Integrative Bodywork Explained

This article explains how Integrative Bodywork can provide a pathway to health and wellness. Integrative Bodywork is extremely helpful and useful for people seeking simple relief, wellness and well-being.  You may see references to Integrative Bodywork (IB) in various locations on the web. IB is a term used by various people for various reasons. Our concept of IB began to be developed in 1999 and has been evolving since.

In 1999 we were working with a variety of clients who were seeking improvement with mental, emotional, physical or spiritual issues.  More than a few of the clients had been involved in seeking "helping professionals" over a number of years. Some of the clients' situations were complicated by being involved in the judicial system or as a result of being among people who were nonsupportive of positive change and more supportive of unhealthy choices and lifestyles.

Wherever they were on in addressing with their issues, the more significantly impacted clients had a few things in common:

It was very tough for them to make the changes they wanted
Over some period of time, if positive changes did occur, the changes didn't last
No option for help seemed to really work or connect
A sense of calm and peace was lacking
General agitation was present which led to emotional, mental, physical or spiritual unrest
Personal relationships were either superficial, non-existent, volatile, or enmeshed
They had a sense that they were trapped in a situation, body, or life that was fighting them
   
My background is somewhat unique. I straddle several professional roles and have education, experience and background in multiple areas. My background presented the opportunity for me to observe clients, who came to me for one reason, obtain unanticipated benefits in other areas not directly expected from their primary interaction with me. Over the course of several years, this happened frequently and sometimes the results were pretty significant. I could go into a number of case examples, but it might be more useful to stay a little more general and explain the possible "why" of how this occurred.

In short, I have studied many different wellness concepts that appear, at first, to have very little relationship with each other. What I observed with IB and the results clients experienced was that a blend of concepts and techniques drawn from massage & bodywork, meridian based acupressure, energy work (primarily Reiki), yogic meditation & breath work, Neo-Ericksonian hypnosis and aromatherapy had a synergistic effect. A blend of these techniques, based on the client's presentation and goals, seems to provide significant results. I am hesitant to say this, because I don't want to set an unrealistic expectation - but in some situations, with some clients, the client stated that they obtained more improvement from one session that they had ever received for years via other more mainstream and silo based methods. Even when less dramatic results were obtained, the results were still significant.

The results have very little to do with me. It has to do with the blend of techniques and the delivery. I am becoming more and more convinced that language is not a very good tool to use to address many wellness and well-being issues. Verbal communication is a very cognitive, preconditioned, often misinterpreted, faulty delivery method, when it is used as the primary method to address issues of wellness. Often, the communication channel is so affected and conditioned by past issues that it is relatively useless as a tool to help make improvements. Also, verbal communication inherently relies heavily on conscious cognitive processes which, almost by definition, are not optimal if someone is seeking to improve their situation. In some situations, techniques that rely on unconscious, non-verbal methods seem more effective. It may be true that silence is golden.

Even in situations where unconscious body memory or physical touch may elicit a client's awareness recall of a physical accident or abuse and evoke a response; non-verbal, unconscious, directly contrasting healthy touch or sensations can immediately offset years of prior patterning and conditioning. This is especially true if concurrent methods are used to reduce the physiological reaction and reset a baseline that supports the parasympathetic nervous system (rest, digest, relax, recover). The baseline reset can be facilitated and anchored by breath work, visualization, hypnosis... The effective power is in the blend of the multi-modality delivery.

I do not personally or professionally consider IB "fringy." I know not everyone will agree. IB crosses multiple disciplines, models and professions. The concept of touching clients as a form of "therapy" is controversial. However, while much simpler in delivery and extent than our IB process, there is a growing collection of research and support for a basic component of IB. The Veteran's Administration and the military are gathering research and support for simple massage as supportive treatment for PTSD. In our IB model, the disciplines are blended and delivered by a single multi-modality practitioner. This option leverages continuity, encourages transference and offers real-time flexibility.

I know that the above explanation is presented in a pretty dry and clinical way. In delivery, IB is a very peaceful, restful, nurturing and relaxing process. This article also addressed some of the more extreme scenarios related to IB. IB is also very useful and helpful for clients who are simply seeking a powerful and holistic session to help fine tune or optimize and already healthy and centered status. Click here for more information about Wishing Wellness.

Essential Oils & Aromatherapy to Enhance Your Session

Some of our clients ask about our philosophy in the use of essential oils and aromatherapy for our massage, bodywork and energy sessions.

We always are very specific in our choice of base oils, essential oil body blends or aromatherapy oils and we use custom blended oils exclusively. Unlike some massage and bodywork providers, we don't charge any extra fees for this. The ingredients and blends that we create are designed to enhance the specific session type to make the experience an even deeper and better one.

We are also very particular in the base or raw ingredients that we use to make up our aromatic blends. We source pesticide and phthalate free, organic products. When we choose to create a specific blend, we focus on the type of session and the adaptogenic qualities of the oils and ingredients. Adaptogenic qualities are something unique to the study of herbals. An adaptogen has the quality of balancing out something. This is true whether the body is in excess of something, or lacking something.

This concept is not readily understood in Western culture or allopathic medicine where people take things to address a specific issue for a single specific outcome.  With an adaptogen, as an example, a specific herb (or an extract such as oil) has the ability to help a person balance out their energy - this is true for a person who may have low energy (depressed), or another person who has high energy (anxiety). The same herb (oil) can affect two very different extremes. That is what is interesting about adaptogens - they simply help bring something into balance from either direction. We place a special emphasis on adaptogenic oils and herbs in our blends.

In our base oils we also include ingredients that are generally known to help improve skin quality, reduce cellulitis and improve skin tone. Our therapeutic blends include a variety of oils and extracts to assist with absorption by the skin tissue and reduce inflammation and muscle soreness.

Research has shown that certain oils have an hormonal affect.  Omega-3 fatty acids are one of the mainstream oil constituents that you may have heard a lot about. Oils are actually precursors to hormones (eicosanoids) - that means that you need to metabolize certain oils or fatty acids in order to adequately balance hormone levels.

Similarly, we are very picky about the aromatherapy oils we use and the blends that we create for our sessions. The sense of smell (olfactory sense) is a very strong process that can quickly affect our thoughts, emotions and energy. The sensory and nervous system pathway from the nose to the brain is very direct. This very direct path exists as a primitive survival mechanism - we want to know early and quickly if we are in danger of being in a fire (by smelling smoke) or avoid eating putrid food that could make us very ill. Likewise, can you recall a time when you smelled a subtle hint of a scent of home cooked bread, or a certain flower, and found yourself quickly recalling past memories or good feelings? We leverage this human trait to help facilitate relaxation and peacefulness in order to enhance overall wellness.

As you probably tell, we've given a lot of thought to all that goes into our sessions. We want you to have the best experience possible and do whatever we can to make that happen. If you have more questions about our base oils, essential oils, herbal extracts or aromatherapy usage. Please feel free to  ask us any questions. For more information about Wishing Wellness, please see our website.   

     

Lymphatic, Trigger Point, Acupressure, Meridian Sessions at Wishing Wellness

We have recently added a page to our website that discuss lymphatic massage, trigger point, acupressure and meridian based therapies. These types of sessions are subtle and focused experiences. Focused sessions, like these, have a wide range of potential benefits for many people, either at a time of distress and discomfort or prophylactically.  we hope you take some time to review our information regarding these sessions.  Click here for our page.

Wishing Wellness Update and Remodel

We have recently updated our location and the feedback from clients is very positive. Here is a picture of the massage and bodywork area.

We are trying to get the look and feel that we had at our Sycamore, IL location. That was a very beautiful and special place. It can never be replicated, but we are trying for the same type of ambiance and energy. We hope our current and future clients will like the new space.