Summer Activities are a perfect reason to book a massage!

As Summer’s golden glow continues to warm us, the allure of the outdoors beckons, and we get more physically active.  Hiking, swimming, boating, kayaking, camping, softball and other team sports – all of these things are great fun, and we all want to be the best shape we can be to participate, right?

Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork is the perfect complement to all this outdoor fun!  By helping to relax your body, improving the range of motion in your shoulders, hips, back, neck, you are more pain-free and able to enjoy life more!  And who doesn’t want to do that?

Book a Massage Session Now, and Get Outdoors and Enjoy Life!

I will be up at Lazy Bear Weekend this year, from 29 July to 03 August 2009.  I will be accepting appointments for “outdoor” bodywork sessions: on my lovely portable table in my “massage temple,” a large screened in portable gazebo.  If you’ve never had an outdoor massage before, you are in for a real treat!

You can make an appointment by calling me at 415-424-9570 while I am up there, or if you see me in person at The Outback Campground or in town.  I’ll be happy to work with you!

A favorite koan of mine:

Tanzan and Ekido were once travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.

Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.

“Come on, girl,” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.

Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. “We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”

“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

Massage offers us an opportunity to be in the present moment with our bodies, to drop our burdens, and encourage us to be as we are. By relaxing our bodies, releasing the tension of the past from our muscles and other soft tissues, we can become stronger and more focused on our lives and tasks.

Therapeutic bodywork is good for you!

Book a massage today!

Current Mood:  calm

If you are having discomfort in your forearms, these tips may help reduce your pain and prevent further injury.  Try them out, then choose one or two to focus on for several weeks before adding more.

1. Support your forearms when you can, but do not rest them or your wrists on anything while typing.
2. Don’t pound on the keys; use a light touch.
3. Hold the mouse lightly as if you were cradling a small bird; don’t grip it hard.
4. When typing,  keep all your fingers and your thumb softly curved.  If you tend to keep your pinkie finger raised or stiff, begin trying to relax it to avoid injury.
5. Take mini-breaks every few minutes.  Stop, let your arms hang to your side, shake them out, and take several full breaths.
6. Stretch frequently. Hold your arms out in front of you, and bend your wrists one way and then another.  Ask your massage therapist for specific stretches and self-massage techniques for the forearms and wrists.

Massage Therapy is a wonderful way to help keep the forearms relaxed, and to help prevent injury, as well as reduce pain.

Book a Massage with me today!

When someone comes to get a massage, there are several things they can do before arriving to help enhance the experience.

• Drink plenty of water – there’s an old saying in the theater, “Pee Clear and Often.”  This will allow your body to be completely hydrated and will accept the work more easily.  Of course, if you have a doctor’s instructions to limit your water intake, please heed those.  Otherwise, lots of water.
• For the day before the massage, please avoid caffeine and alcohol.  These both act as diuretics and we want you nice and hydrated.
• A small meal about two hours before the appointment is a good idea, but please do not arrive hungry or full.  Hunger is a distraction and fullness will be uncomfortable during certain portions of the session.
• As immediately before you come over, take as long and as hot a shower as you can.  This will warm your body up nicely and help start the relaxation process.

All of these things will help prepare your mind and body to receive.  But then what happens during the session?  What should one do while on the table or on the mat?

First, breathe.  This is the most important thing to do.  At the beginning of the session, the therapist should guide you into how they want you to breathe.  For me, this means describing breath “that goes all the way down to your pelvis,” full, deep abdominal breathing.  Also, I like to have clients breathe without a pause between inspiration and expiration, or as I call it “circular breathing.”  This isn’t the same technique that musicians use to play long extended passages, but simply breathing without holding full or empty lungs between breaths.

Sometimes, I’ll have the client hold one hand on their abdomen and the other hand on their chest as a tactile guide.  Inhale to raise the abdomen hand, but exhale as soon as the chest hand is moved.  This way, the muscles in the neck, especially the scalenes and sternocleidomastoid are not recruited in the respiration process, and can get a chance to really relax.

Next,  the therapist should encourage quiet by not talking except to instruct the client to breathe or move in a particular way.  This will allow the client the opportunity to focus their mind on their breath and body awareness.  Sometimes, just putting one’s mind into the places of tension allows the tissue to relax.   As the breath fills the body, imagine the breath is like water, carrying the tension away in its flow.  When you exhale, let the breath dissolve the tension.  If you are talking, your body isn’t letting go as fully as it should because you are contracting muscles all over to allow for the action of speaking.  While it is sometimes necessary to speak during a session, enjoying the quiet can enhance the relaxation effect.

Third, don’t move your body except to breathe.  By this I mean allow the therapist to pick up your arms and legs without assistance.  Go limp.  That’s probably the best way to describe it.  There are a couple of reasons for this: first, when you attempt to move your body, you have to contract muscles the therapist is trying to relax.  Secondly, this time is about you to focus on your body and let it go, to re-connect with yourself.  You’re paying the therapist for their knowledge and labor – enjoy it!

Fourth, let the therapist know if you are experiencing discomfort or pain during the session.  Massage and bodywork should feel good!  Sometimes the sensation is a “hurts so good” kind of feeling, and that’s good.  Your therapist should adjust their technique to match your perception of pressure, not the other way around.  What’s deep for one person might be painful to another.  What’s deep for another person might be superficial for another.

With these four guidelines, you can experience the maximum benefit and sense of relaxation from a massage session.