As a survivor of torture I know how wounds of violation can live in the body and the mind. My recovery included bodywork, and so I know both its assets and liabilities in resolving shock of this magnitude. I am now both a practitioner and a teacher of somatic therapies for survivors, which has added substantially to my perspective on what it takes to rebuild one’s life from the pyres of hatred.
For centuries, Europeans have flocked to spas for medicinal purposes. With roots dating back to ancient times, “taking the waters” is a traditional integrative approach, utilizing the benefits of balneotherapies such as thermal and salt water soaks and mud applications. In addition, spas offer physiotherapies including various forms of massage, CO2 applications (naturally carbonated tub baths or immersion in chambers), dietary regimens and health education.
The nature of massage therapy means practitioners are constantly in contact with the client’s skin, the largest and heaviest organ of the body. Accounting for 16 percent of our total body weight, it is invaluable as it protects everything underneath it from disease, chemicals, bacteria, injury and the elements.
Besides decreasing headaches, heartburn, constipation, fatigue and kidney stones, getting your fair share of water each day may help prevent serious illnesses including heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma. One study at the University of Loma Linda, California, showed that people who drink five or more glasses of water every day cut their risk of suffering a fatal heart attack in half. Researchers believe because water, unlike other beverages, is absorbed immediately into the blood stream, it thins the blood and reduces clot risk.
Stress may not be the result of how much you have to do so much as what you have to do. According to Donald A. Tubesing, author of Kicking Your Stress Habits, stress becomes overwhelming when the tasks consuming your time are not aligned with your values.
Turns out, those monks really are on to something. Meditation has a biological effect on the body, easing anxiety and boosting immunity, according to a recent study published in Psychosomatic Medicine. Using a technique called “mindfulness” meditation, researchers at the University of Wisconsin enrolled 41 subjects, 21 of whom attended a weekly meditation class and one seven-hour meditation retreat during the study; the remaining 20 served as the control group and did not participate in any meditation. All subjects were given a flu shot at the start of the study to measure immune response.
One-third of 191 parents studied report using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) at least once a year for their children, say authors of a study published in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care. Additionally, almost half have used CAM at some point. Therapies included massage, vitamins, herbs, meditation, chiropractic, homeopathy, prayer and spiritual healing, biofeedback, acupuncture, hypnosis and nutritional supplements.
It’s a complicated issue: Fish is rich in nutrients essential to cardiovascular health, prompting the American Heart Association to recommend at least two servings of fish a week. Yet, one-fifth of the world’s stock is over-fished or depleted, with half nearing that mark.
I am not a “spa” kind of woman.
Or so I once thought. I’m an average, 30-something woman, who like all of us, is trying to find balance between work, family and self-care. I don’t get my nails done — they break before I get a chance. I’m not high fashion — I’m high comfort. I don’t revel in cosmetic excursions. My cosmetic bag holds base, blush and mascara; of which the brands haven’t changed in years. In my mind, I don’t sound like the typical spa-goer. But that’s not what “spa” is about any more.
Lord knows I could use a massage. Work finds me chained to a computer, where my best efforts at ergonomics make little dent in the insidious strain that is all too common in the electronic age. My lower back constantly taunts that I have neither the proper posture nor the abdominal strength to prevent its aches.
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