"Bettyann is a skilled practitioner and brings a wide and deep knowledge of body work to assist the most challenging of aches and discomforts. Bettyann has provided great relief to my shoulders and upper back and neck. I enjoy the mind-body connection Bettyann brings to her treatments - complete relaxation and muscle relief! I highly recommend Bettyann."
All aspects of our daily lives, work, family, and relationships can bring about stress. Massage is one of the best known antidotes for stress by providing relaxation and relief. Reducing stress results in more energy and minimizes the likelihood of injury and illness. In addition to reducing stress and anxiety, bodywork is a healing time-out from all the demands of your life that will calm your mind and sooth your spirit.
These pains can be caused by overuse, repetitive movement, posture, injury or disease. Massage can help reduce and/or eliminate chronic pain by interrupting the pain-spasm-pain cycle. This cycle often causes chronically contracted muscles resulting in areas of tenderness that are sometimes called trigger points. This state of chronic contraction prevents the flow of nutrients and the elimination of waste resulting in nerve irritation causing pain. Pain relief therapy focuses on these tender areas to relax and lengthen the muscle and to promote healthy circulation to flush waste out.
Recreational and professional athletes can improve performance and recover more quickly from stress, tightness and injuries resulting from training. Shorter recovery time and quicker healing bring about more effective training and improved performance.
What is fascia and how do various massage techniques effect muscle tissue?
Fascial tissue is a white membrane which wraps all muscles, all muscles bundles, muscle fascicles, and even every muscle fiber. It serves many functions, but for a therapist its function as a lubricant is most important. It allows everything it wraps, from muscles to muscles fibers, to slide over whatever is next to it. Over time, however, for reasons of physical and emotional trauma, habit patterns, disease and the aging process, fascial tissue can become hard, rigid, shortened, and gluey inhibiting its lubricating function.
Deep Tissue is a technique that releases chronic patterns of tension in the body through slow strokes and deep finger pressure on contracted areas, either following or going across the grains of muscles, tendons and fascia.
Myofascial Release uses long, stretching strokes designed to lengthen, stretch, soften, make more supple the all important fascia.
Swedish Massage a system of long strokes, kneading and friction techniques on the more superficial layers of the muscles, combined with active and passive movements of the joints. The four strokes of Swedish massage are effleurage, petrissage, friction and tapotement.
Sports Massage is designed to enhance athletic performance and recovery. The Jack Meagher technique of Sportsmassage is a combination of direct pressure, cross fiber friction and compression techniques are applied to increase range of motion. There are three contexts in which sports massage can be useful to an athlete: pre-event, post-event, and injury treatment.
Trigger Point Therapy (also known as Myotherapy or Neuromuscular Therapy) a method that applies concentrated finger pressure to trigger points to break cycles of spasm and pain. Trigger points are irritated area in muscle fibers.
What are these various energy healing techniques?
Bioenergy - The phenomenon called life has two components: the first is biochemical, while the other pertains to energy. We are all built from these two components — biochemical matter and energy. The energy that animates the bodies of humans and animals is known as bioenergy — the energy of life. This force surrounds every cell like a miniature wire, providing a blueprint for the physical body and also serving as a medium for the flow of information throughout the body. Bioenergy also extends outside of the physical body, creating low frequency electromagnetic fields around us (as well as other subtle energy fields not yet recognized by science). In a larger context, bioenergy is an inseparable component of the Universal Energy.
Reiki is a universal life force energy that is used to heal through the laying of hands. Reiki can be used to heal emotional, physical and spiritual pain.
Zero Balancing® can be defined as the art and skill of balancing body energy with body structure through touch. Zero Balancing (ZB) is transformational, hands-on, clothes-on bodywork which addresses the body, mind and spirit.