by Jasmine | Jan 13, 2022 | Thai Massage
You already know how beneficial a good massage can be. But what if you’re past the point of only needing a massage every once in a while? What if you need to find a regular massage therapist to help you? Finding the best massage therapist for your needs can feel like an intimidating process. Here are some tips that will make the process easier for you.
Every table is a little bit different…metaphorically speaking.
1. Ask Your Doctor for Recommendations
Your doctor will be familiar with your current muscle and skeletal issues as well as your history (and even your temperament and demeanor, if you’ve been this doctor’s patient for a while). He or she probably knows of a couple of massage therapists who can help you feel better. Your doctor will make sure to recommend only those people who have the proper licensing and who they know have the correct training and knowledge to help you properly. You can also ask for referrals from chiropractors, physical therapists, and psychologists.
2. Ask Your Friends and Family for Recommendations
If you have friends or family members who have used (or are currently using) massage therapy, ask them for recommendations. Like with your doctor, your friends and family are only going to recommend people who are qualified and properly licensed to help you.
Better than your doctor, your family and friends know you as a person. They understand your comfort zone and what weirds you out. They’ll be able to recommend someone who is qualified and who will jive with you on a personality level. This will save you lots of angst.
3. Use the Internet
There are several professional licenses that massage therapists need to have. Search the databases for those licenses to find out who is practicing in your area. You want to find people who have ABMP, AMTA, and/or IMA licenses. You can also search your state’s licensing board for people in your town or city. Talk first!
4. Meet First
It is not uncommon for massage therapists to have a “sit down” with new clients before having those clients in for a full session. Even if the person you’ve contacted doesn’t typically offer a regular initial meet and greet, it is okay to request one. Any professional will be glad to accommodate your need for meeting him or her before any touching happens.
At this meeting, make sure you talk about the areas in which you are sensitive or that need specific and extra careful care. Your potential massage therapist will also be getting to know you – figuring out your comfort zone and talking you through the type of massage you will get.
5. Be Patient
It might take some time to find the perfect massage therapist for your needs, and that’s okay! It’s better to go slowly and find the perfect person. You do not have to stick with the first person you see. Professional therapists understand that not every patient will be a good fit. You might even be able to get a recommendation for someone more suited to your personality and needs.
Massage therapy can be incredibly helpful for both physical as well as psychological ailments. It can take some getting used to, but if you’ve taken the time to find the perfect therapist, it can be very restorative.
by Jasmine | Jan 1, 2020 | Anniversary Gift Ideas, Couples Yoga, Date Night, Partner Yoga, Thai Massage
Yoga for couples is a fun adventure into intimacy, play and relaxation. The poses are simply a doorway for you both to step deeper into your connection. When you stretch with you partner, your bodies melt each other’s tension and tightness. Whether your relationship is new or old, partner yoga will reinvigorate your life and renew your connection.
Partner Yoga is a great way to learn surrender, build trust, and deepen intimacy. Partner Yoga can be practiced by anyone – no previous yoga experience is necessary.
Some poses challenge your balance, strength and flexibility, others require your total trust and surrender.
Each exercise and breathing technique uses the power of the partner dynamic to achieve more than one person could alone. From creative exercise to profound spiritual work, Partner Yoga delivers a diverse range of benefits to a wide array of people. This well rounded practice requires no special equipment and can be done in any open space (the living room, gym, or park). The classes are not official tantra workshops although people that have done a tantra workshop before will appreciate the yoga and meditation.
Couples Yoga is a medium created to build stronger communication and intimacy between human beings in a relationship. These Yoga Postures which you can learn on couples yoga DVDs and couples yoga videos videos, have breathing exercises and meditations are designed specifically to bring communication into a tangible form. We are here to help you to discover and experience the dynamics existing within your relationship.
Couples Yoga compels companions to lay aside their differences while working to achieve a common goal. The simple act of breathing together and participating in a practice grounded in acceptance, unity and love translates to more open and authentic communication between partners.
This practice re-establishes weakened bonds. On the mat partners must have complete faith in each other. Postures are dependent on showing up for one another and giving equal effort. It is developed on trust and is a great metaphor for the nut and bolt aspect of all relationships.
There’s no finished, perfect pose or situation. This is about learning new methods to connect, and cooperate, while finding new ways to support each other.
In these sessions you will learn a combination of the following practices:
- Yoga postures
- Breathing exercises
- Partner Meditations
- Massage techniques
- Affirming your partner and Being Affirmed
- The Power of Intention
by Jasmine | Apr 1, 2014 | Acupuncture, Thai Massage, Yoga Health
Just wanted to touch base and send a message about what’s going on yoga-wise with us. Between teaching couples yoga in Manayunk and Gentle yoga in Mt Airy, I’ve also been visiting plenty of local yoga studios (as a student). It’s refreshing to be the student sometimes…. it’s nice to have someone tell you what to do in class instead of directing everyone else………
I’ve attended Aerial Yoga at Fishtown’s Amrita’s Yoga… the most stunning yoga studio you will ever visit…. (and I’ve been to hundreds)….. feels like the Four Seasons designed that space.
Also went to Katrin Elia Yoga on the Main Line a few weeks ago….. Restorative yoga plus Marma point therapy…. heavenly.
Purenergy yoga in Paoli just opened up…. their Aerial classes are also high on my “to visit ” list.
The yoga I am most excited about this Spring is Namas Day though.
Namas Day is the creation of Philly Area Yoga, Philadelphia’s premiere online yoga and wellness resource.
The festival is another way that we strive to bring together the yoga community and share the incredible local talent.
They represent the community as a whole and are not affiliated with any studio or organization – they are independent and inclusive of everyone, every studio, every teacher, and every style, whether you want to jump around and sweat in a sweaty vinyasa workshop or want to be gentle and restorative in a yin class or Thai Massage.
This year’s event will involve a full day yoga workshops and master classes delivered by local instructors and wellness professionals.
It’s taking place at:
WHYY Building
Independence Mall West
150 N. Sixth Street
These are the workshops I plan to take… never seen acupuncture combined with poses before. I’ve taken Shawn Declue’s Thai Massage workshop before so I know this will be delicious. Never taken a goal setting workshop at a yoga event so that should make it a more transformational event.
Smart Goal Setting 101 led by Brittany Wallrath
Thai Yoga Massage led by Shawn Declue
Finding the Yin Within: A Yin Yoga and Acupuncture Experience led by Alice Dommert, Christopher Coan, and David Schiman
WHYY Building
Independence Mall West
150 N. Sixth Street
Saturday May 10th
8:30am – 6:00pm
Check-in opens at 8:00am…..
by Michael | Oct 8, 2013 | Couples Yoga, Thai Massage
Thai Yoga Massage is a kind of bodywork that applies light pressure and facilitated stretching to your muscles. From a rehabilitation perspective, this is exactly what your tight and rigid tissue needs. The other component to this practice that must be mentioned is that it allows you to dip into a passive moving meditation, which opens up many channels that promote healing. This is similar to what happens in yoga, but Thai Yoga Massage goes a bit deeper because the yoga is being done to you.
In my work, I target three components of health: proper amount of rest, good flexibility throughout the whole body, and cardiovascular strength. Most people need more of all three of these. Thai Yoga Massage targets two of these components very well, and makes cardiovascular strength training not nearly as daunting.
Rest, Flexibility, and Cardio become very important because every day we are bombarded with things that do not serve us. For example, most people live with unreasonable work expectations, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, and poor nutrition.
These situations cause stress on bodies, and as a response, we create tension in an associated area to protect ourselves. It can become a vicious cumulative cycle that can only be repaired through chemical shifts. Let’s face it: most people are medicated in some way to induce the molecular changes needed when they could have prevented the downward spiral of their health through enough rest, flexibility, and cardiovascular strength.
When we drive ourselves too hard mentally, physically, or emotionally, we absorb tension all over our body. Eventually, it afects our movement patterns, sleep cycles, and mood. Thai Massage is the perfect modality to ward of this tension, as you relax and let a good practitioner move, compress, and stretch you. It is an ancient healing art, originally created to support a god to many cultures: Buddha. If it helped him so long ago, it most certainly can help Americans today.
We have a lot to be thankful for as we live in a world where we can access necessities rather easily. However, we often don’t take enough time for our basic health needs. We should have enough rest to recharge the immune system, enough flexibility for tissue to maneuver around possible injuries, and enough cardiovascular strength to maintain good circulation. If you attain these three things, the cumulative cycle does not have the chance to begin. Thai Yoga Massage is a fantastic way to ensure that you are taking the time to recharge and protect your body. Try scheduling this practice into your life so that you can maintain a happy active lifestyle.
Guest Post By Joy Carey – MS Rehab Science & Certified in Thai Massage
Thai Yoga Massage for Beginners
| Hawthorne Community Health is offering a 4-hour workshop for on how to integrate facilitated stretching into sessions. (It does meet requirements for 4 CEU’s for massage therapists.) The emphasis will be a stretching a person effectively, yet safely. After the workshop, you will be able to give a 20 min. Thai Yoga Massage that you can trust your receiver will love.The event will be held at 1241 Carpenter Street near the Italian Market in Philadelphia on Friday, October 25th from 11am to 3pm. Cost is $110 for one person, and $176 for two. If you are interested, please contact Joy Carey at 717-519-7289 for more information or visit our website:www.HawthorneCommunityHealth.com. |
