- Swedish Massage
- Deep Tissue Massage
- Thai Yoga Massage
- Trigger Point Therapy
- Acupuncture
- Chiropractic & AK
- Polarity Therapy
- Neuromuscular Therapy
- Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Homeopathy
Swedish Massage (Back to Top)
Swedish Massage is a very relaxing and therapeutic style of bodywork. It combines oils or lotion with an array of strokes such as rolling, kneading, and percussion to help the body improve its circulation. The benefits of this type of bodywork are wide-ranging and include relief from aches and pains, decreased stress levels in the body, enhanced mental clarity, improved appearance, and greater flexibility.
Deep Tissue Massage (Back to Top)
Deep Tissue Massage is a form of bodywork that aims to relieve tension in the deeper layers of tissue in the body. I use various techniques with my hands, knuckles, and elbows and apply focused pressure on “problem areas” or “trigger points” in the body. Deep Tissue Massage is a highly effective method for releasing chronic stress areas due to misalignment, repetitive motions, and past lingering injuries. Due to the nature of the deep tissue work, open communication during the session is crucial to make sure you don’t get too uncomfortable. Keep in mind that soreness is pretty common after the treatment, and that plenty of water should be ingested to aid with the flushing and removal of toxins that will have been released from the deep tissue during the session.
Thai Yoga Massage (Back to Top)
Thai Yoga Massage combines passive yoga-like stretching with gentle pressure along your body’s natural energy lines to increase flexibility, relieve muscle tension, and enhance your overall well-being. The session is performed on a special mat on the floor, leaving you with a deeply nourished, relaxed and energized feeling. Be sure to wear comfortable clothing that will allow for a full range of motion during the stretches.
Trigger Point Therapy (Back to Top)
Trigger Point Therapy is a gentle style of bodywork that focuses on stimulating and releasing “trigger points” in your body. Trigger points are tender areas of tension similar to acupressure points, except they occur in the belly of the muscle tissue rather than along the energy pathways of the body. These ‘knots’ are built up throughout a person’s life due to physical, mental, and/or emotional stress.During a session, focused pressure is applied through a variety of techniques in order to release your trigger points. This process can be quite painful at times, yet the effects are lasting and profoundly transformative.
Acupuncture (Back to Top)
Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used forms of medicine in the world. Originating in China more than 4,000 years ago, acupuncture is currently one of the most widely researched, practiced, and respected forms of complementary medicine in the U.S.According to Chinese Medicine, your overall health is determined by the quality of the Qi (energy) flow through the natural pathways of your body. Acupuncture uses a variety of techniques, including placing very thin sterile needles into specific points on the body, to stimulate and improve your Qi flow. The many benefits of this type of therapy include:
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- Pain reduction
- Relaxation of body and mind
- Stress and tension relief
- Increased blood circulation
- Increased energy levels
- Aids with digestion and toxin removal
- Improved internal organ function
- Relief from bad habits and addictions
- Greater sense of overall well-being
Chiropractic & AK (Back to Top)
Chiropractic, although often misunderstood, is about helping people live healthier, fuller lives. While typically thought of as "bone doctors", chiropractors actually focus on the nervous system, particularly the spine, as the key to a healthy and pain-free body. The basis of our work focuses on correcting misalignments in the spinal column (called “subluxations”), improving the functioning of the entire nervous system.In order to reduce pain and dramatically improve quality of life, chiropractors make ‘adjustments’ that re-align your body and re-establish proper nerve flow throughout the body. Once the correct structural order has been restored, the nerve signals between the brain and the body flow freely, allowing your body’s natural healing systems to function optimally. Chiropractic work is widely researched, practiced, and respected, and has been shown to help a wide range of ailments, from allergies to whiplash.
Applied Kinesiology (AK, Kinesiology): Elaborate system of ostensible diagnosis and treatment whose centerpiece is muscle testing (see below). Detroit chiropractor George J. Goodheart, Jr., developed the first AK procedure (the origin and insertion technique) in 1964. He theorized that muscle groups share "energy pathways" with internal organs and that, therefore, every organ dysfunction is discoverable in a related muscle. Testing muscles for relative strength and tone supposedly taps the body's "innate intelligence" and enables practitioners to detect specific dysfunctions. AK encompasses: "clinical nutrition"; CranioSacral Therapy; "dietary management"; homeopathy, including classical homeopathy; meridian therapy (see "Ching Lo"), especially acupressure and acupuncture; and reflexology.
Polarity Therapy (Back to Top)
Polarity therapy is a four-part approach to balancing the energetic patterns of the body. Based on principles developed by Randolph Stone, an osteopath, naturopath and chiropractor, PT combines bodywork, nutrition, stretching postures and attitudinal counseling to free energy blockages and establish a natural energy flow for self-healing. In his early years of practice, Stone noted that while manual manipulations provided some relief for his patients, effects were not long-lasting and did not get to the root of the problem. He surmised there must be some deeper solution and set about finding it.
Drawing from Western manipulative techniques, naturopathy, Chinese energy medicine and Ayurvedic medicine, Stone formulated his therapy based on the underlying principle of wireless currents in, around and through the body. According to Stone, it is this subtle energy flow that gives life and through which the soul functions. Quite simply, disease occurs when the flow is disrupted. Polarity therapy, rather than treating disease, is focused on reestablishing the natural balance of this flow, which in turn allows healing to take place. Stone writes, “The problem of healing involves the harmonious relationship of man’s inner energies to those of the without.”
Neuromuscular Therapy (Back to Top)
Neuromuscular Massage Therapy/Trigger point Myotherapy
Neuromuscular therapy consists of alternating levels of concentrated pressure on the areas of muscle spasm. The massage therapy pressure is usually applied with the fingers, knuckles, or elbow. Once applied to a muscle spasm, the pressure should not vary for ten to thirty seconds.
Massage therapy can reduce muscle pain
Muscles that are in spasm will be painful to the touch. The pain is caused by ischemic muscle tissue. Ischemia means the muscle is lacking proper blood flow, usually due to the muscle spasm. This in turn creates the following undesirable process:
~ Because the muscle is not receiving enough blood, the muscle is also not receiving enough oxygen
~ The lack of oxygen causes the muscle to produce lactic acid
~ The lactic acid makes the muscle feel sore following physical activity.
After the muscle is relaxed through massage therapy, the lactic acid will be released from the muscle, and the muscle should start receiving enough blood and oxygen.Neuromuscular therapy will feel painful at first, but the pressure of the massage should alleviate the muscle spasm. At this point, it is extremely important to communicate with the massage therapist regarding the pressure - whether the pressure is too much, too little, getting better, getting worse. The therapist should listen and respond accordingly. The massage therapy pressure should never be overly painful. In fact, most people describe the pressure as “good pain”.
What to expect after massage therapy
Following a neuromuscular therapy massage, any soreness that presents itself should fade after twenty-four to thirty-six hours. The muscles that were tight should remain noticeably more relaxed for four to fourteen days, depending on stress, activity level, and severity of back pain prior to beginning massage therapy.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (Back to Top)
Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used forms of medicine in the world. Originating in China more than 4,000 years ago, acupuncture is currently one of the most widely researched, practiced, and respected forms of complementary medicine in the U.S.According to Chinese Medicine, your overall health is determined by the quality of the Qi (energy) flow through the natural pathways of your body. Acupuncture uses a variety of techniques, including placing very thin sterile needles into specific points on the body, to stimulate and improve your Qi flow. The many benefits of this type of therapy include:
Herbal Medicine is the therapeutic use of plants, and is one of the oldest forms of health care in the world. Depending on your specific needs, we prescribe specific herbs that produce and contain a variety of chemical substances that act upon the body. Different herbs have been effectively used for a wide range of medicinal purposes including pain relief, hormone balancing, sleep enhancement, improved digestion, skin soothing, and stress relief.
Homeopathy (Back to Top)
Homeopathy is a highly systematic, scientific method of therapy, which stimulated the organisms own healing processes. Useful in both chronic and acute diseases, homeopathy is a rejuvenation of an ancient concept of health and disease, based on deep understanding of the person as a unique whole. Treatment is for the total person, not just for one part or organ.
It is important to understand that symptoms are a sign of the organism trying to heal. The task of homeopathy is to gather as much information as possible in order to understand all the ways in which the person’s healing forces are already acting. A homeopathic medicine is sought which is similar to the patient’s symptomatology and will stimulate those healing forces.
Homeopathic medicines are prepared from over 2000 Mineral, plant, and animal sources. Each medicine has been experimentally tested on human beings in order to determine which type of individual responds most strongly to which substance. A complete picture of symptoms is compiled based on the precise physical, emotional, and mental responses of each subject. This picture represents the resonance between a person and the medicine. The task of the homeopath during the interview is to match the total symptom picture of the patient with the experimentally determined symptom picture of one of the medicines.