Bodywork at its Best: Spring Into Transition

Because spring is a time of transition and rebirth, it presents a perfect opportunity to make positive changes in our lives. In this article, Ben Thomson, Holistic Health Coach, gives practical advice on making the most of spring’s momentum.

Are you the type of person who feels a growing desire to experiment with and take on new behaviors, challenges and experiences? Here in “the city different,” are you living the life different? As I connect with friends, clients, students and strangers alike to get an idea of how “transition” is occurring for people, I feel and see wonders on the horizon as well as in the present moment. I would like to share these observations with you, that you might feel more a part of the transition into spring, or the spring into transition. I believe it is a great time now to take attention off of personal limitations and place that attention on fun, well being, and other intended outcomes.

If you sensitively feel the growing pains of your being or the arising desire for something more or different, I encourage you to read on and benefit from some of the personal experiences/suggestions of others like you; these may support your transition, shine a light on new possibilities, show you ways of placing a little extra attention in the area of self-care/self-organization, growth, and quite possibly more:

1. Make a special effort to free yourself from any unnecessary debt.
   
2. Clean up past relationships that lay incomplete (whether directly or through a ritual process).
   
3. Visit places/engage in activities that bring more joy and pleasure to your life.
   
4. Establish a morning/daily ritual that keeps you grounded and present to your needs and desires.
   
5. Nap more often; rejuvenate yourself and allow any unconscious shifting to occur effortlessly.
   
6. Make a dietary shift that adds a spring to your step or that supports your transition (colon or liver cleansing is a good idea, as is lightening your breakfast and spending more time and attention on meal preparation).
   
7. Exercise: I recommend a balance between cleansing and building. One day, stretch, do yoga or go for a longer-than-usual-walk (cleansing); the next, hike, swim, lift weights or cycle (building).
   
8. Express love and affection, especially in moments when you may habitually hold this back.
   
9. Find something to acknowledge about others during each and every interaction and express the acknowledgement.
   
10. Allow for more movement of your body, especially along the spine; experience greater freedom of movement accompanied by breath to encourage fluidity, healing, comfort, connection and peace (inner/outer).

It is my suggestion that you take on at least one of these practices per week and then add one for each consecutive week until we are fully in the spring of spring. Having a goal or a vision about what your life might look or feel like 3 months from now is a great way to keep yourself focused on the benefits of the steps you choose from above. In fact, journaling or collaging about outcomes and keeping that handy is a sure way to maintain the pleasurable aspects of a transition at the forefront of your mind. I hope you find these suggestions helpful. For more information about generating a results-based wellness plan or lifestyle re-organization plan, please feel free to contact me at connectswith@gmail.com.

by Ben Thomson, MA, HHP, Holistic Health Practitioner, Self-Care Trainer © copyright 2009 Ben Thomson all rights reserved.

Bodywork at its Best: Crystal Bed Healing

Karen Welden, LMT, has been a massage therapist in Santa Fe for 16 years. In Auguest of 2006, she made her second trip to the world-renowned healing center, Casa de Dom Inacio de Loyola, in Brazil, which she describes as “one of the most extraordinary places on the planet.” The Casa was founded by John of God, a spiritual healer also known as "the Miracle Man of Brazil." Over the last 40 years, 11 million people have traveled there from all over the world to receive physical, emotional and spiritual healing. For visitors to the Casa, a device called the “Crystal Bed” is prescribed to balance the energy field as a required preparation for healing work by John of God. Karen’s experience with the Crystal Bed was so incredible that she obtained permission to bring one to North America in order to share what it could offer.

Karen has chosen to rename her Crystal Bed the “Crystal Canopy.” This device, which uses quartz crystals and light to promote balance and healing, consists of a stand with seven extendable arms that are positioned over a massage table (like a canopy). On the end of each of the seven arms is a quartz crystal that has been cut to a specific frequency using a special technique developed by the late Marcel Vogel. The individual receiving the session rests, fully clothed and face up with eyes closed, on the massage table below the Crystal Canopy, and the seven crystals are aligned with his/her seven chakras. Above each of the crystals there is a small light bulb and a colored filter. Each filter is a different color, corresponding to the color of one of the chakras. The light bulbs pulse on and off, each in its own specific sequence.

In this way, the Crystal Canopy combines the power of Color Therapy and Crystal Healing Therapy. As colored light shines through the crystals in alternating patterns, each chakra is cleansed, energized and brought into balance with all of the other chakras. This allows deeper, more subtle energies to be brought into balance, helping to recharge the body’s energy, strengthen the immune system and ease stress. Other benefits include:

– Balancing the electromagnetic field
– Activating the body's own self-healing mechanism
– Rejuvenating the physical body
– Stimulating a deeper sense of spiritual awareness and harmony

The sequence and speed of the flashing lights is varied according to what each client asks for in order to effectively balance his or her chakras. In addition, the Crystal Canopy functions as a link to the helping spirits of the Casa. For these two reasons, it is important for each client to meditate or quietly think about what he or she hopes to accomplish from the session under the Crystal Canopy and then set an intention. It is also always advisable for each individual to rest after a Crystal Canopy Healing session and to drink plenty of water beforehand and throughout the rest of the day to help rid the body of any toxins released during the session.

Crystal Canopy sessions at High Desert Healthcare & Massage include a brief consultation with Karen Welden followed by 20 minutes under the Crystal Canopy in a nurturing, peaceful atmosphere.

Rates:

• 20 minute Crystal Canopy Healing session, first visit ($10)
• 20 minute Crystal Canopy Healing session, subsequent visits ($20)
• Package of 4 20-minute Crystal Canopy Healing sessions ($60)

© copyright 2009 Karen Welden all rights reserved.

Bodywork at its Best: Why Get Massage?

Imagine an ancient cave man coming back from a hunt with a pulled shoulder muscle from throwing a spear at a mastodon or a sore neck from sleeping on the ground. What’s the first thing that poor guy is going to do? Probably ask his mate or the local healer to rub it for him. Chances are he has been doing that himself ever since the pain began. To touch our pain is one of our most primal instincts, and to rub another’s aches is one of the most ancient healing methods, perhaps even wired into the primal part of our nervous system. Luckily, those ancient instincts are today deepened into a wide range of very effective techniques that feel great while also easing our pains.

I often tell my clients that when they have, for instance, neck pain, a poorly trained massage therapist will massage their neck. On the other hand, a well-trained massage therapist will know that problems in the neck are intimately related to tightness in the back, arms, head and upper chest. If those areas are not also addressed, the neck pain has a greater chance of quickly recurring. This is true for every area of the body. Lower back pain has a better chance of resolving if the legs get some good work. Arm or wrist pain is more likely to subside if the shoulders and neck get worked, and so on. It is an illusion to believe that the seemingly separate parts of us (like an arm or the neck), actually are separate and not intrinsically and unavoidably interdependent with all other parts. We are a body, not an arm; a being, not a sore neck. A good massage, while easing our aches and pains, reconnects our parts into one glorious whole.

by Jill Gerber, LMT, Certified Advanced Rolfer and Rolfing® Movement Integration Practitioner

© copyright 2009 Jill Gerber all rights reserved.