Little Tree Massage Therapy

Summer Schedule is open! 🌻🌼🌞 you can now book online for July, August and September! Littletreemassagetherapy.janeapp.com

New Year Schedule Now Open - https://mailchi.mp/3ecc507c24f4/new-year-schedule-open

Gift Cards Now Available Online
https://littletreemassagetherapy.janeapp.com/online_gift_cards/new

Book online for October, November & December now!

Just got 3 cancellations for tomorrow August 10th! Orange spots are open, book online or shoot me a text if you want to book in 2369703385

It's now easier to contact Little Tree Massage Therapy.

Online Booking Open! You can now book from July to September! - https://mailchi.mp/7b38bee2e8e8/online-booking-open-13877836

This week marks 7 years I've been a Registered Massage Therapist 💆‍♀️ Lucky number 7, I finally get my dream clinic space! Still a couple finishing touches to do but I'm so excited with how it's turned out! 🥰

Week one in my home clinic was a success! 🥰

ACTIVATE YOUR VAGUS NERVE

The Vagus Nerve is the brain’s method of controlling the parasympathetic nervous system – the rest and digest system. It is not the only nerve controlling our ability to decrease stressors, but it is by far the single most important nerve due to its far reaching effects. The word “vagus” means wanderer, as this nerve wanders throughout the body to many important organs and imparts signals from the brain regarding their level of function.

This nerve connects the brain to the gut (intestines and stomach), heart, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, kidney, ureter, spleen, lungs, s*x organs (in females), neck (pharynx, larynx and esophagus), ears and the tongue. No other nerve in the body has such a broad and far reaching effect as the Vagus Nerve.

FUNCTIONS:
• In the brain, the vagus helps control anxiety and depression.
• In the gut, it increases stomach acidity, digestive juices, and gut flow.
• In the heart, it controls heart rate variability, heart rate, and blood pressure. Vagus activation will lower the risk for heart disease and stroke.
• In the liver and pancreas, it helps controls glucose store and balance.
• In the gallbladder, it helps release bile, which can help you get rid of toxins and break down fat.

Vagus nerve stimulation has the potential to help those suffering from various health conditions, including but certainly not limited to anxiety disorders, heart disease, some forms of cancer, poor circulation, leaky gut syndrome, alzheimer’s, memory and mood disorders, migraine’s and headaches, fibromyalgia, obesity, tinnitus, addiction, autism and autoimmune conditions.

So how can we stimulate this nerve to ensure that this nerve is functioning optimally? Here are a few ways you can exercise and stimulate your vagus nerve:

COLD SHOWERS
Any acute cold exposure will increase vagus nerve stimulation. Studies have shown that when your body adjusts to cold, your fight or flight (sympathetic) system declines and your rest and digest (parasympathetic) system increases, which is mediated by the vagus nerve.

MASSAGE
You can manually stimulate your vagus nerve by massaging several areas. A foot massage can stimulate vagus nerve activity, as can massaging your neck. A neck massage along the carotid sinus (the right side of your throat near where you check your pulse) can also stimulate the vagus nerve.

YOGA
Yoga increases vagus nerve activity and your parasympathetic system in general.
A 12-week yoga intervention was associated with greater improvements in mood and anxiety than a control group who just did walking exercises. The study found increased thalamic GABA levels, which were associated with improved mood and decreased anxiety.

BREATHING TECHNIQUES
Deep breathing is always relaxing to your body, but you can use other breathing techniques to stimulate your vagus nerve. Alternate nostril breathing or yogic breathing is a great way to stimulate the vagus nerve. Another breathing technique that you may never have tried is inhaling deeply and then closing your airway while pushing your breath against the inside of your chest and bearing down with your abdominal muscles (like you are trying to pass gas). This method of applying internal pressure from the lungs out to the surrounding organs stimulates the vagus nerve as it connects your heart, spleen, lungs, stomach, and small intestines.

As some of you may know, I got married last September 🥰👰‍♀️🤵‍♂️
It has been a bit of a process changing all my business stuff over to my married name, but as of now my Massage Therapy registration is updated, so you will be seeing Courtney Dack RMT on everything from now on! 😃

Yes! So true! Everyone just worry about staying safe and helping our neighbors! 💚

Our clinic is located in Nakusp, but our Community reaches so much farther than that. Our hearts are aching for our patients who are currently evacuated, or are being threatened by evacuation. Please let your appointment commitments be the last thing on your mind - we understand if you don't arrive or contact us beforehand. Know our entire community is standing with you through this. If you are in need of supplies, help, or direction, there is a Recovery Center set up at the Nakusp arena. A wonderful team of volunteers is available to help in so many ways. 🌿

Canceling Canada Day is NOT cancel culture. It is a day of MOURNING with our indigenous brothers and sisters for the 1505 grave sites of children at canadian residential schools that have been found so far, and this is only the beginning. It is a day of LISTENING, true listening, listening to understand the pain they went through and the subsequent generational trauma that has resulted. It is a day for REFLECTION about what the meaning of Canada day really is and to stand in SOLIDARITY with our indigenous people. 🧡

We have had several requests for suggestions as to what to do on July 1 if you are looking for alternatives to celebrating a history founded on colonialism and the intentional and organized destruction of Indigenous Peoples and their cultures. Here are several suggestions:

1. Go to the water. As Marilyn James, elder and smum iem Sinixt matriarch, often says: “We are all just big bags of water walking around. When we connect with water, we are connecting with ourselves”. The water is red on the Sinixt map of the təmxʷúlaʔxʷ because water is the blood of all life. Thank the water, spend time with the water, think about the importance of water in sustaining all life and what you can do to protect it for future generations.

2. Spend some time on decolonization. There are multiple lists of materials out there on decolonization. One recommendation: https://www.nahaneecreative.com/products/decolonize-first-a-liberating-guide-and-workbook-for-peeling-back-the-layers-of-neocolonialism. Read, Whose Land is it Anyway? A Manual for Decolonization https://fpse.ca/decolonization_manual_whose_land_is_it_anyway (free & online).

3. Do nothing to celebrate colonialism. Instead, contemplate what actions you can take to come into right relationship with Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔxʷ (territory), water, and other beings in the təmxʷúlaʔxʷ. Spend time with family. Spend time being in gratitude; there is always something to be grateful for. One suggestion is to fill 1 pocket with small items (perhaps those pennies you don’t know what else to do with). Then, every time you feel dissatisfied, move one penny from your pocket. Notice how many times you think about dissatisfaction over gratitude. Decolonization is tough work. Everyone has been colonized, settler and Indigenous alike, so we need to focus on things we can feel grateful for, even while doing the hard work of decolonization.

4. Learn more about Sinixt. Sinixt elder Eva Orr tells an important story of gratitude and Sinixt survival; you can listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FnFH6K4o3s, in the language birthed from this land. Read and listen to the stories in Not Extinct and learn more about the land in which you live. It is alive with stories that have meaning for all of us in the təmxʷúlaʔxʷ. Visit the Blood of Life Collective webpage www.bloodoflifecollective.org. Check out some of the resources on the www.SinixtNation.org website. Check out the map of Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔxʷ and learn more about where you live. Read Paula Pryce’s Keeping the Lakes’ Way (available in most local libraries).

5. Have conversations with friends and family about actions you can take to work towards reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Lim limpt (thank-you)
Autonomous Sinixt

I get lots of comments on my music during treatment so I figured out how to put my playlist on my website so you can chill to it at home 🎶💚 www.littletreemassagetherapy.ca

Finally got some cards made up ☺

Starting in May I've opened up even more availability at Arrow Lakes Integrated Health. I'll be working Monday-Friday but I'm opening up some evening shifts ☺

Well I'm officially all done in Kelowna now, so I've opened up a few more shifts in Nakusp at Arrow Lakes Integrated Health 😄
alihcourtneybarnesrmt.janeapp.com
2369703385

Website is updated with a new FAQ page! Learn about the difference between an RMT and non-registered massage practitioner and the answers to some more commonly asked questions :)

Home Registered Massage Therapist in Nakusp with Direct Billing and Online Booking

Hey friends 😁 this is my page for my future home-based massage therapy clinic! We are getting started on renos soon and will keep you updated on progress and hopefully an opening date 🥰

Beautiful piece of art that my dads cousin Brad made 😍 my logo is currently getting designed to be like this 😃 thank you Brad!