MASSAGE THERAPY
Madeleine holds diplomas in Sports Massage, the Rolf method of Structural Integration and Yoga Therapy, and has trainings in Thai massage, Cranio-sacral, Reiki and Ayurvedic marma point and face massage. Hence she uses a combination of techniques to address
She offers:
Massage therapy both in central Bath, and at her home studio in Stanton Prior.
How does massage work?
Massage involves stretching, kneading and compressing different muscles around the body, in the process relaxing muscles, untethering nerves, increasing blood and lymph flow back to the heart and removing metabolites.
The main benefit and gift of massage is the sense of well being that results due to improved blood flow, reduced muscle tension, less pain, better movement and balance; and the ability to reduce mental tension and the effects of the fight and flight nervous response that so many of us are in a constant battle with. Massage enables us to relax, lessen aches and pains, re-set our nervous systems, sleep better, become more mentally relaxed and consequently make better decisions and feel happier. It enables us to stay in the fast lane without harming ourselves.
Madeleine offers Sports Massage, Deep Tissue, and Stress Relief Massage:
STRESS RELIEF MASSAGE
Madeleine also offers a Stress Relief massage helpful for Anxiety. In a Stress relief massage – Madeleine will key into your level of exhaustion and need for energetic boosting, and the need to calm and re-balance your nervous system. Some people become manic with stress, and others burnt out.
She focuses on calming your nervous system and bringing your breath deeper into your belly, bringing you out of your head and back into your body. Mental tension is highly associated with muscular tension – especially around the neck and shoulders. She achieves all this through gentle massage, acupressure and by ending working the head and face – using craniosacral techniques and working marma points around the face.
Appropriate for both sports people and for everyday folk. It is a deep and precise massage working specific areas or parts of a muscle group – to release tension, improve alignment, work scar tissue, improve range of motion and flexibility, and to improve the balance of muscles around joints. Sessions may begin or end with stretches, either to help identify areas of tension, or to help with overall alignment.
Sports Massage helps improve sporting performance, addresses injuries or areas of strain, decreases the likely hood of injuries; as well as improving circulation – lessening post exercise aches and pains. DOMS. A sports massage will deliver results, but may not be the blissful experience of a deep tissue or stress relief massage. However anyone used to training hard will recognise the good pain felt in a strong deep tissue sports massage!
SPORTS MASSAGE
DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE
On the other hand, is more holistic and relaxing than a sports massage. Such a massage will work the whole body, reducing muscular tension but with more flow, enabling one to switch off and enjoy a deep somatic experience. It provides a nice balance between relaxation and muscular benefit. Of course be specific about areas you want addressed – the usual culprits being neck, shoulders, back and hips. An hour is good, but 90 minutes allows the best holistic experience.
The best type of massage for Anxiety and Stress Relief is one that decreases tension through massage, balances one energetically through acupressure – working meridian points, and making sure your cranial rhythm is in – which balances and resets the body at a deeper somatic level.
Madeleine is a wealth of knowledge and can educate you in methods to reduce stress.
Through massage
Through Breath work – where she can help you with calming your breath – learning to belly breath, move away from hyperventilation and upper chest breathing. (See her breathing course in the Yoga section).
Become more grounded – through yoga, or by breathing through the souls of your feet.
Book a yoga session specifically to learn a practise to reduce anxiety, or to improve sleep, – or join her at her up and coming Yoga for Anxiety class.
What is Stress
and Anxiety?
These are both components of life and being human, and part of the pressure of achieving, meeting our goals on a daily basis, and especially today with the overwhelm of too much hitting our mental screens. Worry and over thinking stops us from being present and keeps us in a state of nervous system agitation and flight and fight. When animals come into flight and fight avoiding danger they rev up physically with all the adrenalin needed to keep them alive. After however – they physically shake, shaking or metabolising the stress hormones out of their bodies, which allows their nervous system to return to a base level. Sadly us humans don’t do this as we have a mind, memory, and ruminate, churning worries over in our mind, catastrophising and becoming so worked up that our digestion, physiology and sleep are disturbed.
In order to stay calm and happy we need to break the cycle, come out of our objective – thinking mind. A massage is perfect for this – an hour of time out, of reconnecting with your somatic self, becoming re-embodied, letting go… After all it is in a relaxed state that our minds function best, intuition flows and problems get solved.
To live effectively and happily it is essential to keep anxiety in balance. Empower yourself and learn how to do this.