Hand & Hand Mobile Massage |

Aromatherapy & Massage, Nuking Food Safely, Breathing Exercise

Tom Saulnier — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 20:45:36 +0000

Aromatherapy and Massage

Karrie Osborn

Aromatherapy, a process utilizing the purest essence of a plant, is a 4,000-year-old technique that has enhanced the health of everyone from modern-day pop divas to the scholars of ancient Greece. The art of massage has its own deeply rich roots, with even Plato and Socrates touting the value of hands-on bodywork for good health.

Separately, these two therapeutic traditions hold individual prowess in the realm of personal health and well-being. Together, however, they become a formidable health alliance that can address not only a person’s physical health, but the health of the mind and spirit as well.

A Natural Complement

Our senses were designed to work best in conjunction with one another. Our sense of taste would not be as acute without our nose lending its support to the process. Our auditory senses might seem hollow if we weren’t gifted with sight as well. Indeed, there exists a quiet partnership between all our five senses that’s built on synergy.

Let’s see how it works. Essential oils are extracted from herbs, flowers, and plants with the intent to improve a person’s health and well-being. Addressing everything from arthritis to whooping cough, effects of the approximate 3,000 oils found globally can range from sedative to stimulating and antibacterial to antispasmodic. The benefits derived from aromatherapy during a massage come in part from the contact the essential oil has on our skin, but even more so how it affects us when it’s inhaled and absorbed through the soft-tissue linings of our nose and mouth.

The scientific explanation suggests that the essential oil’s molecules, when inhaled, lock onto receptor cells at the back of the nose, sending an electrochemical message to the brain’s limbic system. This message appears to trigger memory and emotional responses, causing…(To red “The Rest of the Story”, please click here Spring2022Newsletter

Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, Skin Care Through Seasons, Hot or Cold for Injuries?

Tom Saulnier — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 01:02:00 +0000

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Bodywork Treatment Proves Successful

Cathy Ulrich

It started as a vague feeling of numbness in her thumb and first two fingers, then progressed slowly to a definite tingling that woke her several nights a week. “It’s not so bad on weekends when I have a chance to rest my arms, but it’s now getting in the way of things I like to do at home,” says Marie, who spends long hours during the work week typing at her computer keyboard. “I love to knit and cook, and I’ve had to curb these activities, as well.”

Diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, Marie displayed the classic symptoms: soreness in her forearms, pain in her hands at the end of a long day at the computer, and a feeling of tightness that had spread from hands and wrists all the way to her elbows. And recently, she’d been getting headaches.

Marie has a couple of different options for treating the problem. “My doctor tells me he can operate, but the surgery isn’t always successful,” she says. “He recommends I try bodywork first.”

Because Marie does the same motion in the same way many times a day over a long period of time, she has literally worn out the tissues involved in that motion. This type of injury — called a repetitive strain injury, or RSI — creates tiny tears in the fibers of the soft tissues of the body. While they don’t immediately cause loss of function, these micro-tears set up conditions for chronic inflammation that will eventually manifest as pain, soreness, tightness, tingling, and burning.

CTS – The hand and wrist combination work together as an amazing, mechanical anatomical wonder. Imagine…(To read “The Rest of the Story”, please click here Autumn21Newsletter

Age is a State of Mind, Back Health, Gifts of Green Tea

Tom Saulnier — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 17:48:25 +0000

Age is a State of Mind

Baby Boomers Combat Aging with Bodywork

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preventing disease and injury is critical to reducing the expected growth of health-care costs headed our way, as more than 70 million U.S. baby boomers cross the 60-year-old threshold. Moreover, disease prevention is critical to, well, your health!

Whether you’re a boomer who is running a marathon or running after your grandchildren, you know that growing older doesn’t mean growing old. If you’re wondering how to stave off the effects of aging, the preventative and restorative nature of massage and bodywork might be just what the body ordered.

Improved Circulation, Healthier Skin

As our bodies age, our circulation slows and our skin loses its once youthful vitality. Experts say the mechanical nature of massage combats these effects by increasing circulation through the manipulation of tissue, improving the appearance and condition of the skin and its elasticity, and toning muscle tissue. Massage also creates a stimulating cellular function in the hypodermis, dermis, and epidermis layers of the skin and increases the production of skin-nurturing sebum.

Immunity and Stress

If you’re already a frequent recipient of massage, you know what the work does to combat daily stress. But did you know how detrimental those stressors can be?

Experts say the majority of disease we encounter today is associated with stress. Not only that, stress is a huge factor in…To Read “The Rest of The Story”, please click here Spring21Newsletter

Clearing Clutter, Healthy Energy Boosters, Easing Holiday Angst

Tom Saulnier — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 01:00:34 +0000

Clearing the Clutter

The Psychology of Place Inside and Out

Shirley Vanderbilt

What’s cluttering your life? Is it the stuff in the corner of the bedroom, or the stuff in the corner of your mind? What are you tolerating that keeps you from expressing your true self? Authors Bruce and Lou Stewart say that clutter–both in our environment and our mind–is stagnating, blocking the free-flow of energy, or chi, in our homes and lives. Whether we’re detouring around a box in the living room or repeating a negative pattern in our head, it’s time to clear the path.

In their new book, “Your Way Home–The Psychology of Place Inside and Out,” the Stewarts present a unique approach to clutter-clearing by combining Lou’s expertise in feng shui with Bruce’s mastery of neurolinguistic programming (NLP). While feng shui has to do with external placement and structure, NLP is a psychological approach that addresses our internal structure of mind, body, emotion, and spirit. With feng shui, we can free energy flow by rearranging the room; with NLP tools, we can do the same thing with our mind. The goal is to bring balance between the inner and outer sanctums by clarifying our core, or essential self, and allowing our environment to reflect and support our core values.

Making the Connection

When the Stewarts first blended their feng shui and NLP skills together in workshop presentations, they noticed it was easier for people to clear their environment when they were connected to their core.

“It really is a cycle,” Lou says. “The environment and our core are reflections of one another. When we know our core, it’s much easier to…(To read “the rest of the story” please click here Fall2020Newsletter

Support Your Immune System: 7 Things We Can Do for Ourselves and Others

Tom Saulnier — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 20:24:58 +0000

Support Your Immune System: 7 Things We Can Do for Ourselves and Others

By Angie Parris-Raney, LMT, Chopra Center Certified

Technology has certainly put us in touch with important information on preventive measures for spreading the COVID-19 virus, such as washing our hands and avoiding contact with those who are sick. However, much of the information is ignoring an essential part to staying healthy—boosting our immune system.

There is a part of our nervous system that hasn’t evolved far from our ancestors called the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Its purpose is for primal survival, equipping our mind/body to react to danger. When we are charged to respond to a stressor or danger, we are flooded with stress hormones. Our digestion shuts down, and we increase blood and oxygen to the heart, brain, and lungs to flee. Blood pressure rises and breathing becomes shallow. This is called the sympathetic part of the ANS, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. Feeding the fear loop stimulates the fight-or-flight response and is known to suppress the immune system. Stress over time can begin shutting down other systems of the body.

Thankfully, there is another part to the ANS called the parasympathetic system, known as the rest-and-digest response. The largest cranial nerve of the body, the vagus nerve, innervates from the brain stem to the chest and abdomen. When we stimulate the vagus nerve, we tap into the rest-and-digest response. The heart rate decreases, blood pressure normalizes, breathing is deeper, stress hormones are reduced, and happy hormone production is initiated (promoting sleep, focus, and happier emotions). There are simple methods and lifestyle choices we can make to support our own immunity. We can consciously pull ourselves out of a state of reaction, take back our own power, and ask ourselves what our mind/body needs in this moment to support rest-and-digest.

If you’d like to read “the rest of the story”, please click here BS Spring 2020

Massage Benefits, Why Organic?, Yogurt

Tom Saulnier — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:30:22 +0000

IN THIS ISSUE: *The Benefits of Massage * Why Buy Organic? * Yogurt, The Super Food

The Benefits of Massage: Bodywork Goes Beyond Relaxation

As you lie on the table under crisp, fresh sheets, hushed music draws you into the moment. The smell of sage fills the air and you hear the gentle sound of massage oil being warmed in your therapist’s hands. Once the session gets underway, the daily stressors and aching muscles fade into an oblivious 60 minutes of relief, and all you can comprehend right now is not wanting it to end.

But what if that hour of massage did more for you than just take the pressures of the day away? What if that gentle, Swedish massage helped you combat cancer? What if bodywork helped you recover from a strained hamstring in half the time? What if your sleep, digestion, and mood all improved with massage and bodywork? What if these weren’t just “what if’s”? Evidence is showing that the more massage you can allow yourself, the better you’ll feel. Here’s why: Massage as a healing tool has been around for thousands of years in many cultures. Touching is a natural human reaction to pain and stress, and for conveying compassion and support. When you bump your head or have a sore calf, the natural response is to rub it to feel better. The same was true of our earliest ancestors. Healers throughout time and throughout the world have instinctually and independently developed a wide range of therapeutic techniques using touch. Many are still in use today, and with good reason. We now have scientific proof of the benefits of massage — benefits ranging from treating chronic diseases and injuries to alleviating the growing tensions of our modern lifestyles. Having a massage does more …Click here for complete newsletter: Fall 2007-gc

Maximize Your Massage, De-Stress Commute

Tom Saulnier — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:27:14 +0000

IN THIS ISSUE: *Making the Most of Your Massage * De-Stressing the Commute * Yogurt, The Super Food

Making the Most of Your Massage: How to Prolong the Benefits of Bodywork

by Barbara Hey

A massage works in wonderful ways, easing stress and pain, calming the nervous system, increasing circulation, loosening tight muscles, stimulating internal organs, and enhancing skin. The multiplicity of physiological responses sends a simple, clear message to the mind: Massage feels good. Of course, you want to hold on to that just-had-a-massage feeling — total body relaxation, muscles relaxed and at ease, and fluid movement restored — for as long as possible.

But how long that bliss lasts depends on the state of your body. If you’re suffering from chronic pain or recovering from injury, then it may take more sessions and perhaps different modalities before optimal health is restored. If massage is part of your regular health regimen, then it’s more likely the effects will endure. In other words, the effects of massage are cumulative, like any healthy habit. The more often you get a massage, the greater and longer-lasting the benefits.

Massage Frequency

How often you receive massage depends on why you’re seeking massage. In dealing with the general tension of everyday commutes, computer work, and time demands, a monthly massage may be enough to sustain you. On the other hand, if you’re seeking massage for chronic pain, you may need regular treatments every week or two. Or if you’re addressing an acute injury or dealing with high levels of stress, you may need more frequent sessions. Your situation will dictate the optimum time between treatments, and your practitioner will work with you to determine the best course of action.

“You need to consider how you felt before the session and how you felt after, and then look at how long you maintain that,” says Pieter Sommen, the chair of the eastern department in the Swedish Institute School of Massage Therapy in New York. …Download full publication here: Spring 2007