 TOUCH Why do we close our eyes when we dream? when we kiss ? When we cry? Because some of the most beautiful things in life are felt, not seen. Befriend your body and awaken to your sense of touch Aloha. #touch #humanbody #healing #massage #healinghandsbodywork #zen #mindfulness #yoga #boston #marthasvineyard  When we touch another person we exchange energy. There is no way to avoid the fact that a kind of energetic communion takes place, even in such seemingly innocuous acts as shaking hands or touching another on the shoulder. Touch itself, communicates a great deal energetically, and actually influences our own energy field. This is something we all know intuitively
- Aloha
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 Emotional Healing Through Massage Therapy Sometimes you have to be dangerously close to a problem to see and or effect the solution. In seeking a path, Clients who may have suffered from trauma or abuse benefit from some form or forms of emotional healing - it is not always easy and requires a certain bravery and trust. But the rewards are worth it. It can change your life. Many of these people are touch averse and their brain more frequently associates touch sensations as negative. Part of our nervous system has a "decider" switch of sorts, when your nerves are stimulated by a touch impulse, a "pre-signal" is sent and very quickly the brain has to decide if this is good touch or bad touch and respond accordingly. To illustrate how this works, think of your self and a frind you are starting to like, or a significant other and you are walking along in a park and your upper arms touch. How does it make you feel? Probably warm, probably wanting more? No imagine you are sitting on a bus or train and some undesirable person is next to you and they move so that their arm rubs up against yours. Now how would that make you feel? Creepy? would you pull away? But its the same sensation! Only in context is it good or bad. For touch averse people, their brain sends out the "bad" signal even when the touch is "good" until it gets re-trained. In order to help the healing process one must retrain their brain to associate certain touch with positive, and over time the positive feeling push aside the negative ones and healing begins. We all need touch, it has been proven, And yet we are all in some small way becoming touch averse, even if we have not suffered a traumatic experience. We are living in more interconnected than ever with the internet yet at the same time we are more isolated than ever for the same reason, the internet. Moreover society has been making all forms of touch taboo. Things you might have seen in the 1950's as normal, a teacher and a student, a parent and another persons child are all more and more being assumed to be "inappropriate" Touch is becoming associated with fear, and this needs to change. But back to trauma and emotional healing. Very often the people that need touch most experience it the least. The good news is that it does NOT have to be that way. Healing can happen, in everyone. But you need to start. This is among the work of which I am most proud. If you are or know someone who has suffered and would like to regain control and begin or complete the healing process, please contact me or share my contact information with them. I say begin or "complete" because in most cases individuals in this situation will seek out therapy (verbal therapy) support groups (again mostly words) and never get around to the core which is touch itself. The following post is a beautifully written poetic piece on the idea of bodywork for emotional healing. I share it with you here in its entirety for you to read and enjoy. Persons seeking a path to heal might be justifiably nervous about what seeing a massage therapist like myself might entail. Rachael Scott, a colleague wrote this and I believe sums things up in a simplified, poetic, non-technical post. - enjoy  What happens in a Bodywork Session? (trauma) What happens in a Bodywork Session? *
Whether a single, jarring incident or hurt inflicted over time - trauma permeates every layer. The pain is conscious and un(der)conscious. It's physical, emotional and spiritual. It's communal, familial. Trauma creeps down our spines, makes a home in our bellies, connects wires to our brains where the machine replays the most terrifying moments of pain. Over and over on a loop so we don't forget. Trauma winds, spirals, clenches and creeps. It drips into every cell, making its way into the past and future. Now bodywork... that's here. Here in between these four walls, you're safe. You, me, this pain. Just the three of us ready for a different kind of conversation. I reach out my hand to find the place where it hurts. You breathe in, tentatively at first, unsure but ready to listen. The pressure feels pleasant. A welcome reprieve. You breathe deeply, discovering new places within yourself. Through my offered touch you embark on a sensory journey. The trauma and the pain show up as guides. And we get to know them. They don’t want to hurt you. They say, “I have something to show you.” We wander over and explore new sensations. And it gets easier. Then you say, “My body is my friend.” Thank you Rachael Scott See her original post here  Healing Hands offers best massage rates for students in the Boston, at our Back Bay Location
Young Adults these days are under a lot of stress. There are numerous benefits to massage for students - here are just some: Top 5 Benefits Of Massage For Students 1. Lower Levels of Stress, help with Anxiety According to the 2014 National College Health Assessment, students are really stressed out these days. Research has shown over and over that massage therapy is effective for stress relief. Massage therapy has been proven to boost levels of the "feel-good" hormone dopamine, while at the same time lowering levels of the "stress-hormone" cortisol. 2. Better Sleep Massage therapy has been shown help relax the body and improve sleep. Massage therapy can help you get the sleep you need to stay focused on your studies. 3. Improved Focus Students with ADHD can improve mood and classroom attention and focus with regular massage therapy. Headaches, especially tension headaches, frequently get in the way of study and sleep, with up to 30-50% of young people suffering from regular headaches. Get the relief you need to stay focused--massage has been shown to be effective against and to provide relief from from tension headaches. 4. Stay Active and Fit "Freshman fifteen", anyone? All of that study and stress can lead to increased levels of cortisol, which can slow metabolism, trigger inflammation, and encourage accumulation of body fat, one of your body's natural reactions to stress.. In addition to giving a boost to your metabolism, massage can also help out with any stiffness or sore muscles. It is effective for pain management, faster recovery, and prevention of injuries, so that you can keep going. Massage therapy should be a part of your regular wellness regimen - even helping you to maintain peak fitness 5. Immune Boosting In addition to lowering cortisol levels, and increasing our "feel-good" neurotransmitters, massage therapy also improves immune function by increasing our body’s natural "killer T cells” and lymphocytes, Student Dorms, housing lounges, classrooms are all close quarters and can be a breeding ground for germs and germ transmission. Give yourself a boost--research shows that even a single session of Swedish Massage has a measurable biologic impact. For more details on our Student Discount Pricing for massage click here  6 Myths about Massage Its amazing to me when I read the offerings that are out there for a variety of different treatments ho many claims, and exaggerated claims exist about massage and massage therapy. As well, there are some urban myths about do's and dont's. I can tell you there are enough positive benefits to receiving regular bodywork that one needn't exaggerate the benefits. Merely ask any of my regular or repeat clients why they come back again and again. "It feels good" Even if that were the sole benefit, wouldn't that be enough? Who doesn't want too feel good? I know I do. It is a primary motivator for almost everything we do in life. Happiness, mind and body feeling good. What else is there? I have written about the countless ways in which bodywork can be good, but I am also careful about making any exaggerated claims. They are not necessary. For example one thing I often hear is that I did hear that it helps flush out toxins and remove lactic acid from the body if you need to recover from a work out. Research shows that blood lactate levels return to normal ranges within 20-60 minutes regardless of any interventions. Lactic acid is not even a waste product, but rather metabolic fuel for the muscle. Here are just a few myths that are worth dispelling - but of course if there is evidence to the contrary, I will be happy to correct myself here. #1. Toxins can be flushed out of the body via Massage: This is an interesting myth as it’s probably the most popular. The body processes excess waste (by-products of food, drink, air born pollutants etc.) in a variety of ways i.e. sweat, urine, feces, or if you’re ill by vomiting. Your liver, kidneys and skin do a remarkable job of getting rid of these ‘toxins’ on a daily basis. Massage does, however, increase blood supply to various parts of the body and can regenerate a lack-luster circulation as well as stimulating the lymphatic system. This may be what is actually being referred to. Drinking water is a good and pleasant thing to do after a massage, but not in any way a means of flushing out the toxins. #2. Massage will get rid of cellulite: If massage therapists could really banish cellulite, we would have a line a mile long and we’d never see a dimpled thigh ever again. However, cellulite is persistent subcutaneous fat and it’s appearance, mainly in women, is determined by hormonal factors, genetics, diet and lifestyle. Eating a healthy, low fat diet, rich in fruits, vegetables and fiber and taking regular exercise is the best option to prevent and reduce the appearance of cellulite. #3. The sign of a really good massage is that you feel quite sore the day after . WRONG How many people come to me and talk about their massage pain experiences. Maybe it stems from the "no pain no gain" mentality ? Everyone is different and some people are more sensitive than others but just because you don’t feel sore the next day doesn’t mean you had a bad massage. In fact quite the opposite. Significant pain in soft tissue areas can be an indication that something went wrong, not right. The sign of a good massage is that you ‘feel better’ than you did before – it may take a while to feel the full benefits but you should experience some of the following:
This one drives me a bit crazy, maybe because my specialty is a very light touch but this goes hand in hand with the above. While there is certainly an express preference for "going deep" by some clients, it is by no means a measure of the quality of a bodywork how "deep" one goes. In fact a properly applied light tough will migrate into the deeper tissues. Everyone falls victim to this myth. Perhaps because pain is measurable it seems one way to quantify the experience? Or perhaps if you have a therapist that is "too light" with their touch, it may have more to do with the fact that you have the wrong therapist. Maybe he or she is just not good. #5. You shouldn’t get a massage if you have cancer Massage Therapists and cancer patients have often fallen prey to this myth. Until recently, it was thought that the action of massage could actively spread cancer cells throughout the body. However, cancer cells are caused by the body’s immune system malfunctioning and cells that turn cancerous will do so regardless of massage therapy stimulus. If massage did cause cancer cells to move through the body then the same could be said of any form of exercise. I believe this stems from an over exaggerated sense of the effect that massage can have on the body. #6. You shouldn’t have a massage if you’re pregnant Massage Therapy does not induce an early labor and is perfectly safe for both mother and baby during normal pregnancies. It can be extremely beneficial for the Mom-to-be and offer a way to relax and unwind during a physically and mentally tiring time. Massage is also a great way to keep the muscles ready for the big day. Post-natal massage can be equally beneficial too. Hopefully if you are reading this you are already aware of some of the benefits of routine bodywork. I encourage you to read some of those articles here as well and share this information with friends. Aloha |
A Really Good Massage BlogAbout MeI write about things that I myself need to be mindful of. ways in which I would like to improve. It is not from the perspective of preaching - but rather writing helps me work out what I myself need to do - we are all in this together.
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