Finding your Breathe: It means more than just Massage

Breathing is something that we do all the time, every day, and we do it without even thinking about it. Most the time our breath is shallow and just enough to keep us alive. When the brain and our body does not get enough oxygen, a signal of stress is send through the body, our most essential need is lacking. This will create anxious feeling in the body and will take us out of our “center”.

Even as an Ocean Beach Massage Therapist that is a trained expert in body psychology, sometimes I catch myself cought in the moment and my breath pattern is shallow and restrained. Even though I tell my clients to do it all of the time, it is easy to get distracted.

So, when you get stressed and feel like you are beginning to become overwhelmed, stop and take couple of minutes to focus on finding your breathe, let it climb slowly up and down your spine and regain your composure. It will help calm the situation, and making it a habit will help your quality of life in the long run.

 

Physical Therapy + Massage

That’s Your Body, a local Ocean Beach massage center, is currently working with a client that recently had ACL/Miniscus surgery, and he is now doing physical therapy 3x a week along with 1.5 hour massages once a week. That’s Your Body’s ocean beach massage therapist helps stretch out the muscles that are trying to re-build, while taking a lot of the pressure that is being put on his other leg to compensate.

Ocean Beach Massage by itself is extremely effective, but when it is combined with physical therapy, personal training, yoga or acupuncture, it can save your body down the line. Like massage, physical therapy after ACL surgery is a slow and steady process, but it helps teach patience, determination and focus. 

The client also realized the need for bodywork on his upper body through the injury to his lower body. In addition to his good leg taking a lot of the brunt of the load, his upper body is also compensating for his lower body that is protecting itself. By walking on crutches, using rails while walking up and down stairs and limiting his exercise to his upper body has significantly overstressed his shoulders, neck, arms and chest.