All of that circling around the mall, waiting in line, and standing for long hours takes a toll on the feet, especially during this busy time of the year. Our feet do so much for us every day, it’s time we take care of them. Here are a few ways you can treat your feet: Reflexology This is one of the many services we offer at Balanced Body Therapeutic Massage. Reflexology is the practice of applying pressure to the feet utilizing specific thumb, [...]
Ahhh – a massage! It feels so good, is therapeutic, and just the thought of getting one puts many of us into total relaxation mode. Do you really need any other reason to book yours? Since it’s National Massage Therapy Awareness Week, we’ll give you five good ones. Relieve Stress, Reduce Depression and Anxiety, and Get a Better Night’s Sleep Massages affect the body’s biochemistry in a great way. Researchers have found that getting a massage can lower cortisol levels (the stress hormone [...]
With October being National Depression Awareness Month, it’s a great time to look at how we can take better control of our mental health. One way to do that is with routine massages. Did you know that depression is the leading cause of disability in those 15 to 44 in the United States? According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), major depressive disorder (the most commonly diagnosed form of depression) affects more than 16 million Americans a year. Depression not [...]
Contraindication is a long word with a simple meaning: a reason you shouldn’t receive a particular treatment, such as a massage. There are local contraindications—things like a small wound—that shouldn’t be massaged directly, but that don’t mean you can’t still get a perfectly good massage on other parts of your body. Then there are general contraindications, or situations in which you shouldn’t get a massage at all. Contraindications can be an illness like the flu, a treatment or medication like a strong blood [...]
Facial Rejuvenation Cupping Session 45 minutes, Available with Brianna Facial Cupping is a very popular treatment in Europe, Russia and Asia and is found to be effective in reducing the appearance of wrinkles and giving a smooth texture to the skin. It is a non-invasive treatment that can minimize the effects of sun and environmental damage, and aging. It is done using specialized cups that are specifically designed for the face, neck and upper chest to NOT leave marks. As a result [...]
Cupping is a technique using suction to pull blood and fluid that is stuck in the muscles to the surface layers of the skin to put it back into the bloodstream for processing. The newly oxygenated blood then flows back into the area to promote healing. Cupping originated in Asia thousands of years ago. Cupping is noninvasive; it decompresses the muscles instead of compressing with regular therapeutic massage. Since it's noninvasive, many athletes at the Olympics (made popular by Michael Phelps) were [...]
Do you feel stretched in a hundred different directions? Obligations, deadlines, appointments, meetings, work, housework, sports, everything. More often than not, it seems there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week for all that needs to be done. We’re on constant high alert. We're always moving. All this chaos can be hard on your body and mind. When this happens, we tend to be less mindful of our eating. Or chasing sleep like it’s a lively kitten. Or we [...]
May is Global Employee Health and Fitness Month, so we are going to talk about some ways to promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle by giving you simple actions you can do anywhere... especially at work. Take the stairs. Pedometers, Fitbits, and various health tools track steps and daily mileage. One of the first things people do when they lean into a healthier lifestyle is to increase their movement. This can take the form of an actual organized fitness plan or by [...]
Everyone wants a massage, but sometimes making it in to see your favorite massage therapist (hi there!) just isn’t feasible. It’s in those unexpected and inconvenient moments that knowing how to give your partner a pretty great massage yourself can make the difference between a rotten day and a better one. But of course, this hinges on one thing: do you know how to give a good massage? Giving an at-home massage is not that hard. Here are my favorite tips: Use firm pressure, but [...]
Busyness is the trend these days. People carry over-packed schedules like winning trophies. “I’m SO busy at work!” “How do you have time to do that? I’m too busy to read/watch TV/exercise/do anything fun.” “I can’t get monthly massages I have too much to DO!” Too much “busy” could be making you tired, sick, and probably cranky. When do you relax? RELAX. “Relaxation” is a word we hear often, but don’t know always know what it means. Here, I’ve compiled some options for [...]
