Jessica

Sanctuary to offer free Sports Massage Feb 18th to benefit The Gathering Place

Feb 092012

As part of Feet on the Street’s Community Gathering 5K/10K and Children’s Hope 1K, Sanctuary will be offering free sports massage at Denver City Park this Feb 18.

Over 700 people are expected to take place in this event, which will benefit The Gathering Place, a daytime support, resource, and refuge center for women and children. Joining with other great vendors and community supports, Sanctuary Massage Denver will be on hand to offer brief sports therapy sessions to as many participants as possible. Even if you aren’t going to be participating in the race events, feel free to come on down, support a great cause, and get some sore spots worked out with a free massage. There will also be live entertainment, gift giveaways, product sampling, and vendor discounts to all participants.

To learn more about the Gathering Place, please visit their website by clicking here.

Sports Injury and Massage

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Jan 312012

Sports Massage is wonderful for helping the healing process for muscle injuries and strains. It helps circulate blood and vital nutrients, lengthen muscle tissue, and soften scar tissue associated with injury.

Through this systematic manipulation of soft tissues focuses on muscle groups that are the most utilized in any given sport. Swimmers often have pain in different areas than runners, for example, so at Sanctuary Massage Denver, we customize each sports massage therapy session to your activity of choice.

Sports massage also incorporates stretching techniques which help lengthen. At Sanctuary, we also incorporate proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF); this is just a long way of saying that you actively participate in the stretching to resolve your own pain issues during the session.

This form of massage therapy can be used during training, pre-performance, post-performance, or for rehabilitation from injury. Active individuals of all levels may benefit from regular therapy. If you are looking for a way to improve your athletic performance, recover from workouts more quickly, and keep your body primed for a lifetime of activity, then sports massage is for you!

Sports massage can benefit any active individual, whether they consider themselves to be an athlete or not. It should play a regular role in anyone’s life who is participating in physical activity more than three times per week.

Keywords.

Sports massage, muscle injuries, massage Denver.

Link to: sports massage service page

8 Tips to get the most out of your massage

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Jan 232012

At Sanctuary Massage Denver, I always want my clients to get the most out of each and every session. So I’ve compiled a few easy tips to help maximize the fabulousness!

Communicate with your therapist. Like many massage practices, Sanctuary has all clients complete an intake form before the first session. Be sure to provide your therapist with accurate health information, and if you have any questions and concerns, voice them. During the session, be open with your therapist about your preferences and comfort with things like the level of pressure, temperature, music, lighting and so forth. Denver massage therapists are well trained professionals, and most are very committed to providing you with a quality experience. The more able you are to communicate with your therapist openly, the more you will get out of your massage.
Arrive for your appointment on time. If you show up in a frenzied, rushed state, it is often hard for you to relax. You know the expression “hurry up and wait”? Even worse is “stress out and relax”. In addition, most massage therapists book multiple appointments in a day, and they often aren’t able to give you your full session if you don’t arrive on time for it.
Focus your attention on the massage, and do your best to let everything else go. In our culture, we all have a million things on our mind. It can be very difficult to stop our wildly busy minds, but allowing them to slow down a bit will help you get more out of your massage. Often clients will get trapped in stressful thoughts (about anything- work, money, family, you name it) and end up disconnecting from the massage experience entirely. A very active mind can lead to tightened muscles or contracted areas of the body. Clients often apologize for falling asleep during amassage session: however I often tell clients that losing consciousness is fully encouraged. In a sleep state, the active mind doesn’t distract the body, and my work is often more fully absorbed by my client’s body.
Breathe normally, and occasionally breathe deeply. The breath helps to facilitate relaxation, not only of the mind, but also of the muscle tissue. It is a normal response to hold the breath in times of physical or emotional discomfort, but doing so is actually counterproductive in a massage session. Some people think that it is essential to breathe very deeply throughout the session, but many people find the focus on maintaining deep breathing for an hour to be distracting. Normal breathing is fine during a massage session. However, deep breathing is encouraged for intense sensations or while the therapist is working through an area of tension or pain.
Stay hydrated. Most LMTs will tell send you away after the session with the perpetual reminder: “be sure to drink lots of water!” Not only does water help to flush many of the toxins that are often released during a massage, but it also helps to keep muscle tissue healthy. Every part of your body functions more optimally when well hydrated. However, hydration just before or immediately after a session is often not adequate, especially in our dry Colorado climate. Maintaining an ongoing practice of drinking eight or more glasses of pure water will help your muscles stay healthy and perform optimally in between massage appointments.
Be an active participant in your healing. Many people forget to remember that they have the ultimate responsibility for their own recovery. If your massage therapist shows you some great stretches to loosen up your tight hamstrings or suggests you seek additional therapy like acupuncture or naturopathy, follow through.
Remember that it is a process, and sometimes certain issues require multiple sessions before resolving. Just as you wouldn’t expect to lose weight those extra 20 pounds you’ve been carrying after one session with a personal trainer, understand that chronic issues are rarely resolved in one session. While not a hard and fast rule, the average rule of thumb is one hour’s worth of work for every month you’ve been coping with a particular issue. For example, if you have been dealing with a radiating pain in your shoulder for six months, it may take as many as sessions before the pain is gone for good. Be patient, and consider each session an investment in your health.

Using these eight tips can help you optimize any massage experience and increase the investment in your health.

Massage Contraindications

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Jan 182012

While massage has innumerable benefits and is wonderful at relieving a host of ailments, there are times when getting one is simply not a good idea.

Contraindications are situations or conditions (whether temporary or chronic) that make receiving a massage inadvisable. In fact, doing so can even cause harm.

Some conditions, such as rashes and burns, are known as local contraindications; it is only the area affected that needs to be avoided, but massage of the rest of the body is still safe. Other conditions, such as toxemia or stroke are considered general contraindications, and massage should not be pursued.

It’s important to note that some styles of massage may be safer for certain conditions than others-while people with cancer (which can spread through the lymphatic system) such as want to stay away from massage strokes that stimulate circulation, gentle caring touch may be fine. A pregnant woman may not want a rolfing session, but will benefit from a prenatal massage.

There are multitudes of licensed Denver massage therapists in the metro area; in order to get licensed they need to have been educated on pathologies and contraindications. A good therapist will know which conditions can be exacerbated or endangered by therapy.

Of course, even the best therapist won’t know if a client has a contraindicated condition if it is not disclosed, and sometimes clients don’t think to mention issues to their therapist. This is often because they aren’t even aware there issue is a problem or that massage should be avoided.

At Sanctuary Massage Denver, I always sit down with clients and do a health and medical history inventory. This helps me get a snapshot of any issues you may have had or may be having at present. Like any well-trained therapist, if I see a contraindication I will postpone treatment until a physician has been and cleared you for massage treatment.

While much more often than not, massage is a safe and gentle way to help relieve pain, it’s always better to be on the safe side. If you are seeking medical care for any health issue, it’s always a good idea to talk with your care provider and ensure that massage is approved.

If you would like to discuss any conditions you may have and their relative safety with treament, contact me and I’ll be happy to talk to you more.

Prenatal Massage

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Jan 142012

Sanctuary Massage Denver is known for many types of massage therapy, but perhaps best known for prenatal massage. I have been drawn to working with women throughout pregnancy and postpartum ever since I was in massage school and supported my sister through her pregnancy while still a student.

Pregnancy is an amazing time for a woman. While it can be full of great excitement, creative power, and magic, it can also be a very charged and challenging time physically and emotionally. A woman’s body goes through such rapid and dramatic changes that it can be overwhelming both internally and externally.

The ultimate goal of pregnancy massage is to fully nurture the mother, to assist in relaxation, promote better sleep, and to enhance circulation. However, having worked with women for as long as I have (and being a new mama myself), I know the impact those changes can have on muscles and appreciate the need for therapeutic massage as well.

Certain muscles groups usually demand extra attention- as the baby grows, the muscles around the pelvis are stretched and strained in new ways. This can lead to pain in the glutes and new sensations down the legs. This is often exacerbated by the new need for side-lying sleep, which can be a challenge for many women. And as the breast tissue changes to prepare for the baby, women often experience new strain around their shoulders and neck. These are just some of the muscle groups that I focus on during my pregnancy massages.

Of course it isn’t just the body that needs the nurturing work- that hour of nurtured focus, of having a space to be completely cared for, can be an imperative retreat from daily demands for a pregnant woman. And the benefits of a relaxed mama are manifold for the growing baby. It’s no wonder The American Pregnancy Association recommends regular therapeutic massage as part of a woman’s prenatal care.

Prenatal massage can happen at any time during a pregnancy, but it’s always wise to check with your doctor, as some conditions can be a contraindication for massage.

If you are expecting, or know someone who is, I’d be delighted to work together to support an empowered pregnancy.

Sanctuary Massage Denver: The Benefits of Massage

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Jan 112012

We’re fortunate to live in Denver, where the culture is pretty focused on health. Still, I get a lot of questions about the benefits of massage from clients, so I wanted to write a quick post about it.

This is just the first of many posts you will likely see here about the massage’s many benefits. There are so many to talk about, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one post. And research continues to document the physiological impact of massage*.

Because there are so many health benefits to regular massage, I want to hit up my top favorites, and the ones that most of my clients deal with.

*Stress Relief: experts estimate that close to 90% of our contemporary diseases are stress-related *. Through decreasing cortisol levels, massage can help manage the effects of the stress we are all barraged with on a regular basis.

*Improves sleep: in addition to relieving stress, massage has been shown to trigger serotonin, a neurochemical that generates serene feelings and tranquil states. This leads to easier, less interrupted sleep patterns. In a world where most people are sleep deprived, that’s something we all need more of.

*Helps athletes and physical individuals prepare for, and recover from, strenuous workouts: The primary focus of sports massage is to lengthen and stretch muscles groups and improve joint functioning. This helps improve performance and increase recovery time.

*Enhances immunity: Massage increases circulation and stimulates lymph flow, which is the natural defense system of the body.

*Decreases pain: endorphins are released during the physical manipulation of massage. These important amino acids work as the body’s natural painkiller.

*Shorter, easier labor: prenatal massage has been linked to decreased labor pain and duration, two factors that can have an impact on interventions. Women who have regular prenatal massage typically have shorter maternity stays, too*.

If you’ve ever received a massage before, you’ve likely experienced some of these (or other) benefits firsthand. (Hopefully), you left feeling more relaxed, more grounded, with less pain and more energy.

Getting a massage is wonderful; getting a regular massage can do you a world of good. Budgeting money and time to incorporate massage into your regular routine is truly an investment in your health and well being.

Resources:

“Massage: Get in touch with its many health benefits” by Mayo Clinic Staff. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

“Learn More Massage and the Benefits” by Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals.