Onsite massage: The Best 15″ You’ll Ever Have at Work

When employees aren’t healthy, businesses experience lower productivity and high absenteeism or turn-over. The combined symptoms of stress are costing U.S. businesses an average of $200 billion a year in reduced productivity and increased health and medical expenses. Tight muscles caused by stress and sitting behind a desk all day, especially at a workstation that is not ergonomically designed, can impede blood and lymph flow through the body. The result is decreased energy and susceptibility to repetitive stress injuries, like carpal tunnel syndrome. Chair massage counters the circulatory problems inherent with office work and offers an appreciated break for employees.

Even 15 minutes of massage to the neck, back, arms and hands can improve circulation, restoring energy levels and helping keep the body injury free.

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  • Increased productivity. Just fifteen minutes of chair massage a week have been scientifically proven to lower stress, reduce muscle tension and rejuvenate the mind and the body.
  • Reduced absenteeism. Over 50% of lost work days are stress related, reducing work stress using seated massage has shown a reduction in absenteeism.
  • Improved morale. Workers consistently report improved mood and a greater sense of well-being after a session of chair massage.
  • Lowered health-care costs. Regular workplace massage can reduce the need for doctor’s visits for many physical complaints and stress-related issues.
  • Staff Goodwill! Because of the convenience, employees perceive onsite massage as a benefit, even when they pay for the service themselves!

And your staff will enjoy…

  • Reduced stress and anxiety
  • Relief of muscle soreness
  • Increased flexibility and range of motion
  • A boost to the Immune System
  • Treatment of repetitive stress symptoms

Visit our ONSITE MASSAGE INFORMATION and ask questions, or request a  quote today!

 

 

General and Local Contraindications in Massage

no massageDid you know there are times when you should NOT have a massage? Trained and certified massage therapists know a lot about pathologies (diseases) and other conditions where massage isn’t recommended. They also know the difference between two very important types of contraindications. Do you?

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Massage for High Tech Workers

Most of us proud tech workers in Silicon Valley don’t let a day pass without using some gadget to keep up with a fast-paced world. While our hyper-connectedness can be exciting, it also challenges our body and mind to continue operating at a dizzying pace.

Just like most of our technology, our uber-connected body technology runs 24/7 and occassionally needs a reboot.

Like any computer hardware, occasionally our brain, and our muscles, need to be powered down so that they can reset and function optimally.

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Massage As Substance Abuse Rehab Helper

While massage has been practiced for thousands of years, medical science and research really woke up to the benefits beginning in the 1990s. As more studies about substance abuse have emerged, it is clear from the findings that massage can have significant and lasting benefits for the body. Those benefits extended well beyond simple relief from aches and pains to dramatic positive effects on mental state and positive attitude. It was only a matter of time before massage became a tool for helping alleviate symptoms arising from depression. Recently, massage has begun to appear as a regular beneficial treatment for those who suffer from addictions.

How addiction works

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What Should You Choose From a Massage Menu?

Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 7.48.30 AMMassage is gaining popularity fast. More people than ever are making appointments and more are talking about the positive benefits. It is no longer a surprise to see a massage station at an airport or gym or to talk to people who incorporate massage into their monthly wellness routine. With the increase in access to massage, however, many business owners see a need to differentiate the customer experience by offering “unique massage experiences” to grab customer eyeballs and increase sales.

Enter the massage menu

Just about any massage establishment features a menu of services featuring your choice of Swedish, deep tissue, hot/warm stone, Shiatsu or other modalities. The challenge is that the average consumer a) is unfamiliar with the differences, and/or b) is unfamiliar with which service to choose for the particular massage goal they are seeking.  That means people are choosing right sometimes, and wrong sometimes.  The result could be an ineffective, unfulfilling massage session. Luckily, the fix has an easy two-part answer: better client education and trained reception staff.

What to do to get the right kind of massage for you?

Our massage clinic has seen thousands of clients in our nearly five years in business. While we have a menu of services, about 60% of our clients came to us with a specific goal such as relaxation, pain relief, increased flexibility and mobility, or pre- or post-event sports massage. Our guest services team adeptly steers clients toward the therapist that can best meet their needs and we charge the service accordingly.

The remaining 40% came in with a less clear idea of what they want. They got the massage as a gift, or they wanted to treat themselves to some “me time” but don’t know exactly what that looks like, or perhaps they are getting their first massage. With each of these scenarios, the pre-massage conversation skills of the reception desk and therapist really come into play. For most who aren’t used to identifying a goal, the answer is a personalized, multi-modality service performed by a qualified massage therapist who has created a plan for the service based on discussion with the client and information on the client intake form.

To help make our clients more comfortable about the process of selecting a massage, we we introduced the “Signature” massage. This therapeutic massage is essentially a “massage therapists’s choice”. That means the therapist uses their knowledge and experience to custom design a session using whatever massage techniques they believe will most help the client achieve their goals. Our expert therapists are completely free to use any tool or technique at their disposal. They educate the client as they work and identify massage modalities and techniques most effective for the session. And the clients are completely pleased with the results. Our rebooking rates for these “signature” massages are sky high.

 

Ten Resolutions You Can Actually Keep

About one in three Americans make a New Year’s resolution. Resolutions are 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 2016.

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.

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Fight Holiday Depression

Believe it or not, sometimes the “holiday season of joy” brings on a surprising sidekick. Stress and depression. It kind of makes sense… there are things to prepare for, shopping (and worries about money), entertaining, travel and many more behaviors that are confined to a very short time period once a year. Holiday depression is more common than you might think. It’s also something that, with a little forethought, you can eliminate or at least control holiday depression.

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Making 2016 a Better Year

a happy lifeAnd here we are- on the cusp of another year. This year brought lots of good things, and some not-so-good things. As you think “forward” know that a few little things can make a big difference in the balance and harmony in your life. So make it a point to do things that will help make 2016 a better year.

Try these ten tips…

1. Learn something new. Teach yourself some new recipes. Learn to play poker. Try your hand at Portuguese.  Why not?  Stimulate your brain and you will be happier.

2. Talk to someone.  Not texting. Not email. Not a note on the table. Brew up some tea or hang out at Starbucks and really TALK to someone about anything–not just serious stuff.

3. Eat cleaner. OK.  You know this one.  Better nutrition leads to feeling better and that leads to a higher quality of life.

4. Think positively. Catch yourself when you start to look on the dull side of life or when you become a “negative nelly.”  Be positive.  It works.

5. Go outside. We live in a world of walls, of office cubicles, or windows-up cars. Sometimes just being OUTSIDE makes a big difference.  Plan some time every day to just get outside and breathe.

6. Be thoughtful and/or meditate every day.  Our lives are so crazy that we rarely take even a minute just to stop and THINK. Some people focus on thinking through yoga or meditation.  Are those people happier than you are? Probably.

7. Move.  Yeah, yeah.  Get some exercise.  Go for a walk. Ride a bike, hit the gym.  Make it a habit – even if it’s only a couple times a week.  It can make a big difference in how you feel and how you look.

8. Know what makes you happy.  Puppies? Chocolate? Your children? A hot bath? Know what brings you joy and pay more attention to that for a while.

9. Smile. If you don’t smile at least once a day, you’re missing out on a joy in life.  Whether it’s a casual smile at a co-worker who says or does something funny, or smiling to yourself when you watch that crazy kitty-drive-a-car video again.  Smiling is good for you. It’s contagious. And it definitely brings good things to life.

“We smile a lot. It keeps the energy positive and keeps us focused on the goodness of massage.”  SVMTG Staff

 10. Get a regular massage.  We’re not just saying this because we’re professional massage therapists.  Massage makes you physically and mentally feel better.  Good endorphins are stimulated. Muscle aches disappear. Your mood improves. You relax and disconnect from your wireless devices for a precious hour or so. Your overall quality of life will improve. You’ll have a better year. Treat yourself to a massage every two weeks for a month.  You will feel better.  Seriously!

Five Reasons Why Massage is Better Today

Alex TherapistTwenty years ago, it was almost impossible to find a place to get a massage. Small massage studios were pretty much non-existent and massage was billed only as a pampering treat and relegated to high end spas or found in very low-end and very sketchy red light hovels.

Fast forward to today and it’s a very different picture. Now massage is available in many more places. Literally everything about massage has changed, from the people giving the treatments to the readiness of the clients.  Here’s a short list of five reasons why the massage you get today will likely be a LOT better than one you received 20 years ago.

 

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Breaking the Pain Cycle

pain cycle diagramA recent study conducted at the Center on an Aging Society at Georgetown University found that back pain is the most common cause of workdays lost in the US. It is the 2ndmost common cause of visits to the doctor’s office and experts estimate that 80% of the population will have a back pain issue at some point in their lives. Not only are we a society in pain, but when it gets bad enough we lose work, money, and then have to pay in an attempt to relieve the pain. Many of us are currently facing these problems and are met with the question of how do I get better and how do I decrease the likelihood that the pain will return. One answer is understanding and breaking the pain cycle.

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How Much Time Should You Make For Yourself?

me timeThere’s a better-than-average chance that you have completely forgotten about “me time”. You know, the time you actually set aside for doing something you enjoy, or sitting by yourself, or treating yourself to a relaxing massage? Today’s always-connected life makes it easy to forget “me time”. There’s just stuff to do EVERYWHERE. Work stuff. School stuff. Family stuff. Car stuff. Home stuff. Medical stuff. Financial stuff. See?

Humans are hard-wired to need recharge time. That means more than just the 6-8 hours you’re actually (hopefully) sleeping each night. It means that the human brain needs periods of down-time to recharge, especially in the face of stress or strain. Just like the battery in your smartphone, most of us need at least 30 minutes each day to disconnect from deep thought and rest the brain cells. Physically we need breaks too. If you are in a high-stress job that requires lots of manual labor, at least two 30 minute breaks a day are in order, or you’ll quickly burn out.

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Massage Can Reduce Neuropathy Pain

Neuropathy is a fairly common condition that involves problems with nerves, primarily “peripheral” nerves, like those that run through your arms and legs. Some people with peripheral neuropathy don’t even realize it. Others are debilitated by pain and numbness. Either way, the tingling sensations, itching, burning or “pins-and-needles” sensations in hands or feet, are worth a look by a medical professional.

While there are several types of neuropathy, the two most common are diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Both involve damaged and painful distal sensory and motor nerves. In DPN, the cause is uncontrolled blood glucose (diabetes), while CIPN is a side effect of chemotherapy.

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What is a Professional Massage?

Just like any service available in an open marketplace, massage therapy services run the spectrum from not-so-good to exceptional. If you’ve ever received a professional massage from more than one therapist, you’ll notice difference in their approach to massage, their training, and how effective the treatment is. A truly professional massage therapist delivers a truly professional massage.

So is your therapist a true professional? Are you getting the best massage therapy service you can get?  Here are ten signs, in no particular order, that you’re probably working with the best. Does your massage therapist measure up?

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Ancient Egyptians Were Into Massage

egyptian image 2It is widely recognized that ancient Egyptians were among the first to study and categorize essential oils. They created oils, incense and perfumes and often had others apply the oils for therapeutic purposes. Welcome to massage.

While the earliest definitive references to massage come from China about 5000 BCE, references to medical “healing” through massage began to show up around 3000 BCE in wall paintings and carvings.

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