When your body is aching and crying out for a little tenderness, you have too many choices of massage therapists in town. Same as acupuncture or chiropractors. How do you find the person and the place that best suit your body and needs?
Well, the first thing most people do is search Google or Yelp. But for me, that doesn’t work because, as someone who is ultra-sensitive to touch, someone’s “excellent” could be my misery. Places like Massage Envy are franchises and lack the personal warmth of privately held businesses. Definitions of Swedish, Japanese, deep tissue, or combinations are slippery based on the training and experience of personnel.
Kyra Matos of Mantis has an ethos worth paying attention to. She started in her twenties and has created a business that is a heart-based model for 21st-century sensibilities that delivers the goods she promises.
She explains:
“Massage, when you are working with a corrective tissue therapist, is like someone who has lived in Austin a really long time. Newer people to Austin know about Mopac and I-35. Those are the roads they take everywhere. When somebody has lived in Austin a long time, they know to avoid either, and they know all the little back roads that will get you where it is you need to go, east, west, north, south.
“A corrective deep tissue therapist is like that. Spa massage is working down the erectors. They’re going to touch the quads, the calves and use broad pressure, but a deep tissue corrective therapist is going to get in and find all of those little muscles, the ones that we don’t hear about, such as the supraspinatus and sternocleidomastoid, to get to the root of the pain or discomfort pattern.”
Amanda, who gave me a deep tissue Swedish massage for sixty minutes, was so intuitive she touched all the points, including areas affected by my scoliosis, without causing pain, yet she reached into the crevices so that when I left the room, I was walking upright. I’d give her five stars, 100%. I booked myself six months into the future because that’s how good she is.
She told me she was studying to become a doula, and her ability through touch reflected the sensitivity required for that work.
No wonder I’m in this profession,” Kyra says. “It’s because with this type of work, you can’t just book something anywhere. When people think it’s the same as going to a therapist, going to a massage therapist, or going to an acupuncturist, it’s not just off the shelf. It has to be personal. It has to be the right person, but the environment in which to send out the message that the right people are there is equally important.”
Kyra wanted Mantis to be a place where people could take an hour out of their day to address what is hurting in their bodies. The goal was never about creating a traditional spa experience with luxury add-ons. Instead, she built a practice centered on excellently trained massage therapists who specialize in deep tissue and corrective work.
When Kyra hires therapists, experience is only one aspect of the equation. The process begins with a personal interview designed to understand the person behind the practitioner. She looks for people who are naturally curious and who approach the body as something to understand rather than simply treat.
“We absolutely have to make sure everyone is a problem solver,” Kyra says. “They have to be curious enough to figure out what’s going on in the body.”
Massage therapists receive clinical training through licensed massage schools, and many continue their education through specialized programs. At Mantis, therapists specialize in areas including medical massage, clinical deep tissue work, pain management for the neck and other targeted forms of therapeutic care.
Texas requires 500 hours of training for massage therapy licensure, although many practitioners pursue education beyond the minimum requirement. Kyra holds a national certification requiring 1,000 hours of training, and several of Mantis’ therapists have completed extensive continuing education. The practice also provides an annual education allowance so therapists can continue expanding their skills.
Kyra sees a direct connection between investing in therapists and the quality of care clients receive.
“I think clients will get the best care when they get continuity of care,” she explains. “In order to have continuity of care, have low turnover. And in order to have low turnover, have happy staff.”
That belief shapes the way Mantis operates. Unlike many massage practices, all therapists are employees rather than independent contractors, allowing the business to provide benefits including health insurance, retirement contributions with matching, PTO, and flexible attention counts. Employees also receive a complimentary massage every month because Kyra believes that the people who care for others need care themselves.
The same thoughtful approach extends to the environment. Before COVID, Mantis worked toward becoming a zero-waste business by reducing waste, using recycled products, and making conscious choices about everyday materials. The pandemic changed some of those practices because of increased sanitation requirements, but sustainability remains part of the company’s values.
Kyra’s path to becoming a business owner began early. She became a massage therapist at eighteen and opened Mantis in her early twenties. She started with one rented room in a building where different small businesses operated alongside one another. As spaces became available, she gradually expanded until Mantis grew into the entire location.
More than a decade later, Mantis remains built around the same principles that shaped its beginning: skilled practitioners, personal attention and a belief that healing begins with understanding the individual body in front of you.
By appointment only.
Call 512.540.5827.
Visit one of their two locations:
South Congress
2700 South Congress Avenue, Suite B
Austin, TX 78704
Airport Boulevard Location
3823 Airport Boulevard, Suite A
Austin, TX 78722