Massage- Feel It

by SharonHartnett | Aug 14, 2015 | Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit

Massage Therapy helps you to feel rather than think.

In the big picture, it doesn’t matter why something happened or to blame a circumstance for your unhappiness or difficulties. Reliving anxiety situations keeps your attention there. If you want to feel better, focus on getting into the flow of your life again by relaxing and feeling the pleasure of being here now.

One way to change things around is to find a good Massage Therapist who can help release any tension you feel in your body. It’s very difficult to be happy when you are feeling in pain or uncomfortable. When you find a massage therapist who had great contact and listens to your needs, almost nothing can feel better. Getting out of those vicious cycles of stress from work, relationships or whatever else is bothering you is key to finding your joy again!

massage therapy

If talking about things isn’t doing the trick, try a sensory approach. By working with the soft tissues, massage helps reduce stress hormones such as cortisol and increases endorphins. Endorphins help us to feel connected and at ease, even happy. Most clients walk away with a sense of wellbeing after a good massage.

Making massage a regular part of your Self-Care routine may do wonders for your mind, body and spirit. It’s much more than a luxury, it’s a proactive choice to bring you back to center.

Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST, SI, BHSP

740 966-5153

Massage Therapist Columbus, Ohio

www.massageincolumbusohio.com

Massage and Cool Things

by SharonHartnett | Aug 12, 2015 | Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K

My guess is that many Massage Therapists go to school and get into business because they love massage and it’s a great way to help people.

For me, massage is very healing and there are many ways to approach working with an individual. Massage Therapy is very creative and artistic in its own right. Over the last 17 years, I have studied different techniques, and then used the best where I felt there was overall improvement or enhanced my clients’ lives in an important way. As with most massage therapists, I have learned to integrate many different journeys into the moment. How a massage looks and feels is a dance that happens as therapist and client dialogue, whether it is in silence or whether it is through conversation. It’s the presence, the listening and contact which makes the session worthwhile or not.

A good Massage Therapist will visit other LMT’s and continue to get educated in their specialties and beyond. Often I enjoy going to therapists who do myofascial therapy, stretching and with whom I can feel a connection. Recently, I was down in Florida and I decided to visit a new Spa there, called Cloud 9. It was new and they just opened. Although I usually prefer the types of techniques I use, I was open. It’s important to grow in our work so that we can deepen within ourselves and better help our clients. That’s my thinking anyway. I took my massage with a therapist named James. He was quite good. With a combination of myofascial therapy and Thai massage, I felt pretty terrific after my hour. I was very pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the session because I am rather picky as most massage therapists are. And then- I partook in the water flotation station there as an added treat.

Floatation tanks in Columbus aren’t well known. In fact, I think there is one or maybe two business there-and I am not sure how many people know about them. So I will explain to you what it’s like. The client enters the room and showers well. Next, the subject goes into the encapsulated vessel that is pitch blank to then lies down and floats in about a foot of epsom salt water that is very concentrated. In the water, which is matched to skin temperature, he/she floats for an hour in the dark. In that wonderful silence and lack of other stimulation, the body and the brain being to relax and let go of all the busyness in the world. The more often one goes, it gets easier and easier to just float in that dark empty void.

I have been in Columbus working about 2 years on/off. Sometimes in Florida, but I just closed my business there in order to stay more full time in Ohio. While I usually prefer the contact of a person for a session, this added avenue of experience presents clients with a whole new way of self-discovering deeper peace and relaxation. But I do have to say, that it was exponentially better in combination with a great massage.

I hope one day to meet some other therapists that have the same dreams as me to create a very sacred environment spa which is focused on feeling well, but specialize in therapy rather that fluff. And surprisingly, the flotation spa really helps release our locked up thinking. Although I don’t offer these at this time,I like to keep clients updated on the newest feel good therapies. So for now, if you get a chance to add a floatation spa to your hands-on massage treatment, try it out. My experience in Florida was spectacular and I went back.

Sharon Hartnett LMT

740 966-5153

Low Back Pain

by SharonHartnett | Aug 9, 2015 | Structural Integration

Low Back Pain is a Common Problem

In the current AMTA Massage Therapy Journal, it states that, “Generally speaking about 80 percent of the adults ages 30-60 in the United States have reported suffering from lower back pain at some time in their lives. According to the National Institutes of Health, its is a leading contributor to missed work days and job-related disability.”

On a positive note, low back pain can often be alleviated if dealt with proactively or in the early stages.

low back pain relieved with massage

Some of the best things you can do is to improve your posture. Here are a few ideas:

While I have studied and practice various modalities of body and healing work, I find the best results for performance enhancement and pain relief such as with low back pain with Rolfing types of Work called Structural Integration (SI). Structural Integration works with both dysfunctional patterns in the fascia and gravity to bring the body back into healthy alignment. During the ten sessions, I work with different areas of the body, until I help the client find their structural integrity so that they can move in better balance, more length, and with more vitality through life. However, if someone is have an acute low back pain issue, we can often see great pain relief in just one session.
One of the best things you can do for posture is to exercise. Yoga, Pilates and other types of sport can build and strengthen core connection and flexibility. However, it’s important to know that you want to go for symmetry and length in the body as a target.
If you are working seated most of the day, take a few moments every 1/2 hour or so and stand and stretch.
While you sit, imagine doing so with a tall straight, but flexible spine. Imagine a sting pulling the top of your head up.
Keep your feet on the floor when you sit.
When you stand allow your shoulders to pull back but relaxed.
Keep your knees soft.
Tuck your lower anterior ribs in.
Practice pelvic tilts.
Lie on your back with knees up and explore your feet connection from the balls of your foot to the heel. Body awareness!
When you sleep on your side, put a pillow between your legs.
Sleeping on your side is better than sleeping on your belly for low back pain.
Doing the Cat-Cow and Cobra Yoga exercise daily can be great for low back pain too!
General Massage can help with muscle aches, tenderness or spasms. Also with stiffness and lack of mobility.

Low Back pain can be helped by becoming proactive in your life. However, if the pain is extreme-make sure you don’t ignore it.

Call your physician for an appointment:

The majority of herniated disc problems occur between L4 and L5. If you are feeling any tingling, numbness or weakness, this may be more than a soft tissue issue. While massage is usually still very helpful, you may want to contact your doctor and let him/her know that you are experiencing these symptoms.

Sharon Hartnett CST, SI, LMT

Columbus, Ohio 740 966-5153

Healing Old Trauma with Massage

by SharonHartnett | Aug 6, 2015 | craniosacral, Massage, Structural Integration

Love with Mindful Contact is the Best Healer for Trauma

Trauma can start young. Children are naturally trusting and they have basic needs. They look to adults for acceptance, love, nourishment and so much more so that they can grow and thrive in this world.

Yet statistics say that child abuse is reported every 10 seconds.

In most cases, children adapt and survive many cases of abuse and trauma, but that doesn’t mean that the mind and body have processed the whole experience/s.

So as adults, often in a trusting massage relationship, emotions and sensations come up as the body eventually reveals old patterns that may have developed as a trauma defensive reaction. Traumas can include something like falling off a bike as a child, being scared by a loud argument, re-occurring abandonment situations or being terrorized by an event.

Most people have touched into some type of trauma whether small or life impacting and developed strategies to cope with life without being fully aware. But through a series of mindful Craniosacral Therapy or other types of bodywork- the body’s own intelligence can set the pace for healing. Not only in the body, but the sensory information is related to the brain as well to restore balance.

Opening the human heart through gentle contact to heal past trauma.

Craniosacral Therapy

Sharon Hartnett LMT, and Certified Advanced Craniosacral Therapist has trained to work with trauma at the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, the Hakomi Institute, and the Upledger Institute to understand how the body holds and can release trauma in a safe and comfortable environment. She has worked with soldiers, victims of rape, neglected children and adults who face physical challenges due to accidents in their childhood.

In the Craniosacral Therapy sessions, licensed counseling is not provided , but what does happens is that dialogue can help the process open up. As the younger “child consciousness” shows up organically, support and love are held without judgment. When the younger energy is acknowledged, accepted, cared for, and allowed to feel deeply in the body, often the process is able to complete and no longer circulates as anxiety and reactionary systems anymore.

Sometimes, when talk therapy doesn’t help with a physical challenge, going to a trained Craniosacral Therapist CST, who trained in ethics and in holding a compassionate container to support their clients in this process, will be the way through. When no other avenues have helped you to integrate, the body intelligence may be able to complete your healing through the mind, body, and spirit connection.

It’s important to say that this is more of a self educational type of session as Craniosacral Therapists are not necessarily licensed psychologists or such. The Craniosacral Sessions are one of Self-Discovery that has helped many to find inner peace and love.

All information shared during sessions is confidential.

For more information, contact Sharon Hartnett CST-d in Columbus, Ohio

703 509-1792

www.craniosacraltherapistcolumbus.com

Headache Relief with Craniosacral Therapy

by SharonHartnett | Aug 5, 2015 | craniosacral, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K

Help my headache go away!

Headaches show up for a variety of reasons… What’s important for you to know is that there are some things that can be very helpful for headache relief, and one of those things is Craniosacral Massage Therapy.

Help your headache with Craniosacral Therapy

Craniosacral Therapy for Headache Relief!

With Craniosacral Therapy, the therapist first tunes into the whole body by listening to the Craniosacral rhythm and palpating the fascial restrictions and tension. Through the practiced light touch of Craniosacral Therapy, one feels supports and follows the internal body wisdom to help the fascia soften… lengthen, often following with the body feeling more energized. With the intention of helping to sooth the headache, the next thing a seasoned therapist will do after listening to the entire body is to go to the diaphragms and release the tight layers. Since the body’s fascia is continuous, it’s important to make sure that other sources away from the head are freed up too.

When that is accomplished, one of the best techniques to release pain in the head is to Release the Cranial Base. This technique feels wonderfully therapeutic and often clients breathe a sigh of release when this is done:

1.The first aspect of this technique is to position the fingertips gently into the soft tissue posterior to the atlas (C1) as the tension melts away.
2.Next, the fingertips form a platform with straight fingers that aim towards the ceiling and then towards the eyes. This may be a little sore due to tightness, but to most people, it is the kind of feeling that feels quite good. Eventually the head will drop down into the hands and the atlas floats freely.
3.Part three of the Occipital Base Release aims to release the occiput from the atlas. This is accomplished by tractioning the occiput superiorly, while making sure that C1 stays stable.
4.To make this release even better, the hands continue to hold the head while fingertips spread the condyles laterally which effectively open restrictions along the cranial base and around the foramen magnum.
5.The final touch includes a gentle release of the dural tube with a delicate traction.
This whole process of working with the Cranial Base allows better flow through the Cranial Vault. It relieves pressure from along the major nerves. In addition to this wonderful new opening, a Stillpoint would be included. It also helps to alleviate pain and strengthen the nervous system’s balance. The Upledger Institute sells a Stillpoint Red Tool that I highly recommend for clients to buy for in between sessions. With about 10 minutes per day, there should be a significant improvement with headache pains.

Check into the Stillpoint Inducer at this link to help you maintain a Pain Free life: Stillpoint inducer

FAQ Page

Sharon Hartnett CST-D

Worthington, Ohio|Serving the Columbus Area

614 653-8111

To find out more about Craniosacral Therapy, check out my main page.

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