Massage Therapist, Chinese medicine practitioner, & Bodywork Educator in Portland, OR

Every body carries wisdom—we’re here to attune to it. 

Moving Mountain Institute is led by Michael McMahon, a licensed massage therapist in Portland, Oregon with a deep commitment to both hands-on care and bodywork education.

Our work lives at the intersection of clinical skill and embodied listening—supporting patients with complex health needs and training practitioners to meet the body with clarity and care.

  • What might unfold if we trusted what the body has to share as much as what clinical expertise can tell us?

  • What becomes possible when skillful technique meets the humility and curiosity to follow where the body leads?

  • What if care itself—attentive, unhurried, present—is the most powerful intervention we can offer?

Moving Mountain Institute lives in these questions. 

We believe every body speaks a language beyond protocols and carries wisdom beyond what medical theory can explain. Here, we hold clinical expertise in one hand and skillful curiosity in the other, creating containers of care where shifts can happen at the body’s own pace.

In our clinic, this means practicing listening-based touch oriented to the whole person, co-creating a pathway toward whatever “better” is possible for them. In our classrooms, practitioners learn to become apprentices to the body’s wisdom, developing their own lively, deeply personalized relationships to the principles we teach.

After all, bodies aren't puzzles to solve but prisms through which possibilities refract in endlessly unique patterns. Our job is to notice, attend to, and respond, creating space where people can be seen, understood, and cared for in their full complexity.

What We Offer

Clinical Care and Bodywork Education in Portland, OR

Clinical Care

We offer 1:1 bodywork appointments with our founder, Michael McMahon, in person in our Portland, OR clinic.

Our therapeutic approach draws from craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation, myofascial release, active isolated stretching, acupuncture, and Chinese herbal medicine, among other modalities. We have a particular interest in supporting people with complex conditions including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, post-COVID symptoms, traumatic brain injuries, and chronic pain.

Above all, we’re dedicated to offering individualized, collaborative care where you feel seen, heard, and genuinely supported, and we’re grateful to be part of your healthcare team!

Bodywork Education

We’re proud to offer comprehensive continuing education experiences for bodywork practitioners.

Our curriculum focuses on three primary modalities—craniosacral therapy, myofascial release, and integrated visceral techniques—and courses take place throughout the year. 

Our educational approach uses a "flipped classroom" model: course lectures and self-paced video content are available online, and in-person workshop time is focused entirely on hands-on practice and collaborative learning. We teach in cohorts, creating a community of practitioners where learning is joyful, highly personalized, and fun!

Meet our Founder

Hi, I’m Michael McMahon, LAc, LMT (he/him)

I’m a licensed massage therapist in Portland, Oregon, licensed acupuncturist, and the founder of Moving Mountain Institute.

With over 25 years of clinical experience, my background spans bodywork, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and deep study into the intersection of our emotional health and physical experience. My approach in both the clinic and the classroom bridges conventional anatomical understanding with a profound respect for and curiosity about the body’s inherent wisdom. 

I’m also an avid reader, writer, and nature explorer, and I’m actively engaged in my community and networks of holistic healthcare providers.

I look forward to working with you in the clinic or the classroom!

At Moving Mountain Institute, we’re guided by…

  • Collaboration. 

    No one exists in isolation. We believe in relationships oriented around co-creation, not hierarchy. When we honor each person's inherent wisdom and invite it into conversation with our own, we create possibilities that neither could access alone.

  • Integrity.

    People deserve to be told the truth about the world, what they’re experiencing, and what they notice and feel, and to be met in that reality. Quick fixes and empty promises aren’t honest, and context matters in all things. We believe in acknowledging what we don't know, questioning our assumptions, and always staying curious.

  • Care.

    All human beings need care. We believe in the power of attentive presence, the kind that’s increasingly rare in our speed-obsessed world and corporatized healthcare culture. We nurture containers—whether in treatment rooms or classrooms—where enough time and space exist for genuine connection and exchange.

  • Learning.

    We believe in the alchemy that happens at the intersection of knowledge, experience, and imagination. Background knowledge gives us a foundation, experiential learning helps us transform concepts into embodied understanding, and imagination allows us to explore beyond the limits of what's known. We embrace the edges where textbook certainty meets lived wisdom, where what can be taught meets what must be discovered, and where questions often matter more than answers. 

  • Curiosity.

    Curiosity is a way of being in the world that stays open to what might emerge, rather than rushing to categorize or conclude. And this requires vulnerability—the willingness to not know, to be surprised, to be changed by what you encounter. It's what keeps this work alive, preventing it from becoming mechanical or routine. When we cultivate curiosity at every turn, we become apprentices to the body's wisdom rather than experts imposing our understanding.

We’re ready when you are.

Seeking clinical care for yourself? Looking for continuing education as a bodywork professional? Choose the path that’s right for you.

For Clinic Patients

Connect with your body through massage therapy and integrative bodywork in Portland that supports your nervous system, respects your lived experience, and adapts to what your body needs.

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For Bodywork Practitioners

Learn to develop "listening hands" and a deep, personal relationship with technique that will transform your professional practice.

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