Natural Relief for Constipation

Getting our stomach massaged is not something we usually think of when we think of massage. Even for my own style of massage, I don't usually include the stomach unless asked. There are some clients who regularly want their abs massaged and some who have asked about it yet never want their stomach touched. Despite the lack of clients who do want abdominal massage, it can have a significant affect on your body. Abdominal massage does help increase bowel movements, especially when constipated, as well as helps decrease gastrointestinal symptoms.

With all the ads for laxatives, it seems we have a problem with this not so much talked about syndrome. Yet, obviously there are many people who have constipation. Constipation usually means you've been depriving your body of essential things such as water, fiber and adequate exercise. A long-term remedy to constipation can be as simple as a daily walk and a few dietary changes. However a short term remedy could be your own hands. You can self massage your stomach for a bit of relief (as well as asking your massage therapist to include your abdominals as part of your next massage).

To massage your stomach make sure to use some type of lotion or oil. Very little is needed. Lie on your back and use your palms or fingertips. Press in lightly and stroke down the left side of your abdomen towards the feet, continue around to the right side and stroke up towards you head. Basically you will start in a large clockwise circle and continue this path into smaller and smaller circles. Do this for about five to ten minutes. If you have an ulcer, hernia, or high blood pressure it is best to not do this.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Touch: Our Basic Need

I think we all know that we have five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, smell. Sometimes all these senses come into play for things such as eating. Sometimes we only use a few of these at a time like when we drive. We know that people can live their lives without sight, without sound, or a sense of smell. However, touch is a essential part of our human existence, our human need that we require to help sustain our lives.

Touch is a an often an unappreciated sense that can be excluded from our daily life. There is a quote I saw from Margaret Atwood's book The Blind Assassin: "Touch comes before sight, before speech. It's the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth." If you think about it touch is the first thing that happens when we are born and it's the first thing that new parents want to do: touch and hold their beautiful newborn. It has been proven that with premature and underweight babies that touch will help them grow and sustain life at alarming rates. And as parents, when our children are hurting through either physical or emotional pain, again what do we want to do? Touch and hold them and make it all go away.

Many people do go without touch on a daily basis which to me is a sad thing. I used to have a client that would get massaged just to be touched. For whatever reasons this need was not met in her life so she found the way to get it met. It really did sadden me that she didn't have this basic need met enough in her daily life. I know for me, I'm what would be called a touchy-feely person. Besides what I do for a living of massaging and touching people, I am always touching my friends when I talk or when I see or leave them through hugs and kisses. Personally this is my biggest sense that I like to have full-filled and that's probably why I am so touchy-feely. Touch evokes emotions. It evokes feelings and communication through pleasure, through pain, through sensuality. It is a basic form of human interaction no matter what race, nationality or language that you are. Touch brings us all together.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Will it Hurt?

There are the rumors I'm sure you've heard of people feeling sore, bruised or even hurt after a massage and you don't want to be one of those people. Can all of this happen with a massage? Yes, you can be bruised. Yes, you can be sore. Yet, no is the answer for most massages. There are many factors into answering that question.

Some styles of massage work deep into the muscles, sometimes stretching is involved and even body re-posturing which can make you hurt both during and after a massage. This is not to say one of those styles may not work for you and your body, they just work differently. Sometimes even a relaxing massage may make you sore. My last massage, which is usually not a deep tissue as it's not what I like, did hurt. However, I asked for it. I needed a certain area of my body to be worked on with deep pressure and it did hurt! Yet mostly this is not the style I choose for me. It's up to you what style you choose for you.

Can you bruise from a massage? Yes. Some people bruise easily, like myself. Some people may have bruises prior to a massage forgetting that it's there and blame it on the massage. Also, some bruises may be brought up to the skin surface from the massage and weren't noticeable prior. And yes, sometimes the therapists do go very deep and will bruise you whether a purposeful deep tissue or by not knowing what they are doing. If for any reason you are hurting and you know the massage isn't the style to hurt please, please speak up. Like any industry, there are those that do not know what they are doing and they can and will hurt you. They may have taken the classes yet they don't understand the body as well as the clues it will give you when you are hurting someone.

There is a key thing to do after a massage that can help avoid some of the after-pain and that is to drink water. Water will help flush out the toxins that have been pushed around from a massage. When the toxins haven't been flushed out they have a tendency to accumulate back throughout the body and you may experience soreness as well from not doing this simple thing. For some people they can get headaches after a massage. So please with any type of massage make sure you drink more then your normal daily amount of water to help flush out the toxins and the pains.

As you can see this is not a question that has a definitive yes or no answer. If you are worried about some of these issues, talk with your therapist. If they don't listen find someone who will. After all it is your body.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

What to Wear Or Not to Wear

What do I wear or not wear for my massage? Do I completely undress? A question that is asked over and over, especially for first-time massage clients. As the previous blog said most people are nervous the first time they receive a massage and this question is one of the many normal questions that you should ask or be told what to do by your therapist.

Usually the fear of vulnerability by being naked is the biggest factor to the question. For some it's even what will the therapist think if I do undress completely. Most people will undress completely. However, you do not have to! Understand that you will be covered by sheets in those uncomfortable to expose areas at all times. What I tell my first-time clients is that it is up to them whether or not they want to take their underwear off. If they do go completely nude, I tell them that I massage the hips and gluts (butt) as part of the massage. If for whatever reason(s) they are uncomfortable and do not want to be completely naked I avoid those areas as the butt and hips can be an area that they are not used to having someone touch. Everyone has their own comfort zones of what to wear or not wear and my main concern is for my client to be comfortable in their space. I have the whole range of clients from the people who undress in front of me to the underwear/boxer shorts that almost reach their knees. Again, your comfort level is the most important thing (along with communication to your therapist) and you make the decision of what to wear or not to wear. And if you do choose to not wear anything your therapist isn't going to think any differently of you. :)

I hope this has helped you make the decision to get a massage and get passed those fears, questions and concerns. Now the big thing is....when will you make your first appointment?

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Your First Time (At least for Massage)

Never had a massage before? Feel a little nervous? Should you do anything to prepare for a massage? What should you expect? These are a few of the common questions and/or fears for the first-time massage client. Most people are nervous the first time they get a massage. This is actually very normal even though it seems like a contradiction. There is the fear of the unknown as well as feeling vulnerable to putting your body and trust into someone you've never met before. Once you start getting massaged and feel comfortable with the massage therapist those fears usually subside and you will relax.

You will not really need to 'prepare' for a massage because your job will be to just lay there and let the therapist do all the work. Though you may want to drink a small bit of water and/or maybe take a shower prior. That's it. Simple. What you should expect is to get what you pay for. If you want a relaxing massage, you should be relaxed. If you need those knots and pains to be worked on or a sports massage then that's what you should expect. The main thing you will need to do is communicate prior to the massage of what you want as well as during the massage. If your therapist's pressure is too light or too deep for you, please speak up.

I hope this has helped you make the decision to get a massage and get passed those fears, questions and concerns. Now the big thing is....when will you make your first appointment?

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Complimentary verses Altenative

On my last post, there was comment made from John. I have tried various times to comment back yet for whatever reason it is not posting. So I thought I'd (finally) make a small blog to respond. John is right in regards to the terms of alternative verses complementary. Alternative is a term that is used as way to describe something that is not mainstream and alternate to 'standard' types of practice. I stand corrected in misuse of the word. The wording of complimentary is definitely the choice word to use, especially for the many modalities such as Reiki, acupuncture, yoga, and massage to be used in conjunction with 'standard' or Western types of health care. As the word states, it is a compliment to go with whatever types of health care that you choose to use. Thanks John for helping clarify that.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Myth of Cancer Massage

There is a myth out there that a person who has cancer should not be massage. And I said this is a myth. Many massage schools teach their students that massage promotes the spread of cancer by increasing circulation. This included the school that I attended just a few short seven years ago. This myth of course is carried over into the mainstream with doctors, patients and other health-care providers to believe this is true. If this were true then health-care providers would also discourage exercise and other activity for people with cancer as this increases circulation also.

Since my initial classes, I have found through medically funded research that this myth was based on old understandings of how cancer spreads. Thankfully, for cancer clients newer and new research has shown the benefits of massage. Per research done at the Sahlgrenska Academy at Goteborg University in Goteborg, Sweden, they showed that massage relieves nausea in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Many major hospitals have formed an Integrative or Alternative Medicine department such as Beaumont Hospital in Michigan.

Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have strong effects on the body such as severe pain, nausea, fatigue and depression. Massage can help lessen those effects and give a client some much needed pain relief and anxiety relief. We all know how devastating chemotherapy is to the body as well as to the soul. If a client can gain benefits from massage such as pain relief, stress relief, lessened depression, as well as increase levels of dopamine, serotonin, natural killer cells and lymphocytes then that is an amazing thing. Plus massage is natural. And for many clients even just the simple act of touch is an uplifting thing.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Pillows for Great Body Health

Do you wake up day after day with aches and pains in your neck, back or shoulders? Have you ever considered the possibility that it could be your pillows causing this problem, or even the way your sleeping. Every day many people wake up feeling like this and don't understand why. There are ways you can help improve you bodies health during your sleeping time... use a good pillow that works for your body and your sleeping position. The spine has three natural curves to it. When you sleep you want to work with these natural curves, not against them. When you position your body against these curves that is when you get those morning aches and pains and kinks in your neck.

The best sleeping position for your body is the side. You want to use a pillow that supports your neck and head and does not position your neck towards either shoulder by being too high up or too low down. If the pillow has positioned your neck too close to either shoulder this will cause the kink or pain in your neck. Also another thing you can do for side sleeping is position a smaller pillow between your legs as this will help prevent your hips from twisting. The second best position for sleeping is your back. Again, the pillow for the back sleepers should keep your neck in-line with the spine and back and not push your head forwards towards your chest. So find a smaller pillow to support this style of sleeping then if you were the side sleeper. Another idea for back sleepers to help their bodies is to use a small towel under your hips to help the natural curve in your back, or a pillow under the knees to relieve the pressure in your lower back. The absolute worst position to sleep in is on your stomach. This position places too much pressure on your neck and the upper and lower back areas as it presses the neck into an unnatural position towards your back and undue pressure on the curve of the lower back. This can be a major cause of neck pain. So if you wake every day with these pains, maybe it's time to reposition your body and buy a new pillow.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.