Which bodywork is for you?

My friend Patti asked me the other day, how would people know which treatments would be good for them...hence this article.
I work with a variety of modalities, all of which help in different ways, and were of course fun to learn...and one of the things I love about this chosen career is that there will always be more to learn!
So onto the meat of this blog:
If you are looking for relaxation, and to help your circulation and lymphatic system flow then Swedish Massage is what you are looking for.  This modality incorporates flowing strokes moving towards your heart, your therapist may also incorporate some light stretches too, to help keep things flexible and moving.  Aromatherapy may also be incorporated in this setting.  The use of essential oils works on our bodies too, each oil is specifically picked to help achieve the goal of the sessions.  For example, lavender is soothing, mints are invigorating, and peppermint especially helps with headaches and muscle aches, rose oil helps to get us in touch with our femininity and helps to balance hormones  (and smells so good).
If you are pregnant, of course a prenatal massage is what you are looking for.  Most therapists will ask you to be through your first trimester, and will use a side lying position, and or a semi-reclined position.  Swedish strokes will be used and again some light stretching perhaps.  This is truly a gift for the mom to be and if finances allow should be done once a week, it helps on so many levels, helps to ease labor, helps to connect the mom and baby, and the mom to her own body, helps with breathing and allows the mom an hour or so of pure blissful relaxation, especially if there are other young ones at home, this is a must!
Reiki is an energy healing technique, it is calm, peaceful, and gentle and works to balance your energy systems and is great for pain reduction and emotional issues.
Myo fascial release if another deep technique that works on the fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds our muscles and bodies.  This fascia can get bound up through daily life, trauma, surgery etc. and can even hold our emotions... a deep version of this is Rolfing, or Structural Integration-I am going for my first session of this as a birthday gift to myself this week!
Avianna is a treatment I just learned this past fall. It is a lovely combination of energy work, marma work (marmas are like Ayurvedic acupressure points), reflexology and head massage.  It was developed to use on people who are struggling with cancer and can be done on anyone...it is one of the most relaxing, yummy, balancing things I have ever experienced...you float...it is all done laying on your back, so there is no interruptions of rolling over.
And finally if you are looking for a relaxing way to work your whole body with ouy actually touching your whole body there is reflexology.  In this treatment I work the feet (you can also work the hands and ears) and massage the feet, and then work the points that are related to the areas in the body that are bothering you.  This can help so many things!
At Ancient Arts Acupuncture I often work on peoples feet or scalps after the acutpuncture treatment.  It is a lovely combination!
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.  There is also a nice article on prenatal massage on my facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/IntuitiveHealingNJ

For further info you can also see my website www.intuitivehealing.biz