by SharonHartnett | Oct 7, 2015 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K
Massage Therapy with Meditation can be very healing.
While I enjoy helping my clients through a quiet session, I have also found that teaching basic mindful meditation can bring new awareness, especially with history that finds it way filtering into the moment.
Mindfulness helps clients to bring their attention to a certain focal point. This can mean following the breath, noticing sensations, paying notice to images, colors, smells or any information that shows up. Usually there is a connection to something from the past that shows up (kind of like “monkey brain” thinking). For clients who are feeling pain or stuck thinking, they can go straight to that place, and just be with whatever is happening while being supported and held through caring touch. Also, clients who have gone through difficult traumas can change shift their perspectives to their “stories” this way with a holistic approach that can change the brain connection dynamics. Another direction is to find resources found internally that can offer a new anchoring into something that is not painful. Thinking in new ways can shift and change on deeper levels. In a Yale Study I read somewhere recently, it said that mindful practice can stop our thinking from going into a default pattern. It opens us up the mind which I have also found with clients, helping them to walk away feeling more connected to their true essence and joy.
All people have their needs. Life will always show and teach us in the moment. But consider- what would it be like to have an open listener guide your through mindful bodywork and massage?
I like to work with the Craniosacal System and SomatoEmotioanal Release techniques especially. But I also work with Hakomi and Brennan Healing Science not as a psychotherapist, but as a coach to facilitate mind body and spirit connection.
If you want to WAKE UP to your true potential, start by breaking away from all the negativity that you can unlearn. It’s that simple.
Meditation is simple is only a commitment is made to open up!
Namaste
Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST, SI, BHSP
sharon hartnett
(740) 966-5153
Serving the Columbus Ohio Area
by SharonHartnett | Oct 5, 2015 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, thought for the day
Choose Love Now
In this world that we live in, there is a mixture of a lot of gray.
Nothing is quite as it seems.
Underneath the soot of the dark shadow, shines a light.
Yet the darkness hides the sweet silence of creation.
It is in the sacred human heart that a flame burns.
Its sparks flicker different colors. But they all come from the warmth of the rhythmic beat.
Dance in it. Let it free your wings.
Shift the balance of earth in surrender.
Choose love now.
Sharon Hartnett LMT
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
by SharonHartnett | Oct 3, 2015 | Craniosacral Therapy, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, thought for the day
Practicing Loving Kindness
When I think about the unhappiness in the world, one of the first themes that comes to me is “want”. Wanting something is a natural thing as a human being, “I’d like a cup of coffee” or “I’d like you to hug me”. Being physical beings, we like to be reconnected to that which appears to be outside of ourselves. Yet “want” also implies that the something outside of ourselves is separate. When we believe that we are in “need”, we are creating the belief of separation. Now that can be wonderful as long as life is joyful and fulfilling. However, what happens when we “want” something and don’t get it? How far will we go to have our desires met? And how necessary is it for our self-care for us to have the outside object?
When we make the choice to be thankful, we are saying to God or the Universe- I am here and I have everything I need. There is no suffering in this. By acknowledging what is present, we can let go of our pasts and our projections into the future. Life is easier. By giving thanks to life, it’s easier to feel peace and love.
Now I am not saying that it is wrong to “want” something, but if it is distressing you, or you find yourself “demanding”, a good question might be, “Am I loving my life?” If not, maybe the best direction is to appreciate what is in front of me, and start from there.
Giving Thanks is an act of kindness for yourself, for others, and for all that exists.
An exercise that might be helpful is to recognize what you do give thanks for and to say it softly each night before you go to sleep. Then notice how your dreams take shape, and how your life turns around.
Thank you God for all that I have received, and all that I can give, and all that I AM!
Sharon Hartnett LMT
Spiritual Brennan Healer
SomatoEmotional Release Therapist
740 966-5153
Johnstown, Ohio
Upper Arlington, Ohio
by SharonHartnett | Sep 18, 2015 | Aromatherapy, craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K
In this day and age, almost every town has a person who is a Healer.
But what is a Healer?
Traditionally, we have gone to physicians, and nurses to help us to heal in recent times. However, in the last 30 years or so, there has been a resurgence of more natural types of healing. Dr. Weil is the first professional person that I can think of who opened the door to integrative therapies into the mainstream. Deepak Chopra also comes to mind as leader in bringing the mind, body and spirit connection to the media with famous people like Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Barbara Brennan intrigued us with her book “Hands of Light” as it sold thousands of books connecting the Human Energy field with health and the disease process. With a focus now on practices like: yoga, meditation, energy healing, nutrition, stress relief techniques and hands on type of massage and bodywork, people are moving into a more open area of healing after not finding what they need from the old western paradigm.
Online and in conversations, I have heard some people raise doubt to the proof of success for these integrative practices. And that makes sense to me. If a person is only open to thinking a certain way, it is very difficult to receive benefits from something as subjective as being held, or cared for with compassion and feeling. Yet tests and studies have been made which have shown wonderful positive changes after treatments such as Craniosacral Therapy and Structural Integration. Incredible miracles have occurred when people come together in mindfulness and bring their awareness to things like “peace” and “harmony”. Yet these still have not always easy to prove as an ideal healing methods. Healing is a personal journey that will be taken by your sense of individual self. A greater sense of expansion will call you home if you listen.
If you are on your healing path, eventually you will realize that the “Healer” you are looking for is within yourself. There is an intelligence that lies within that is deeper than anyone else’s practice that can truly help. On the same note, we are not meant to do anything alone. And whichever healing path you decide to take, there is a dance. Listen to your deepest longing and reach out. Allow that connection to heal from the external to within. And that experience will now always exist inside of you. It can not be taken away unless you offer it into the land of forgetfulness. Often when the healer leaves, the client may not feel as empowered enough to maintain what has been received. However, after more sessions and positive mirroring, the client begins to resource within for what is needed more easily. So to be clear, the Healing and Healer lies within each of us, but facilitation and relationship are key to humans health and wellbeing.
Whether you decide to see a Medical Doctor, PT, Chiropractor, Acupuncturist or Massage Therapist, make your decisions by listening to your inner “Truth Voice”. It will lead you to the right person who will facilitate your health and wellness goals in that moment. Stay while it works, question when it stops, and be in the moment with whatever is showing up. The Universe will show you what you need even when your habitual thinking gets into the way.
If you are looking for that great person to make it all better, just look into the mirror and look. Nobody else is going to do it for you, but there are lots of wonderful caring people who will help you on your way with the tools they have in their pocket and hearts.
Sharon Hartnett LMT
Columbus, Ohio
Craniosacral Therapist and a lot of other things….
740 966-5153
by SharonHartnett | Sep 9, 2015 | Craniosacral Therapy, Energy Healing, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit, thought for the day
What is like to be raw and vulnerable and to be held in kindness while feeling something real like that?
It is interesting when one begins the journey of self-discovery.
I remember even as a little girl wondering about why didn’t I feel connected any longer to other people. Being an identical twin, it seemed only natural that we would all feel and see and think similar things. Not—:) But I do remember at one point getting interested in ESP. Yet nobody seemed to talk about such things in the mainstream at the time. So I became like many others, loosing touch with my deeper sense of connection.
Then when I hit my early 30’s, I began to wonder again those basic questions that I think touch many people: Who AM I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Again, I did not find many others who spoke about such things. Was it because I was a Pisces, a sensitive and creative woman?
But then I picked up a book, called Hands of Light, written by Dr. Barbara Brennan and felt a whoosh of ah ha. There are other people in the world who are aware of energy and connection in its more subtle forms. I really wanted to go to school right then and there, but I had young children, so I waited. At some point, it did all come together, and the stars aligned so that I might go. That school for me was a place for me so sacred and profound. I faced my deepest fears, touched into places I never imagined in my mind and heart. At the same time, I found it very difficult. I wanted my teachers to fit into my “picture of God” pure, peaceful, compassionate and wise. And they did carry some of these aspects, but they were humans just like me. With their own flaws and unconscious conditioning. So I struggled, I fought, and I cried. At this wonderful school of healing, there was still so much conflict and pain for me. Things left unhealed in them, and things left unhealed in me. But I wouldn’t have changed a thing as they were my guides to the next level of awakening. They laid the foundation for me to be in better relationship. They gave me the space and time to feel raw and dark, love and hate, and peace at such a level I had never known before. I was attached, but I had to leave. I departed with some incredible new friends spread across the globe and such mentors to help me on my way. One who held me close and saved me from myself more than once. Eventually I would teach and I still supervise students. I love the work that I learned there.
Next I moved into my Hakomi training. It was gentle approach from a psychotherapy perspective in mindfulness. The work itself, like the Brennan Science was amazing. Yet even within this quiet and easy container, I felt rage and anger. And wouldn’t you know it, a person from my Brennan Graduate class showed up who I didn’t feel comfortable with, who kept triggering me into my darkness. I loved the work, but I was always challenged. And in all this time, I found some of the instructors to be kind and understanding, and others judging me for feeling so unedited. Was there any place that I could be “real”?
Bert Hellinger’s work caught my eye. I studied there for a while. Learned about family order and lineage healing. Profound and touching our lives on a soul level.
Afterwards, I went into the school SPI for Trauma Training. I expected the founder of the school to be teaching as was advertised. That is why I signed up. But she took ill. A new teacher arrived and I felt so disappointed. Oh- my raw stuff again. But I learned new tools, I processed my “stuff” and away I went with another “tic” under my belt.
If that wasn’t enough, I decided to delve into the Upledger Institute’s work and found myself finally happy with a basic curriculum that focused on the physiological. It took me some type to develop my work, but I loved trusting the “Inner Physician” within my clients and just enjoyed riding the waves. Well, then as I advanced, I started getting more involved in the SER (SomatoEmotional Release) part of the curriculum. Well, you guessed it… in the group my deep feelings seeped right out again. Only this time, the holding was more dear. Not quite enough though. While I looked for someone on the outside to help me, I continued to have a small piece that kept on suffering.
Next stop on the journey, I decided to visit the Byron Katie School for 9 days. Now this was a shift. No bullshit and no Ego teaching here. Each person was taught how to ask 4 basic questions to then turn around in order to find our own answers. Any feelings I felt were mine. Nobody else to blame as all there was were the questions and my mind. What a relief. Taking responsibility for how I felt and created. With each of these teaching, I stepped out of my box and expanded and grew.
Last stop was on a farm in Northern Ohio. I studied with Jackie Stevenson with her horses to learn about equine self-discovery. This was my final destination to truly find inner peace. She held a position of such quiet unconditional love. She took no glory from the healing and growth there. She put the onus on each of us to have our own experience. There was no judgement from any of the participants that I could see. All egos left at the door. So good to be free to cry to say whatever was on my mind, and to stop hiding all that I judged within me. The horses were magical and everything was perfect there for the first time in my life.
Now I have a farm. I work with my horses and other animals. I have also worked with www.integrativeintentions.com in their dolphin program. I have taken everything that I have learned from all these great places and applied them to my life. I now can say, that I let life and every moment teach me. I have let go of wanting other people to give me what I longed for because I know that it is already here. I have felt raw and I have felt deep. But now those feelings feel so much softer and easier. Not saying that I no longer have my distortions or masks. But my tool box is full. My heart is full. And my brain understands things with much more clarity. I can live real as me now.
With all of this said and done, it is freeing being more real and authentic. There are prices to pay for coming out of your shell. People might rebel or leave you, but you will find yourself. I believe that is why we are here. To remember that God is right here inside and that we are the creative aspects of love embodied. It doesn’t mean ignoring your rawness, but it does mean allowing things to be as they are and to progress and they need in their own time. So be with the moment. Explore your relationships and grace will help you to uncover your greatness and essence. The journey is a wave. Ride it. Be it. And know that while this earthy world is temporary, that love is not. Something deeper is calling us all home. That something is real.
Sharon Hartnett LMT
Columbus, Ohio
740 966-5153
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
by SharonHartnett | Sep 5, 2015 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K
Understanding why people experience Chronic Headaches may be difficult.
So let’s rather concentrate our energy on finding a way to help relieve the pain. What actually works?
Generally speaking, when a person experiences headaches approximately 15 days a month or more, it is considered a chronic situation. The two kinds of headaches that shout out the loudest are: tension and migraine.
Chronic Headache relief
Tension headaches are usually diffused around and encompass the whole head. This includes the scalp, neck and are thought to be activated by stress.
Migraine headaches can be identified by a pounding pain in the head, along with feelings of nausea, light sensitivity and dizziness. Often they are felt on one side of the head. Genetics and the living environment are thought to be linked to the start of the throbbing. Diet, chemicals, hormones and such can all contribute to the onset of pain.
Massage Therapy can be helpful in reducing headache pain, simply because it is relaxing, balances the nervous and circulatory systems, and reduces stress. The best thing you can do it to create a healthy lifestyle that nourishes you and brings you into equilibrium. Therapeutic touch can be part of that positive decision making process!
How can Craniosacral Therapy Help?
Craniosacral Therapy in particular is a great modality of light touch massage that helps clients reconnect to better internal dialogue. Thereby, its’ benefits are found by allowing better circulation, nervous system communication, lymphatic flow, and energy transmission. CST is great for young babies, and all other ages.
Release Tension
When an experience Craniosacral Therapists works for you, he/she listens to what want to happen in your body to complete cycles of health and wellness. Especially in regards to headaches, one pays attention to the thoracic inlet to make sure that area is open and flowing superior of the heart, but below the neck. When the cranial motion is optimized by working with sutures and balancing the cerebrospinal flow, the fluids and nerves have a clearer path to move back down into the body for increased functionality.
If you haven’t heard about Craniosacral Therapy, please go to the Upledger site to find out more.
If you would like a free 15 minute phone consult, call Sharon Hartnett at 740 966-5153 if you are in the Ohio area.
Wishing you the best of health and joy!
Sharon Hartnett LMT Craniosacral Therapist Columbus
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
by SharonHartnett | Aug 30, 2015 | craniosacral, Craniosacral Therapy, Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit, Structural Integration
By learning to breathing well, people can learn how to calm themselves and feel more energized.
Many people who often feel stressed or anxious are prone to holding their breath. When this becomes an unconscious pattern, the movement around the ribcage can become dehydrated and stuck. This is unhealthy because it can impair physiological functioning of the body. The good news is that this can change!
By bringing mindfulness to your breathing throughout the day, you might find yourself surprised as to how often you stop breathing. At the same time, by just bringing your awareness to the breath and how the chest moves, you can improve things by learning about yourself and how you are internally organized. So mindfulness is a great beginning to understand the relationship between breathing and stress.
If you want to further let go of any restrictions around the upper chest and diaphragm, then getting some good therapeutic myofascial therapy can do wonders. The web of fascia that surrounds your body and envelopes all the individual organs, muscles, bones and other parts of your body can be restored back to health. Specifically, the areas that need to be released in order to enhanced breathing health are the neck, thoracic diaphragm, intercostal back muscles, abdomen and chest. Lengthening and opening up these areas can help you to live with more ease.
Breath easier with Massage
Often when I work with my clients, I like to introduce them to a breathing meditation during the session. This has shown to be quite helpful in helping clients to relax, especially while working to let go of the adhesions or tight holding. Starting with helping broad areas to soften and release, and then, releasing ribs and bones-clients are amazed at how much more space they discover to breath. In addition, by working with SomatoEmotional Release techniques, clients will feel things like fear letting go as the parasympathetic system starts to bring more calm after the initial wave.
Get in touch with your body sense to heal. Your body knows what it needs and will show the way to any massage therapist who knows how to listen well.
Sharon Hartnett CST, LMT, SI, BHSP
740 966-5153
Columbus, Ohio
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
by SharonHartnett | Aug 17, 2015 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, Structural Integration
Avoiding your pain at all costs?
My guess is that most people would prefer not to feel their pain. It makes sense though, doesn’t it? Who would want to feel pain? Perhaps-that’s why we have so many defense mechanisms in place to supposedly protect us. We are like walking miracles where much of our pain is suppressed…. until it resurfaces or is found out!
Feeling Deeply into Pain to Heal
When people come in for a massage at my office, they are usually feeling some type of discomfort or pain that continues to call for attention. I often hear about chronic pain that doesn’t resolve and the stress and sleep deprivation that makes things even worst. My clients biggest wish is they would like to feel better. Yet, it’s hard to do this alone when we have learned to avoid our pain. Whether you go to a Massage Therapist, a Psychotherapist, a Chiropractor, whoever, it’s good to receive help from another perspective. You may not find the solution up front, but if you stay with it, and trust your own inner sense to guide you, you will get help that best suits your individual needs.
As a licensed Massage Therapist for 18 years, my observation after working with many clients, is that the truth is that the longer we are organized against feeling the “soft” pain, all the energy that is kept in protection to support this dynamic, starts to lose it ability to keep us separated from the pain. Eventually, the pain seeps through and one symptom start to show up, and another and another. Pain is only meant to be temporary to let us know when we are in real danger. Afterwards, we need to learn to shake it off or process it efficiently.
When I first started working, I was drawn toward Structural Integration Work, developed by Dr. Ida Rolf. When I received my first 10 sessions of this myofascial therapy, I felt great. In my thinking and experience, working with fascia became key to gaining a sense of wellbeing. Working with releasing dysfunctional fascial patterns has helped many of my clients release pain and find better posture. Then I found myself attracted to Energy Therapy. I know this sounds far out to many people, but in fact everything is made out of energy. Some people are born with a gift to perceive it and work with healing, and others can learn this. So I attended the Barbara Brennan School to study Brennan Healing Science. While there, I learned that soft pain was held in the Human Energy Field. There are many tools a “healer” can use to facilitate healing this way: clearing energy, charging the field, helping clients to awaken to their “Inner Wisdom”. As with most Massage Therapists, I went on to study another course to study “Hakomi” to add to my toolbox. Most of my class mates were Social Workers, Psychotherapists and such, but I enjoyed learning new and deeper skills to help people with emotional pain based on beliefs that were long held. Hakomi is an organic and gentle type of therapy that is kind and organic. The compassionate standpoint of this work has helped my clients try new things without any judgment or harshness. My last great passion was to study at the Upledger Institute, to gain a more extensive understanding of how to work with the brain, the Craniosacral System, and SomatoEmotional Release. With all of this and more said and done, what I have realized is that people have unique make-ups of how they run their living patterns. When they become stuck on one level, if it is not able to be cleared, pain stays in that system. So if someone truly wants to heal, they need to meet that place of suffering and/or pain with an open heart and a willingness to feel the “soft” pain in order to transform it.
Loving our pain is not a new concept, but I suppose most people might not have thought about it this way. All things are derived from Love. Our defenses only kick in because something is painful in the moment and we did not find a way to complete itself. Yet the mind, body, spirit connection is always waiting to complete itself into the next cycle of growth. So whether you come in and need deep fascial or muscle work, or light touch, give yourself a chance to work with a therapist long-term to explore your relationship to pain and finding ways to release it. In my opinion, the easiest way to feel good is to acknowledge what is present and feel it at your comfort level until the patterns dissolve. Using a SomatoEmotional approach can be very telling, as the body is always dialoguing what it needs, if we only listen and respect what is communicated.
Sometimes, during a first session, even after all this time, I am not spot-on, but I do learn something with every touch, sound, and exchange. I gain knowledge and compassion for the highest good of my clients on my table. So we try many different approaches to resolving pain issues, and happily I can say that I have seen many clients leave my office astounded by how much better they feel. But it’s important to remember that if you are just off the table, the endorphins will wear off, but if you stay with the clarity, staying committed to the work that is needed, and the homework that your MT’s give you, the long-term result are quite possible.
Remember: Love your pain because it is telling you something needs to be addressed. Something deeper than you probably know.
Imagine your life if you stopped thinking pain was “bad’ and learned to flow and dance with it in life.
It might actually change into something special!
Sharon Hartnett LMT
740 966-5153
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
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
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
