Neuromuscular Therapy

This is a great, succinct piece defining Neuromuscular Therapy (a.k.a. Trigger Point Therapy), how it works, and its benefits. Definitely worth a read!

Neuromuscular Therapy | oakworksblog.massagetables.com:

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What IS a trigger point?

Follow the link below for an excellent description of trigger points. If you think your pain is from a trigger point, find a massage therapist who practices trigger point therapy, like me!

Mending Hands - Melissa Finley Massage Therapy Park Slope Brooklyn 11215 Swedish Institute: What is a trigger point?:

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Massage Can Ease the Journey Through Cancer

Today is Keeping in Touch's first ever guest post! Melanie Bowen is a writer for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. Melanie joined the MCA in 2011 as an awareness advocate for natural health and cancer cure initiatives. Her work includes highlighting the great benefits of alternative nutritional, emotional, and physical treatments on those diagnosed with cancer or other serious illness. She also assists in social media outreach in her efforts to spread awareness. You can check out Melanie's blog for the MCA here.


Massage has some relaxing effects while relieving muscular discomfort and promoting flexibility. Special techniques can relieve pain, fatigue and stiffness. If you are suffering from any form of cancer such as breast cancer, mesothelioma, lymphoma, skin cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer or any of the other 100 types of the disease, massage can have a powerful effect on your recovery. Massage therapy can benefit you whether you are suffering from cancer, going through treatment or remission.

The method of massage involves the manipulation of the muscles and soft tissue, rubbing and kneading in order to promote relaxation while enhancing the functions of the body tissue. Oncologists massage therapists are specially trained to provide you the proper technique at the appropriate pressure, while providing support of mind, body and spirit through the fun and relaxation of oncology massage.

Each patient can withstand varying degrees of pressure and certain pressure points, depending on your type of cancer and pain level. The therapists and doctor work closely together to put together the perfect plan for you personally, according to your specific needs. Massage works in conjunction with the treatment as prescribed by your doctor.

Your massage therapist will consider your treatment and medical situation as well as your desired outcome in order to help you deal with the cancer. Massage can be effective and safe in promoting recovery during these challenging times. The premise behind oncology massage is to ease your journey through cancer with support from family, loved ones, friends and caregivers.

Massage can improve your quality of life while managing your symptoms of pain. Research has proven that the power of massage can relieve your pain and anxiety, reduce depression and give you more strength and stamina to move forward.

Treatment for cancer brings about its own set of side effects such as fatigue, nausea, pain, bowel problems, infection, memory disorders, depression and other physical and emotional difficulties. The power of massage can relieve many of these side effects to bring relief from nausea, pain, fatigue and emotional disabilities associated with cancer and the treatment plan.

Massage helps in maintaining inner strength and a positive attitude in order to fight the cancer. Working with your oncology massage therapist will help to provide you greater mental and emotional stability while also loosening tension and muscles to find pain relief and more comfort in life.

Other benefits include an improved blood circulation, removal of toxins in the body as well as stabilizing your blood pressure. Massage does not claim to be a cure for cancer but rather give you mental and emotional stability and well-being to beat this demon. Alleviating the aches and pains that linger in your lymph nodes and tiring muscles can bring a great sense of relief for you, along with the support of loved ones and family.

Massage therapy along with the prescribed treatment plan of your doctor, good nutrition and exercise can bring about a quicker recovery. The power of massage can provide you the overall health and well-being necessary to return to your normal way of living with more energy.

The power of breath: Breathe better to feel better

You can live a week without water, a month without food, but only a few minutes without oxygen. You can't generate energy in your body without oxygen. And many people equate energy with life itself. Energy is essential for your physical and emotional health. Thinking, moving, sensing, digesting and every other function require energy.

Muscling your breath

Breathing involves the chest, abdominal and back muscles, and the diaphragm, a bell-shaped muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen. The diaphragm is the primary muscle of respiration, but many people don't use it efficiently. Instead, people often overuse the muscles around the ribs to inhale. But these muscles don't push fresh air into the lower lungs the way the diaphragm is designed to do. If the lower lungs don't receive enough air, the body cells don't get enough oxygen. In addition, when people overuse the chest and back muscles to breathe, muscle tightness increases in those areas, which can lead to chronic tension and pain. 

Poor posture, muscle weakness, lung disease and even lack of understanding of the breathing process can contribute to inefficient breathing.

Releasing your breath

Through observation and bodywork to your upper body, a massage therapist can help evaluate your breathing habits. She or he can apply techniques to release trigger points and tight muscles that restrict the breath, and demonstrate better breathing habits. When you improve your breathing habits, you can increase your energy and mental clarity, and decrease tension and pain.

Tuning in with bodywork - Increase your awareness and let go of tension

In addition to helping you tune into your breathing, massage and bodywork can enhance your awareness of tension in your body, which may be the first step in releasing it.

At some point in your life, for example, you may have tightened your muscles after an experience of grief or fear. Over time, these constricted muscles may have dulled the awareness of pain, or blocked the flow of energy or breath in the body. This may have led to even more tension and pain.

When muscle tension is released, you can observe what it feels like to relax, and then work toward consciously creating that feeling in between bodywork sessions. In your everyday life, practicing breathing exercises is a great way to build awareness, relax and let go of tension.

Breathing exercises - Reduce stress and breathe easier
The natural rhythm of breathing includes inhalation, exhalation and resting. You can learn to observe and improve this rhythm. Some questions to ask yourself are: What's longer, your inhalation or your exhalation? Can you rest between cycles? Do you feel strain when you breathe naturally?

Observe your breath. When you are stressed, your breath may be fast and shallow. If you are tired, you may have an irregular, slow cycle with yawning as an attempt to increase oxygen coming in. When calm, the breath is usually regular and relaxed.

Practice breathing exercises when you wake up or when you get in bed at night. By practicing regularly, over time you can learn to notice when your breathing changes in response to stress, exercise, moods and rest. This can help you develop easy, rhythmic breathing.

•     Sit or lie comfortably with closed eyes and observe the breath. Use no effort. Notice the quality of the breath and how it moves in the torso.
•     Place one hand beneath your navel and one under or on your tailbone and notice the movement in these areas.
•     Place your hands on each side of the lower ribs. Observe your breath. Now cross your arms, placing each hand under the opposite armpit. Feel the breath come and go. Then release your arms and observe any changes in your breathing
•     Now you are ready to try abdominal breathing. Rest your hands lightly on your stomach. Slowly and deeply inhale through your nose, pushing the hands outwards. Then slowly exhale, squeezing the belly tight. Practice four inhales and exhales.

A Great Exercise to Erase Low Back Pain

Check out the following short article about correctly picking something up off the floor. And then watch toddlers as they move around. They do it all correctly - and it's all instinct. We actually get worse as we age, even though no one tells us to. Teach your kids to ignore adults in this regard and to move as they already do based on instinct - their gut feeling is right!

A Great Exercise to Erase Low Back Pain:

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Making Contact: The Right and Wrong Way to Use Exercise Machines

I am obsessed with ergonomics. It's part of being a massage therapist. So it's no surprise that every time I go to the gym, it's like nails on the chalkboard. I'm constantly seeing someone straining on the machines, just cruising for an injury. Because it's usually my husband.

He should really read this article below. It goes over the proper points of contact and stabilization needed to help prevent injury and maximize your reps. And proper alignment on the machine isn't the only thing to keep in mind. The article doesn't cover two other things to consider: Using too much weight or trying to complete your sets too fast are other recipes for injury (cough cough husband).

Making Contact: The Right and Wrong Way to Use Exercise Machines:

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Meditation for spring

Review and plan your life for a more satisfying year

Spring is a potent season to look over the past and institute changes for the future. It is a good time to set clear goals, or intentions, that reflect your desires. This spring, try letting your impulses follow the growth you see in nature, and see how it affects your own perceptions and desires. To get started, try this personal reflection and writing exercise.

1. Find a favorite place to sit quietly, indoors or out. Breathe fully and deeply for a few minutes, keeping your attention on the breath.

2. Ask yourself: What can I clear out or let go of from the past year as I move into this fresh season of growth and rebirth? Observe your thoughts and feelings for 3 or 4 minutes.

3. Write down three things you would like to let go of. Put this “Let Go” list aside.

4. Now ask yourself: What do I desire in this new season? What seeds would I like to plant? Again see what answers come to you.

5. Write down three intentions for the coming year.

6. Take the “Let Go” list and burn it, or bury it in the soil.

7. Go back to the “Intentions” list. If you would like, illustrate or add color to it. Hang it up somewhere you will see it each day as a reminder of the seeds you have sown inside.

If you rearrange your life so that you plant new creative ideas in spring every year, you may be amazed by the increase in satisfaction you experience, as well as a deeper connection to the flow of nature’s seasons.