health – Wellness Focus

Balance and Empathy: A Conversation with Jules

It takes a special person to work with mothers-to-be. It’s about balance and empathy and an informed touch. Expectant mothers are under tremendous stress and their hormones are almost as unbalanced as their changing bodies. For a massage therapist who works with prenatal clients, it’s about listening. It’s about knowing what’s going on anatomically, energetically, and emotionally. It’s about having special knowledge and skills to give some of those who most need it a time where they can completely relax and know that they are in competent hands. Say hello to a wonderfully caring massage therapist – Jules.

Jules does all kinds of bodywork, not just pre-natal. She’s also a doula (birth companion and post-birth supporter). She is very well trained in many types of massage including sports massage, chair massage, Swedish, deep tissue and more. A graduate of National Holistic Institute, Jules continues to attend professional development classes to keep her knowledge up to date.

What do you like most about being a massage therapist?

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Make Kindness a Habit

During a recent visit to a discount store to buy some batteries, I stopped to hold the door open for a young mother and her 4 year-old daughter. Right behind them was a businessman carrying a large box. I held the door for him, too. Each said a polite “thank you” as they went through.

As I entered the store I noticed the mother and daughter still standing near the door. The daughter asked the mother why I had held the door open.

“He is a nice man,” replied the mom.

The daughter looked around, stared at the door, and replied “Oh.”. Continue reading “Make Kindness a Habit”

Top 10 Wellness New Year’s Resolutions

About one in three Americans make a New Year’s resolution. It’s a great tradition, offering us an opportunity to kick bad habits, create new opportunities, soften the rough edges of our behavior, and polish up relationships. The trick, of course, is sticking with it.

Just in case you were sitting around wondering which one of the zillions of promises you’d like to make to yourself, we’ve collected 10 resolutions that are relatively easy to keep and will certainly go a long way toward a healthier and happier 2015.

1. More FTF and less TXT. It’s easy to think that a random text now and then can substitute for a real conversation if you’re working on keeping relationships with friends and relatives strong. It doesn’t. Try talking to your friends and relatives more IN PERSON, or at least hear their voices. Use tech like FaceTime and Skype more. Put DOWN the phone while you eat or talk with others. You will find the quality of your relationships improve, your fingers aren’t as sore from texting, and you’ll avoid that $300 texting-while-driving traffic ticket, too. Continue reading “Top 10 Wellness New Year’s Resolutions”

Take Care of Your Quadriceps (Quads)

Your “Quads” (quadriceps) are actually a muscle group. They’re not just one muscle, but four muscles, each contributing to the extension of your knee joint and the flexing of your hip. The quad muscles are crucial in running, squatting and jumping.

The quads are anatomically located in the anterior (front) compartment of the thigh. The quad muscle group is made of up of three large muscles: vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and the smaller rectus femorus. Vastus lateralis is on the outside of the thigh, medialis on the inside, rectus femoris is on top, and intermedius is in the center hidden below the rectus femoris.

The quadricep muscles originate at the ilium (upper part of your hip bone) and femur (thighbone) and come together in a tendon around your patella (kneecap) and then attach to your tibia (shinbone).

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Laziness is a Choice

Have you ever noticed that laziness fuels more laziness and activity fuels more activity?

Whether it’s dealing with a family matter, pursuing a professional goal, picking up your socks, or managing your own wellness, it’s easy to procrastinate, delay, justify and deny yourself right into a big pile of inactivity.

For many people, stress from making big decisions or dealing with an ongoing stressful situation creates a level of discomfort and confusion in our minds and bodies. The burden of inaction weighs heavier than we think on the nervous system and on just about every other body system. You can feel guilty for being lazy, especially when you naturally compare yourself to others who you see as decidedly not lazy. It can take a lot of energy to suppress feelings and it takes a lot of work by your body to resist the temptation to transfer inaction into muscle aches, pain, and a general lack of wellness. That’s why when we’re lazy, we get more lazy. Our system just finally says “oh well” and gives in.

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Seeking Balance

Balance. It’s being able to stand steadily on one foot or walk without stumbling – or it’s the leveling of activity between your work life and home life. Regardless of how you think of balance, most of us, at some time in our life are out of balance.

You’ve let circumstances and choices drive you to accept increased responsibility at work, for example, at the expense of family time. Or you’ve over-committed to activities that take you away from paying attention to our own self-care. Being out of balance causes stress that can affect your physical and emotional wellbeing. Over time this can have serious and mostly negative consequences on your health, your relationships and your work life.

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Top 5 Reasons to get a Couple’s Massage

It’s time to share your secret with your spouse, partner or significant other. YOU get real benefits from massage–like relief from aches and pain, and an hour of relaxation and stress-relief. So why not give that gift to your spouse, partner, BFF or significant other?There are real and tangible benefits to SHARING that experience. Here are five reasons you will want to book a couple’s massage at SVMTG:

Helps you reconnect. Most couples have trouble finding time to be alone without worrying about what they need to get done, or what they didn’t do, that day. During a massage session, you’re instinctually driven to let go of the past, not think about the future and turn your attention to the present. Fully engaged in an activity together can help you reconnect and, with a little effort, bring this level of mindfulness to the relationship.
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Massage Therapy for Military Veterans

Massage can have a significant affect on the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and self compassion.

Research published in Military Medicine reports that military veterans indicated significant reductions in ratings of anxiety, worry, depression and physical pain after massage. Analysis also suggests declining levels of tension and irritability following massage.

The National Guard commissioned a study about the effects of massage on veteran reintegration. The results are promising. This pilot study was a self-directed program of integrative therapies for National Guard personnel to support reintegration and resilience after return from Iraq or Afghanistan.

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Your Massage May Be Covered

Most physical-therapy and chiropractic treatments are reimbursed by health insurance, while more than 90% of massage therapy sessions are paid out of the client’s pocket. Turns out that some clients are missing an opporutnity. Medical massage therapy, in many cases, is covered by health insurance when prescribed by a physician, registered physical therapists, chiropractor or osteopath. If you’ve been in a car accident, insurance can cover 85-100% of therapy. Continue reading “Your Massage May Be Covered”

Are You in Control?

The cold season is almost over and you made it through. Lots of energy goes into holiday and cold weather preparation and the actual festivities and plans flash by. Feeling restless, frustrated, disenchanted, tired and stressed is common after the holiday rush and a wintertime indoors subsides. Many of us break our daily routines, including diet and exercise, during the season and then feel a little “off” by the time Spring comes around.

It turns out nobody is more in control of your renewal, rebirth and recovery than YOU are and the new year can be a great time to contemplate and resolve to get in touch with yourself again and reach out to seek your passions, your purpose, your dreams, work on your relationships, and think about your wellness.

Here are a few things you can do to help rebalance and regain control after the “cold and hectic times” subside: Continue reading “Are You in Control?”