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Our powerful diaphragm is like a piston driving our breath. It attaches to the inner circle of our ribcage, and lowers to draw our inhales into our bodies. When we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes upwards.
Like all muscles, the diaphragm can get tight, especially where it attaches to the ribs. Other vulnerable spots in the diaphragm are the spaces where nerves, arteries, blood vessels, and the esophagus pass through the muscle. A strong, supple diaphragm allows for easy flow.
Open your chest for better posture: A Massage Moment
Our powerful diaphragm is like a piston driving our breath. It attaches to the inner circle of our ribcage, and lowers to draw our inhales into our bodies. When we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes upwards.
Like all muscles, the diaphragm can get tight, especially where it attaches to the ribs. Other vulnerable spots in the diaphragm are the spaces where nerves, arteries, blood vessels, and the esophagus pass through the muscle. A strong, supple diaphragm allows for easy flow.
Continue Reading Open your chest for better posture: A Massage Moment
Wash away your tension with chest tapotment: A Massage Moment
Our powerful diaphragm is like a piston driving our breath. It attaches to the inner circle of our ribcage, and lowers to draw our inhales into our bodies. When we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes upwards.
Like all muscles, the diaphragm can get tight, especially where it attaches to the ribs. Other vulnerable spots in the diaphragm are the spaces where nerves, arteries, blood vessels, and the esophagus pass through the muscle. A strong, supple diaphragm allows for easy flow.
Continue Reading Wash away your tension with chest tapotment: A Massage Moment
Massage your diaphragm for easier breathing: A Massage Moment
Our powerful diaphragm is like a piston driving our breath. It attaches to the inner circle of our ribcage, and lowers to draw our inhales into our bodies. When we exhale, the diaphragm relaxes upwards.
Like all muscles, the diaphragm can get tight, especially where it attaches to the ribs. Other vulnerable spots in the diaphragm are the spaces where nerves, arteries, blood vessels, and the esophagus pass through the muscle. A strong, supple diaphragm allows for easy flow.
Continue Reading Massage your diaphragm for easier breathing: A Massage Moment
Listen with your hands. How do you feel? A Massage Moment
Your hands are so sensitive. They are your main tactile, information gathering instruments. Today’s massage will help you develop the sensitivity of your hands. When you begin to see through your hands, your touch becomes more intuitive.
Continue Reading Listen with your hands. How do you feel? A Massage Moment
Massage the spring back into your step: A Massage Moment
The arches of your foot help your feet act like springs: they load and spring off the ground with each step.
Whether you have high arches or fallen arches, whether your feet feel great or if you get an aching sensation when you stand too long, this massage will help you make your arches to be supple and your spring dynamic.
Continue Reading Massage the spring back into your step: A Massage Moment
Soothe your achy feet and restore pliability to your plantar fascia: A Massage Moment
Your feet can dome and flare like a jellyfish. They cup the earth and then spread wide across the ground.
Let’s warm and soothe the fascia on the soles of our feet, and open and spread the bones from the top of the foot.
Your twist: the stairway to heaven. A Massage Moment
Joseph Pilates said, “You are as young as your spine is flexible.” Many of us lose the ability to twist fully as we get older and tighter.
The key to restoring your twist, is to engage your abs to lift through your spine first. Your abdominal muscles support your spine to be free to lengthen and twist.
Continue Reading Your twist: the stairway to heaven. A Massage Moment
Restore pliability to your arch by scrubbing your metatarsals: A Massage Moment
As we move across changing terrain, our feet are designed to conform to the earth. Imagine you are walking barefoot across uneven ground. Each step is unique. The muscles of your feet stretch and contract in a variety of ways.
In shoes, our feet are protected, yet limited. Our feet predictably land in the same place with each step. This can overuse that range of motion, making our foot less able to adjust when variation demands. Our muscles depend on a variety of movement in order to stay supple and healthy.
Continue Reading Restore pliability to your arch by scrubbing your metatarsals: A Massage Moment
Self massage for rounded shoulders, an aching back and tight neck
Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed that your shoulders were rounded forward? Do you ever feel that ache between your shoulder blades or a stiffness in your neck? Have you tried sitting tall just to notice you’re melting forward again after a few minutes?
Continue Reading Self massage for rounded shoulders, an aching back and tight neck
Opening the spaces between your toes: A Massage Moment
Mother Nature designed your toes to spread across the ground as you walk. Your toes spread to provide a more stable base to support you. People who have never worn shoes have feet that fan wide: their toes naturally spread across the ground.
Continue Reading Opening the spaces between your toes: A Massage Moment
What is a virtual massage?
Massage is a wonderful way to find healing, relaxation and connection. Plus, it feels divine. Many of us have dreamed of bringing our favorite massage therapist with us, so that wherever we go, we can deeply relax and get relief from…
Massage between your toes for better balance and sensitivity: A Massage Moment
Your toes are versatile: perhaps much more versatile than you have given them credit for!
They arch and curl, spread and grip. They help us balance. They press off the ground to launch us into the next step. We can even pick a pen up off the floor with our toes.
When people do not have use of their hands, they have found that they can use their feet and toes for complex activities like driving, painting and writing. Jessica Cox, a woman born with no arms, even learned how to fly a plane with her feet.
Continue Reading Massage between your toes for better balance and sensitivity: A Massage Moment
From anxiety to calm: one breath at a time. A Massage Moment
The difference between chest and belly breathing is like day and night. Chest breathing activates the “fight or flight” state, and tenses our necks, shoulders and throats. Whereas belly breathing, encourages us into the healing, “rest and digest” state. It uses the diaphragm to draw breath into your lower lungs, rather than using the chest muscles to breathe.
Continue Reading From anxiety to calm: one breath at a time. A Massage Moment
Restoring the cushion of your heels: A Massage Moment
Our heels strike the ground with each step, and absorb much of the impact of walking, standing, and running. Your heel bone, the calcaneus, is made of spongy bone, that is that is filled with fluid. This spongy calcaneous, along with your heel fat pad underneath it, helps your heel to function as a shock absorber.
Continue Reading Restoring the cushion of your heels: A Massage Moment
Cold hands? Try this warming self massage
Rubbing your hands together vigorously can help for a couple of minutes, but even then it doesn’t help long-term. That’s because the big gripping muscles of your hands are actually in your forearms. When they get tight, they constrict blood flow to our hands.
Relax your ribs to free your breathing: A Massage Moment
https://youtu.be/zukIAwws5D8 Your lungs fill because of a vacuum created in your ribcage. When you inhale, your diaphragm and rib muscles (your external intercostal muscles) contract to expand your ribcage. That creates a vacuum that draws air into your lungs. It’s…
Continue Reading Relax your ribs to free your breathing: A Massage Moment
Acupressure for headaches: get relief fast
We’ve all experienced that creeping tension that leads to a mild, throbbing, or stabbing pain in our heads at some point. And for many of us, headaches seem to come too often. It can be hard to think and concentrate,…
A five-step massage to relieve jaw pain
We wanted to show you a restorative massage technique for your jaw. Before we get started, let’s check in with the nature of jaw pain. Jaw pain and stress Jaw pain is often linked to stress. This relaxing self massage…
How NatureBody™ Meditations Are Different
Last year, our world shifted when we closed our massage practice. As much as we missed giving massage, we knew that we had an opportunity to create something we had been thinking about for many years.
How can you find relaxation wherever you go?
Slowing and “deepening” your breath communicates to your nervous system that all is well, bringing your body into the relaxed, healing nervous state where the heart rate slows, circulation increases, and the body focuses its energy on digestion and healing.
Continue Reading How can you find relaxation wherever you go?
Why our bodies relax in nature
Even though it can feel like we spend most of our time indoors in modern society, the natural world is still our ancient home: where we have existed since the origins of humankind. We innately respond to nature and at a primal level, understand how to move in it.