Posts In: decrease stress

Massage therapy is proven to improve circulation, decrease chronic pain and generally help you feel like a million bucks! Meet the newest addition to our wellness team and schedule your massage today.

1. Why did you decide to become a massage therapist?

I have an active lifestyle, which often meant sore muscles and an aching body. I wanted to learn ways to alleviate and even prevent this discomfort. Now I love being in a position to help others achieve their health goals.

2. What benefits have you or your clients received from regular
massage therapy?

Giving a massage makes me feel like I’m enjoying a nutritional, superfood smoothie. It allows me to stay present and aware of how I’m moving during and after a session, which is very energizing.

Receiving massage gives you the opportunity to focus on yourself, re-discovering areas of the body that may have been neglected. Massage can help you feel better aligned and improve your natural range of motion. Moving through your life without pain or discomfort is a joy that every body should experience.

3. Do you have a favorite type of massage?

My favorite types of massage are Acupressure and Deep Tissue. I enjoy using a blend of modalities to achieve the best experience and result for the client, often including Swedish and Sports Massage techniques as well.

4. Something interesting your clients might not know about you is:

 In my spare time I enjoy making music and performing to get the creative juices flowing. I beat-box through a loop-pedal and create funny freestyle-raps about my immediate surroundings or whatever strikes me at the moment.

5. What’s the best advice you give for how to really enjoy a
massage?

Communicate with your therapist! Let them know what feels good and what areas of your body need the most attention. A great massage is not just something you receive, but something you help create through good feedback.

by Laura McCorry

On the surface, yoga and the military may not seem to have much in common. Yoga is sometimes stereotyped as the domain of liberal, vegan, nouveau hippies and the military as gun-toting, meat-eating conservatives.

But the truth of any community lies beneath the surface.

As a yogi and military spouse, I feel like I’m always discovering new ways these two communities have similar perspectives on life.

• You must live in the present moment.

The military lifestyle is inherently full of uncertainty and change. Schedules are outlines at best and your service member could leave for training or deployment at any time. Depending on the service member’s job, the time of day they go to work and come home could change on a daily basis. There is often no such thing as routine.

One of my favorite yoga teachers would start class by asking, “Where are you?” The entire class would answer in chorus, “Here.” Then the teacher would ask, “What time is it?” The answer: “Now.” Here and now. It was a revelation.

Living in the present moment doesn’t happen over night, just like you can’t walk into your first ever yoga class and pop up into headstand. “Be here now” is a mindfulness skill you can practice over the course of a lifetime, but you get to enjoy the benefits of peacefulness the same moment you begin.

• True alignment demands honest communication.

Separation is a fact of life for military families and deployments can range from four months to over a year depending on the branch of service. This can be one of the hardest trials for the military family and one the civilian world understands so little, mostly through lack of exposure and not a want of sympathy. If you want your relationship to survive thrive during a long separation with limited communication opportunities, you need to make sure the communication you do have is honest and of high quality.

Alignment in yoga can have both a physical and a spiritual or emotional meaning. You are aligned physically when muscle groups and joints are positioned to provide a strong structural support for a posture. In order to experience this in class, you must be very honest when asking your body whether it is working hard and knowing when you are tired and should rest.

Beyond the physical, alignment is experienced when what you think, what you say and what you do are the same. The communication you have with yourself must be honest and of high quality, checking in frequently. This kind of deep alignment with the core of yourself brings serenity to chaotic or stressful life circumstances.

• Deep roots grow in communities.

Military families move more frequently than most civilians, often to a city or town they’ve never been to before. They know what it’s like to be the new kid, to start over with a new job and to go through the awkward stage of friend-dating. Consequently, the military community is usually very welcoming and helpful to new-to-the-area families because they know how important it is to build ties and feel connected.

Yoga practitioners know that you can’t “fly” in an inversion until your core and support system is fully grounded. And yoga is all about connection, not just to the inner self but to a wider community. Both yoga studios and military communities are known for their hospitality and welcoming spirit – because they understand that families and individuals in strong communities are happier and healthier.

Are you a service member or military spouse interested in yoga?

Yoga for Vets offers a listing of classes around the country for free or reduced rates for current service members.

MyCAA is an excellent resource for military spouses looking to gain portable career training, one option is to become a yoga teacher! Yoga One Teacher Training proudly accepts MyCAA candidates.

Laura McCorry
Contributing Writer

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com

by Laura McCorry

I wasn’t exactly friendly and outgoing when I was a kid. That was my sister. I was the kid who would rather sit in a corner and read a book than socialize with people, even people I liked. So it took me a long time to figure out how to make good friends and how to resolve conflict in relationships.

When faced with a difficult problem, I would go to Mom and she would ask me one question: “What’s the most loving decision you could make?”

There’s almost always a clear answer to that question. It could be apologize for being rude to an uncle. Or forgive your sister for breaking your toy. Sometimes it meant stick up for a friend at school even though it won’t score you points with the popular kids.

My mother is the type of woman who does everything. She worked a full time job, helped us with homework and made dinner every night, plus a bajillion other things I was too young to pay attention to. She takes care of her dogs and kids and husband – sometimes everyone except herself.

And I know she’s not alone. Our culture tells us that being busy is the highest measure of success. People brag about how little free time they have to show how well their job is going or how much they’re involved in their children’s lives. And these are good things!

But having a full schedule isn’t the same thing as being fulfilled.

Emily Dickinson wrote, “Forever is composed of Nows.” In other words, we are what we habitually do and feel. Yoga teaches us to be present with what is. Not what we want our lives to be like or how we think they should be. Stress begets stress and love begets love.

I didn’t realize until I was an adult and had been practicing yoga for several years that sometimes, the most loving decision is to take care of yourself first. 

When we learn to habitually create inner peace, then all of our outward efforts will be filled with peace as well. Go to yoga. Have a cup of tea. Dance in the kitchen. Take a deep breath. Take five deep breaths. Repeat one of my favorite mantras:

I have enough.
I do enough.
I am enough.

Laura McCorry
Contributing Writer

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com

Yoga One offers a variety of massage modalities to meet your individual needs – as if you needed more incentive to relinquish tension and increase vitality! Let the magic hands (and elbows) of professional massage therapist Fawn Rangel get you back to your best self. But keep an eye on your shoes!

 

1. Why did you decide to become a massage therapist?

I became a massage therapist because I like to see transformation. People often come in to their session burdened with stress and muscular pain. After the massage, their stress has unraveled, their muscles have unfurled and they have rosy cheeks with a bit of a glow about them. The client leaves feeling better, less weighed down by daily stress and more in tune with his or her true self. I love being a part of that process! I also like that the transformation is simple; it doesn’t require special equipment or fancy gadgets, just my hands, an elbow here or there, and a little nurturing attention

2. What benefits have you or your clients received from regular massage therapy?

The benefits of massage are vast. Most clients report a significant reduction of stress and pain, increased energy, improved range of motion (especially in the neck and hips), and improved quality of sleep. Some clients say they leave a session feeling taller and more structurally aligned. Others have experienced less sinus congestion and fewer headaches.

3. Do you have a favorite type of massage? 

Personally, I really like to receive Thai Massage. It’s very grounding because you’re on a mat so you’re closer to the earth. It implements a soothing rocking sensation and gently stretches the body. When I give massage, I like to mix modalities. I primarily use circulatory massage with a little acupressure, deep tissue, TuiNa (Chinese medical massage), and table stretching.

4. Something interesting your clients might not know about you is:

I went to acupuncture school and am in the process of getting licensed. I also am crafty and like to make jewelry and paint on shoes.

5. What’s the best advice you give for how to really enjoy a massage?

I think it’s important to allow yourself a little down time after a massage. Some rush right back to work or even workout after a session, and that can really halt the benefits of massage.

Communication with your therapist is also vital. Don’t be shy! Feel free to tell your therapist the areas of your body you want them to focus on before the session starts. Let your therapist know when you want him/her to apply more or less pressure.

by Laura McCorry

When was the last time you consciously breathed? Was it the last time you went to yoga class? Even though pranayama (breath control) is one of the eight limbs of yoga and essential to life, yogis and individuals still need to be reminded to consciously breathe.

Nothing worries me more as a yoga teacher than to have a room full of students in the middle of practice and hearing nothing. One of the most powerful commands I’ve ever heard from a fellow teacher was in the middle of a long hold in Warrior II when she said “Breathe. Smile.” That was it. Those were her alignment cues and the whole room re-animated. People came back into the present moment with heightened awareness and back into the experience of being in their bodies.

Of course respiration will happen naturally whether or not you consciously tell yourself to breathe – which is awesome, right? Phew! Thank goodness we don’t have to add that to our to-do list. (Wake up, breath in, get out of bed, breath out, walk to the bathroom, breath in – how exhausting that would be!)

However, unlike other natural rhythms in the body such as the heartbeat, over which we have limited control, the breath is an amazing tool we can use to maximize well-being. Yogic tradition teaches us that breath control is an essential component for meditation and the first step towards enlightenment. Any time you take a deep breath to stave off reacting negatively to stimuli you know the great power it wields.

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathing consciously has more immediate physical effects too – more oxygen is incorporated into the blood stream which results in better circulation and works to lower stress. You may think you’re going to yoga to sweat and stretch and exercise the body and those are wonderful benefits of the practice – but that euphoric feeling of clear-headed wellbeing at the end of class? The quality and expansiveness of your breath played a major role in getting you there.

Perhaps the biggest benefit yoga has to offer is not muscle strength or flexibility, but simply providing you with an hour or more of directed breathing!

Now take a deep breath and slowly let it go. I bet you feel better already!

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com