Restoring your body’s freedom to move.
Chronic
Pain Care
Healing
Injury & Strain
Muscle & Joint Mobility
Manual Osteopathy is about more than pain release—it's about re-calibrating your body's structure and systems.
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Manual Osteopathy focuses on the full body and how all of your joints, muscles, ligaments, organs and tissues connect and interact with each other.
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By working deep into the systems that make up your body, osteopathy addresses the cause of your pain (not just the symptoms).
HOW MANUAL OSTEOPATHY WORKS
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All of the tissues in your body are nourished by fluids, nutrients and neurological exchanges that flow through your blood vessels, lymphatics, and autonomic nervous system.
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When your body structure changes, from an injury or repetitive posture, tissues become restricted. Sort of like a kink in a garden hose, this constraint will deprive your tissues of the essential nourishment they need. Your nervous system will become irritated and pain signals will start to travel through your tissues, joints, and muscles.
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​By working comprehensively with the systems that make up your body, osteopathy addresses the cause of dysfunction—as well as the cascade of interactions and symptoms.
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WHY CHOOSE MANUAL OSTEOPATHY?
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Manual Osteopathy does focus on acute pain and discomfort, and it also lends itself to aiming for the alleviation of symptoms. It delves into addressing the underlying cause of discomfort, aiming for sustained, long-term relief.
Manual Osteopaths practice with a deep curiosity, and we focus our time and attention on the connections that flow to and from the muscle tissue (like joints, bones, and blood vessels).
In our practice, we prioritize advocating for our patients, offering guidance, and establishing collaborative partnerships. Our approach involves tailoring individualized treatment plans that not only address immediate concerns but also yield measurable and enduring outcomes.
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WHAT TO EXPECT
Manual Osteopathy is a gentle, hands-on approach that releases tensions deep in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction and improve whole-body health and performance. Practitioners ease restrictions in the soft tissues that surround the central nervous system.
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Manual Osteopathy includes Craniosacral Osteopathy (Nervous System), Visceral Therapy (Organs), Myofascial Release (Connective Tissues), Massage (Muscles) and Joint Mobilizations all in one.
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ABOUT
FORREST
Forrest is a Registered Massage Therapist with over 18 years of experience, specializing in long-term results through myofascial release, joint mobilizations, and patient education. He also holds a diploma in Manual Osteopathy and teaches at Kootenay Columbia College of Registered Massage Therapy.
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Based in Nelson, Forrest combines massage therapy and manual osteopathy to create customized treatment plans that enhance mobility, relieve pain, and improve overall physical health. His integrative approach incorporates joint mobilizations, myofascial release, visceral therapy, cranial osteopathy, and muscle energy techniques, empowering patients with effective strategies for sustainable, day-to-day wellness and long-term outcomes.
MONICA
Monica is a Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Manual Osteopath passionate about holistic healing. Her journey began as a personal trainer in 1998, which led her to explore massage therapy. She trained in Thai Massage, Therapeutic Touch, Trigger Point Therapy, Raindrop Therapy, and Thai Herbal Compress Massage, fostering a deep commitment to integrative care.
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She is registered with the CTCMA as a Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Herbalist, and Acupuncturist. By blending ancient wisdom with modern techniques, Monica helps clients restore balance, enhance vitality, and achieve their wellness goals. She is dedicated to supporting others on their journey to optimal health.
PAUL SASO
Paul Saso has been practicing Shiatsu since 2011. His goal is to open blockages and tense areas and to revitalize the body, allowing it to function with ease and without pain. By working along meridians throughout the body the practitioner enables Chi to flow freely thus stimulating healing and health. Blockages and tense areas are released and the body is balanced, creating flow and evenness.
Shiatsu treatments can heal a wide range of problems, including imbalances in posture, neck, back, and joint pain, sciatica, tendinitis, insomnia, musculoskeletal pain, arthritis, and headaches. It is also used to reduce stress and anxiety and can help bring a sense of ease to life.
Full sessions are approximately 1.5 to 2 hours long, and shorter sessions are available to address specific issues.
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REBECCA GOUTAL
Rebecca is a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor, Teacher, Facilitator, and co-founder of LoveAlive Transformative Arts & Therapy. As a Relationship Specialist, she provides person-centred counselling for individuals, couples, and families, supporting them in healing, growth, and resilience.
With over 15 years of experience, Rebecca integrates diverse approaches, including Experiential, Family Systems, Internal Family Systems, Somatic, Cognitive, Emotionally Focused Therapy, Transpersonal Psychology, and Expressive Arts. She holds a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts (Social Practice & Community Engagement), a Diploma in Transpersonal Psychology Counselling, and an Advanced Certificate in Transformative Justice, alongside specialized training in Non-Violent Communication and Conflict Resolution.
Rebecca fosters a safe, inclusive environment where fear and shame can soften, allowing clients to connect with their innate wisdom and navigate challenges such as anxiety, grief, trauma, and relationship difficulties.
VINCE WISHART
Vince Wishart specializes in emotional fluency, focusing on recovery, communication, and relationships. Through his therapeutic coaching psychotherapy-business, Love Alive (www.lovealive.ca), Vince combines ancient wisdom traditions and modern science to help individuals achieve lasting emotional transformation. With 12 authored books and 6 comprehensive courses, his work empowers clients to navigate life’s challenges with clarity and resilience. Vince’s approach is rooted in fostering deep connections and sustainable growth, offering tools to thrive both personally and relationally. Whether you’re seeking recovery support, communication skills, or relationship healing, Vince provides a pathway to profound emotional well-being. His designations are RTC, NLP
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HANNAH CHESSMAN
FDN is a holistic discipline that bridges the gap between functional medicine and clinical nutrition. It is a science-based holistic approach to investigating and identifying the root cause of health problems. Hannah uses individualized functional lab testing and assessments to identify malfunctions and underlying conditions at the root of most common health complaints.
This functional lab testing focuses on the hormonal, immune, digestion, detoxification, energy production systems, intestinal barrier function, food intolerances, toxic burden and hidden infections such as parasites and bacteria. Just a few examples of labs that Hannah uses are the DUTCH test (comprehensive hormone analysis), Gi-map (digestive testing), OAT test (organic acids test), HTMA (Hair tissue mineral analysis).
Hannah takes a deep dive into lifestyle, environment, stress, mental emotional factors and works on those alongside addressing things that may have popped up on the lab testing. She then employs a combination of interventions including therapeutic diets, sleep hygiene, exercise recommendations, stress reduction strategies, emotional and spiritual therapies, supplementation protocols and much more.
YOUR TREATMENT
WHAT TO EXPECT
PRELIMINARY INFORMATION
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Forrest will ask preliminary questions to assess your health and wellness goals.
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He will consider information about your physical condition, medical history, lifestyle, stress levels, medications and any areas of physical pain that could affect your therapy outcomes.
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This information will help him to design a custom session to achieve your health and wellness goals for long-term and lasting results.
PRIVACY & COMFORT
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Wearing comfortable clothing or bringing shorts and/or a sports bra allows Forrest more freedom to deliver a variety of techniques and positions as a manual osteopath. However, each person who sees Forrest will be evaluated on the needs of the day.
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After your initial conversation and Forrest's assessment of what is to treated, he may stay in the room with you to begin treatment over top of your clothing. However, if he believes a massage approach better meets your needs, he may leave the room and give you an opportunity to remove your clothing and get comfortable.
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Forrest will always discuss with you what he believes is the best treatment plan of the day and allow for your input as well to align with your goals and desired outcomes.
THERAPY SESSION
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Depending on your needs and treatment plan, your manual therapy session may involve full body work, or localized treatment.
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Remember to breathe normally and allow your body to fully relax.
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Forrest invites you to always check in with him during the treatment if something feels good or needs to be changed for any reason. Good communication is vital to a more optimal treatment outcome.
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Post treatment in general it's important to hydrate 1-2 cups of water initially.
ENVIRONMENT
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Relaxing music will be played. If you find music distracting, simply tell Forrest. The same goes for talking during your session.
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Forrest will check on pressure and comfort throughout your appointment. If you're uncomfortable at any time (too cold, too much pressure) communicate with him.
FOLLOW UP
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The benefits of manual osteopathy are cumulative, so work with Forrest to customize a plan to meet your health and wellness goals.
LOCATED IN THE HEART OF NELSON, BC
REBALANCE
NELSON'S WELLNESS COLLECTIVE