by Kaleigh Richards, LMT |

For many years, massage has been viewed as a stress relieving luxury. However, in the past decade or so, the general public and other healthcare professionals are starting to recognize that massage therapy is an effective healthcare approach. Massage therapy, along with chiropractic, physical therapy and other natural health modalities are being sought out more often as an alternative option to prescription drugs and surgery. Massage therapy is different from any other health care modality, as the therapist often spends an hour in constant physical contact during the course of treatment. Massage therapy has proven to be a very effective course of treatment for an injury, such as frozen shoulder, or an illness, such as fibromyalgia. A doctor (medical or chiropractic or other) should be contacted to rule out contraindications before starting a treatment program.

Frozen shoulder is a term used to describe conditions that result in pain in the shoulder joint. Pain often starts as a result of trauma to the shoulder, poor posture or pathological issues, or it may appear for some unknown reason. As the name suggests, over time restriction or adhesions of the joint capsule develop, resulting in reduced movement of the shoulder, accompanied with pain upon movement in certain directions. A massage treatment program over a period of time, with the approval of a physician, can be very effective in improving the range of motion and pain associated with a frozen shoulder.

A case study of a 55-year-old woman who developed a frozen shoulder, as the result of a trauma to the shoulder, is an example of how massage can be a beneficial therapy. She was unable to lift her arm to more than one inch in abduction away from her hip (abduction is the movement of a limb away from the body). With the encouragement and approval of her doctor, she received a therapeutic massage once a week for three months. After three months, she had little to no pain remaining and was able to lift her arm up to her ear.
Fibromyalgia is another chronic condition where massage therapy has been known to alleviate pain, stiffness, and tenderness of the muscles, tendons, and joints. While the cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, many sufferers experience sleep disturbance, morning stiffness, tingling, anxiety, and depression. Gentle massage work is vital in the healing process providing much needed stress relief and relaxation.

Massage therapy can benefit many different injuries and illnesses. Discuss potential treatment options with your healthcare team.

Reference:

1. Massage Therapy- An Approach to Treatments by Fiona Rattray RMT www.medicinenet.com.

For more info, contact Kaliegh Richards at Sierra Body Contouring at (775) 233-0346.

The Healing Power of Gentle Touch

Written by Cheryl Kiraly |

Most people have not heard of CranioSacral Therapy, a light touch technique which can create dramatic improvements in your life. Particularly for those who are trying to recover from injury, CranioSacral Therapy can shorten healing time and reduce pain by releasing tensions deep in the body.

What is CranioSacral Therapy? CranioSacral Therapy deals with the flow of energy through the body. If any part of the body experiences a disruption of that energy, that part does not function properly. Since all the nerves of the body pass through the spine, and nerves carry the body’s energy impulses back and forth to the brain, it is essential to keep these nerve pathways free from injury, compression, swelling or misalignment. The term CranioSacral is referring to the area between the top of the spine, the cranium, and the bottom of the spine, the sacrum. This therapy focuses on repairing and maintaining energy flow between those two points, and thus throughout the body.

Let’s look at what happens after a bad fall or a car accident. Impact causes misalignments of the spine and other body parts. Chiropractic and massage can treat most of the injury with therapy directed at bones, joints and muscles. If even a small amount of the nerve trauma remains, there can be ongoing discomfort and pain. The injury seems to never fully subside.

In the same way, long-term stress affects the body in ways similar to injuries caused by sudden trauma. Stress is like a slow-motion train wreck. Your body can only handle so much prolonged stress and strain before tissues begin to tighten and potentially affect the brain and spinal cord.  This can compromise the function of the central nervous system and the performance of nearly every other system in your body.

All the nerve pathways through the body are encased in sheaths of protective material. If any part of a nerve sheath is damaged or compressed, the nerve does not function properly and some part of the body suffers. In CranioSacral Therapy, the therapist identifies the area of restriction and applies gentle pressure to release any restrictions they find, allowing the entire body to relax and self-correct. This is all done while the client is fully clothed.

CranioSacral Therapy has been found to be effective in relieving migraines, chronic neck and back pain, stress-related disorders, spinal cord injuries, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, motor-coordination disorders, central nervous system disorders, ADD/ADHD, among others.  Because it is so gentle CranioSacral Therapy can be effective for all ages, from newborns to seniors.

References:

1. Upledger John E. Your Inner Physician and You: CranioSacral Therapy and SomatoEmotional Release. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley 1997.

2. Upledger John E. CranioSacral Therapy I Study Guide. The Upledger Institute, Inc. Berkeley 2000.

For more info, contact Cheryl Kiraly LMT at (775) 772-9101.

Written by Tania Marie, RMT, IARP, NAPW |

So much is happening around us, it’s no wonder many people are experiencing challenges and increased levels of stress, anxiety, exhaustion and feelings of uncertainty. As transitions take place, the period of unclarity can be unsettling, and yet with gentle support and nonjudgment, the caterpillar naturally transforms into a butterfly.

Clearing stress or getting to the bottom of what is causing anxiety can be analogous to cleaning a turkey pan at Thanksgiving. The pan starts off dirty and greasy, which seemingly gets murkier as you scrub. The tough job of scrubbing loosens the stuck debris and then without a struggle the particles of the past easily rise to the surface. Inevitably the debris or stuck emotions clear away with continued persistence and your trust and knowingness is that this is just the process.  Once you patiently move through the process, you end up with

a shiny new pan that looks nothing like it did before.

Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a healing method that supports people in moving through the grimy and murky uncertainty of where life has taken them. It is much more than a “coping” mechanism, as it is a supportive tool in self-empowerment. Reiki embodies the very essence and consciousness of the new planetary era we have been moving into by supporting release of the old. Suffering and discomforts one might experience during the transition are minimized and peace of mind is re-established.  We start to recognize how we are not at the mercy of anything. In overcoming these fears we receive personal growth support with unlimited potential.

Reiki is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life Force Energy, which stems from an unlimited supply that is always available to support us. It is non-invasive, gentle, yet powerful, and an easy-to-learn healing technique that promotes stress reduction and relaxation with many healing benefits. Reiki is a complimentary treatment that works in harmony to improve the effectiveness and benefits of all other types of therapy, treatment and healing modalities. It is not meant to replace professional medical advice and Reiki practitioners do not diagnose or prescribe medication.  Reiki helps to stimulate the body’s own natural healing abilities for both psychological and organic diseases, while supporting a deep state of relaxation during that process.

Reiki is becoming more widely utilized and accepted; promoting more ease and swiftness in maneuvering into the coming era of increased peace and well-being. As western medicine continues exploring alternative methods of healing, Reiki is destined to play an important role as an accepted and valued healing practice. It has the ability to aid movement towards powerful, co-created changes for personal and planetary evolution. According to pioneer trend strategist, Gerald Celente, Founder of the Trends Research Institute and Publisher of the Trends Journal, the “Heal Yourself Health Care” trend will become widely embraced and prove rewarding to the public.

It is evident that self-empowered, natural healing methods, such as Reiki, are having wide-spread influence and growth in today’s world. Reiki is one such means of support that can provide navigation in today’s world of unclarity, thus supplying hope for tomorrow while promoting peace for today.

References:

1. http://www.reiki.org/FAQ/FAQHomepage.html

2. http://www.trendsresearch.com/journal08.html

For more info contact Tania Marie, Reiki Master Teacher, Visionary Artist & Owner of Emerald Bridge at (775) 343-9244.

Written by Nancy Pfaff, CCHt, NLP |

Have you noticed that some people seem to speak to groups like they were born for it?  Don’t believe it. For most of us, it takes overcoming a lot of anxiety in order to take the chance of presenting ourselves in front of either strangers or colleagues. This anxiety is also known as stage fright. Quite often stage fright arises in a mere anticipation of a performance, often a long time ahead. It has numerous manifestations: fluttering or pounding heart, tremor in the hands and legs, diarrhea, facial nerve tics, dry mouth and more. Any of you who watched the head of General Motors being grilled in a congressional committee recently noticed the tic he had of repeatedly squinting his eyes. Even the most experienced leaders have their times of anxiety.

What is that anxiety all about?  “Why do I feel like such a wimp when I notice my legs shaking as I go up to a podium to speak?” you may ask.

First, you’re not a wimp. You’re just human, and need an inner shift in your subconscious mind. The theory of mind provides some insight for us. About 12% of our mind is consciousness, our waking self. The other approximately 88% is our subconscious mind. Down in that subconscious twilight is the reason for our anxiety—a memory of some fearful experience that has coupled itself to public self-presentation. Using hypnosis, can relax the conscious mind enough to access the subconscious mind and uncouple that experience. Then a person’s anxiety can be transformed. After that the person is only minimally bothered by anxiety if at all.

Meghan had a terrible experience as a young child, at least viewed from her young perspective. Her piano teacher had her students preparing for a recital, and they had to memorize their pieces. Meghan was so proud to have her piece memorized and able to perform it perfectly. She was eagerly looking forward to showing off at the recital. Then the teacher told her another student would play her piece, and she had to choose another one. The wind went out of Meghan’s sails. She tried to memorize the new piece, but couldn’t always get it right. At the recital she made many mistakes in front of a large crowd. She told about feeling her face burning with embarrassment until she could escape back into the audience.

Now an adult wanting to speak to large groups, Meghan’s anxiety was stopping her. Here is how she worked with uncoupling this shame from public performance through hypnosis. First she went into trance facilitated by her own hypnotherapist. Trance is a state in which one is very relaxed and able to focus in a powerful way on whatever issue is presented. Then she was helped to find that experience in the subconscious mind. Her  hypnotherapist asked her, “What did the child need?”, and then said,  “Give her what she needs.”  As the scene replayed itself in trance, Meghan the adult, went to the teacher and said, “Meghan (the child) will be playing the piece she has worked on and is ready to play. It is not fair to her to change her piece so late in the game.”  Then as the adult, she viewed herself, the child, playing her piece perfectly, with great joy. Her adult self grabbed her up as she ran happily down the isle after performing and celebrated her victory. Today Meghan’s anxiety when performing publicly is quite manageable.

Here is the secret why hypnosis works. The subconscious cannot tell the difference between something vividly imagined and experienced reality. So when a person is in trance, deeply experiencing a healing “re-do” of an experience, the subconscious mind accepts this as experienced reality. The old memory is replaced with the new experience. The conscious mind still remembers the old experience, but all the emotional power and trauma to the nervous system stored in the body is released. It can seem like magic to the person freed from the old traumatic experience.

If anxiety in speaking to large groups is blocking your advancement in your job, hypnosis may be just the therapy needed to free you from limiting patterns in the subconscious mind. A good, practiced hypnotherapist will help you get to the root of the problem, and release it through a healing “re-do.”  There are several good hypnotherapists locally to choose from. Don’t wait. Take action to remove this obstacle of anxiety from your life, and go after that promotion.

References:

1. NLP, The New Technology of Achievement. Ed. Steve Andreas and Charles Faulkner. Harper New York: 1994.

2. The Coherency Factor, Professional Training in Hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Psychology. Donna M. Hamilton. New Vistas: 2008

For more info, contact Nancy Pfaff, CCHt, NLP at (775) 560-3030, specializing in Clinical hypnotherapy and Neuro linguistic psychology.