Yoga Therapy (Back to Top)

What to expect:
A personalized approach to yoga. Based on an individual's needs, conditions, and body constitution, one is given and guided through specific sequences of poses, breathing exercises, energy retention techniques (pranayama), and mental concentration practices (meditation). This is a complete program for your body, energy, and mind. It will be modified consistently to adjust to your improvements.
Benefits:
Most physical, emotional, and mental conditions are benefited greatly by a regular yoga practice. These include:
* Addictions
* Asthma
* Back and Neck Pain
* Cancer
* Poor Circulation
* Depression
* Emotional Stress
* Low Energy
* Osteoporosis
* Poor Posture
* Muscle tension/overall stiffness
* Poor balance
* Sciatica
* Scoliosis
* Weak Immune System
To find more information on benefits of yoga, you may visit the following website: www.iayt.org. There is a wealth of information these days on what yoga can do for you. Browse the internet and you'll find most of the answers. If you are not able to find what you are looking for, send me an email please.
How to prepare:
Wear comfortable stretchy or loose clothes. Avoid heavy meals two hours prior to your session. Drink plenty of water before and after. All props are provided. Feel free to bring your own yoga mat.
Style:
I use Integral Yoga (www.yogaville.org) and Structural Yoga Therapy (www.yogatherapycenter.org) as the foundation for the therapeutic approach to yoga. The rest is based on my 5-year experience with clients.

Traditional Thai Massage (Back to Top)

What to expect:
A combination of gentle point pressure work and a wide variety of yoga-like stretching movements, applied very slowly with gentle rocking and rhythmic compressions along your body’s natural energy lines.
Benefits:
* promotes free and unrestricted flow of "life energy"
* energizes and calms the recepient at the same time
* improves blood and lymph flow
* increases flexibility
* relieves muscle tension
* improves posture
* stimulates digestion and elimination
* strengthens the immune system
* enhances overall well-being
* creates more 'space' in the body
How to prepare:
The session is performed with client fully clothed on a thick Thai mat on the floor. Please wear comfortable clothing that will allow for a full range of motion during the stretches.
Style:
I started with Thai massage in California at the International Professional School of Bodywork, where they teach the most traditional and, in my opinion, most complete style found in the North of Thailand. After a short practice period, I went to Thailand to learn from different schools and masters. I am indebted and grateful to the following teachers: Thai Massage School of Chiang Mai and its founders; Mama Nit (Mrs. Nit Chaimongkon) and her family; Mr. Sinchai; and Mr. Jack Chaya at the Lek Chaya Nerve Touch School of Massage. After returning from Thailand in 2006, I began steady practice in San Diego, finding my own style and blending it with other forms of bodywork such as deep tissue massage, trigger point therapy, and acupressure.

Table Thai (Back to Top)

The same as Traditional Thai Massage except that it is performed on a regular massage table. This is usually a better choice if clients would like more work on their neck and shoulders.

Deep Tissue Sculpting (Back to Top)

What to expect:
A form of bodywork that uses a series of very slow steady 'melting' compressions to affect the deeper layers of tissue. Hence the name 'deep tissue', often mistaken to mean 'heavy pressure'. As the muscle tissue and the deeper fascia 'melts', the pressure may be increased slowly to follow a tension release. Practitioner uses fingers, thumbs, palms, and elbows.
Benefits:
* relieves tension in the deeper layers of tissue
* effectively releases chronic stress areas
* effectively addresses chronic pain
* effectively addresses misalignment, repetitive motions, and past lingering injuries
How to prepare:
This work is normally done directly on the skin. Clients are always draped appropriately during the whole session. If combined with Thai massage, client may remain clothed.
Further Info:
Due to the nature of the deep tissue work, open communication during the session is crucial to make sure you don’t get too uncomfortable. Keep in mind that soreness is pretty common after the treatment, and that plenty of water should be ingested to aid with the flushing and removal of toxins that will have been released from the deep tissue during the session.

Trigger Point Neuromuscular Therapy (Back to Top)

What to expect:
This work helps to break the pain/spasm cycle by releasing “trigger points” within muscle tissue. Trigger points are tender areas of tension similar to acupressure points, except they occur in the belly of the muscle tissue rather than along the energy pathways of the body. These ‘knots’ are built up throughout a person’s life due to physical, mental, and/or emotional stress. During a session, focused pressure is applied through a variety of techniques in order to release these trigger points. This process can be quite painful at times, yet the effects are lasting and profoundly transformative. Techniques include cross-fiber friction, trigger point de-activation (rolling and squeezing of muscle fibers), and 'bone-cleaning'.
Benefits:
Same as in Deep Tissue Sculpting with special focus on:
* relieving chronic pain
* releasing chronic tension anywhere in the body: legs, hips, abdomen, back, neck, shoulders, chest, arms, hands, jaw, etc.
* improving postural misalignments
How to prepare:
Clients may remain fully clothed, yet it may be easier for the practitioner to access tension areas if the client is appropriately draped and the necessary area of the body is exposed. Drink plenty of water before and after.
Further Info:
NMT is best combined with a relaxing style of bodywork like Thai Massage to help calm and reset the nervous system.

Acupressure (Back to Top)

What to expect:
A form of bodywork similar to acupuncture, however, hands are used to apply pressure to the specific points rather than needling, producing similar therapeutic results. The acu-points are located on several energetic pathways, or meridians, in the body. Practitiner uses fingers, thumbs, palms, and elbows to access the acu-points and stimulate energy flow, tonify deficiency of energy, and disperse any excess. Acupressure works well in combination with Thai Massage and Tui Na.
Benefits:
* establishes overall health and vitality by balancing your Qi (energy) flow
* unblocks stagnation
* improves immune system function
How to prepare:
Clients remain fully dressed during the session. Drink plenty of water, always.

Tui Na (Back to Top)

What to expect:
Often regarded as the oldest form of bodywork, Tui Na comes from China and is an integral part of the Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is characterized by quick and effective treatments for an incredibly wide spectrum of conditions. Practitioner uses techniques like hand rolling, finger-springing, and palm circling.
Benefits:
These range from muscle tension release to relief from indigestion, with the main focus on unblocking and restoring proper energy and blood flow to the energy meridians, strengthening the organs, tissues, and immune system.
How to prepare:
Clients are dressed in comfortable stretchy or loose clothing during the session.