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The Glutes: Are They the Cause to your Pain?

The Glutes: Are They the Cause to your Pain?

Even if you’re not someone well-versed in anatomy, you’ve probably heard the term glutes, or heard of your gluteal muscles. These are the muscles that make up the majority of your buttock; and while it may seem odd to think much about this area other than how it looks in your favorite jeans, there is actually an important connection from these muscles to many other aspects of the body. They can correlate to a number of pain and movement issues that can arise through the back, hips, and legs, so taking care of this area is crucial. 

The Six Major Types of Headaches and How They Can Be Treated

The Six Major Types of Headaches and How They Can Be Treated

At some point in our lives, we all experience a headache. There are some people who get headaches quite frequently, and others who very rarely experience one. If you find that you’re getting headaches on a regular basis, it’s definitely worth your time to find out why and what you can do about it. Did you know there are different types of headaches, and different causes and treatments for each? Let’s look at each.

How Stress Affects Your Body

How Stress Affects Your Body

We all wear many hats in our busy lives. Whether you work or stay home, have children or don’t, own a business or work for someone else, if you’re human, you have stress. Period. It’s an unavoidable part of life. And while you may feel the emotional weight of all that stress, the anxiety, depression, and negative thoughts most often associated with it, stress can also take a huge toll on your body.

Sciatica: Is it Piriformis Syndrome or Your Lower Back?

Sciatica: Is it Piriformis Syndrome or Your Lower Back?

When seeking answers for low back, hip, and leg pain, you may have heard the term Sciatica. This condition occurs when the sciatic nerve (the largest nerve in the body) is irritated or inflamed, causing pain, tingling, and/or numbness felt along part or all of the nerve path; most often starting in the low back or the buttock and traveling down the outer leg, even all the way down to the foot in some cases.

This irritation of the Sciatic nerve is actually quite common, and is often attributed to one of two causes, Piriformis Syndrome or a spinal abnormality in the low back; with a pretty even 50/50 split between the two.

The Importance of Your Breath

 The Importance of Your Breath

We’ve all been breathing since the moment of our birth, but did you know that we’re often doing it wrong? While the way you typically breath will keep you alive, it’s often not as efficient at keeping you at peak performance. That’s because we all leave it up to our unconscious brain to keep up this basic function without thought, which is fine for the most part. However, if you take the time to think through your breathing and practice new ways to breathe, you can often alter how your brain and body work.

Depending on what you’re doing, or attempting to do, you may need to alter your breathing in order to achieve it. Try one of these techniques the next time you need to be more alert or you need to calm down.

Getting Deep into your Fascia

Getting Deep into your Fascia

You might have heard your massage therapist talking about working on your fascia and connective tissues – ever wondered what they were talking about? 

What to Expect in a Hot Stone Massage

What to Expect in a Hot Stone Massage

As the temperatures outside get cooler you may find that your body is craving warmth. Why not try out a hot stone massage? If you’ve never had one, and you’re not quite sure what to expect, you've come to the right blog.

Guide to Giving Massage

Guide to Giving Massage

When you’re relaxing on a massage table, it’s easy to see massage as a gift. Whether you’re there to reduce pain, to ease anxiety, to help you recover from the physical and mental stresses work or athletic training or parenting or simply being alive, massage is a moment of freedom in an occasionally crushing world. If you’re thinking of sharing the gift of massage with someone else for a special occasion or “just because,” you are almost certainly doing so from a place of love and generosity.

Obviously, I’m a big fan of giving massage as a gift! But just as with choosing to visit a massage therapist yourself, there are some considerations when offering this kind of gift.

Take Time for YOU This Holiday Season

Every year around the holidays we’re reminded that it’s a time for us to put others before ourselves. But many of us tend to take that to an extreme and often put even our most basic needs, like exercise and sleep, to the side for the season. While it is important to always think of others’ needs as well as our own, we can’t forget that we aren’t able to fulfill anyone else’s needs if we ourselves are empty inside. It’s important to give and do these good deeds from a place of happiness. Doing for others and giving to others really does make you happy. However, if I have neglected my needs so much that I am running on empty, the place where I begin to give to others shifts from a place of happiness, to a place that may breed resentment. This doesn’t mean that those that I am giving to have done anything wrong; but rather that I can equate myself giving them something that I’m not giving to myself, almost as if I’m not worthy or my needs don’t matter.

Your health and happiness should always be a priority, even during a busy season in your life, whether that’s the holidays or any other busy time in your year. Remember, it doesn’t take hours that you feel you don’t have to keep yourself happy and healthy. For me that happiness may come from sitting down with a good book or sitting on the beach and listening to the waves, just to get away from the craziness of life. Happiness may be listening to your favorite music while driving to visit relatives or taking yourself on a date to your favorite coffee shop or restaurant. Taking just 5-10 minutes scattered throughout your day can make a massive difference in your mood and mindset. Whether it be 5-10 minutes of meditation, silence, stillness, or fun, take that time for yourself to regroup so that you can continue throughout your day healthy and happy. Our bodies and minds speak to us if we listen. When you feel yourself needing time to refuel ask yourself what you need in that moment. You will be surprised at the answers your body will give you when you take the time to ask it a question. Small shifts make for major changes.

Five Tips for Managing Holiday Stress

Five Tips for Managing Holiday Stress

It’s that time of year again. A time of celebration, family gatherings, holiday parties, gifting, traveling, and most of all, excitement. While many of us are thrilled and looking forward to the holiday season, that excitement is generally accompanied by STRESS. Stress to pick out the perfect dish, give the perfect gift, maintain a spotless house, show up to every party, and decorate our homes like Martha Stewart. So here’s a few tips to help you keep your holiday stress under control, so you can enjoy what the holidays are truly about.

Relief for PTSD Found in Massage Therapy

Relief for PTSD Found in Massage Therapy

Living with PTSD can quite literally be a nightmare. Luckily, massage therapy and other bodywork modalities like Trauma Touch Therapy (TM) can help. If you or someone you know could use some relief and massage therapy isn’t an avenue you’ve tried yet, please continue reading this blog.

Dealing With Rotator Cuff Injuries

Dealing With Rotator Cuff Injuries

You’ve been doing Olympic lifting for a while. Or stocking tall shelves. Or cheerleading, throwing your partners overhead. Everything was great! Until suddenly, it wasn’t. Ice and ibuprofen didn’t quite do the trick, so you visited the doctor. And lo and behold, you’ve got a rotator cuff injury and two questions:

 

How the heck did this happen?

 

and

 

What on earth do I do now?

Why is an Intake Form Necessary For Massage?

Why is an Intake Form Necessary For Massage?

For many, the idea of massage as healthcare is still a foreign concept, so often it’s not understood why massage therapists require all clients to fill out a health/intake form. However, this is a very important part of how we assess your needs for the session.

Massage and Cancer

Massage and Cancer

A cancer diagnosis is scary. Read our blog on how massage therapy can help.

Five Steps to Healthier Skin

Five Steps to Healthier Skin

Did you know that the skin is the largest organ of the body? The truth is, there are so many factors that go into how to improve your skin quality. What you put into your body, how you care for it, the environment that surrounds you, and your stress level all play a part in the condition your skin is in. So, how do we improve the quality of our skin? And we’re not just talking the skin on your face. Skincare includes the skin throughout your entire body. It needs special care. Here are a few of our favorite tips to help you out.

How Does Reflexology Work?

How Does Reflexology Work?

Reflexology is so much than just a foot massage. As well as being super relaxing, a good reflexology session is an effective way to re-balance your body and address certain medical issues naturally and gently.

Trigger Points and Muscle Knots

Trigger Points and Muscle Knots

If you’re a regular to massage, the concept of a muscle knot is probably something you’re well aware of, but what are they exactly? And what’s the relationship between a muscle knot and a trigger point?

What to Expect During your First Massage

What to Expect During your First Massage

For many, massage therapy isn’t really on the radar as part of routine healthcare. It may have just been something that was part of a spa gift certificate the family got mom for Mother’s Day or a splurge before a big event, like a wedding. But the massage industry has only grown over the last several years, and with it, a new public acceptance of massage therapy as part of a healthcare and self-care protocol. While it may seem a little intimidating to get your first massage, let me put you at ease by filling you in on all the details of what to expect.

Listening To Your Body

Listening To Your Body

The human body to me is such an amazing thing. Not only can it create life, but it can fight off sickness, adapt to its environment, and be molded and formed into what we choose for it. But the most amazing part about the human body to me, is that if you are in tune with your body, it will speak to you. Your body will tell you what it wants or needs and what it doesn’t want or need. Your body will talk to you in many ways, you just have to be sure you’re listening to it.