When you first come into my office, I will have you fill out an intake form so that we can go over any health conditions that you may have and assess what your goals for the massage are.  This process adds about 15 extra minutes to your scheduled time, so please keep this in mind when scheduling an appointment.  We go over “office policies,” such as I want you to be comfortable, so please tell me if you would like me to change my pressure, or change the music or adjust the temperature.  Another general policy is that I ask that you call me when you are running late or if you need to reschedule, and it hurts my feelings when you “no-show,” so please do not do it.

I also take this opportunity to tell you about my style, which sounds a little like this:

I approach the body from the idea that your body knows exactly what it needs.  My job is to listen to your body and use my skills to help it feel and function as optimally as possible.  This means that I can very possibly go from very light pressure to very deep pressure, depending on what you want and what your body needs.  Usually, the first massage is primarily a medium pressure as we get to know one another.  I also may include CranioSacral Therapy and/or Reiki depending on what your body is experiencing.

The client gets dressed down to whatever is comfortable.  I prefer if all of the clothes are off, because then I do not have to worry about getting any massage lotion on your clothes.  However, everyone has different comfort zones, and you can keep on any articles of clothing that you want.

With the client starting face-down, I start the massage at your legs and hips,  and then I move to the back.  Halfway through, you flip over and I work the neck, the arms including the upper chest, the stomach, finishing with the legs and the feet.  Not many massage therapists work on the abdomen, but I think that it is a very neglected part of the body that deserves some attention.  Again, everyone has different comfort zones, so I can avoid any area that you do not want massaged.  I do not massage any breast tissue because I have not taken the necessary training to do so in a safe manner.

During the course of the massage, I often need to lift an extremity, such as your leg or arm, and it is always better if you do not aide me in any way.  I need to control the full weight of your limb to do my work.

I think this sums up the “first massage experience” pretty well, although I greatly encourage you to remind me if I have left something out.  I like to think that I make a good first impression, but I could always use tips.

As much as I love my clients, I have not taken my own health into consideration when choosing a massage lotion.  One of the articles went into the science of parabens and other preservatives that are necessary even within “organic” creams and lotions in order to have a longer shelf-life.  I started thinking about what I expose myself to on a daily basis; and I decided to indulge my creative spirit and make my own massage lotion.

When I first started in the massage business, I used straight almond oil.  Since I started laundering my own sheets, however, I quickly switched to a cream that could easily be washed out of linens.  Now I am experimenting with my own blend that is based on several different recipes that I have found online (this one in particular is nice and simple).

I am currently using coconut oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, jojoba oil, and apricot kernel oil blended with aloe vera juice, rose water, and lecithin to emulsify everything.  Next time I plan to leave out the rose water, because while I love the scent, it is sometimes just too much.  I will also probably leave out the apricot kernel oil, but I might add in some glycerol to help maintain a smoothness in the lotion.

If you have any oils that you especially like, please let me know so I can try it in my ongoing experiment!

Reiki refers both to the energy which animates and supports us, and to the practice of giving Reiki.  While Reiki is a universal force which is present in our daily lives, practitioners have made the conscious decision to become a channel for Reiki with the purpose and intention of healing.  A Reiki practitioner has studied Reiki, and has been attuned by a Master/Teacher.  An experienced Reiki practitioner has learned to recognize Reiki flow and can remove his or her ego so as not to hinder the healing process.

While there is a spiritual element to Reiki, it is not dogmatic or even religious.  Many different faiths and belief systems are represented among Reiki practitioners around the world.  The primary unifying factor among practitioners is a desire to help others for their highest good.  Reiki cannot hurt you and the ego of the practitioner cannot interfere to your detriment.   It is given with love and the knowledge that we each heal ourselves.  These aspects of Reiki are among the most important to me and are the main reasons that I chose to study Reiki over other energy work modalities.

Essentially, the Reiki practitioner is a conduit to allow you to draw in as much healing energy as you need.  Reiki flows through a practitioner to the person seeking healing on the physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual levels.  Reiki simply provides extra energy to help you on that path of health and wellbeing.

Reiki helps bring the body, mind, and spirit into balance, which leaves you feeling more relaxed and eases symptoms of stress and illness.  Because of this, Reiki can easily complement any form of health care.  Reiki is growing rapidly in popularity, especially among hospitals and hospices across the country.

For more information, feel free to e-mail me at jessica@taooftouch.com.  You can also see The International Center for Reiki Healing website, an article from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and a video from Pamela Miles of ReikiMedicine.org.

Check out the Root & Rise website for information on the organization, and make sure to look at the flier for times and location.  I look forward to seeing you there!

When the sciatic nerve is triggered at the spine, there is often a skeletal issue underlying the pain.  Sometimes the vertebrae are misaligned and pinching the nerve, and sometimes a vertebral disc is either bulging or ruptured.  Often this is a situation where people seek relief through chiropractic or surgery.  I have also personally seen how beneficial acupuncture can be in helping the body deal with the inflammation around the sciatic nerve.

If the nerve is getting pinched farther down in the gluteals, often the piriformis is the culprit.  The sciatic nerve can be draped over or under the tight piriformis, and in some people it actually pierces the muscle.  In all situations, when the piriformis is tight, it can squeeze the nerve so that electrical impulses are disturbed, causing pain, tingling, numbness, and lack of motor control.

My specialty in sciatica treatment lies in using massage and CranioSacral Therapy to help relieve sciatic pain no matter where it originates.  I can help by reducing pressure on the sciatic nerves as they exit the spinal column with CST and by relaxing the gluteal muscles so they no longer impinge the nerve with massage.

Results vary depending on where the nerve is irritated.  Symptoms usually get better and sometimes go away completely, especially if it’s a muscular issue.  When the physical structure of the spine is involved, then my treatment can be very helpful in managing the pain and symptoms, but it is not usually a long-term fix.

If you experience sciatic pain, I recommend that you do your own research when deciding which treatment to pursue.  There are many options available to help you with symptoms, and when you find something that works, stick with it!

CranioSacral Therapy was developed as a way to work on the tissue called the dura which lines the cranium or skull and goes down the spinal column to the sacrum.  This tissue houses the cerebrospinal fluid and the central nervous system, made up of the brain and spinal cord.  This tissue also follows the spinal nerves as they exit the vertebral column and venture out into the body.

Thanks to Answers.com

CranioSacral Therapy is based on the idea that the cerebrospinal fluid rhythm creates a subtle movement in the tissues of the body, particularly the cranial bones.  This is one of the primary points of contention with the traditional Western model of medicine, which feels that the cranium is ossified in adulthood into a single bone.  The skull is an immensely solid structure, but there are still fascial tissues in the sutures that allow for very small adjustments at the joints of cranial bones.

In my class this past weekend, we finished up our study of the bones of the head and face, and then we ventured into the more esoteric world of energy cysts and SomatoEmotional Release (SER), which are especially exciting to me.

Energy cysts are areas of disorder in the body that have been created by outside trauma, such as a car accident or even an emotional blow.  By disrupting the normal patterns of energetic flow in the body, cysts can create many unpleasant and painful symptoms, including inflammation and scarring.

I am very excited to try out my new skills, so during the month of May, CranioSacral Therapy treatments are ½ price.  Please call 503-488-0761 for details.

longevity because of its durability, strength, flexibility and resilience. It survives in the harshest conditions, and seems to endure through all the brutalities mother nature can dish out – still standing tall, and staying green year-round. Its flexibility and adaptability are a lesson to us all that the secret of a long happy life is to go with the flow. (Courtesy of whats-your-sign.com)

It is a hardy plant and revives quickly, which is why it is also a symbol of health (for more on bamboo symbolism, see Living Arts Originals).  It is a simple plant that represents the “Zen” that I wish to convey to the world.  For this reason bamboo is a symbol of what I would like to bring into the lives of my clients: health, longevity, simplicity, and peace.

In my office, I have lucky bamboo.  While lucky bamboo is a different variety than the bamboo that we see in pictures, it is still full of symbolism and a valuable part of Feng Shui (see more Lucky Bamboo Meanings).

The poster-child of valuable scientific study is called the double-blind study.  The free medical dictionary by Farlex defines “double-blind study” as:

an experiment designed to test the effect of a treatment or substance by using groups of experimental and control subjects in which neither the subjects nor the investigators know which treatment or substance is being administered to which group.

In the case of new pharmaceuticals, neither the people taking the pill nor the people giving the pill know if the pill is the real medication that is being tested or if it’s a placebo (see interesting definition in The Skeptic’s Dictionary).  This is a method of determining if a treatment is actually helpful or if any of the results are because we (the patients and the doctors) think the treatment is working.  One of the reasoning’s of the double-blind study is to negate the placebo effect and the power of suggestion on the outcomes of the study.  It is also a helpful way of determining if a treatment will actually be detrimental to the body even though we think it is helping us.  Many other types of scientific studies can be misinterpreted or misunderstood, as Steven Bratman, MD discusses on his article “Double-Blind Studies.”

Being a massage therapist, I acknowledge that a double-blind study of massage therapy to prove its efficacy is highly problematic.  Firstly, the administrator would know if they were giving the “real” massage or the “fake” massage, so it could never be double-blind.  The same goes for Reiki and CranioSacral Therapy, both of which I also use in my practice.  At most, this kind of study would show the difference between a trained professional with the intent to help, and someone who’s just massaging someone because they have to.    While the double-blind study has benefits, they cannot answer all questions for us, so we have to find a way to function without them when making decisions.  I also feel that discounting someone’s personal experience is denying our innate wisdom.

This is not to say that massage, CranioSacral Therapy, and Reiki cannot be studied.  Two of my favorite resources for current studies on massage therapy are the Massage Research Foundation and the Touch Research Institute.  I have recently found a couple of interesting websites devoted to Reiki and CranioSacral Therapy studies, including The Center for Reiki Research, The Reiki Research Foundation, and an interesting article in Massage Today written by John Upledger.

While I am personally excited about the research that is out there and hope that more research is in the works, I also realize that scientific studies can only tell us so much.  I encourage all of you to do your own research, remember that everything you discover is written from the perspective of an individual and is therefore not gospel, and make a decision about your own life for yourself.  Somewhere in you is that voice that knows exactly what you need. Learn to hear it and trust it.

The definition of stress depends on who is describing it.  Sometimes it is a very physiological definition while sometimes it is a broad and vague definition.  The American Institute of Stress uses this definition: “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”.  Stressfocus.com defines stress as “nothing but a normal physiological response of the body to situations or stimulus which are perceived as ‘dangerous’ to the body.”

I personally like a definition that I found a couple of years ago on Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (although this is not the current definition): “A) a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation, or B) a state of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium.”

For the purposes of this discussion, we will define stress as anything that causes the body to go from the parasympathetic nervous system to the sympathetic nervous system (see Neuroscience for Kids for a nice overview).

During stress, there are two key hormones released into the body: adrenaline and cortisol.  Adrenaline works in conjunction with the pituitary and hypothalamus to affect the function of most of the internal systems.  Cortisol promotes the breakdown of the body’s proteins into glucose and acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic.  All of these symptoms are caused by changes in body chemistry, meaning hormones and neurotransmitters.

These hormonal changes produce a domino effect that affects the following:

• Immune system, making the body more susceptible to illnesses
• Cardiovascular system, contributing to high blood pressure, arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat), problems with blood clotting, and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), while extreme cases can be coronary artery disease, heart attack, and even heart failure
• Body tissues such as muscles and tendons, creating effects like rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia
• Gastrointestinal system, leading to gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease, and irritable bowel syndrome
• Reproductive organs, such as painful menstrual periods, decreased fertility, and erection problems
• Respiratory system, creating symptoms of asthma and other pulmonary diseases, such as COPD
• Integumentary system (hair, nails, and skin), which can aggravate acne and psoriasis

Common physical symptoms of stress include: rapid heartbeat, headache, muscle tightness and stiffness, rapid breathing, sweating and sweaty palms, upset stomach, nausea, or diarrhea.  Common mental symptoms include: irritability, being easily frustrated, jumpiness, exhaustion, difficulty focusing, excess worrying and doubt, anxiety and depression.

While the scientific literature on how massage therapy impacts the human body are limited, I imagine you know at least one person who can attest to the wonderful relaxation that can be experienced on a massage table.  The physical changes of stress hormones can last for several days after the initial stressful experience is over.  Once your body is flooded with adrenaline and cortisol, it takes the body quite awhile to filter it out of the blood and tissues.  What if you experience stressful moments everyday?  Then your body has stress hormones continually, and as that builds up in your body, you can expect to see symptoms like those described above.

I would also like to point out at this point that not all stress is “bad.”  Any changes in our lives can lead to a stress-response, even if it is something about which we are happy, such as a marriage or buying your first home (check out this stress test to see how “good” and “bad” numbers compare).  This is a great example of how stress is something that we all have to learn to deal with so that we can live happy and healthy lives.

There are as many coping mechanisms as there are people in the world, and some are healthier than others.  Perhaps you like to get a drink at the bar after work or maybe you exercise 5 days a week to clear your head.  You may enjoy a few cigarette breaks throughout the day, or just play video games on the weekends with your friends.  I happen to like getting massage every other week so that I can have an hour all for myself, and I think you might like it, too.