Everyone loves a massage, but have you ever wished your massage could be more? No, not John Travolta more, but a massage that makes you feel good, not for just an hour — but for all time?
“We go deeper,†says Holden Zalma of Culver City-based Meta Touch Custom Therapeutic Massage. “You can always have a ‘fluffy’ massage if you want one, but our goal is to get to the root of your physical problems and make you feel better – and not just for the duration of your treatment.â€
I went to see Zalma with hopes he could help resolve neck and back pain that has plagued me for years. I was surprised at first when Zalma asked me about my work and home life, but as my assessment continued, I understood perfectly how my str
ess level and other lifestyle issues affected my overall health and wellbeing.
From his empathetic demeanor you might think Holden is a psychotherapist, but he actually has a background as a former assistant athletic trainer at USC and an education in physical therapy. Through his past 16 years of practice he has devised an approach to treatment that combines traditional and alternative medicine, embracing techniques of myo-fascial release, oriental medicine, assisted stretching and other rehabilitative therapies.
While he appears relatively young for a successful health care entrepreneur who has owned his own practice since 1996, he wise beyond his years, and his philosophy on health and wellness are more than the treatment of the moment.
As Holden tal
ked me through my treatment, explaining each of the techniques and how they served to sooth pain and make my body and its parts work together better, I became a true believer. He found the precise points where my pain was originating and gently worked those areas until I could move better, without pain.
While I know therapy takes time and there are no immediate miracles, I felt that at I had found a provider who not only had the professional credentials but also that rare gift of intuition, knowing where the problem lies and how to unlock it.
As I gushed my praise for his healing hands, Holden in all modesty explained that his techniques are more science than art, and that they are actually teachable. In fact, he personally trains all of the therapists at Meta Touch in his methodologies so that all clients who come to the practice receive the same standard of care.
Holden has been successful and his practice is thriving because he works at it, and his methods work. Outside of his treatment studios he administers to office workers who seek his help in relieving stress through therapeutic massage in the work place. Literally and figuratively, Holden goes out of his way to help others and to spread his philosophy that the whole person – body, mind and spirit, benefits from therapeutic touch, especially when delivered with caring and compassion.
His methods are borne out in medical and alternative health care communities, but his attitude and dedication cannot be learned from a text book or seminar. As a chronic neck and back pain sufferer who has been to too many physical therapists, chiropractors, orthopedic physicians to count, I can attest that it was a relief, physically and mentally, to experience treatment from a practitioner who wanted as much as I did to find the core problem causing my pain in order to property treat it.
He is only one man, but if you are to visit just one massage therapist, even if it is for the umpteenth time to satisfy your conviction that you have, “tired everything, and nothing has worked,†see Zalma Holden at Meta Touch. There are no guarantees about anything in life; but if when a person pursues their natural vocation, applies their life-long learning, genuinely tries their hardest and cares immensely about what he does — as Holden does, the results will not be disappointing.
For more information on Meta Touch, 4441 Sepulveda Blvd. in Culver City: metatouch.com
