twinsparksmassage.com

When I say Larry is one of the most flexible people I know, it’s no wild stretch of the imagination.I’m not just talking about physical flexibility, but in every sense of the word. A long term client, Larry touts the benefits of both massage and being flexible. ”Regular stretching may extend your life”, surely your athletic life.  He believes massage makes stretching easier to accomplish with less discomfort.

As Larry explains, one  keys to learning how to stretch is to “concentrate past the pain”. Ironically, to really be Gumby you have to develop an iron will. While holding your stretch you might concentrate on your breath. While breathing, during your stretch, notice your body sensations  are almost always more uncomfortable when your inhaling. Pain in the body often reduces during the exhalation phase of breathing. Another key, do your stretching for at least 15 minutes a session, otherwise your wasting your time.

Larry does some exercise coaching, if your serious about getting more out of your body. His understanding of stretching is unique. This  is not a”Yoga” approach. To inquire about Larry’s unique training and what he can do for you drop him a line at …..lrryhurley@yahoo.com

Massage is a good stand alone to be sure. But it is also useful as an adjunct to other therapies, and  activities. Things do go better with Massage….plus It’s alot healthier than a Coke.

Take Chiropractic,  the benefits of which by now are well known. The body’s vertebra are adjusted to put the body posture back into” alignment“. But for that to work the soft tissues, muscles and tendons, must cooperate.  The bones provide a structure or framework, but it is the muscles of the body that give the body it’s support through a balanced network of levers that make it possible to hold everything together, to make it possible to stand upright, to move. Otherwise, without the help of the muscular system we would simply be a pile of bones. So when you receive your Chiropractic adjustment, that is to realign your bones back to their correct position, there is no guarantee that the bones will stay where they are put, that is in part why repeat visits are required. Essentially, the imbalanced muscles which surround the bones will simply pull the bone back out of position. So a Massage , by a skilled professional, will relax and re-balance those same muscles helping you to keep your adjustment.  You could be out of pain, and healed sooner rather than later. Sometimes the muscles are so tight that they make the adjustment more difficult or impossible, as a result the Doctor may use more force to make it happen. More force means more trauma, inflammation,  pain, and a slower recovery. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a great advocate for Chiropractic, and have worked in their offices for 17 years, it is a wonderful therapy. So If I made you nervous about getting  Chiropractic treatment, don’t worry, just get a Massage before, and you will likely require much less force to “put you back together”, and make the whole experience  more productive and enjoyable.

When selecting a Massage Therapist you will probably want to know about the different techniques available to you.  Well, this can be a problem, and perhaps not the best approach to take when making that choice.

For example, you might ask me if I do Deep Tissue , over the years I must have heard that question thousands of times. The term deep tissue is a general term. Several techniques used by any competent Therapist would fall under that heading.   “Muscle stripping” or “Muscle rolling” are some examples.

But the term deep tissue has little meaning. For one thing no two Massage clients tolerances are the same, what one client experiences as very light massage feels  like being crushed under a large boulder to another client. On top of that, no two Therapists are created equal, because of differences in training, skill levels, and the therapists  physical constitution.

Often, my experience has been, when a client asks if I can do deep tissue, they are really telling me that the last massage they received seemed superficial, and did not have any effect at all. For the massage to be effective the Therapist must find the optimal level of pressure the client needs to get the job done. No more or less pressure. To work on that level the Therapist needs to be skilled. You just cannot steam roll over a person that will just make the client tense to protect themselves. Deep tissue work requires a good deal of  trust to exist between you and your Therapist.

Some exotic types of Deep tissue Massage go further then to the bone! Take for example  CHI NEI TSANG, Chinese for Internal Organ Massage. This requires deep levels of relaxation to be achieved as the Therapist passes through  layer after layers of muscle and fascia to reach the organs to be massaged,  certainly that is deep tissue. Images of Aztec human sacrifices come to mind. Fortunately, there are other approaches to organ massage available to those who need it. Take for example Hatha Yoga,  works on the organs by moving the body around the internal structures thereby creating the space your organs need to function unimpaired. Locally, Sandy Jones is an excellent Yoga instructor.  She been teaching Hatha Yoga over 30 years.

htt://blueirisyoga.net/