Bodywork Descriptions

What is?

Swedish Massage— Swedish Massage is probably the most widely known type of massage and is usually referred to as a “massage”. Massage is the manipulations of the muscles, skin and fascia of the body with techniques such as kneading, pressing, rolling, slapping and tapping for therapeutic purposes.  Deep tissue takes the techniques and applies more pressure to get to more of the muscle. Massage helps release toxins that have built up in the muscles. Plenty of water should be drank after any type of bodywork to help the toxins that were released be removed from the body. If the toxins don’t have anywhere to go they will build up in the muscles again and may cause illnesses such as the cold or flu.

Massage is one of the earliest types of healing practiced. It has been found in writings as early as 2000 B.C. “Massage” was named Swedish Massage because a Swedish physiologist is responsible for organizing the techniques. A Frenchman developed the terms effleurage, petrissage and tapotement to create communication between the massage and scientific communities.

Reiki & Reiki Massage— Reiki is a Japanese word meaning universal (rei) and life force energy (ki). A Reiki practitioner channels the universal life energy from the universe to the client. This is done by the practitioner laying their hands on the client and allowing the universal life force energy to flow through them into the client. Reiki Massage incorporates Reiki and Swedish Massage into one treatment. Reiki has a great effect on the physical body as well as the emotional and spiritual bodies. The universal life force energy affects everyone differently, but it always goes where it is needed. It balances the client as a whole—mind, body and spirit. As well as healing the physical ailments, it will bring out the causes of those ailments for the mind and spirit to be healed too. Reiki massage incorporates Reiki and Swedish massage into one treatment.

Reiki is an ancient healing method originating in Tibet. Modern Reiki was rediscovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in the late nineteenth century. Dr. Usui was the director and Christian priest of a small university in Kyoto, Japan. He went on a quest to study the healings of Christ and came across some Buddhist scriptures dating back to 600 B.C. He learned the Sanskrit language so he could read the scriptures and found the key to Reiki healing. He made Dr. Hayaki his successor before his death. In 1938 Hawayo Takata became a Reiki Master under Dr. Hayaki and in 1941 became his successor. All records indicate that Hawayo Takata was the only Reiki Master in the world until 1976. At that time she began training her students to train others and the Reiki Master training program began. Now there are thousands worldwide helping others heal.  Please click here for discount coupon.*(coupons not available for executive members)

Chakra Balancing—Chakras are energy centers throughout our bodies. They regulate the energy that flows in and out of the body.  If one or more are not functioning properly, the result is an imbalance in the energy system. You have probably noticed those days when you didn’t quite feel all together, that’s an imbalance. There are seven main chakras that we work on. We start at the root chakra. It is similar to the foundation of a house. If the foundation is not solid the house is not steady. Same with the root chakra, if your grounding chakra is out of balance your stability is not solid. The chakras go up the center of your body to the top of your head. Each chakra has a specific vibrational frequency. Much like each radio station has a specific frequency to tune into. There are colors, sounds gemstones and crystals, and exercises with comparable frequencies that are used to help balance each chakra. They also govern the organs and body parts surrounding the chakra.

Reflexology-Reflexology is the practice of manipulating reflex areas in the feet and hands. These reflex areas correspond to specific body parts and organs. 

Most reflexology work is done on the foot, but it can be done on the hand if the foot is not available to work on. The foot is preferable to work on because the hand is less sensitive to the pressure.

The bottom of the foot corresponds to the different body parts with the top of the head starting at the tip of the toes, the arch of the foot corresponds to the spine, etc. The therapist will apply pressure in areas on the foot to relieve blockages in the corresponding organ or body part. This can help release pain and illness.

Acupressure-Acupressure uses the fingers instead of needles as in acupuncture to stimulate specific points along meridians to affect the flow of energy in the body without the use of instruments, mechanical or otherwise, to apply pressure to the human skin to correct internal malfunctioning, promote and maintain health, and affect specific diseases. When the energy flow is improved, physical symptoms will also improve. It is performed with the client fully clothed.

Acupressure and acupuncture are based on the same principles of traditional Chinese medicine. Acupressure uses the fingers whereas acupuncture uses needles to help control the pressure points, or gates, along the meridians to promote the smooth flow of chi, energy, throughout the body and maintain health.

It is unclear when acupressure was first practiced. It was during the Han dynasty (206B.C. to 220 A.D.) that acupressure/acupuncture flourished in traditional Chinese Medicine. By 1912, Western medicine had starting gaining popularity and traditional Chinese medicine was almost completely eliminated. After World War II, the Chinese government recognized the importance of preserving their culture and established standardized schools to teach some of the traditional Chinese medicine. Now, in China, traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are practiced side by side to offer individuals options in wellness.

Cranial Sacral-Cranial Sacral is a non-invasive type of bodywork. The client is fully dressed for the session. A cranial sacral therapist uses hand placements to feel the cranial rhythm which is the cerebral spinal fluid flowing through the meningeal membranes which surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. The brain contracts and expands, much like the heart beats, to move fluid and causes the bones to contract and expand. The hand placements allow the therapist to feel for blockages in the rhythm caused by trauma and/or injury. If there are blockages, the therapist uses compressive, decompressive or other light pressure techniques, working on the soft tissue around the bones to release  the blockage and return the body to optimal functioning.

The client may experience an increased need to swallow, muscle twitches, heat from the site of the hand placement and/or the body softening or relaxing. After the session the client will experience a deep relaxation, a sense of well-being and a relief of symptoms.

Trigger Point-Trigger Point Therapy is used to alleviate chronic pain and dysfunction, increase range of motion and help prevent injury.  Trigger point therapy does hurt, but it is worked within the “Optimal Therapy Zone”. The optimal therapy zone is the “hurts so good” type of pain. A scale of 1 to 10 is used to communicate between the therapist and client. When the trigger point is being stimulated, the pressure should not be more than the “hurts so good”, which is between 6 and 8 on the scale, 1 being no pain, and 10 is unbearable. The point hurts because pressure is being applied, but is necessary to allow the blood to flow through the muscle and begin the healing process.

A trigger point is a firm, palpable, highly irritable spot (knot) in a muscle or fascia that is tender, may cause referred pain, and may decrease range of motion. The referred pain usually is felt in the Pain Referral Zone that has been mapped during research on trigger points. The Zone is a location other than the local site of the “knot” that pain may be felt when the trigger point is being stimulated. (Ex. A trigger point being stimulated in the abdominal muscles may refer pain to the mid or lower back.)

Trigger points have been researched since 1843 and were originally called “muscle calluses”. In 1900 an American named Alder called them “muscular rheumatism”. In 1904 four English researchers began and worked through 1915 doing more research and introduced a new term called “fibrositis”. Dr. Janet Travell and Dr. David Simons have done the most recent and well-respected research on trigger points.

Trigger points are caused by many things, including; injuries, accidents, acute illness, emotional traumas, new exercise programs, stress, poor diet, poor sleep patterns, posture imbalances, non-ergonomic workstations and dehydration and/or miner deficiency—to name a few.

Hot Stone—Basalt stones are heated in water then placed on the body to heat up the muscles using a moist heat to penetrate deep into the muscles. The heat from the stones relaxes the muscles and allows for deeper work on the muscles without the pain. The stones are also used to massage the body as an alternate to the hands. The energy from the stones also helps clear the energy on the body. The benefits are generally a deeper relaxation which provides better sleep, increased circulation, helps arthritis and fibromyalgia, helps in relieving stress and anxiety. Everyone’s tolerance for heat always varies, so if the stones are too hot always advise the therapist. This type of treatment is contraindicated for pregnancy and heart disease unless prescribed by your physician, immediately after surgery, or infectious skin diseases or rashes.

EFT—Emotional Freedom Technique—It is an emotional, needle-free version of acupuncture that is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between the body’s subtle energies, your emotions and your health, EFT has been reported in thousands of cases covering a huge range of emotional, health and performance issues. It often works when nothing else works. This technique has been used for getting rid of fears, phobias and PTSD. Many traumas, whether emotional or physical, are stored in the body. We may treat the incident(s) mentally and thought it was gone. Then we discover we are having physical pains. A majority of the time it is the trauma we thought we had dealt with. EFT uses tapping to release the stored trauma. It has been used in psychotherapy for years and one of the discovered side effects is pain relief. I have used it to help melt some knots in muscles. The technique taps on the acupuncture energy meridians to remove the blockage.