Month: August 2018

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Kicking Your Gluteus Maximus

Muscle injuries are more common now than they were 50 years ago, especially in our hamstrings—and not because we’re exercising harder. Our sedentary lifestyles are kicking our gluteus maximuses. What’s worse, as we age our joints naturally tend to tighten, further restricting our flexibility.

Massage therapy is beneficial because it maintains and improves your flexibility and range of motion. Your joints are kept fluid and less injury-prone by working on muscles, connective tissues, tendons, ligaments, and joints via regular.

Increases Flexibility via Massage

According to Men’s Health magazine, massage is one of the sevens ways to increase flexibility. Massage helps break up knots in your muscles and tissues, both of which restrict movement, especially calves, quads, IT bands, upper back, and lats. Additionally, massage activates the limbic system which flushes away toxins like lactic acid and results in quicker workout recovery.

Adding CDB oil to your massage amplifies the positive impact your already stellar massage experience has on your body.

Benefits of Improved Flexibility

Incorporating massage and stretching into your fitness routine can help reduce workout soreness. Regular post-workout massages support your workout recovery and overall relaxation. Here are massage’s positive impacts on your flexibility:

  • Stimulates the production of the body’s natural lubricants to keep flexibility at a maximum
  • Can enhance athletic performance
  • Helps prevent active lifestyle injuries

Schedule your regular massages with us today. Did you know you could purchase a MiraclePass to save money? Check out our calendar—we’re really flexible!

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Can Massage Help with Depression?

It’s normal to feel down, or experience depression, once in a while. Typically, I feel down when it rains multiple days in a row or when I’m exhausted, or something bad happens to my loved ones.

If you feel sad frequently, for two weeks or longer, you may be experiencing a type of clinical depression, of which there are 12 types, the most commonly known and experienced is major depressive disorder.

Hormones and Depression

For many sufferers of clinical depression, antidepressant medications combat the effects of their diagnosis. Some people experience adverse side effects of these pharmaceuticals or don’t want to take pills to counteract their body chemistry.

According to Harvard University, each person’s chemistry is unique. Here are a couple of the hormones affected by depression:

  • Serotonin. Research suggests that some depressed people have reduced serotonin levels.
  • Dopamine. Suppressed dopamine levels distort thinking and are thought to play a role in substance abuse.

Massage and Hormones

Luckily, massage has been scientifically proven to improve the lives of those who experience depression. Here are hormones positively impacted by massage:

  • Increases serotonin which suppresses irritability and cravings. Folks with low serotonin levels have difficulty sleeping and often exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviors;
  • Increases dopamine which affects intuition, inspiration, joy, and enthusiasm; Lack of dopamine results in clumsiness, poor focus, and easy distraction;
  • Increases endorphins which suppresses pain and elevates feel-good feelings;
  • Increases in oxytocin support feelings of attachment;
  • Increases growth hormones which regenerates tissues and promotes healing;
  • Reduces adrenaline which results in feelings of relaxation and allows for deep sleep; and
  • Decreases cortisol which diminishes

Interestingly, adding hemp-based CBD oil to your massage further enhances the positive hormonal impacts of a massage, especially by increases serotonin and dopamine even more. Usage of CBD oil is legal in all fifty states and is growing in popularity because of its numerous health benefits, without the side effect of getting high.

Schedule your massage today and get to feeling groovy!

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Putting extra “AHHH” in Your Massage

At Miracles Massage, I love to bring new and cutting-edge tools to our massage practice. I’ve been beta-testing an all-natural CBD Massage Oil, and my clients are RAVING about it! I love hearing them sigh as they relax even more than usual. AHHH!

Unanimously, they’ve reported feeling a deeper and more effective massage. Tight muscles loosen and enable me to go deeper. They’ve all said it was much easier to relax and enjoy their massage (something that surprised most of them).

What is CBD Massage Oil?

I use a 99.9% pure CBD isolate that is naturally-derived from the hemp plant.  It is entirely legal and has no psychedelic side effects.

What is CBD?

CBD appears to be helpful for many health conditions, including many that are well-suited to regular massage, such as arthritis, anxiety, chronic pain, and more. And although research into the beneficial effects of CBD is still in early stages, most doctors are supportive of CBD, as it has very few, if any, side effects.

Most people are familiar with THC, the compound in marijuana responsible for the “high” that smoking, vaping, or eating marijuana is known for. CBD is the acronym, or nickname, for cannabidiol, the lesser known compound in marijuana. CBD is the compound in hemp that offers many health benefits without any high (which explains the lack of fame). CBD is non-psychoactive because it does not act on the same receptors as THC, called CB1 receptors. CB1 receptors are highly concentrated in the brain and are responsible for the mind-altering effects of THC.

What is the legal status of CBD?

CBD is legal in all 50 states. The most important factor that determines legality is whether the CBD is derived from marijuana or from hemp. Miracles Massage uses CBD derived from hemp. The good news is that it after extensive research, the conclusion is that in Columbia, MD, using CBD oil is legally a go.

What are the CBD science basics?

A 2013 study in Great Britain found that CBD has many therapeutic properties that can help with numerous disorders, although it works through molecular mechanisms that are yet to be completely identified. The researchers found that CBD is effective as:

  • an anti-inflammatory
  • an anticonvulsant
  • an anti-oxidant
  • an anti-emetic
  • an anxiolytic
  • an antipsychotic agent

This means CBD oil is potentially an effective medicine for treating many disorders, including conditions like neuroinflammation.

Want to experience CBD massage oil?

Just let me know either when booking your appointment or when you arrive if you’d like to experience a CBD oil massage.

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Get Your Pressure On: Four Massages You Need Now

Break out those passports, gang! This week we’re headed east. In this series on massage around the world, we are learning about different types of massage and how they will benefit your body, mind, and spirit. This week, we are going to explore four incredible Asian variations of massage. Each unique and exquisite in its own right. Let’s get started.

Our first stop takes us to ancient China. Traditional ancient Chinese massage works to keep energy in balance with the body, mind, and spirit. Energy that is rapidly flowing through the body is thought to combat illness and promote healing.

1. Tui Na
Chinese experts and practitioners believe that a person’s Qi, or energy flow, is essential to a person’s health. Tui Na uses strokes similar to a Swedish massage to release Qi from tension, poor health, and strain. A practitioner will use their hands to scan the body for blocked energy using a variety of stretches, joint rotations, and pressure points. Traditionally, Tui Na is performed on a massage table when clients are fully dressed in comfortable and breathable clothing.

2. Acupressure
You read that right, we’re talkin’ Acupressure not Acupuncture. During this massage, the therapist is looking for imbalances while applying pressure through their fingers to specific trigger points. The goal of this massage is to stimulate the body into self recovery mode so it will begin to heal itself and ward off illness.   

Don’t those massages sound incredible? We’re not done yet. Next, we’re on the move to Japan.

3. Shiatsu
The Japanese perfected a technique of massage called Shiatsu. In this treatment, most therapists use their fingers, palms, thumbs, elbows, knees, and feet to stimulate the nervous and circulatory systems. They are searching for imbalances or blocked energy and will use different pressure and weight distribution to help the energy flow. This massage is performed on the floor when the client is fully clothed.  

Our final destination is Thailand!

4. Thai Massage
A Thai massage is designed to help improve flexibility and relieve pain. This is a massage unlike the others. Clients are fully clothed and begin by lying on the floor. Therapists don’t just use their hands during this massage, they use their palms, elbows, feet, and hips to help them bend, stretch, and elongate their client’s bodies. The therapist will end the massage having the client seated as she works the shoulders and back.  Think of it like massage meets yoga.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s adventure and are having just as much fun learning about different massage techniques from around the world as I am.

For more information on one for these incredible massages, contact us!

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Is a Shaman Massage Right For Me?

Get out your boarding pass, folks, this month we are going to travel around the world to learn more about different types of massage, their origin, and their healing potential. Get ready to unlock a broader view of the art and ancestry of massage.

Our first stop begins here, in the United States, with a Native American practice, the Shaman massage. This is a practice that has been around for centuries. Shaman healers, like their ancestors before them, call upon a variety of spirits to heal the sick through the laying of their hands. There are some who still use singing, chanting, drumming, or other noises to cast out negative energy and evoke spiritual, physical, and mental balance. Others, use a practice similar to Reiki, but with a twist.

Let’s explore together, what a Shaman massage is and if it is right for you.

First, let’s be clear about one thing. A Shaman massage isn’t for everyone. It is meant for someone who is dedicated to taking a deeper healing journey and through self-discovery will commit to:

1. listening to one’s own body,
2. taking responsibility for its treatment, and
3. thoughtfully responding to the daily needs of the body.

The Shaman healer is combining therapeutic massage with spiritual awareness. This can be a good tool for someone looking to grow more deeply in their self awareness, and the energy that surrounds them. It has the same healing benefits as a regular massage like relieving aches, pains, alleviating stress, and supporting healthy blood flow, but it also reaches beyond that for some.

What to Expect
Whether you recognize it or not, people have different energy at different times. Some negative energy can be gained by stressful situations and positive energy can be lost, stolen, or even given away. The Shaman experience is meant to help restore balance and harmony while empowering the participant through illumination of self discovery.

Conversation Happens
Unlike a regular massage when the therapist will occasionally ask, “is this pressure okay?” during a Shaman massage the therapist is actively listening for the flowing or blocked energy in your body. She’s looking for patterns and places where energy is trapped. Sometimes that requires guided meditation.

Shaman healers are believed to connect with spirits on your behalf and call upon them to serve as a go between, aiding in your realignment of mind, body, and spirit.

For more information to to determine is a Shaman massage is right for you, contact us.