While it wasn't my intention, I ended up going through Menopause! I had seen my mother and older sister go through it as well as many clients and decided that no, all of that just wasn't something I wanted to experience. Imagine my surprise when life threw me that curve ball anyways!
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There have been a lot of bookings for Indian Head Massage with Oil in recent weeks. Clients are feeling the dryness of Summer inside and out while their bodies and minds are subconsciously preparing for Autumn. Plus they slide off the Massage table in a state of complete relaxation and total bliss! Ayurveda is a "science of life" , a powerful mind-body system of health
developed thousands of years ago in India. This past week I had the opportunity to participate in 2 workshops for enhancing Craniosacral Therapy outcomes for clients. While there was a lot of fascinating information shared one topic that stood out to me was the role of Craniosacral Therapy in gently releasing muscular restrictions in the body, versus Deep Tissue Massage where that release is forced, through pressure.
"Stand up straight and tall!" Who didn't hear this as a child? What was never explained was why. Posture, next to stress, is one of the main reasons clients come in to see me. Though I'm not sure they realize that. Posture while standing, Posture while walking, Posture while sitting at a desk and computer, Posture during screen time... Good posture, or lack thereof, makes a difference to more than your muscles. Unlike Massage and Myofascia Release, Craniosacral causes a more subtle "unwinding" effect on Fascia and in that provides muscles more room to move. The movements are light, almost unnoticeable. The effects are amazing. The first time Craniosacral Therapy crossed my path I was a busy single parent of a 10 year old. While he was really bright and could articulate all kinds of information that he took in, dissect and discuss it, my son always had trouble with writing it down. Any kind of paragraphs, essays, stories...were a struggle. Over a coffee discussion with a therapist who specialized in Craniosacral Therapy for children, my son ended up with an appointment. He felt comfortable right away and fell soundly asleep on her table. She asked me at the end of his session if he had ever hit is forehead and she pointed to the centre. Gentle, slow unwinding of Fascia while also opening up any restrictions in the movement of cerebral spinal fluid, are the goals of a Craniosacral Therapy session. I often find that if a muscle is not letting go with traditional Massage Therapy, that a gentle Craniosacral hold to the area will do the trick. Sometimes muscles require a lighter touch to respond. Chronic pain, limited range of movement and flexibility, pain from old injuries or surgical sites, tension held in the body as anxiety, ptsd and depression from recent and/or long ago traumatic events... all of these point to an unfitness in your Fascia. Holistic therapies can help!
We've been walking on some icy surfaces in Calgary for a couple of weeks at least, and I can feel it in the muscles of your legs and hips! Apparently there is more to come through the weeks ahead...ugh. What are your muscles telling me?To avoid falling or slipping we tend to walk differently on icy surfaces. The shoes we wear hopefully have a better grip, but they also tend to be heavier and clumsier than our usual footwear. Our stance, or centre of gravity should change to feet wider apart and slightly bending forward over our feet to shift body weight where we need it to maintain balance. Hands out of pockets to balance and holding handrails to catch our fall if we go down, shifts our balance as well. We may hit an icy step and jerk or twist our body to keep from falling. Your muscles tell me all about it. Nature spirals in and out through the seasons … so do we. Have you noticed the whorls and circles in the trunk of a cut tree, how a cat will curl up and around itself to sleep within a tucked up ball, the spirals of sea shells, plant leaves, wave patterns in the sand left by the ocean’s waves…
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Teresa Graham,
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