From corporate jobs to massage therapist and movement educator, we take a dive into Diana’s world and how she transformed her own life through movement education and tools that served her throughout her own healing journey and helping others.
In this interview, Diana shares her insights about the importance of self-massage, breathing, and meditation, and the effect they have on overall well being and health.
About the author: Interview led by Erin Wen, Tune Up Fitness content writer. Erin works as a Osteopathic Manipulative Therapist (OMT) and movement specialist for over 15 years. She has a background in classical ballet that eventually led her to become a yoga instructor. She is also a certified Yoga Tune Up® instructor and currently offers multiple treatment modalities including osteopathic manipulation, pelvic floor and pregnancy support, and movement trainings and workshops.
Interview with Diana Duncan
Erin: Do you mind sharing a bit about your background and how you became a bodyworker and teacher?
Diana: I started out in corporate work and quickly realized I didn’t like it so much and decided to do some traveling. Funny enough, in 1997, I made a spontaneous decision to go to massage school without ever having a massage before. I was living in New York City at the time and I couldn’t afford a massage! Two of my dear girlfriends had gone through the process and I just dove in without really knowing much about it or if I was even going to enjoy it.
Erin: What was the inclination you had towards massage school?
Diana: I had a history of jobs that were sedentary and I knew I wanted a new change in my life that involved movement. I asked myself: “What can I do that will keep me moving?” So I started doing massage until my daughter was born. After that we prioritized the unity of the family because my husband traveled all the time, I could only practice massage on the side. Around 2014, I decided to take my boards again and go back to doing full time bodywork. While I enjoyed massage I felt there was something missing in the way I was treating my clients.
I had one of those “a-ha” moments after I took a yoga class in a studio where the teacher used tennis balls in a sock. I ended up buying a dozen of those for all my clients! I thought…I need to find some sort of training that will take me to the next level with this! I started asking teachers and someone introduced me to The Roll Model Method, Jill Miller’s first book which then led me to all her trainings.
Erin: How did you start involving movement with your clients after you realized ‘something was missing’?
Diana: I had always practiced yoga and pilates. So I pursued professional training with Stott Pilates. This helped me to incorporate movement work into my sedentary lifestyle I had at the moment and helped me with my massage clients once I got back into practice.
Erin: How was your experience implementing what you learned in the Tune Up training to your clients?
Diana: I definitely struggled at the beginning teaching the Yoga Tune Up (YTU) practices and finding my voice as a teacher because the Tune Up training articulates Yoga Asana in a way that may seem very different from most yoga trainings. Jill’s work put science and action to things I was feeling and sensing in my own body. With my students the TUF training gave me teaching tools that felt very grounded. Tools I could apply within the context of their lives and needs. I was able to give my students a deeply sourced movement experience and education that could help them not only with stretching or mobility but the education helped me to communicate how and why their movement patterns matter in their daily life. It’s been my experience that when students get into this work, dive into self massage and movement, they get these eye opening moments that astonishes them and that is so so much fun to see.
Let go of imposter syndrome.
– Diana Duncan
Erin: How do you prioritize whether you offer massage or movement to your clients? Do you think one is more important than the other?
Diana: I had a really hard time with this because as much as I wanted to encourage the importance of movement, many clients would often prefer to just be cared for on the table. And I completely related and understood the need to just be held and supported through touch. So then I realized that model wasn’t functioning. Now I offer longer sessions where clients receive both or they come in twice a week for different services.
I do think movement and self-massage is by far more instructive than someone touching you. It is a very powerful tool for self-knowledge and understanding about yourself. I have a client recovering from surgery who has lost some proprioceptive skills and we are working on recovering some of those skills back through meditation, yoga nidra, and ball rolling.
But I do think that table massage has its time and place. I often do craniosacral on my clients to reach these deep states of peace and calmness that can be so healing and rewarding.
Erin: What effect do you think these ‘deep’ states of being have on the physiological body (i.e. pain, surgery recovery, trauma)?
Diana: The direct neurological actions that occur to get to that mind state are very much supportive of immune function, reducing inflammation, reducing stress, anxiety, and lowering cortisol levels. It also offers that window of feeling ‘safe’ in the body which can promote healing and letting go.
Erin: What’s the difference for you between self-massage and receiving massage?
Diana: When I am receiving a massage, I have less control of the situation. As much as I love deep tissue massage, I feel upregulated and my heart rate responds in a way that I know is not exactly relaxing. When I do my own deep tissue work with massage balls, I am able to temper the pressures and pause things if they feel overwhelming. I enjoy having the ability to decide for myself.
Erin: What’s your best tip for teachers?
Diana: Watch your students, they will always tell you what they need and what you need to improve to communicate to them. They are the best teachers, far from any training that I have taken.
Erin: How did self-massage help you recover from your previous injuries/accidents?
Diana: I have had 2 major injuries – I broke my tibia and fibula and I had 2nd and 3rd degree burns from a fire injury that affected 80% of my legs and feet. Recovering from those injuries took a lot of time and I had to learn to really hold space for myself. Although there were multiple parts of my body that were immobile, the massage balls helped me stay mobile in areas I could move. I knew even if I couldn’t roll, I could rest on a ball and breathe.
Once things got better, I used the balls to help restore my mobility and with my burns, to help with scar tissue healing and fluid drainage. Therapy ball massage coupled with movement education has helped me resolve chronic issues in my body and the biggest reason is because it’s so enjoyable so I am able to be consistent.
Erin: What’s the movement modality that you find the most efficient?
Diana: I have started strength training for myself because I know how important it is. I am currently doing a Strength Training for Yoga Teachers with Kathryn Bruni-Young and have been incorporating modalities of breath with strength training. I believe the combination of all of it, including meditation, rolling, strength and movement are all so complimentary and vital for living. I feel like for me the most efficient modality is what my body needs that day. Somedays its self massage, some days its strength other times its just rest, breath work, Yoga Nidra. It all gets married together, I don’t know what to call it anymore!
Erin: What are your top self-care tools?
Diana: My Coregeous ball and my Yoga Tune Up® Therapy Balls, they go with me everywhere I go!
Erin: What is something that you know now that you wished you knew when you started practicing?
Diana: Let go of imposter syndrome. I now have confidence that my offerings are as good as anyone else’s in terms of helping somebody solve a problem. There are so many innovative ways to help people. After all of my injuries and healing cycles, I now know that there are so many things that work, it’s not just one thing.
Erin: Top tips for stress relief?
Diana: Breathing, breathing, and more breathing. I didn’t know anything about breathing until I met Jill and I feel it’s such a complete whole body experience. Diaphragm Vacuum is one of my favorite movements; it gives me great peace and recovery.
Erin: Do you have any upcoming trainings?
Diana: Yes! We have a Roll Model® Method Practitioner Certification coming up in June in Austin, Texas. I will be teaching with Sandy Gross.
Explore More Movement & Recovery Resources
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