Posture for your Health

Most of the time we go through our days not thinking about our posture in how we stand, walk or sit. I know I don't usually think about it and of all people I should be aware of my posture at all times. However, when I massage people I am fully aware of how my posture is and making sure I stand and lean in the ways that is best for my body and to make sure I can massage for a long time to come. Keeping good posture can make a considerable difference to the long term health of your spine, muscles and overall body health. Once degenerative changes have taken place it is very difficult and often impossible to restore the spine back to full health. Think about your posture on a daily basis and try to always make an effort to maintain good posture. After all it's for your health.

Some posture tips to keep in mind:

Keep the ears directly above your shoulders. When your ears are aligned over the shoulders your head is balanced above your body and causes minimal stress on your spine. If your head is forward it can put excessive stress on the joints in the lower neck which can lead to long term degenerative changes.

Keep shoulders back. Slouching draws the head forward and again can lead to increased stress on the lower neck.

The hips should be over the top of the ankles. The lower back is naturally the area of highest stress in the spine and most prone to problems. Poor posture increases the stress on this already vulnerable area.

Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage

Maternity Massage

Maternity massage is a soothing, full body massage specifically for the soon-to-be mother. While a pregnant woman’s belly expands and her body changes, this massage aids in those discomforts that come with pregnancy. Your massage can be utilized on the special pregnancy ‘pillow’ that allow you and your belly to be in a face down position. Maternity Massage aims to relax, improve circulation and provide comfort during this time of change.


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The Sound of Music

Music is played by most massage therapists during a session as it can help evoke relaxation. I personally bring my Ipod with over 150 massage 'style' songs. However, I have had clients that will turn on their own music and it has been anything from classic rock to country (though country is not a favorite of mine, it is a nice change of pace for me). We all know that music evokes emotions. Whether it's heavy metal that brings out our inner tyrant, the love songs that may evoke tears as the memories of loves gone bad flood our mind, or even the 70's, 80's, or 90's music that brings us back to our teen years of high school and the quick escape into that time period in our lives.

Listening to healing music can lower blood pressure, boost the immune system, relieve depression, enhance creativity as well as help manage pain. Studies have been done on the effects of music and your body and one study has shown that listening to music strongly effects healing, releases dopamine and simply put makes us happy. Funny how an official study gave us something I think most of us already knew. Researchers have also found emotions aroused by joyful music have a healthy effect on our cardiovascular system, causing blood vessels to dilate and increase blood flow. What a great effect on the physical body as the emotional body feels happy and relaxed. The right music can help create deep relaxation and induce peaceful sleep. Which makes it perfect to go hand in hand with massage.

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Corporate Chair Massage

Chair massage is a way to receive a quick and easy massage. It is done in one of those funky looking things that you sit face forward in and get a 10 or 15 minute massage to your back and neck and can be done pretty much any where from grocery stores to malls to the office conference room. My Corporate Chair Massage description goes like this:

Create a Heavenly Healing retreat in the midst of your busy office environment. Studies have shown that the brain begins to recharge in just a few minutes. In 10, 15, or 20 minutes the brain and body can be re-energized to improve your employee’s moods and productivity. Corporate Chair Massage can be scheduled for weekly, bi-weekly or monthly visits to your place of business - visits guaranteed to keep your employees productive, energetic and feeling good about themselves and their careers. This in turn benefits your company to happy, productive employees.

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Does Stress Have a Consequence?

Stress. A part of everyones' lives, whether it be a large part of your life or small part, we all have it. Experts estimate that 80-90% of disease is stress-related, and 40-80% of doctor visits are stress-related. So you can see that stress can and will have a negative effect on your body. Stress can bring on anxiety and anxiety attacks, high blood pressure, headaches and migraines, heart disease, depression, chronic fatigue, insomnia, ulcers, colds and other serious problems such as eating disorders, drug addiction and alcoholism.

How can massage help avoid some of these issues? First off, it's a natural treatment. Massage helps us remember to relax and bring about positive changes mentally and physically. It can help decrease anxiety attacks, headaches, migraines and improve your immune system and circulation. It can help you sleep better and relieving insomnia which just that in itself can be stressful for many people. It reduces fatigue and gives you more energy to handle stressful situations.

Massage is medicine, it's a natural medicine. The 'father of medicine' Hippocrates, used massage techniques to treat many medical conditions. He stated that "anyone wishing to study medicine must master the art of massage." It's just too bad that his philosophy is not widely used. If we all received massage on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis our world would be a much happier place.