Massage therapist opens shop on Vandercook Way with flexible hours - Longview Daily News

[massage]

The smell of sandalwood greets you as you reach for a cup of tea. You browse a selection of essential oils and books on massage therapy on a corner shelf before settling down into a cushy chair.


A soft-spoken woman greets you and brings you back to a sage- and lavender-colored room that smells of eucalyptus and peppermint.


This is the setting that Ellie Beach, owner of Elle’s Essential Massage, has created to soothe her customers. Whether it’s a two-hour deep tissue massage or a 30-minute hand massage on a lunch break, Beach can fit you in.


“I’ve always had an interest in helping people feel better, and massage does that,” said Beach, 36. “We as humans have created walls around us emotionally. We crave that healing touch. … I think massage can convey that.”


Beach has been a massage therapist since 2008. Originally from Boise, she moved to Longview in 2011 and became a therapist for a local chiropractor. She opened Elle’s Essential Massage on Vandercook Way in Longview in October.


Beach has plenty of competitors in Longview and Kelso. She said her flexible hours help set her apart. She gives massages on Saturdays by appointment only and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays by appointment.


Beach said she’s willing to give massages so late, because she wants to accommodate the schedules of local mill workers, who make up a large portion of her clientele. Beach said most of her clients come to her for work-related stress, physical and/or emotional.


“When I see people come in, they’re on their lunch break and keyed up,” she said. “I can get it to where they’re calm.”


Beach said massage businesses have become more successful in recent years partly because massage therapy is recognized as a solution not just to physical recovery but emotional recovery.


“Massage is becoming not so much a recreational thing, but preventive maintenance,” she said. “We’re becoming more aware of the effect stress has on the body.”


Appointments can last as little as a few minutes. She generally charges $1 a minute, up to $100 for two hours. She practices several types of massages from deep tissue to hot stone, which cost $90 for 90 minutes and $110 for two hours. She can focus on any part of the body a client wants.


“A lot of people have an intimidation factor with massage,” she said. “They don’t know what to expect. (Here), you can end it whenever you want. You’re in charge.”


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