Stephen Opper, Asheville NC Pain & Performance Massage Therapist

I want you to enjoy an active, pain free life.

Hi, I’m Stephen Opper.

I help people manage their pain and improve performance naturally with clinical massage therapy, therapeutic exercise, and natural movement training.

I have a varied background, and I’ll tell you more about it in a minute. But first, I want to share something with you.

You see, I know how it feels to live with pain.

Ironically, some of my greatest teachers have been my own injuries. They forced me to re-evaluate many of the things I learned through my formal education.

I was humbled and frustrated by my own pain because it kept me from enjoying my active life. But it also spurred me to test and evolve my knowledge. In fact, my own body has been my laboratory.

That journey of discovery led me to some wonderful mentors along the way. The result?

A deeper understanding of the human body. The lessons I learned have healed my clients and students, as well as myself.

The human body is amazingly complex. It’s also astoundingly simple. But for all the wonders of modern knowledge, we overlook a simple idea…

Our physical body requires maintenance.

I took a long and enriching journey that challenged many "truths."

I’ve been a passionate student of the human body for most of my life. My formal education includes a B.A. in Ethnoecology from Warren Wilson College. But that was neither the beginning nor the end of learning.

Besides massage therapy, I’ve also trained in:

• Anatomy & physiology
• Biomechanics & natural movement
• Tui-Na (Chinese manual and movement therapy)
• Neuromuscular therapy (St. John method)
• Neurosomatic therapy
• Craniosacral therapy
• Posturology
• Myofascial release
• Visceral release

Other explorations that gave me insight into the way the body works are:

• animal tracking and movement
• anthropology
• evolutionary biology
• martial arts (several lineages)

I’ve studied under skilled teachers from many traditions. And I also encountered opposing views on every aspect of the human body. Throughout my learning, I came face-to-face with the limits of many so-called truths. But, the experience forced me to move past dogmatic systems and techniques.

I came to find that every person and their injuries are unique. Each is best healed by treatment that often spans several methods and systems.

My commitment to the study and application of those methods is dedicated to the health and enrichment of my clients. Click here to see some of their feelings about the help they received.

Click the links below to learn about my massage therapy and natural movement services.

Natural pain relief
Movement re-patterning

Ready to start healing your body? Click here to schedule your treatment. Or contact me about which treatments are right for you.

Outside of work, I spend time with the love of my life, Daniella Miller, and our amazing children.