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A tennis ball is good for more than a match! During this time when almost everything is shut down, many people that rely on massage for their aches and pains are left impatiently waiting for things to get back to normal. Self massage can be a great tool for times that you can't see a professional to work out your knots. Since many of us have some extra time on our hands, this is a perfect opportunity for some self care awareness that often gets overlooked in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  Unfortunately, our body's needs do not let up just because we aren't able to make it to our massage therapy appointment! Our massage practice is in a tennis club, so I thought it would be appropriate to offer some self massage tips using a tennis ball, but any type ball or self massage tool will do! Did you sleep wrong and wake up with a stiff neck? Tight neck muscles run from the base of you skull all the way down to your shoulder blades, so releasing tension in t

Hands are amazing tools for us to use, but when they hurt, we're miserable! Do you ever get achy tired hands? Most people are using computers and phones frequently, which is adding to the problem of over-use syndrome. As we tap away on our keyboards and texting, our small muscles and joints in the fingers, wrists and forearms start to become grumpy.  Just being alive for more than 40 years, can come with it's own set of issues regarding over use.  Without specific therapeutic exercises and stretches done on a regular basis, this achy tired feeling can become a painful sensation that doesn't seem to want to go away.  If this is happening to you, consider a "hot bath" of sorts for your hands to soak in. I can remember in my teen years back in the 1980's an elderly lady that I knew who loved to regularly play the piano at her church. One day I was at her home and saw her dipping her hand into a container of  liquid and pulling her hand out covered in a f

Myofascial release is becoming more known as people are experiencing the benefits of receiving this treatment.  'Myo' refers to muscle and 'fascia' refers to the material covering the muscle, so myofascial release is the process of loosening the tightness of the tissue. As you can see in the image below, the fascia surrounds the muscle fibers and also attaches itself in between the fibers.  This covering protects the muscle and keeps it in it's place. Fascia is throughout the entire body from head to toe. When there is tension due to daily activities, injury or emotional strain, the body's response is to send extra fascia tissue to the area to help support it. This tissue is sticky and referred to as an adhesion, which allows it to stick to the area in need. The less hydrated the system is, the more sticky the adhesions becomes. Eventually this leads to the feeling of having knots as the adhesions collect and become clumped together in stickiness.

Women in Asia, Russia & Europe have been utilizing the rejuvenating results of facial cupping for generations. Unlike traditional cupping, facial cupping uses small cups to vacuum and lift the facial tissue, helping lymphatic drainage. This technique eliminates buildup of wastes and fluids in the face and neck. It is a very gentle treatment and normally does not leave the typical cupping discoloration that you will see with the larger cups used for the rest of the body. The lymphatic system is important because it rids the body of toxins, waste & other unwanted materials at the cellular level.  The most valuable aspect of having a healthy functioning lymph system is that it transports lymph, a fluid containing infection fighting white blood cells, to the entire body. As the system slows down or is blocked and is not draining well, swelling occurs known as lymphedema. There is no pump in this system, such as the heart, to move lymph fluid throughout our bodies. It'

Although the practice of cupping has been around for many years, it gained popularity during the summer Olympics and has continued to grow as word gets out that it works! What is cupping? Using glass, plastic or silicon cups placed strategically on the body a vacuum is created by using either a pump, by manually pressing or the traditional way of inserting a cotton ball set on fire into the cup and quickly removing it and placing the cup on the body.  Each of these techniques serve differently to treat a varying array of ailments, but all of them work on the principal of creating a vacuum which  pulls up the skin and the fluids beneath.  Does it work? There has been thousands of years of documented evidence through clinical and historical research that cupping is safe and effective. You would be hard-pressed to find western scientific studies, due to the nature of cupping. In a truly scientific study, you need a placebo and preferably the gold standard of a blind stu

Did you know that May was National Bike Month? Although May is coming to a close, outdoor biking season is just beginning as the weather warms up and dries out.  Rather you ride indoors or out, cycling is a great form of exercise and a lot of fun! The bike was first created in Paris, France with a gain in popularity in the early 1800's. It quickly became as American as apple pie and baseball. It's funny to think that when kids starting wanting to ride bikes, parents were concerned that it was bad for the family. They felt it allowed too much independence and separation from each other and that it seemed physically dangerous. Like many new inventions do, it became more and more accepted and then celebrated. Now it's hard to go anywhere around town or in a gym without seeing someone on a bike and for good reason! In 1903 the Tour De France race started, giving riders a treacherous track through rain, wind, cobble stone, steep climbs and dangerous descents through