Sometimes I forget how amazing it is to love what I do and love going to work. I had a great conversation with a fellow practitioner who has taken a break from her practice and is now starting to miss how awesome she felt when she was going to work, missing laundering her linens, and telling people what she did for a living, even when it was only part time, it was the first thing she spoke of. So I received a gentle reminder to be grateful for getting to do what I do, and feeling amazing for being able to walk the path intended for me, and being able to help people on theirs.
In Gratitude...
Monday 19 December 2011
Sunday 23 October 2011
Qigong
Spring Forest Qigong is amazing. I have recently taken up the practice and it has been incredible. I have always had a belief and a bit of an understanding of energy, but SFQ has opened my eyes and much more to the world of energy and meditation. I have had a struggle with meditation in the past, and I know that I am not the only one! I have had the constant chatter run through my mind increase in not only volume but in uselessness the harder I try to calm and quiet. One of the important things I learned is that it is all okay. It isn't about the proper stance and proper hand placement, it isn't about fighting to completely clear your mind, it is about the practice, the energy, and the intent behind it. All of that coupled with not being hard on yourself, and my practice has grown leaps and bounds. I have had the honor of being instructed by Munira Jiwa,and with her kind words and encouragement, it has been the start of another part of my healing journey.
In five short weeks I have transformed. I am starting to be able to quiet my ever thinking, thinking, thinking mind, and amazingly all of the movements have slowed down. By week four I was shocked that an hour had passed, when it felt like only fifteen minutes. I have decided to take on the 100 day Qigong 'challenge' and see where this beautiful practice will take me.
In five short weeks I have transformed. I am starting to be able to quiet my ever thinking, thinking, thinking mind, and amazingly all of the movements have slowed down. By week four I was shocked that an hour had passed, when it felt like only fifteen minutes. I have decided to take on the 100 day Qigong 'challenge' and see where this beautiful practice will take me.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
The Thing About Pain
I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who had a bad massage experience, which turns into a personal lesson for me. The problem was pain tolerance. The therapist she saw expressed that her preferred pain level to work in is an 8, (of a 1-10 scale, 1 being none at all, 10 being the worst pain ever) however her clients preferred pain level is somewhere in the 3-6 range depending on the area being worked on. This has created a wonderful opportunity for me to explain pain in relation to massage therapy.
In school I was taught that the pain scale number never to be surpassed is 7. Here is where it gets tricky, what is a 7?? I consider anything from 8-10 a point in which your muscles rebel against treatment. When the combined pressure and pain levels create the muscle to contract, and kick in the automatic guarding response. In other words, it is the point in which you legitimately consider causing me bodily harm (fight response) or run out of the room (flight response). A 7 is something that I believe is the point in which you are uncomfortable, but don't want to punch me. I try to stay in the good pain range (4-5) as best I can, but often people come in to see me when they are experiencing some discomfort already, and have some expectation of pain when treating those areas.
I never want to have my clients experience of pain go above a 7. The reason why the phrase 'no pain, no gain' doesn't apply to massage is because too much pain creates damage to your muscle. If a client doesn't tell me when the pain is too much, not only does the treatment feel like it is taking forever, and isn't enjoyable in the least; it can create pain for days after a treatment, cause bruising, and ultimately leave you feeling far worse than you did when you came in.
Pain is subjective. I have no idea how painful, or not painful my treatment is on your body. The only person who knows is you. Everyone has a pain tolerance that differs and the only way I know if the pressure is too much or not enough, is to have you let me know as soon as I need to alter my pressure. Remember, once again the massage is about you. How light or how deep you prefer your massage to be is important for me, as a therapist, to know. I will honor what type of treatment you want, and what pain range you want to stay in. It is your body, and truthfully, you are the one who knows best.
In school I was taught that the pain scale number never to be surpassed is 7. Here is where it gets tricky, what is a 7?? I consider anything from 8-10 a point in which your muscles rebel against treatment. When the combined pressure and pain levels create the muscle to contract, and kick in the automatic guarding response. In other words, it is the point in which you legitimately consider causing me bodily harm (fight response) or run out of the room (flight response). A 7 is something that I believe is the point in which you are uncomfortable, but don't want to punch me. I try to stay in the good pain range (4-5) as best I can, but often people come in to see me when they are experiencing some discomfort already, and have some expectation of pain when treating those areas.
I never want to have my clients experience of pain go above a 7. The reason why the phrase 'no pain, no gain' doesn't apply to massage is because too much pain creates damage to your muscle. If a client doesn't tell me when the pain is too much, not only does the treatment feel like it is taking forever, and isn't enjoyable in the least; it can create pain for days after a treatment, cause bruising, and ultimately leave you feeling far worse than you did when you came in.
Pain is subjective. I have no idea how painful, or not painful my treatment is on your body. The only person who knows is you. Everyone has a pain tolerance that differs and the only way I know if the pressure is too much or not enough, is to have you let me know as soon as I need to alter my pressure. Remember, once again the massage is about you. How light or how deep you prefer your massage to be is important for me, as a therapist, to know. I will honor what type of treatment you want, and what pain range you want to stay in. It is your body, and truthfully, you are the one who knows best.
Sunday 11 September 2011
It's Ok to Snore, Its Your Hour...
or half hour, or hour and a half.
One of my goals with writing this blog is to let people know things about massage that they might not otherwise get to know.
It really is your treatment session, how you choose to spend it is entirely up to you. I personally think that the massage recipient is the one who dictates how each session is going to go. I do like to have a couple minutes of catching up on recent weekends, any holidays that have come and gone, or are on the horizon, and anything else of importance pertaining to your life right now... if you want to share. If you are comfortable enough with me to share your life story or just a tale or two, I love to listen. How you answer, when you stop talking, what you choose to talk about are all leads for me; as soon as you are quiet, so am I (aside from asking you to move when I need you to, or to let you know that our time for the day has come to an end, which I doubt anyone really wants to hear).
As far as sleeping goes, its great when someone is relaxed enough, and comfortable enough with me to fall asleep on my table. I never, ever mind, it lets your body tell me what to do with out your conscious mind interfering, and your muscles truly let me know if I am using too much pressure, and when a technique is actually painful. I promise I don't mind at all if a lot (or a little) snoring happens. In fact I consider it a complement. I also know that these days, everyone is trying to move a hundred miles a minute, and multi-multi-tasking. When we have an allotted amount of time that we get to have, focused on our well being, I think our bodies and minds just want the rest.
So ultimately, remember that you never have to apologize for talking throughout the whole session, or for falling asleep, it is your time, spend it the way you feel is best for you.
One of my goals with writing this blog is to let people know things about massage that they might not otherwise get to know.
It really is your treatment session, how you choose to spend it is entirely up to you. I personally think that the massage recipient is the one who dictates how each session is going to go. I do like to have a couple minutes of catching up on recent weekends, any holidays that have come and gone, or are on the horizon, and anything else of importance pertaining to your life right now... if you want to share. If you are comfortable enough with me to share your life story or just a tale or two, I love to listen. How you answer, when you stop talking, what you choose to talk about are all leads for me; as soon as you are quiet, so am I (aside from asking you to move when I need you to, or to let you know that our time for the day has come to an end, which I doubt anyone really wants to hear).
As far as sleeping goes, its great when someone is relaxed enough, and comfortable enough with me to fall asleep on my table. I never, ever mind, it lets your body tell me what to do with out your conscious mind interfering, and your muscles truly let me know if I am using too much pressure, and when a technique is actually painful. I promise I don't mind at all if a lot (or a little) snoring happens. In fact I consider it a complement. I also know that these days, everyone is trying to move a hundred miles a minute, and multi-multi-tasking. When we have an allotted amount of time that we get to have, focused on our well being, I think our bodies and minds just want the rest.
So ultimately, remember that you never have to apologize for talking throughout the whole session, or for falling asleep, it is your time, spend it the way you feel is best for you.
Monday 5 September 2011
The First Step
I think in order to take the first step today, I have to retrace the steps of past days. I first discovered that I wanted to be a massage therapist after my first massage when I was fifteen. I knew that I would love to have a career that would make someone feel that good, no matter how bad a day they had had.
It took me nine more years before I started my first class, Acupressure Therapy, a one year program that I finished in '07. I loved learning about the energy meridians of the body, and how Traditional Chinese Medicine works, and being able to use hand/finger pressure instead of needles! Ear Candling was next, followed by Reflexology, amazing how important our hands, and feet are, and how under appreciated they can be! Reiki was an eye opener, universal life force energy was a new concept for me, but resonated so much it was like I knew it all along and just needed a reminder. In '08 I was feeling a bit undereducated and was wanting a deeper and more rounded understanding of the human body and all of its amazing mechanics, a 2200 hour massage therapy course was the key. I signed up for the program a few days before it started, I was feeling apprehensive, like I may have been in over my head; however by the end of my first day at MH Vicars school of massage therapy I knew I was in the right place.
Which brings me to my first step! I have been working as a holistic therapist, and only that for the last eight months. I have been working at Dharma Studios (http://www.dharmastudios.ca/) for the last fourteen months, my first year was focused on honing my craft as an RMT, and the last couple of months I have been able to reintroduce the other modalities that I love as much as massage. It has been amazing to follow and start living my dreams. I get to have the opportunity to hopefully make a difference in someones day, week, month or maybe even year, and I feel absolutely honored to be able to do so.
It took me nine more years before I started my first class, Acupressure Therapy, a one year program that I finished in '07. I loved learning about the energy meridians of the body, and how Traditional Chinese Medicine works, and being able to use hand/finger pressure instead of needles! Ear Candling was next, followed by Reflexology, amazing how important our hands, and feet are, and how under appreciated they can be! Reiki was an eye opener, universal life force energy was a new concept for me, but resonated so much it was like I knew it all along and just needed a reminder. In '08 I was feeling a bit undereducated and was wanting a deeper and more rounded understanding of the human body and all of its amazing mechanics, a 2200 hour massage therapy course was the key. I signed up for the program a few days before it started, I was feeling apprehensive, like I may have been in over my head; however by the end of my first day at MH Vicars school of massage therapy I knew I was in the right place.
Which brings me to my first step! I have been working as a holistic therapist, and only that for the last eight months. I have been working at Dharma Studios (http://www.dharmastudios.ca/) for the last fourteen months, my first year was focused on honing my craft as an RMT, and the last couple of months I have been able to reintroduce the other modalities that I love as much as massage. It has been amazing to follow and start living my dreams. I get to have the opportunity to hopefully make a difference in someones day, week, month or maybe even year, and I feel absolutely honored to be able to do so.
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