Are you retiring? Yes, at least from my studio, taking my last clients in-studio Wednesday May 15th, 2024. I'll probably leave my website up until the end of November though, more as an information site. I may self-publish my website info as an ebook on Amazon Kindle after that as Notes from a Massage & Bodyork Website, or something like that. Thank you!
What is Shiatsu?
Shiatsu (shi-finger atsu-pressure) is a form of Oriental Medicine, a therapeutic bodywork from Japan based on principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine combined with modern anatomy and physiology. It is one of the main modalities within the larger profession of Asian Bodywork Therapy. Shiatsu is non-invasive, performed without oils through light, comfortable clothing, and uses soothing, kneading, pressing, tapping and stretching techniques.
To bring about balance, a main goal being able to function more efficiently at a lower level of stress.
Is there anything else I can do to prepare for my shiatsu session? You will be asked about your main health concern and what you would like to focus on, and wellness and fitness goals.
It is usually a good idea not to have eaten anything 30 minutes before a session.
Do you provide insurance coverage?
No. I refer over to Anoka Massage & Pain.
What Should I Wear? Loose comfortable clothing that will move with you for some of the stretching exercises.
Soft stretchy cottons are usually better than tight nylon knits. Draping techniques are used if you care to dress down to comfort levels.
How is shiatsu different from other forms of therapeutic massage & bodywork?
Shiatsu is Japan's own interpretation of shared Asian Eastern and Middle Eastern brought to Japan by Buddhist monks traveling from India in 700 something AD, and is a combination of ancient and modern massage & bodywork techniques outstanding for effective pressure work and stretches, comfortably applied through clothing.
Both Eastern and Western styles of massage & bodywork share similar outcome-based therapeutic massage techniques, also described as qualities of touch, including basic soothing (drag/effleurage), pressure and palm pressure (depth of pressure and compression), rocking movement, percussion, tapotement, direction, speed, rhythm, frequency, duration, stretching and correcting exercises, posture and movement re-education exercises, breath coaching, healing touch and application or influence of pressure to specific meridian points according to your main complaint and root cause.
What should I do during the shiatsu session?
Resolve to give in to the down time and allow yourself this time to unwind. It may sound unusual, but a massage & bodywork session can be a brilliant time for a "one thing at a time" mind over matter exercise. You've booked an hour, or hour and a half. Give in to that down time, breath through and tell your self head to toe to let go of the stress.
The real goal of a shiatsu session is to bring the stress level down, seek calm, and open up the pharmacy within.
The pharmacy within might be described as fluid passageways; veins, arteries, lymphatic system, cerebrospinal fluid, which many are encased in smooth round muscles that can tighten under stress, especially going to the eyes, and then when relaxed can open up and help the transport of oxygen and nutrients, also filtering, recycling and getting rid of waste products, ultimately making you feel more empowered over your own energy.
How will I feel after the shiatsu session?
After an initial period of feeling slowed down, people often experience increased energy, heightened awareness, and greater productivity which can last for days, weeks, months and sometimes be a go to memory of deep relaxation that can work for years.
Here is the way authors of A Massage Therapist's Guide to Treating Head & Neck Pain 2009 describe some of the things that happen physiologically:
- Plasma cortisol (fight or flight hormone) and catecholamine concentrations alter markedly as anxiety levels drop and depression is also reduced (Field 1992).
- Serotonin levels rise as sleep is enhanced, even in severely ill patients - preterm infants, cancer patients, and people with irritable bowel problems as well as HIV-positive individuals (Aceolet 1993, Ferel-Torey 1993, Xujian 1990).
"- Pressure strokes tend to move fluid content, encouraging venous, lymphatic, and tissue drainage.
- Increase of blood flow results in fresh oxygenated blood, which aids in normalization via increased capillary filtration and venous capillary pressure.
- Edema is reduced and so are the effects of pain inducing substances which may be present.
- Decreases occur in the sensitivity of the gamma efferent control of the muscle spindles, thereby reducing any shortening tendency of the muscles (Puustjarvi 1990)
- A transition occurs in the ground substance of the fascia (the colloidal matrix) from gel to sol, which increases internal hydration and assists in the removal of toxins from the tissue (Oschman 1997).
- Pressure techniques can have a direct effect on the Golgi tendon organs, which detect the load applied to the tendon or muscle."
The above means you'll feel less electric with poisonous stress, more grounded and solid, deeply relaxed and will probably be able to get a better night sleep.
Adopt the mantra Calm, yet Aware when driving home.
Shiatsu has been found in some cases to be superior to massage in low back research studies relevant to head and neck pain.
Massage & Bodywork for Women at Shiatsu Cave
Here at Shiatsu Cave the focus is on natural health care for women.
How often should I come in for a shiatsu session to start feeling real and lasting benefits
Ten initial visits are the classic recommendation to gain an idea of the transformation that can take place through deeper relaxation. This can be twice a week to once a week tapering off to once every two weeks, or one session per month.
Five hundred sessions is probably the real code cracker for changing the negative dominant neuron code. That's one hour daily for more than a year. Thailand would be a good place to start. Forward thinking King Rama III (1824-1851) made it his mission to preserve traditional Thai botanical medicine and massage, maybe why today medical tourism in Thailand is experiencing so much popularity.
One of the great aspects of massage & bodywork is even though each session may only seem to provide short term relief, the benefits of m&b accrue over time. With every massage session you are banking memories of relaxation and building neural pathways that support calmness and alertness.
If it's been ages since you've been out for a massage and bodywork session, or you've never tried it yet, or tried it once a million years ago and didn't care for the experience, do a little homework ahead of time, pick a few places and book one massage at each. Then give yourself some time and reevaluate seeing yourself going out regularly for massage. Regular for a lot of people might be about once a month, or once every five weeks, or three weeks. Or it might be quarterly, or every 2 months. Assess your own health, and imagine fitting this health regimen into your life. You may have to negotiate budget with family members. Just get out and do it once at least, and then think about it. Imagine how you would fit regular massage and bodywork into your wellness routine.
I ran across something once, it was an old time work week schedule, Monday wash clothes, Tuesday iron, Wednesday bake bread, I'm not sure of the rest, but I loved the part where one afternoon was brew a cup of tea and count blessings. If you can take that concept of your work week, and turn it into a work month and boil it down to one day that you can squirrel out an hour for professional relaxation. Some people really feel the effect of the moon waxing and waning, and there should be a peak time for partnering with yourself on stress reduction goals. Sometimes it's a Monday for some, and sometimes it's a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday morning thing around the highpoint of the day somewhere between 9am-1pm, by circadian clock rhythm. And then practice making that your day, or your hour. Well, at least start out with one hour and then build out from there.
And then, keep all this to yourself. It's just going to be your personal way of staying on top of things. Life can get really crazy at times, and your own professional edge can often depend on not giving up all your secrets of longevity. Your family may be depending on you.
A good article on timing massage frequency and backing it up with postural work (includes an interview with Esther Gokhale who wrote 8 Steps to a Pain Free back - Reclaiming Primal Posture):
What is the best age to get started with shiatsu?
Shiatsu, like many forms of massage & bodywork practiced around the world since ancient times starts with baby massage care and follows right through to end of life comfort care. The idea is to start anywhere along life's path learning ways to tame stress and encourage growth and healing.
For children and young adults participating in impact sports like hockey and football, therapeutic massage & bodywork should be a part of conditioning training to help tone & strengthen connective tissue of supporting muscles around the smaller muscles that hold joints together. Think of it maybe like forging and working metal for strength and flexibility. Regular massage & bodywork is probably not something a coach is going to be able to recommend.
Check out the TCM School of Chiang Mai, Thailand: http://www.tmcschool.com/group_study.php
Since 2004 the Kardinia High School from Australia has been able to send 4 groups per year to study Thai Massage as part of their cultural study in Thailand, over a thousand high school students.
TCM's intensive course is 7,500 Bhat, or about $230.
For athletes and sports related conditioning look for a studio set up like a gym to be torqued twisted, walked on and stretched, maybe check with local gyms.
YMCA/YWCA used to have great Swedish masters ages ago, and the price was reasonable for getting pummeled, pounded and shaken off the table practically, including your towel, if you were draped with one to begin with probably went flying at some point. It was amazing and usually around $20. The good old days.
Key thinking helps: Stress: Acidic. Cancer loves acid environment. Calm: Alkaline. Cancer has a difficult time thriving in an alkaline environment.
Shiatsu can be a blessing for catching up on accumulated stress and promoting the feeling of confidence when facing any kind of health challenges.
Movement helps brain health.
Shiatsu and Thai yoga massage are moving massage & bodywork forms.
*Sciatica covers a set of symptoms that may be caused by general compression and/or irritation of one or more of five spinal nerve roots stemming from the lumbar vertebrae.
Nice views of the sciatic nerve (on page 4 of the slideshow):
http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/ss/slideshow-low-back-pain-overview
Extensive information and videos on sciatica:
http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/sciatica/what-you-need-know-about-sciatica
For end of life massage care, if you or a family member are looking at Hospice programs, and there are many local branches under Hospice, check to find out if the Hospice you may be signing up with has a massage team, or at least a Healing Touch program.
Massage is often one thing that really helps towards the end of life, and is usually Ok'd for once or twice a month, but has on occasion - when it is the only thing that helps, been Ok'd for weekly in-home sessions. I volunteered for a year or so with the massage team from Hospice of the Twin Cities - wonderful team.
Therapeutic Massage & bodywork can be an island of renewal for those working through grief.
Above all, therapeutic massage is used as preventative conditioning to build up resistance and not let anything get started and if it does, whatever it is doesn't stand a chance. At any age Shiatsu can be a powerful tool in your arsenal for fighting your way back to good health and maintaining better health for self and others.
How long of a session should I do?
Traditional shiatsu and Thai sessions can often times be 2 and even 3 hours. The American version is 60 to 90 minutes. It generally takes a good 45 minutes for muscles to unwind enough to go in for a little more pressure and stretching unless you can get there in 5 like the yogis.
It takes practice to get to a deeper level of relaxation on cue. Most relaxation, including mindfulness exercises begin with going through steps of relaxation and breathing that may take about 25 minutes. They pretty much all include the mind telling each body part in a head to toe body scan to relax, breathe in relaxation, breathe out tension.
Relaxation exercises work, they are something like the power of suggestion dynamics behind "the light and heavy box", a famous magician trick where the magician first tells someone the box is very light and to try picking up the box, which really is very light and easy to pick up. Then, using relaxation techniques tells the person the box is very heavy, so heavy in fact that it cannot be picked up and instructs the person to then try to pick it up, and for that person the box, which is the same light box is too heavy to move. The idea is to discipline the mind through repetition to be in control of the body and not the other way around.
The main thing is to give into a session long enough to opening up the breathing.
What's the difference between a massage with oils and shiatsu?
Both are effective stress reducers. Mixing up Swedish, or Western therapeutic massage with a little Eastern massage & bodywork delivers a perfect balance for many people.
Both include rubbing. Hippocrates view on "rubbing" was that it could "can bind a joint that is too loose, and loosen a joint that is too rigid".
Oil massages have often traditionally been medical massages like the Kings massage in India where oil is poured on and swept away. The idea is that the oil goes into the skin and gathers toxins and then exits the skin and is washed away with the sweeping away of the oil.
Explore healing music and sounds (from youtube):From Giddings piano concert held in one of the stone buildings in the Rum river to Anoka schools wonderful music department over the years, anyone spending even a few years in Anoka may have been profoundly influenced by music at some point.
Quick links to explore tones and frequencies that work for you. Note June 2023: Haven't updated links in a long time, sorry if some don't work!
(Hopefully OK with those providing video! Here's one big thank you for now):
If you have 105 minutes this is a meditative chakra scan, so you can see the frequencies, also colors and characteristics associated with each chakra, for instance the great out of doors neutralizer 528Hz is the higher solar plexus chakra frequency, the same that plants and blades of grass vibrate at. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5cQMq1g5sU
Frequencies can be as variable as Royal Rife with his microscopes working on virus and frequency match-ups wondering where infinity was with still finding cells within cells at 60,000 times magnified.
Royal Rife identified the cancer virus ages ago, He was a scientific genius who found that different viruses vibrate at different frequencies, or have their own signature oscillatory rate.. Also that a lot of viruses were too small to be seen with dye because the dye particles were too big for the virus to ingest, but that viruses could give off their particular color under certain light spectrums (cancer looks red purplish, tetanus blue green) then he would play with harmonics of a high inaudible frequency to match the oscillatory rate of whatever virus. Over 20 years or so he cataloged a ton of viruses and their corresponding frequency resonance numbers. Also, used intermittent rays of light so as not to super heat the surrounding environment of the virus and fry everything else too, that sustained would work to load resonance on the the virus like loading resonance on a twin tuning fork. Then Rife would do some fine tuning to excite, disturb and finally when right on the perfect harmonic of a frequency, his M.O.R. (mortal oscillatory rate) would break apart the unique nano crystaline structure of the virus without harming good bacteria, surrounding tissue, or cause any harm to the host. Rife called it devitalizing the virus. Rife eventually over the course of many years of research accumulated a catalog of working frequencies per virus, including the cancer virus, and this was as far back as the late 1930s.
Not really so dissimilar to the many hundreds (thousands) of forms of meditation, ways to create harmonics, tones and vibrations to influence. For instance chanting Om is different from chanting Ong. Ong is a more grounding chant. Seemingly a subtle difference.
One thing Rife tried to make clear later was that these were just the frequencies that he found and worked with.
The problem here was Rife was introducing something that could put others out of business at a critical point in time where the "search" for a cure was proving to be a more beneficial pursuit than "finding" a cure!
First of all Rife was a genius with bacteriology. When he first started out as a bacteriologist, he became frustrated with what he couldn't see, within the limits of microscopy at the time (something like 2,000x). He turned to studying optics for a few years and eventually built his own microscope that magnified up to 9,000x along with motion picture technology and natural lighting spectrums (vs dyes). Rife could then watch the virus move, and by playing around with tuning a matching oscillatory rate of frequency that would tear apart the virus without harming other cells. Even today with electron microscopes that have surpassed 1 million times magnification, it's hard to not lose motion and color beyond 2,500x magnification. Viruses were back then in the 1910s too small to see with an average microscope and color was a problem. When you can watch in motion a virus forming from a bacteria, and find that the virus can mutate, or one single bacteria mutate into several different virus forms depending on the environment the bacteria or virus is in, plus all have their own color, it's a whole different picture of how bacteria and viruses work rather than looking at still photos of individual phases of bacteria where it's easy to think they are all different and from different bacteria.
Then, Rife ran into Lee DeForrest, the father of the vacuum tube who helped him build a frequency generator and lighting. The first frequency generator was wall sized. De Forrest used an early gas type neon lighting. Ancient India Ayurvedic medicine used light cast through gemstones in healing, so there is a lot with lighting, color and tone used together. Anyway, these two brilliant researchers were having all kinds of fun accidentally reinventing the world of medicine with equipment that was way off the scale of anything out there at the time and they were well funded. Not too hard to guess what happened from there.
Rife essentially ran into the same kind of thing that Tesla did when Edison electrocuted an elephant to demonstrate how dangerous Tesla's idea of free energy using cell towers (that we use now!) would be, compared to paid for electricity. You're really on your own when it comes to wellness!
Flute, singing bowls and all kinds of traditional instruments, singing, choirs, orchestra, chanting, drumming and more can all play at harmonics of frequencies than can spark healing. Check out the Bee mantras! Make the buzzing sound of bees and feel it spark the brain!
3hrs of relaxation meditation, instrumental, yoga:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeZHNmtBvDI
I like this one - very healing (Hindu Shokla):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DxNOBnCOFA
Mozart (6hrs):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LM3ZlcDnk
Music for Brain Power:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWDwa5ToY3o
Around the globe:
Flute - Bolivia - Peru - Ecuador:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYqyxxvcY3A
Arabian nights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCe33oq3Qt8
Arabian Egyptian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4izWydINP8
Pregnancy music - Mozart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4tt9QUDMBo
Navajo - Flute - Nakai:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19nm5_nAwQg
Shakuhachi Japanese Flute:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCuOToG4H8g
Lapland - Sami - traditional:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46WW3D5a_TU
Australian Aboriginal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1pDPuetPdg&index=2&list=RDD0-vMIVk2Nk
Mongolian - Power for the Soul (see also Tuvan throat singing):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvHpZx-UaY4
Huun Huur Tu - Live:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0djHJBAP3U
Musical Scores - music to keep you moving towards the burn zone:
From Million Dollar Arm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl0WZS287y4&list=RDMyaWjEQXJEM&index=2
Hidalgo - arriving in the Desert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o33x1MtTxWI&list=PL6_6il8nExxIHKQYvRPSlzPYHtue49L_n&index=3
Many of the singing groups from the 1960s were backed up by session musicians like the Funk Brothers for the Motown Sound, the Memphis Sessions, The Wrecking Crew for the West coast sound who were also the orchestral sound behind The Ronettes recording of Walking in the Rain, and other epic favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TemuLquhDp8&list=RDTemuLquhDp8#t=0
If you are having trouble staying interested in your treadclimber/treadmill, try slowing down to 1.5mh or lower and find music where you can micro manage walking to rediscover how you move. If getting started is harder than that, try rope exercises in a reclined position. Use a maybe 8-12foot long 5/8inch or one inch rope (Fleet farm, usually most hardware stores). Wind around hands, hook over feet and pull legs one at a time straight up, out and over and into a little bit up a stretch, maybe 20 reps each. This can fire up the brain to get started walking easier, but the real key to getting started begins with the hands. Move the hands around - watch "Why It was Almost Impossible to Make the Blue LED" , youtube video 33:45minutes posted by Vertasium. The interviewer is walking with Prof. Nakamura towards the end of the video. Watch his hands, the motions he's making with his hands as he walks (exercise habits of geniuses! : ) Sister Kenny knew back in the 1940s that motion fires up the neural pathways that will support the intended movement.
If you are still having trouble getting started practice thinking about getting started. Envision the action you wish to take, think it through. One of my old aunties had friend who told me once that she woke up at 2am every morning and planned her day out. That works too. Run through in your mind what you plan to do the next day. Go back to sleep, and when you wake up half the work is already done. So, that same principle works with exercise too, imagine it, and then start with the motions of your intended movement.
Search ramp music too. Each item that you ad to your favorites will keep coming up on the youtube list to the side (next).
Maybe try putting together your favorite visuals and music with a certain beat, close your eyes, let the music write the moves! (*Goodfellas - Then He Kissed Me/Crystals) Some songs should just be in a first aid kit for mood changing like Bernadette, Cruisin, Along Comes Mary and so many more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8yCVOobMWw *
My favorite scene from Mask of Zorro (btw Corky Randall, head trainer for Mask of Zorro had polio as a kid. His father insisted he exercise rather than wear metal contraptions on his legs, had him galloping colts before school each morning at age 10 - more at hollywoodreporter.com): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRGre50eHbQ
Or, maybe try some of the great uplifting movie music sounds of Warner Brothers Symphony Orchestra, especially some of the cartoon music (love the Long Haired Hare in the Swiffer commercial!). Here's a youtube 3 minute video of Excerpts of Sho West - Sounds of the movies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_a5Tdml3dE
David Newman conducting students along with professional musicians at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank CA as part of a Tribute to Film Scoring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKDXCOt7Cn0
Howard Shore on Lord of the Rings music score:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybZINoDv8I8
If you are using a tablet to play music, youtube that has all my real favorite collections uses too much space I'm usually playing Karunesh, Indy stations, Zen and Tao Garden, European spa, Yoga Radio, Deuter Radio, Native American Flute, Nature Radio, Depak Chopra Radio, etc. on Pandora in my studio, and then pic up the sound on a separate speaker, very nice, calming yet inspiring with an occasional commercial. If you have a favorite on Pandora or iHeart, just let me know. Sometimes depending on what time of day, like earlier in the morning, the hum of the building is really nice.
Spiritual and Choir:
Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain Gregorian chanting (Missa de Angelis (Kyrie, Gloria and Credo) Mode V III in Latin and English):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAOmVGdc7c8
Tibetan Monks Chanting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIRJMESl4U8
Azans - Islamic Prayer songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUHDYlJHaOQ&list=PLAD856D8CDB836497
Manx Fisherman's Prayer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLBJ0qK236I
Indian Meditation Music - flute:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHtVyGhrPm0&list=RDHHtVyGhrPm0#t=0
Gayatri Mantra (mother of mantras):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDnamSM3Z3s
In the news December 2016:
Alma Deutcher's Opera Von Cinderella: The prince, instead of searching the kingdom with her shoe, has a song that only Cinderella knows how to complete.
http://www.cinderella-in-vienna.com/home-en
What is Shiatsu self care?
DoIn, or self-massage can be safely practiced at home everyday. There's an excellent book titled DoAnn's Doin - Healing Ourselves and can be purchased through www.chi-time.com
Most of the simple self care techniques begin with stretching and soft cupping percussion along the arms and legs, glutes as a wake up routine. Slapping and other sharper percussion sounds are also quite effective, just be careful not to get too carried away!
Many of the stretching exercises may be done at home with a little rigging, leverage and imagination. Number one is focus on core work. The core or great hinge area is the base power plant. Learn to work with a rope (active isolated stretching), or better yet an aerial sling: http://aerialfabric.com/difference-hammocks/
Information on seasonal healing: http://www.peacefulmind.com/winter.htm
Be creative. Try google searching Shiatsu DoIn exercises, and take a look at youtube video demonstrations at home, or attend classes that may interest you. Consider developing your own self care prescription in progress (wip - work in progress) from the vast array of natural therapeutics ancient and modern that suite you best.
Dance is a fantastic form of self care to tone and condition the many supporting muscles around joints, also to improve immune system function. In India there's a whole ancient catalog of hand motions for traditional dance. For some reason I can't save this under the yoga section on the self care page, but I'll try it here:
The following are modern versions of traditional dance, for a glimpse of real traditional wonders: Netflix, Monkey Thieves, season 3, episode 8, start watching at about 11:44 minutes into the episode. The dancers in the celebration procession are influencing the hydrodynamics of the lymphatic system, almost a whip-like wringing out exercise for the lymphatic system. No matter lymphatic duct, cistern, vessel, they are encased in smooth muscle and while the lymphatic system does have a little peristaltic action, it does not have a central pumping station like the heart, the lymphatic system starts at capilary level and moves fluid one-way towards the heart, affected in large part by movement, and probably more so by great exaggerated movement like dance and stretching the arms way out. Lymphatic fluid travels in one direction: eventually to the heart. With dance, lift by turning, swinging and swaying, jumping, and whatnot, the lymphatic system is excited to work with more enthusiasm, then the extra weight bearing compression on bones is good.
Walking can be changed up with a little Scandinavian traditional walking music: This is just a glimmer of the magic of Scandinavian walking songs. It's a 6:06 minute segment of Garrison Keillor's Now It's Christmas Again - The Son's of Knute Christmas Dance and Dinner where for a few minutes (about the first 3 minutes, then picks up again at 4 something) a violin trio of traditional Scandinavian/Swedish walking songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV0OG8oGGtE
The main idea with self care is to find ways to affect the lymphatic/immune system. Where there are only about 10 pints of blood in the adult human body and about 25 pints of lymphatic fluid. That's around 5-6 gallons of fluid in the body just between blood and lymph, a small ocean, constantly renewing and refreshing itself, if it can, but it has to be able to move. Lymphatic fluid has a whole weird life of its own. Maybe think of it like the blood's sewer plumbing repair and maintenance system. Q: What happens when plumbing gets clogged up? A: Back up (inflammation), congeal, calcification, rot, breakdown, stagnation, gas, explosions.
The beauty of Asian/Oriental forms of massage with the pressure walking on the surface of the skin, stretching is in the changing of the pressure of fluid movement at capillary level forcing the whole rest of the lymphatic (aka immune system) system to get engaged.
Swarm Interactive - Medical Animation & Web Design is a good site that specializes in web design for medical professionals geared to help patients understand medical procedures, also providing wonderful stock images :
Massage & bodywork is so expensive, how can I afford it?
Don't feel all alone, a lot of people wonder how they would ever fit regular massage into their budget. It helps to get out and try massage & bodywork a few times to experience the value potential of managing stress. http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/1661/More-Than-A-Luxury
The intense relaxation and rejuvenating effects of shiatsu are absolutely more than a luxury, a shame that massage & bodywork in general isn't used more to take a load off the health care system. For instance, China adapted Western medicine by the 1960s, but found it such a burden that the Chinese government finally turned over a lot of their health care back to the traditional doctors called the barefoot doctors, who continue to use age old preventative therapies like acupuncture, massage and plant medicines.
Thailand is destination famous for using massage regularly for general wellness, never mind India, the wellspring of natural health and healing from the Middle East.
The great range of pricing for therapeutic massage & bodywork has to do with esthetics, experience and amenities designed to relax, also consider overhead and location. Generally m&b can range anywhere from $35-$110. for one-hour treatment. The average standard price for an hour of massage & bodywork in the Twin Cities area is usually about $45-$90.
On the higher end full price often includes an extra level of professionalism in handling client appointments, health history, insurance, follow up reports, team/staff resources, research, over-all goal oriented progress tracking and providing the best standards of quality, esthetic experience and amenities possible. If you want to experience one of the real places here in the Twin Cities, book a session at Spalon Montage. By all means, some places you'll want to bring money and enjoy lots of wonderful fussing all designed to assist you in letting go of complicated internal stress.
Prices that range higher than $90hr may include expensive luxury treatments (fresh herbal preparations, scrubs & wraps, traditional rituals, etc.), corporate on-site arrangements, or exotic resort locations. Nice cave pool overlooking Mt Fuji: http://enoshimaislandspa.com/enoshima-island-spa/shiatsu-massage-at-yumemi/
Massage & Bodywork modalities and amenities that lean more towards beauty and spa industry usually include tipping at 20% or more, or possibly automatic gratuity charge, and most of the time there is sales tax in Minnesota at 7.125%, unless registered as a clinic.
M & B modalities that lean more towards private studio, hospital or medical clinic settings, including natural health care will generally never include tipping. There is no tipping with health care, including natural health care.
With a small studio, whether single or shared, therapists may only be there for scheduled appointments.
If ever in doubt about tipping, especially when looking into a regular routine of massage therapy, maybe check ahead of time to be sure whether or not tipping is expected.
A person new to massage might find going out to the student clinics a good way to learn their way around the world of therapeutic massage & bodywork without breaking the bank. Most of the massage schools have a student clinic and by the time students are doing clinic they are very proficient in technique and ethics.
Better yet, for those who want to get started learning some of the really important ways to keep a family happy and healthy, or just get back on track! take the 18 month East-West massage & bodywork course at CenterPoint School of Massage therapy & Shiatsu in St Louis Park (www.centerpointmn.com). Add side classes like spa and Thai massage and simply enjoy for the learn-how-to-live education. Take advantage of alumni prices in the student clinic and be kept informed of continuing education. (update: CenterPoint closed in 2020. Try Northwestern Health Sciences University for student clinic information: 952-885-5444)
I'd be really careful going for massage therapy instruction with any idea of making great money. Just because m&b is my own go-to first treatment for everything doesn't mean it's for everyone else. It's a humble profession for sure, but you yourself will see great results. So it helps to feel a calling to natural therapeutics - you'll never win an argument with those wondering how you can think Massage and bodywork therapy is enough. Therapeutic massage & bodywork will afford you the time for further study, reflection, observation, self care and care of others, can become a lifelong practice, and probably enough of a good and flexible part-time income. It will most likely never be the only thing you do, but can set a good stage for learning more about anatomy, physiology and real wholistic health care in general, never mind being a lifelong skill to work on where you will find that time and time again it is more than enough to significantly influence healing.
Also keep in mind the terminology used in describing therapeutic massage & bodywork may have something to do with price. Some therapists prefer to stick with the term massage & bodywork, others may prefer, or be required to use different terminology. For instance, in the 1940s Sister Kenny had to call her form of manual massage therapy for polio rehabilitation "muscle reeducation" to gain audience with the medical profession of the day. My mother had been sent to Sister Kenny's for polio rehab in the early 1940s and was initially prescribed aqua therapy, but aqua was booked, so instead got the "table" (massage & bodywork).
Sister Kenny's muscle reeducation massage techniques included soothing strokes along the direction of intended movement for the affected muscles. The brain starts registering awareness of the muscles. In turn the muscles get ready for the movement involved, and after repetitive treatments soon begin to start growing new neural connections to support the movement.
Therapeutic massage is also sometimes described in western medical terminology as massotherapy or mechanotherapy.
If I had to get right to the bottom of my enduring interest in Massage Therapy, it would probably be knowing the emotional and physical pain cancer and polio survivors experience, whether first hand or second hand in a family, and what a blessing massage and bodywork can be as a natural system of care that promotes comfort and healing. I feel like Sister Kenny had the right idea: A repetitive hands on approach to reawakening nerves by movement first, and the brain will follow trying to rebuild damaged nerves and muscles.
I see massage and bodywork as so much more than a luxury and personally think it should always be used with physical therapy, occupational therapy, exoskeleton work outs, martial arts training, dance, most sports, especially intense athletic training. Nursing homes, hospice. Massage and bodywork can strengthen the work of other modalities.
If you ever feel like you are light years from being in a place where you can fit massage & bodywork into your life, just keep it in mind and
Remember to Relax.
Peace.