Healing Touch: Massages at NoteToSelf
Healing Touch
A massage can be an excellent way to relax and find relief from our every day stresses. Massages can help to restore balance, reduce stress, and alleviate pain, as well as improve overall well-being. With our world so dominated by technology, and the cold glass screens of our phones being what we interact with most, human touch is more important than ever.
Here at Note to Self Wellness, we pride ourselves on having a collective of massage therapists, each therapist an expert in their own style of massage, each bringing maximum healing benefits to you.
So how do you decide on which style of massage is right for you? Everyone has a different and unique preference when it comes to being touched, so here is a guide to the different styles of massage we offer.
Therapeutic Massage
Therapeutic Massage is a blend of the softer, tender strokes of Swedish Massage to the deeper pressure of Deep Tissue Massage.
Swedish Massage is one of the most common types of massages, it’s gentle and is known for energizing the body and improving overall health. In Swedish Massage, a massage therapist manipulates the body's soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels) and uses strokes that flow toward the heart, improving blood circulation. In addition to helping with blood circulation and conditions of the the heart, Swedish massage can help with back pains, headaches, muscle issues and other chronic pains. It can help to reduce the symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety, and it can help to boost the immune system, which can help with conditions like the common cold and asthma.
Deep tissue massage is best for giving attention to certain painful, stiff "trouble spots" in your body. The massage therapist uses slow, deliberate strokes that focus pressure on layers of muscles, tendons, or other tissues deep under your skin. Though less rhythmic than other types of massage, deep tissue massage can be very therapeutic, helping to relieve chronic patterns of pain, tension and muscle injuries, such as back sprain.
Therapeutic Massage treatments are performed on a massage table, using oil or lotion directly on the skin, the clients are draped for modesty.
Jill Galman, our Therapeutic Massage practitioner at Note to Self Wellness, has been practicing massage for over 30 years. She is an intuitive healer, tailoring each treatment to her client’s preference. A Therapeutic Massage appointment with Jill will give you the massage of your dreams!
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) “Open the Gates”Massage
The “Open the Gates” massage is a combination of Tui-na, an ancient massage with its origins in Chinese Medicine, and a more Western-leaning lymphatic massage.
Tui-na (pronounced twee-nah) massage is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine that has been around for thousands of years. Similar to acupuncture, Tui-na is based on the theory that imbalances in qi (pronounced chee)—the vital source of energy in the body—can lead to physical symptoms such as pain and illness. Tui-na uses massage techniques such as acupressure, myofascial release, and reflexology along the acupuncture meridians as a way of removing energetic blocks and restoring equilibrium and balance to the body. Like acupuncture, Tui-na can treat many imbalances in the body, especially those made worse with stress.
Lymphatic massage is a form of gentle massage that encourages the drainage of lymph nodes and movement of lymph fluids around the body. The lymphatic system plays an important role in the immune system and massage can help to treat auto-immune issues, skin disorders as well as illnesses like viruses and the common cold. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Divergent Channel meridian system has a correlation to the Lymphatic system and it is believed that the Divergent Channels help to protect the organs from degeneration and toxins. In treatment, the skin is gently massaged in gentle wave like motions, encouraging the movement of the lymph and qi to areas where they will go deeper into the body, like at the base of the neck.
In Chinese medicine, “Opening the Gates” is a term used for encouraging the free movement of qi and restoring balance and homeostasis to the body. The TCM “Open the Gates” Massage is a gentle massage, given on a massage bed where the patient is draped for modesty. Tui-na is practiced through the covers, lymphatic drainage is practiced by direct (oil-free) contact with the skin. The body feels tingly and relaxed after an “Open the Gates” treatment, the overall effect is that of a needle-free acupuncture treatment combined with a lymphatic drainage treatment.
Pier Derrickson is a board certified acupuncturist at Note to Self Wellness, she feels that touch is an important part of the healing process. In her “Open the Gates” massage, Pier combines an East meets West approach to healing.
Thai Massage
Thai massage is an ancient practice that combines acupressure, Indian Ayurvedic principles, and assisted yoga postures, it is one of the foundations of traditional Thai medicine. Thai Massage works with the body's energetic pathways, called sen, in order to create balance and harmony within the body.
Thai massage is practiced on a mat on the floor, the patients are fully clothed. The practitioner uses stretching, pulling, and rocking techniques to stimulate organs and improve flexibility. The overall effect relieves tension, promotes relaxation, improves flexibility and circulation and regulates the nervous system.
Marisa Incelli practices Thai Massage at Note to Self Wellness. She describes her practice as a Fusion of Thai, Reiki, Craniosacral, Reflexology and Shiatsu.
One of the main foundations of Thai Massage is element theory, and the experience of these elements within us. In element theory, the element of earth is our experience of solidity; water our experience of fluidity; fire our experience of transformation and heat; wind our experience of movement, such as our busy thoughts; and space our experience of non-resistance or spaciousness, consciousness. The intention of Thai massage is to create balance and harmony within these elements by healing through movement, breath, connection and nourishment.
It is said that there are more than 1,000 ways to approach an imbalance in Thai Medicine. One may never receive the same treatment twice as the individual feels differently on different days and at different times of each day. Marisa’s treatments are guided by intuition. She describes it as poetry in motion, the poetry of healing.
Clients who have received Marisa’s treatments have described it as if feeling like you can both cry and conquer the world at the same time.
Indigenous Brazilian Holistic Healing Massage
Using many of the traditional healing techniques she learned growing up on the Laklãnõ Xokleng Indigenous Reserve in Brazil from her Grandmother, Mila Romero’s holistic massage integrates South American indigenous knowledge and healing practices with Western/Eastern modalities for mind, body and spiritual alignment.
These customized treatments include indigenous massage and bodywork, traditional prenatal and postpartum massage and bodywork, plant medicines, Tuina, acupressure, deep tissue, active isolated stretching, myofascial, trigger point therapy, reflexology, Swedish, hot stones and cupping.
Mila’s massages transcend bodywork, you will leave feeling deeply moved in both your body and spirit!
Mila Romero is a traditional healer, holistic massage therapist (AMTA and Abrath), bodyworker, birthworker, herbalist, artist and student of ethnobotany.
Reiki
The practice of Reiki, the Japanese word for 'universal life energy', has been around since Mikao Usui created it in the early 20th century. Reiki is based on the core belief that our world relies on a flow of energy that looks after all living things. When this energy remains uninterrupted we feel a sense of balance and harmony both within us and in our environment as a whole: this creates an atmosphere where wellness can thrive. Reiki has gentle touch and promotes healing through the practitioners hands placed gently on the body.
During a Reiki treatment, people are clothed while a trained practitioner places their hands around various points of your body. Reiki massage promotes a calm, peaceful sense of well being. Most clients feel a sense of deep relaxation.
Through the practice of Reiki, one can experience healing in both the mind and body. This is made possible by allowing healing energy to move freely throughout the body, which leads to feelings of relaxation and a reduction of pain. Reiki can reduce stress and anxiety thereby decreasing one’s sensitivity to pain.
Various reactions occur when one's natural balance is being restored. For instance, those affected can experience sensations of heat or tingling, as well as visual displays such as colors. Additionally, an emotional response is also quite common.
Scalp Massage
One of the most unique services we offer at Note to Self Wellness are our scalp massage treatments. Not only do they feel heavenly, but regular scalp massages can provide a myriad of health benefits: scalp massages can help to promote hair growth, they can reduce the frequency and intensity of headaches, they can reduce muscle tension in your neck, lower blood pressure and help to reduce stress, they can even increase the levels of Serotonin and Dopamine in your brain, helping to boost your mood and your feelings of connection to other people. Regular scalp massages have the potential to improve both your physical and mental wellbeing.
Combine a scalp massage with Gua Sha to stimulate acupuncture points and promote lymphatic flow, or combine it with an LED light panel to rejuvenate skin cells and promote healing.
We have a number of practitioners who give amazing scalp massages - come try one out today!
