Florida. She is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports Physical Therapy and currently works at ReQuest Physical Therapy in Gainsville, Flroida.
Penny holds a B.S. in Kinesiology and a M.A. in Physical Education from San Diego State University. She has served as an Athletic Trainer at USD, CSUN, and Butler University.
She has presented on Kinesiophobia and differential diagnosis in complicated cases. Penny has published on returning to sports after ACL reconstruction and fear of movement and re-injury.
Outside of the clinic, Penny enjoys traveling, good cooking with great wine, concerts, working out and playing with her dogs.
Erin Jackson
Health and Wellness Attorney
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Erin is a health and wellness attorney in the Chicago area at Jackson LLP. She also co-founded Jackson Compliance, a healthcare consulting company which specializes in practice start-up and compliance. Through this work, Erin collaborates with providers to make their practices friendlier and more approachable for a diverse patient population. Erin strives to help her clients understand the provider-client relationship and become industry leaders in patient-centered care.
Erin serves as the President of the nonprofit organization Inspire Santé, which she founded after recovering from debilitating chronic pain. Using her healthcare knowledge and patient experience, she speaks to healthcare providers about how to provide care that is guided by the patient’s goals.
Erin is a published author whose scholarship focuses on the intersection of the law with women’s health issues. She is writing a memoir about how she conquered her pelvic pain, which she hopes will help other women discuss these issues without embarrassment or shame.
In the Chicago area, Erin is involved with organizations that promote women’s health and equality. She sits on the Advisory Board of Below Your Belt, L3C, which is pioneering a pelvic health app for preteen girls, and is involved with the Chicago Chapter of the U.S. National Committee for UN Women. Outside the office, Erin is a yogi, indoor rock-climber, and weekend brunch connoisseur.
Laura Allen
Massage Therapist and Educator
Learn more about Laura
Laura Allen is President of Sales & Marketing of CryoDerm. A graduate of Shaw University and The Whole You School of Massage Therapy, Allen has been a licensed massage therapist since 1999 and an Approved Provider of Continuing Education under the NCBTMB since 2000. She has taught classes all over the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
She is the author of The Educated Heart, A Holistic Practitioner’s Guide to Business, and numerous books. Allen resides in North Carolina with her husband James Clayton and their two rescue dogs.
Alice Sanvito
Massage Therapist
Learn more about Alice
Alice is a massage therapist who maintains a private practice in St. Louis, Missouri. She has been committed to client-centered, science-compatible massage therapy since 1991.
She assisted at NMT seminars for the NMT Center of St. Petersburg, Florida, for 10 years and studied Russian Medical and Sports Massage with Zhenya Kurashova Wine for more than 10 years, under whose direction she taught Russian Massage for three years. Most recently she has studied DNM under physiotherapist Diane Jacobs.
Alice has a particular interest in pain rehabilitation and enjoys working with performing artists, athletes, and pregnant women. When not devoted to her practice, you can find her playing old time music and dancing every chance she gets.
Dr. Mark Olson
Somatic Bodywork Practitioner
Learn more about Mark
Mark Olson, Ph.D., LMT, is the director of the Pacific Center for Awareness and Bodywork, which offers a trauma-informed somatic bodywork program in Kauaʻi.
He has an M.A. in Education and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, specializing in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuropsychology and Neuroanatomy from the University of Illinois where he studied memory, attention, and eye movements.
He enjoys giving aquatic therapy sessions as well as studying and teaching about how affective neuroscience, somatic psychology, and bodywork interface with one another.
Tania Velásquez
Massage Therapy Educator
Learn more about Tania
Tania Velázquez teaches orthopedic and sports pathologies, kinesiology, and the advanced practical class at the New York campus of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. She is also a continuing education provider at Pinpoint Education who advocates for integrating modern pain science with massage therapy.
She graduated from Florida Academy of Massage in 1994. Stuff that interests her include urban gardening, hapkido, home-cooking for guests, and exploring non-verbal communication and its intricacies and power behind the words we choose to use in practice.
Catie Morgan
Massage Therapy Business Owner
Learn more about Catie
Catie holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Colorado and graduated from the Massage Therapy Institute of Colorado in 2007. After working in the spa and salon field, teaching, and then going on to private practice it seemed time to step away from full-time hands on work as a massage therapist. In 2013, an opportunity to move into a new role as owner and director of Amara Massage Therapy & Wellness in Fort Collins, Colorado, started a new journey and return home.
Since then, she has devoted herself to the learning and application of science-based massage therapy practices for business and how best to implement these practices in an employee setting. She hopes to foster a new model in Amara, creating a client centered environment that promotes excellent self-care practices and communication for staff and guests.
In her free time, she loves working with rescued animals, watching stand up, gardening and enjoying the outdoors, as well as reading all things pain science and massage! She and her husband, Nathan, call Colorado home, and love spending time with their family, friends, and animals.
The History of Massage and Fitness Journal
from the founding editor Nick Ng
I started Massage and Fitness in 2014 because there was a lack of quality information in massage therapy. During my second year of massage school in San Diego, Calif., I couldn’t find much reliable information about pain. I had to look into research and physical therapy forums to find answers and ask questions. I was pretty frustrated and disappointed that much of what I was learning and hearing in massage circles don’t align with the current understanding of pain.
What didn’t align
Therapists were still talking about getting rid of toxins with massage, sweating, and drinking water. Educators were teaching (and still teach) massage therapists to break fascia and blame trigger points for pain.
When I was a massage therapist, many clients and patients had told me about these narratives that other massage and physical therapists had told them.
What was missing
But nobody was teaching or creating content about the actual science behind pain. There was hardly anything about the nervous system and hormones and social factors that also influence pain. Everything was about muscles, muscles, and muscles.
So it seemed obvious to me that these myths would continue to trickle down to the public.
From idea to journal
Later that year, I decided to create Massage & Fitness Magazine to fill the void. With the help of several massage educators and allies, we launched our first issue in March 2015.
Over the years, many leaders in pain research and manual therapy have influenced the publication, including Dr. Bronnie Thompson, Dr. Lorimer Moseley, Paul Ingraham, Diane Jacobs, Dr. Rachel Zoffness, and Dr. Mark Olson.
Independence and access
Massage & Fitness is not affiliated with any massage organizations, special interest groups, or product- or modality-driven courses.
We’re independent and simply curious about pain, touch, and exercise in relation to manual therapy.
Until the summer of 2019, these issues were released on an online magazine platform, and each issue was available for purchase or subscription only.
Toward the end of 2019, we decided to make all of our content public and 100% free. We want to give better information online to people worldwide. After all, part of our goal is for people to have access to good information.
People in pain deserve a more accurate and honest explanation about their problems.
And people who are paying a lot of money and spending time to learn how to help their patients better should be provided with up-to-date information.
So let’s try to give and share honest and more accurate information. If you like what you read, don’t hesitate to share it on your website and social media.
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