Massage and Bodywork

Lake Norman - Cornelius, NC
( A short drive from Charlotte, NC)

Before your session

The mood of your session can be affected by the things currently influencing your life. You can improve your results by preparing yourself before your massage time. If you can put the events of your life on pause for a little while and truly devote your session time to taking care of you, the benefits you experience can be greatly enhanced. Life really will wait a couple of hours for you, and you'll be in much better shape to deal with your responsibilities when you are feeling your best!

Other things you can do, as time allows:

Limit consumption of caffeine and sugar, as well as other stimulants
Avoid eating immediately before your appointment
Allow extra time in your schedule so you don*t have to rush to be ready for your session. Otherwise, it may take longer to reach a relaxed state.
Be aware of your current condition so you can report anything that needs attention. It's important to explain what's going on health wise, because changing health conditions can affect your massage needs.
Take a relaxing bath or shower before your appointment time.

During your session

Share what's going on. If you have a tender spot or an injured area, bring it up so it can be addressed. If you feel you need more pressure or a lighter touch during the session, please say so. If everything is great, you can lie back and relax. If you find your attention is on something, bring it up so you will be able to lie back and relax!
Specify your preferences. Everyone has different needs and wants, so share yours! Is everything in the massage environment okay? The temperature? The lighting? Any other distractions? Are you completely at ease? Do you like certain music? Is the volume okay? Do you like specific techniques? More time spent on a certain area? Each session is especially for you, so please communicate about what you want! If there is anything you don't understand, please ask so we can discuss it.
Let it all go and relax! One of the major massage goals for many people is to lessen tension and stress. Many of those aches and pains that demand our attention are linked to stress. In fact, according to Dr. Sandra McLanahan, eighty percent of disease is stress-related, so maximizing the relaxation in each session should help you to maintain a much higher level of well-being!
One way to quiet your mind is to focus your attention on the session... really get in tune with your sense of touch.
Proper breathing helps you to relax and to reach your session goals. Slow, deep breathing (from the gut) will provide your body with much-needed oxygen, while signaling your body to let go of its tensions.

After your session

If at all possible, allow for some quiet time before you continue your busy life.
Drink extra water!! Massage releases waste products and toxins from your muscles. Increasing your fluid intake lowers this toxicity and lessens the strain on filtering organs.
Before your next session
Make your massage results last by avoiding as many stressful elements as possible.
Schedule your next appointment! When you make bodywork a regular part of your life, you are helping your body to maintain a better state of balance. In the long run, you stand to enjoy much better health gains through consistent sessions.
Make note of anything that occurs between sessions to bring up next time.
Enjoy your life!

$45 Massage Special   

While there are a wide variety of forms of massage therapy and bodywork, all with their own theoretical or philosophical perspectives, there are certain basic principles they all tend to hold in common.

Benefits

Circulation of Blood. Perhaps the most basic principle in this field is that improved blood circulation is beneficial for virtually all health conditions. Tension in the muscles and other soft tissues can impair circulation, resulting in a deficient supply of nutrients and inadequate removal of wastes or toxins from the tissues of the body. This in turn can lead to illness, structural and functional problems, or slower healing. Recognition of the importance of blood circulation is implicit in all forms of massage and bodywork.

Movement of Lymphatic Fluid. The lymph system is almost as extensive as that of the blood. The circulation of lymphatic fluid plays a key role in ridding the body of wastes, toxins, and pathogens. The lymph system also benefits from massage, particularly in conditions where lymphatic flow is impaired by injury or surgery (e.g., in postmastectomy women).

Release of Toxins. Chronic tension or trauma to the soft tissues of the body can result in the buildup of toxic by-products of normal metabolism. Hands-on techniques help move the toxins through the body's normal pathways of release and elimination.

Release of Tension. Chronic muscular tension as a result of high stress lifestyles, trauma, or injury can accumulate and impair the body's structure and function. Psychological well-being is also affected. Release of tension allows greater relaxation, which has important physiological and psychological benefits.

Structure and Function Are Interdependent. The musculoskeletal structure of the body affects function and function affects structure. Both can be adversely altered by stress or trauma. Massage therapy and bodywork can help restore healthy structure and function, thereby allowing better circulation, greater ease of movement, wider range of movement, more flexibility, and the release of chronic patterns of tension.

Enhancement of All Bodily Systems. All bodily systems are affected by better circulation and more harmonious functioning of the soft tissue and musculature. Internal organ systems as well as the nervous system, the immune system, and other systems can benefit. There can be an overall improvement in the quality of life and physical health.

Mind/Body Integration. Mind and body have a reciprocal relationship. Soma (body) affects psyche (mind) and vice versa. Hence there can be somatopsychic effects, in which the conditions of the body affect the mind and emotions, and there can be psychosomatic effects, in which psychological or emotional conditions affect the body. Change in one domain may cause change in the other. A habit or fixed pattern in one may also impede change in the other and require special attention. Often psychotherapy and massage or bodywork complement each other.

Reduction of Stress. Stress is increasingly believed to induce illness, and perhaps 80 to 90 percent of all disease is stress induced. Massage therapy is an effective non-drug method for reducing stress and promoting relaxation.

Energy. Many modalities in this tradition work with the flow of energy through the body as a means to promote healing. Energy can be directed or encouraged to move through and around the body in such ways as to have impact on the physical structure and function of the body as well as on emotional well-being. This work may involve hands-on contact or may be done with no contact with the physical body.

Varieties and Techniques

Western Methods

Swedish Massage. Swedish massage is by far the most predominant example of traditional European massage and it is the most commonly used method in the United States. It was developed by Per Henrik Ling in Sweden in the 1830s and uses a system of long gliding strokes, kneading, and friction techniques on the more superficial layers of muscles. It usually goes in the direction of blood flow toward the heart because there is an emphasis on stimulating the circulation of the blood through the soft tissues of the body. Swedish can be a relatively vigorous form of massage, sometimes with a great deal of joint movement included.

Oil is usually used, which facilitates the stroking and kneading of the body, thereby stimulating metabolism and circulation. Its active and passive movements of the joints promote general relaxation, improve circulation and range of motion, and relieve muscle tension. Swedish massage is often given as a complete, full body technique, though sometimes only a part of the body is worked on.

Trigger Point Massage. This is a form of deep massage that applies concentrated finger pressure specifically to individual muscles. This is a very detailed approach, used to increase blood flow and to release trigger points, intense knots of muscle tension that refer pain to other parts of the body (they become trigger points when they seem to trigger a pain pattern). This form of massage helps to break the cycle of spasm and pain and is often used in pain control.

Deep Tissue Massage. This approach is used to release chronic patterns of muscular tension using slow strokes, direct pressure, or friction. Often the movements are directed across the grain of the muscles (cross-fiber) using the fingers, thumbs, or elbows. This is applied with greater pressure and at deeper layers of the muscle than Swedish massage and that is why it is called deep tissue.

It is also more specific. Deep work is often slower than regular bodywork, allowing the soft tissues to open at deeper levels. Since deep work requires more time to release the tension in specialized areas, your massage will not always treat all areas of your body in one session.  Deep tissue massage lends itself to being more focused on a problem area.

Lymphatic Drainage Massage. This approach improves the flow of lymph. It is used primarily in conditions characterized by poor lymph flow, such as edema or to help remove toxins from the body through flushing the lymph system. The lymphatic system has NO PUMP with which to circulate the fluid through the body.

Eastern Methods

Eastern methods are based on the principles of Chinese medicine and the flow of energy or chi through the meridians. The geography of the acupuncture meridians is relied upon to determine points of applying the techniques and the ultimate goal is restoration of harmony or balance in the flow of chi.

Pressure is applied by finger or thumb tips to predetermined points rather than by the sweeping broad strokes of Western style massage. Strong pressure or very light pressure may be applied.

Chakra Balancing: 

Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel, or vortex, and it refers to each of the seven energy centers of which our consciousness, our energy system, is composed.

These chakras, or energy centers, function as pumps or valves, regulating the flow of energy through our energy system. The functioning of the chakras reflects decisions we make concerning how we choose to respond to conditions in our life. We open and close these valves when we decide what to think, and what to feel, and through which perceptual filter we choose to experience the world around us.

No physical manipulation is involved in the use of our techniques. Only a light touch, if any, when it does not conflict with someone's philosophies or sensitivities.

Chi Nei Tsang is a holistic approach to massage therapy treating the person as a whole, integrating physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects. It goes to the very origin of health problems, including psychosomatic responses.
CNT practitioners work mainly on the abdomen with deep, soft and gentle touch, to train internal organs to work more efficiently. All of the main vital body systems are addressed: digestion, respiration, lymph, nervous, endocrine, urinary, reproductive, integumentary, muscular and also the acupuncture meridian system. CNT promotes the absorption of nutrients and stimulates elimination. It stimulates the immune system, provides deep detoxification of the body and helps overcome addictions.

Chi Nei Tsang was generated some immemorial times ago in the mountain ranges of Taoist China, It was used by monks in monasteries to help detoxify, strengthen and refine their bodies in order to carry the high energy required to perform the highest levels of spiritual practices.

Acupressure is a varietie of finger pressure massage, based on applying pressure to a pattern of specific points that correspond with the acupuncture points. Pressure is applied with the thumb, finger, and palm rather than needles.

The goal is the efficient and balanced flow of chi through the meridians. It is believed that where there is tension being held in the musculature, the flow of chi is impaired through those areas, which can lead to chronic problems not only in the musculature but in the associated organs. Stretching and movement are also sometimes used.

Reiki. This is the Japanese word for "universal life force energy." It is an ancient approach in which the practitioner is a kind of healer in the sense that he or she serves as a conduit for healing energy coming from the universe.

The Reiki energy enters the practitioner through the top of the head or feet and exits through the hands, being directed into the body or energy field of the recipient. Reiki is a very subtle form of healing and may be done through clothing and without any physical contact between practitioner and "student".

Body Mirror Technique Your consciousness, your experience of Being, who you really are, is energy. We can call it "Life Energy" for now. This energy does not just live in your brain; it fills your entire body. Your consciousness is connected to every cell in your body. Through your consciousness, you can communicate with every organ and every tissue, and a number of therapies are based on this communication with the organs which have been affected by some kind of symptom or disorder.
This energy which is your consciousness, and which reflects your state of consciousness, can be measured through the process known as Kirlian photography. When you take a Kirlian photograph of your hand, it shows a certain pattern of energy. If you take a second photograph while imagining that you are sending love and energy to someone you know, there will be a different pattern of energy shown on the Kirlian photograph. Thus, we can see that a change in your consciousness creates a change in the energy field that is being photographed, which we call the aura.
This energy field shown in the Kirlian photographs has been quantified, so that when there are "holes" in particular parts of the energy field, these are said to correspond to particular weaknesses in specific parts of the physical body. The interesting thing about this is that the weakness shows up in the energy field before there is ever any evidence of it on the physical level.

Thus, we have an interesting direction of manifestation shown through what we have described.
1. A change of consciousness creates a change in the energy field.
2. A change in the energy field happens before a change in the physical body.
The direction of manifestation is from the consciousness, through the energy field, to the physical body.

Consciousness---------1-------->Energy Field--------2-------->Physical Body

Touch for Health

The Touch for Health System is a practical guide to natural health that utilizes acupressure and massage to improve postural balance, and reduce physical and mental pain and tension. It is an approach to restoring natural energies that combines ancient Chinese energy therapies with recent Western developments in Kinesiology. It is a very practical tool for the massage therapist: it can be used along with other massage techniques or as a stand-alone methodology for improving health and enhancing health that utilizes acupressure and massage to improve biological recovery.

The Practitioner/"student" Relationship

Hands-on therapies naturally foster a kind of intimacy between the practitioner and "student". In many of the approaches, the recipient partially or fully disrobes and lies on a table (though they are draped with a sheet and are never fully exposed), which further contributes to the intimacy and vulnerability that may be felt when using this tradition. Normal boundaries of social interaction are crossed. Hence there is a special need for sensitivity and regard for the "student" on the part of the practitioner that matches and perhaps even exceeds that of many doctor-patient relationships.

There is a wide range of attitudes among practitioners about how they view their role. Some think of themselves as healers or therapists, working with the whole person through the body. Certain approaches are explicitly focused on engaging the person on the emotional level and working with emotional issues in the context of the body with subtle verbal suggestions. Others may take a more mechanistic approach toward working with the body. They may not wish to engage the "student" on the emotional level at all but rather concentrate on physical techniques. Some see themselves as facilitators, some as educators.

There is wide variation among practitioners, even within the specific approaches, as to how much verbal exchange takes place and the degree to which the practitioner is available for emotional or psychological support. Finally, some approaches require a series of sessions over a period of time, which naturally fosters a therapeutic relationship and requires communication, instruction, and feedback. On the other hand, many European or Western forms of massage are complete in themselves as one session and do not really require any communication between practitioner and "student". It is not unusual to experience an entire massage without a word being spoken.

Additional Links:

Anatomy

Stretching

Center for Holistic Instruction, PLLC
21316 Davidson Street
Cornelius, NC 28031
(Next to Lake Norman YMCA)
(704) 895-6788