Stretch Your Mind and Body  

Barbara Searles is a talented massage therapist who practices integrative massage - and we were honored to have her as our guest on the Stretch Your Mind and Body Talk Show.  Barbara spoke at length about using massage as therapy instead of remedial work.

Massage is a wonderful tool that anyone can use to maintain their health and wellbeing - and not just use when things go wrong.

Your body is a finely tuned engine, and it is necessary to keep up the maintenance - so it makes sense to receive regular 'services' - massage is one way of providing that regular service and looking after your body.  Regular doesn't have to mean weekly, bi-weekly or monthly either.... it can mean 3 or 4 times a year.  The thing is to make the appointments BEFORE you feel you need the therapy.

Massage doesn't have to be painful, or very painful, either.  This is a major point to consider, as many people have had experiences where the massage is incredibly painful as the therapist has worked deep in the muscles.   How deep the therapist works and how much pain is experienced should be determined as much by the client, as by the therapist.  Often, the more pain, the less effective the treatment.

As an integrative therapist, Barbara doesn't practice one particular type of massage therapy.  This is an interesting point as many therapists will ask their clients what type of treatment they need at the time of booking.  With an integrative therapy, the therapist will use a combination of styles that work best for their client at that point in time - which has to be much better for the therapist and the client together.

Myofascial Release

Myofascial Release is one style that Barbara does specialize in. Myofascial Release is a technique that provides sustained pressure into myofascial restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion.

Fascia is literally a weave that covers and connects every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein in the body, as well as all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord. Fascia is one weave that covers the body from head to toe, without any breaks.

Myofascial literally means the muscular fascia.

By working with the Fascia, a massage therapist is able to coax the body back into its normal state.  This type of therapy can be very gentle as it relies on small changes and doesn't coerce muscles into moving and relaxing, but the positive effects of the Myofascial release can be more profound and last longer.

Massage As Therapy

Consider using massage as a ongoing therapy to keep your body in tune - one of the other side benefits of massage is that it will also give your mind some downtime and help you balance your mind and body connection better.

You can listen to our interview with Barbara Searles from BodyWorks Lancaster to find out more about massage as therapy

You can also connect with Barbara as @BodyworksPA on Twitter and Facebook or through her Bodyworks Therapeutic Massage facebook page.