Tag Archives: healing

7 Steps to Better Sleep!

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SLEEP! There are many reasons why good quality sleep eludes so many of us. Physiological reasons, emotional reasons, external substances, neurological….the list is endless. Some of these things we cannot change on our own. However, many of our daily habits can be adjusted to maximize our quality of sleep.

So, why is good sleep even important? Besides falling asleep at the most inopportune times, such as in class, or, say, driving (!), studies have shown that sleep is crucial for immune read more

MONTHLY CHALLENGE – SUN SALUTATIONS

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Ask any massage therapist, and they will tell you about the days when all their clients seem to have the same clinical issue. “I treated 5 shoulder problems today”!

Last week was tension week. It seemed the majority of my patients suffered from tension related issues. Headaches, shoulder and neck pain and an inability to find a life balance between work, family and self. Over the last 12 years of treating various pathologies, the one constant reoccurring problem that my clients seem to face is read more

Monthly Challenge – Eat Better Food

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This challenge isn’t about loosing weight or going on a crazy uber-wholesome diet. This challenge is about taking a good look at your food intake and making a few tweaks. To change a few bad habits into healthy ones. The biggest test may be analyzing what it is you actually eat throughout an entire day. Do you skip breakfast? Do you graze throughout the day? Do you love your carbohydrates? What about protein? Sweets? Fruits and veggies?

We all have our ideas of what healthy eating can be. Some read more

Deep Tissue Massage

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Deep Tissue Massage

What is deep tissue massage? 

The term can encompass several different techniques such as trigger point therapy , myofascial release, shiatsu, and neuromuscular therapy to name a few. Therapists often apply deep pressure with their fingers, knuckles, forearms and elbows. The techniques should be performed with intention and at a slower pace.

With these techniques, not only are the superficial body structures addressed, but the therapist also accesses deeper structures of read more

5 Common Massage Therapy Techniques

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5 common massage therapy techniques

Registered massage therapists here in British Columbia have been trained to use many diverse techniques. There are dozens of techniques to be learned and variations of each of them. As a therapist grows into their training, they typically drift towards the techniques that they feel to be the most effective for their practice. Therapists often combine several techniques within one treatment to address the concerns of their clients. For example, if a client presents with a swollen ankle, the read more

Breathe Like A Kid

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Breathe Like A Kid

Breathing is a fairly simple act. You rarely need to think about it. You inhale in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide effortlessly from the moment you’re born. In fact, newborns are probably the best breathers out there. Infants and young children seem to effortlessly use their main muscle of respiration, the diaphragm. When you watch kids breathe, their little tummies move outwards when they inhale and move inwards when they exhale. This is because our diaphragm, which is a dome shaped read more

What are “HOMECARE EXERCISES”?

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What are “HOMECARE EXERCISES”?

A typical massage therapy treatment takes about an hour. The majority of people that I treat have a goal for that hour. They want to treat a recent injury, address a chronic problem, release shoulder tension or reoccurring headaches. The intention behind making that massage appointment is to get rid of something that is hurting, or, perhaps to add something that is missing, like relaxation.

For that hour, I will assess their problem and proceed with several techniques to hopefully meet read more

Massage Therapy for Digestion

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Massage Therapy for Digestion

Digestion is the process in which food is broken down into substances that can be used for energy and basic nutrients to feed the body.

Physically, food moves from your mouth, down your esophagus to your stomach where it churns and moves the liquefied food through your small intestines, into your large intestines, and finally out the “other end”. Anywhere along this line, digestive problems can crop up from ulcers, reflux, cramping, bloating, gas, constipation and diarrhoea. Poor read more

Water – How Much Do You Need?

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How Much Water Should I Drink?
We are fortunate to have access to decent drinking water here in Victoria, BC, Canada. We can get water straight from the tap, filtered water, water in bottles, and even from local streams! We all hear about the importance of drinking water, so how much water do we really need?

There is actually no scientific evidence that supports the claim that people should drink 8 x 8 ounce glasses of water a day to be healthy. Generally, if the “8 x 8” rule is not already part of your lifestyle, read more

5 Ways To Instantly Reduce Stress

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Ways to Reduce Stress | Massage Therapy | Brentwood Bay BC

Stress can surface in many different forms, but the body reacts the same way – by activating our “fight or flight” response. When this system is activated, it sends stress hormones through our bodies. These hormones cause an increase in heart rate, elevation in blood pressure, it diverts blood from our organs and can decrease the effectiveness of your digestive and immune systems.

Our “fight or flight” response was only meant to drive us into action for short periods of time, say, if read more