Margaret Madsen: Cranial Sacral, Orthopedic and Movement Therapist

Margaret’s childhood fascination with the natural world led her to earn a Masters degree in vertebrate paleontology in 2002.  After ten plus years working with fossils, Margaret looked to work with bones in motion and completed her national certification as a massage therapist in 2011, followed by ongoing training in a host of bodywork specialties. Concurrently, Margaret spent five years volunteering, training, and then working as an interfaith chaplain in hospital and hospice settings. Applying her unique understanding of anatomy, her deductive reasoning, and active commitment to intuitive listening are some of Margaret’s strengths.

Her go-to Manual Therapy tools center on bony motions — Clinical Orthopedic Massage, Cranial Sacral Therapy, and the Franklin Method bone rhythms. In addition, Margaret incorporates more common massage techniques like Neuromuscular Therapy, Myoskeletal Alignment, Trigger Point Release and Myofascial Release Technique. She is adept at Manual Lymphatic Drainage Therapy and Visceral Manipulation and freely incorporates ideas borrowed from a variety of bodywork styles. Margaret has been at the helm of Focus Bodywork since 2016 after spending almost a year and a half of mentoring with Emma Maaranen.

Margaret’s Movement Therapy builds on her life-long history as a student and teacher of movement and meditation: yoga, pilates, strength training and, most recently and all-encompassing passion for the Gyrotonic Expansion System. Through high school, she was a high-level soccer player and then turned to distance running and hiking as her sports of choice.

Margaret loves to hike (or run!) anywhere in the Southwest, soak in hot springs, and has regular “beach” vacations land sailing across the dry lakes of the West Desert and Nevada. Her family life centers around her much-loved dog and cat and her favorite human, Scott.  Making and eating food, reading, and puttering about the house and yard are some favorite home-based pursuits.

 

Brenna Gardner: Manual Lymphatic Drainage and Connect Tissue Therapist

Brenna has actively worked as a licensed massage therapist since 2001, primarily at high-end ski resorts and golf clubs. She comes to Focus Bodywork with extensive continuing education, including being a Vodder School certified Manual Lymphatic Therapist and assists as a teacher in-training for the Advanced Spa Therapy Education (ASTECC) post-graduate bodywork program.

Brenna’s experience with the sport enthusiast in a spa setting complements the existing Focus Bodywork team. She specializes in acute and chronic injury recovery and is also poised to help pre- and post-surgery. Her many other talents include Connective Tissue Massage, which is great for scar tissue, Trigger Point Therapy, and assisted stretching.

Outside of her career as a therapist, Brenna is a mother to one very pleasant teenager, two eager canines and two cats who have erratic sensibilities. She enjoys growing vegetables, hiking, going on awesome travels, having nonsensical conversation with friends, and making yummy food.

Former Therapists:

Emma Maaranen: Founder of Focus Bodywork For over a dozen years, Emma built Focus Bodywork into a thriving practice to serve athletes of all sorts. In February 2015, she went off to start a whole new adventure in Bend, Oregon.

 

Shannon Herzog: Massage Therapist and Pilates Instructor

Shannon has been involved in the health and wellness industry since 2002. She left Focus Bodywork in 2019 to build her own practice closer-to-home in Bountiful, UT.