Article Archive

Touching the Littlest Clients

Massage Study Ventures into Ecuador’s Orphanages

Sometimes the most daunting tasks are the most rewarding. Cultural barriers surrounding touch, old habits promoting unhealthy environments, a lack of resources and funds, and the overabundance of unwanted children made Vonda Jump’s work all the more difficult. A Utah State University research associate in the College of Education, Jump didn’t mind the obstacles. In fact, they made her more determined to discover whether or not touch could change a child’s life. Her research subjects: The children of Ecuador’s orphanages.

Insight Bodywork

Massage, Movement and Meditation

Studying many Asian bodywork forms is like learning a martial art. The practitioner practices the sequence, or kata, over and over until it is so embodied that the form can eventually be forgotten and the appropriate response will arise when needed, without the intervention of thought or will. The zen archer no longer shoots the arrow; the arrow shoots itself. This is the way of mastery.

Integrating Therapeutic Touch Into Senior Massage

Making the Connection

“Mary” is a 90-year-old client of mine who suffers from diabetes. It has left her legally blind and has significantly compromised the circulation in her legs. She has had one hip replaced and, because of her poor eyesight, has regular caregivers. Otherwise, she is a vital senior, interested in the world, nature and literature, who is a delight to be with. So, it was a surprise upon my arrival for our weekly massage session that I found her in a great deal of pain from a fall she’d had two days prior to my visit. She had fallen against her wood-burning stove and had cracked her pelvis.

Sea of Calm

Watsu Water Therapy Touches Young Spirits

Cradled in his arms, children who rarely find a moment’s peace find a sea of calm, Jeff Bisdee has offered the aquatic body therapy known as Watsu at The Children’s Institute in Pittsburgh since 1997. As the manager of recreational therapy there for the past 17 years, Bisdee was impressed the first time he saw Watsu. “It was an epiphany,” said Bisdee. “I was always interested in doing aquatic therapy with patients and when I saw this being done, I knew right then and there it was something I should be doing.”

Energy Work

A Primer for Plugging Into Your Own Energy

Energy healing is often discussed as a new, somewhat unexplainable therapy. Truth is, energy work is an effective bodywork that is as ancient as healing itself.

Saving Face

Yoga to Tone the Lips and Cheeks

Yoga for your face may sound a little far-fetched by those who practice it say it’s no farce. In fact, StarFace, a multi-layered workout program that can be done at home, can improve your look, as well as lessen the intensity of several severe medical problems, according to face-yoga enthusiasts. When applied properly and practiced regularly, the exercises are therapeutic, rejuvenating and they put the power of treatment into your own hands.

Choosing a Yoga Class

Finding the Best One for You

Fitness studios, health clubs and wellness centers around the world are adding yoga classes to their schedules, but which one is right for you? Yoga styles today range from very gentle and meditative to vigorous and technically demanding, says Mara Carrico, the San Diego-based author of Yoga Journal’s Yoga Basics — The Essential Beginner’s Guide to Yoga for a Lifetime of Health and Fitness. Selecting a class that fits your goals, physical condition and fitness level is very important. Carrico offers these 10 tips for finding a safe, effective yoga class to include in your workout:

Exercise Do’s and Don’ts When Feeling Ill

How to Help--Not Hinder--the Healing Process

Most people get hit with allergies, colds and other minor ailments throughout the winter months, and when they do, the issue of exercise often arises. Should you skip exercise altogether until the bout passes?

Or should you tell your trainer you need to work extra hard to build up your immunity? Or, conversely, should you shift your workout to a lower intensity? With few hard-and-fast rules existing regarding exercise and illness, refer to the following “do’s and
don’ts” when determining whether working out will help or hurt your physical condition.

The Homestretch

Easing into Delivery with Perineal Massage

Childbirth, although a perfectly natural physiological process, can be very painful and physically traumatic for the mother. New and improved alternative approaches to labor pain have afforded many women some relief during that part of the process, but there remains a major problematic area – lacerations in the perineum area (between the vagina and rectum), with resultant postpartum pain and possible permanent damage.

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