Modalities

The use of essential oils (extracted from herbs, flowers, resin, woods, and roots) in body and skin care treatments is known as aromatherapy. Used as a healing technique for thousands of years by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, essential oils aid in relaxation, improve circulation, and help the healing of wounds. Aromatherapy diffusers are utilized to fill the massage room with the scent of the oils. Specific essential oils are blended by the aromatherapist and added to a carrier oil, such as almond oil, to be used during the massage. Each oil has its own unique characteristics and benefits.

ASIAN BODYWORK

Monitoring the flow of the vital life energy (known as chi, ki, prana, or qi) is at the heart of Asian bodywork. Using physical pressure and manipulation, the healer evaluates and modulates this energy flow to attain a state of balance. Popular modalities include shiatsu, amma, Jin Shin Do, Thai massage, and tui na.

ATTUNEMENT

Attunement is a non-touch (or light touch) approach to healing, employing spiritual techniques (prayer and meditation) to restore one’s naturally vibrant energetic and physical well-being. Attunement balances the flow of energy through the endocrine glands, organs, bones, and other tissues of the body—establishing alignment between the body, mind, and emotions and harmonizing these elements with the “spirit,” described as the radiant source of life and healing. Sharing attunement with clients invites them to occupy a sacred energetic or vibrational space characterized by stillness and peace, where healing at all levels can occur. This life-giving process is the doorway through which an individual may enhance or recover health of body, mind, and spirit.

BODYWORK

Various forms of touch therapies that may use manipulation, movement, and/or repatterning to affect structural changes to the body.

BREAST MASSAGE

This technique entails specific kneading, rubbing, and/or squeezing strokes applied to the soft tissue of the breast to increase lymph and blood flow. As poor circulation to this area can produce uncomfortable symptoms, and breast scarring caused by surgery and/or trauma can cause painful syndromes and obstruct blood and lymph flow, breast wellness becomes increasingly important. The practice of breast massage should be in conjunction with (and not a substitute for) regular self-breast exams.

DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE

Techniques that utilize deep-tissue/deep-muscle massage are administered to affect the sub-layer of musculature and fascia. These techniques require advanced training and a thorough understanding of anatomy and physiology. The muscles must be relaxed in order to effectively perform deep-tissue massage, otherwise tight surface muscles prevent the practitioner from reaching deeper musculature. It helps with chronic muscular pain and injury rehabilitation and reduces inflammation-related pain caused by arthritis and tendinitis. It is generally integrated with other massage techniques.

DEGRIEFING

Degriefing is the process of recognizing the mental and physical pain that accompanies grief and treating it with a combination of somatic therapies and psychotherapeutic tools. Degriefing can be used to unlock and remove grief from an individual’s body, and thereby heal not only physical symptoms, but mental and emotional wounds as well. It combines effective verbal counseling therapies with individualized physical care. The techniques used in the degriefing process are intended to ease a person’s emotional distress, mental anguish, and physical discomforts. The goal of degriefing is to unlock blockages that have developed in the body and shift them to a more harmonious state.

ENERGY FLOW BALANCING

This gentle treatment assists clients in balancing their energy flow. Therapists hold a space for clients to make whatever shifts or changes toward balance they deem necessary. Emphasis is given to the chakras and the joints, leaving clients feeling at peace and at home with themselves, with less pain, increased mobility, and greater range of motion.

GUIDED IMAGERY

Also known as visualization, guided imagery is a relaxation system utilizing imagination and thoughts to improve one’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Often involving a process of listening to music or a person’s voice, the participant can take hold of imagery, symbols, and deep feelings to stimulate the body’s immune system, fight disease, and improve overall health. Many seriously ill patients use this technique to imagine the destruction of their disease and/or disorder.

LOMI LOMI

This system of massage utilizes very large, broad movements. Two-handed, forearm, and elbow application of strokes, which cover a broad area, is characteristic of Lomi Lomi. Similar to Swedish massage in many aspects, this system uses prayer and the acknowledgment of the existence of a higher power as an integral part of the technique. Lomi Lomi--Hawaiian for “massage”--is described by teacher Aunty Margaret Machado as “the loving touch--a connection between heart, hand, and soul with the source of all life.” Aunty Margaret was the first to teach Lomi Lomi in a formal, classroom situation; previously the training was passed on within the family by Kahunas or shamans. Oils are used in the application of cross-fiber friction techniques. The practitioner often uses the forearm and elbow in the application of pressure

LYMPH DRAINAGE THERAPY

Lymph Drainage Therapy (LDT) is unique in that healthcare professionals learn how to palpate the lymphatic flow. As they develop their skills, they can then identify the rhythm, direction, and quality of the lymphatic flow. Advanced practitioners will be able to precisely map the lymphatic flow to find alternate pathways for drainage. Developed by Bruno Chikly, MD, Lymph Drainage Therapy evolved from years of training in traditional medicine, Asian medical practices, and manual therapies.

PRENATAL/PREGNANCY MASSAGE

Performed by a trained perinatal specialist, many methods of massage and somatic therapies are both effective and safe prenatally and during labor and postpartum periods of women’s pregnancies. Prenatally, specific techniques can reduce pregnancy discomforts and concerns and enhance the physiological and emotional well-being of both mother and fetus. Skilled, appropriate touch facilitates labor, shortening labor times and easing pain and anxiety. In the postpartum period, specialized techniques rebalance structure, physiology, and emotions of the new mother and may help her to bond with and care for her infant.

QIGONG MERIDIAN THERAPY

Qigong Meridian Therapy (QMT) is a natural healing system. It is derived from traditional Chinese medicine, which originated several thousand years ago. QMT is based and focused on the concept of qi. Qi is vital energy, the unseen life force that courses though the body, enabling it to perform its functions, and which permeates all of nature. The purpose of QMT is to release the innate healing ability of clients so their body can maintain health and resist disease. In QMT treatments, specific hand techniques are used to guide healing energy, which stimulates the meridians and certain points along or near the meridians. The QMT treatments serve to remove energy blockages, balance the overall qi of clients, and increase their energy.

REIKI HEALING--USUI SYSTEM

Reiki healing is a hands-on energy healing art. It was originated in Japan in the early 20th century by Mikao Usui, who had a life-changing experience of light and energy that he recognized as reiki--sacred life force--and that awakened his innate healing abilities. He developed a system of practices that enabled others to become effective healers. In a reiki healing session, the practitioner, trained to access and serve as a channel for the life force (ki or chi), places her hands on or just above the client’s body in order to activate healing energy within receptive points on the body. The practitioner’s hands move progressively with a passive touch through twelve positions on the body, remaining in each position for three to five minutes. As a harmonic flow of energy is strengthened, within the client and practitioner, healing occurs through the return of physical, mental, and spiritual balance.

SWEDISH MASSAGE

One of the most commonly taught and well-known massage techniques, Swedish massage is a vigorous system of treatment designed to energize the body by stimulating circulation. Five basic strokes, all flowing toward the heart, are used to manipulate the soft tissues of the body. The disrobed client is covered by a sheet, with only the area being worked on exposed. Therapists use a combination of kneading, rolling, vibrational, percussive, and tapping movements, with the application of oil, to reduce friction on the skin. The many benefits of Swedish massage may include generalized relaxation, dissolution of scar tissue adhesions, and improved circulation, which may speed healing and reduce swelling from injury.

TRAUMA TOUCH THERAPY

Trauma touch therapy was developed to address the needs of clients affected by trauma and abuse, including sexual and emotional abuse, battering, the trauma of war, surgery, or criminal violence. Focused on empowering the client, this technique combines therapeutic movement and breathwork with psychotherapeutic elements to bring body and mind together in holistic healing. The pace of therapy is determined individually according to the client’s need. Relearning touch from a healthy perspective is a major focus of the therapy.

TRIGGER POINT MYOTHERAPY

Trigger point myotherapy is a noninvasive therapeutic modality for the relief and control of myofascial pain and dysfunction. The goal of treatment is the client’s recovery from or a significant reduction in myofascial pain. The treatment goal is achieved through a systematized approach. Treatment consists of trigger point compression, myomassage, passive stretching, and a regime of corrective exercises. Success may be measured subjectively by the level of pain reduction experienced by the client and objectively through increased range of motion, strength, endurance, and other measures of improved function. Trigger point myotherapy relies heavily on client-therapist interaction, including verbal and nonverbal elements. The myotherapist encourages the client to be personally responsible for their improvement, with attention to such factors as nutritional intake, stress, proper exercises, mechanical abnormalities, and other physical components. These elements protect the client from delayed diagnosis, delayed treatment, or contraindicated treatment, which are the concerns of first order. Trigger point myotherapy is an integrating approach to myofascial pain and dysfunction.

TUI NA

Tui na is an ancient Chinese system of manual therapeutics with a wide range of techniques and indications. While traditional Chinese medical precepts form its theoretical basis, clinical experience governs its application. Tui na techniques range from those that are light and soothing to those that are strong and invigorating. Refined over the centuries, tui na facilitates healing by regulating the circulation of blood and qi (vital energy), which controls body function and enhances resistance to disease. The term tui na (pronounced t-weigh na) combines the names of two of the hand techniques, tui meaning to push and na meaning to lift and squeeze, which are used to represent the system. Practitioners of tui na claim there are more than 365 hand techniques, although they can be generally placed in the category of pressing, rubbing, waving, shaking, percussion, or manipulating. The term “tui na” first appeared in the Ming Dynasty text Pediatric Tui Na Classic in 1601.