Ayako Kobayashi Knowles (Koko)
Licensed Massage Therapist as a
Certified Massage Therapist by State of CA,
California Massage Therapy Council
Holistic Health Practitioner (Completed
more than 1000 hours of school curriculum
with different modalities including anatomy)
Participated in various Myofascial Release
Seminars under direct supervision of
JohnF. Barnes, PT, LMT (JFBMFR)
Completed Skill Enhancement Seminar at
the Myofascial Release Treatment Center in
Sedona,AZ (2011), participating in
intensive treatment of various patients
with John F. Barnes, PT, LMT and his
advanced-staff therapists.
Repeating seminars since 2010, Myofascial
I, Myofascial II, Cervical Thorasic, Fascial
Pelvis, Unwinding, Advanced Unwiding,
Rebounding, Fascial Cranium, Healing Seminar, Myofacial
Release Equine I, Skill enhancement
Seminar, Women's Health, Pediatric Myofascial Release
(Totaling over 430 hours as of 11/2021)
Completed Lymephedema Management
Certification Course by Academy of
Lymphatic Study Institute in FL
(8/2012, 135 hours, consists with
Manual Lymph Drainage and
Complete Decongestive Therapy)
Orthopedic Massage Integrated
Therapy by James Wasalski, LMT,
President of Pain Management Center in
Dallas Texas
5 day Intensive -10/2013 40 hours
upper body seminar - 2/201 20 hours
lower body seminar - 2/2015 20 hours
Massage Cupping Therapy
20 hours - 2/2015
Kobido Japanese Facial Massage
Attended to the seminar level 1-3 in Tokyo Japan, (8/2015)
the Seminar was taught by
26th generation Master Dr. Shougo Mochizuki
Visceral Manipulation (Barral Institute)
VM 1 - Abdomen (24 hours) 6/2016
VM 1 - Abdomen (24 hours) 12/2016
VM 2 - Abdomen (24 Hours ) 1/2017
VM Listening Technique 1 (18 hours) 2/2017
VM 3 - Pelvis (24 hours) 5/2017
VM 2 - Abdomen (24 hours) 6/2017
VM 4 - Thorax (24 Hours) 12/2017
VM Listening Technique 1 (18 hours) 1/2018
VM VM 5, Thermal Evaluation (24 hours) 5/2018
VM Listening Techniques 2 (18 Hours) 10/2018
VM 5, Manual Thermal Evaluation (24 Hours) 2/2019
VM 6, Visceral Emotional Relations (24 Hours) 5/2019
VM 2 - Abdomen(24 Hours) 10/2019
VM 3 - Pelvis (24 Hours) 4/2021
VM1 - Abdomen (24 Hours) 8/2021
VM4 - Thorax (24 Hours) 11/2021
Chikly Health Institute
Lymph Drainage Therapy 1 - (24 hours) 2/2018
Craniosacral Therapy (Upledger Institue International)
CS1 - 6/2018
CS2 - 7/2019
My Philosophy and
Approach to the Therapy:
When you have pain, it is a signal that the
body is warning you that something is not
right. That is, something is off balance.
I carefully listen to what your mind
and body tell me. I analyze your whole
body structure, check ranges of motion to
see which muscle groups may be
contributing to the cause or causes, and
ask the history of your condition(s). I will
treat the area with the symptom(s) and
also treat the potential pain-causing areas,
to provide better results.
Palpation and observation of your tissue at
a whole-body level is also very important.
The human body has its own wisdom to
heal if there is a good balance to function
harmoniously. In our busy
lifestyles, stress, scar tissue, repetitive
motions, trauma, bad posture, and so
on can be reasons of connective tissue
restriction by hardening and adhesion.
That will lead to pain, tightness, limited
ranges of motion and other disorders in our
bodies not be seen on an X-ray or MRI.
Also, I strongly believe the mind and body
are connected and give strong effect to
each other.
Sometimes, your traumatic experience or
deeply stressed emotion can be strongly
connected to the pain and other problems.
That is why I am specializing in Myofascial
Release. This method takes a whole-body
approach. It has been giving myself and
my clients much better results for pain
relief. With MFR, I can feel their tissue
softening better than when just doing deep
tissue massages.
Once the softening occurs, that is the
indication of fluidity getting back to
tissue. That means more circulation,
supply of nutrients, oxygen, better lymph
flow, and an increase in movement of waste
and toxins which have been released in the
system. When this result is achieved, I can
reach deeper layers without forcing the
strong pressure on the surface with other
massage modalities.
When the tissue change happens in your
body, it is like a ripple on the water, it will
slowly spread. The body will show us the
connection and other restrictions by
changing the color or temperature, or
simply put, you may feel the sensation or
radiating feeling apart from where my
hands are. We follow the "body
wisdom" -- like putting puzzle pieces
together one by one. When the client is
truly open-hearted and ready, some
emotional release can happen. This could
be a key to the healing for some people.
I can work with specific modalities by your
request or by integrating different
modalities. My goal is always to meet
your needs and goals from the session.
I am here to stand by you to start your
Healing Journey