Arising Embodiment Healing Arts

I will be going on-air for a live interview with Valley Free Radio. The local wellness radio show Energy Matters will be talking to me about my work.

To listen tune in to 103.3FM Northampton, this Friday, July 24th from 4-5 pm.

You can live stream it at www.ValleyFreeRadio.org/listen.

If you miss the interview and want to listen at a later time, it will be posted later in the week here at: https://reikinorthampton.com/radio-archives/

I hope you are healthy and thriving!

I recently acquired a new member to my plant family in the office!

Does anyone know what type of plant this is? It was abandoned and I took it in. It had a post-it note on it that said "I like sun". I got it a new pot, and it looks so handsome in it! and much happier too.

You're welcome to offer any name suggestions. I have names for all of my plants. Ask me next time you are in for a session!

I love indoor plants, they make these cold dark times so much more bearable. I hope you are in high spirits as the days begin to become noticably longer.

Come in soon for a session, and meet our new friend!

New studies are bringing controversy to the long-standing advice to always ice your injuries. Here is a bit of history about how RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) developed, how that advice is changing, and where injury science is heading.

I feel that this article ignores the fact that ice is a great analgesic (pain-relieving), which I think is valuable. The average person is not an athlete that needs to recover within a strict timeline, and finding comfort in your body is valuable.

What are your thoughts on this?

The Cold, Hard Truth About Icing Your Injuries It doesn't help muscles heal—and it might actually do damage.

In Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, we are working with the fluids of the body. Fascia is a semifluid substance that surrounds everything. Through its many complex and interconnected layers, the work we do in one area of the body has a positive effect on every other part of the system. It is the reason that some people get up from a BCST session and feel that they have just received the perfect massage. It is only very recently that we have developed cameras small enough to observe this tissue in its living state.

TISSUE QUALITY

The concept of body tissues being “healthy” is often discussed in therapy and training practices. Is tissue quality determined by “macro” characteristics such as strength, flexibility, tension or fibrosis? As these magnified fascia pictures help us see, micro dictates macro and the “tissue quality” is a by-product of the micro environment of its components. These pictures show the fascia is a network of “water tubes”. The primary component of fascial tissue is WATER. The work of Dr. G. Pollack has shown us that water changes it’s fundamental composition when it lives inside our fascial tissues. In the fascia, water molecules undergo a constant transition from “free water” to “bound water”. Free water is what we commonly know as H2O and is in its most fluid state. But this is only one phase of water in the body, the other is when the water molecules bind with hydrophilic (water-loving) tissues such as collagen, another component of fascia. Once the water interacts with collagen, the water literally changes composition into H3O2 and becomes Gel-Water (bound water). This is what Dr. Pollack calls the 4th Phase of Water and a major key to tissue quality. This Gel-water is more lubricating and behaves like a trampoline when compressed, making the tissues more viscoelastic and compliant to forces. Exercise and manual techniques that influence hydrodynamics (fluid flow) can help stimulate this conversion at the deep tissue level and improve our tissue quality. Slow, long duration tissue stretching in manual therapy has been shown to stimulate these positive molecular-chemical changes in the tissue after 3 minutes of loading (Standley, Pollack). Once established, the tissue can be more compliant to dynamic tissue loads such as those in athletics. One can’t have an optimal environment for healing or developing strength/mobility without this micro tissue quality!

Craniosacral Therapist and a vast number of other modalities have been working with fascia as a living breathing flexible tissue since their beginning. The Western model has long held the belief that fascia was a hard fibrous connective tissue. Discoveries about the human body from the Western model were mainly made from observations of cadavers. Fascia upon death almost immediately hardens leading to this misconception. However, as technology continues to develop we can observe the body in a different way. Now there is potential that fascia will be classified as an organ.

New Human 'Organ' Was Hiding in Plain Sight The interstitium, scientists found, is under our skin and between our organs. Understanding it may eventually help treat disease.

I had a great time teaching this past weekend at A Feast of Lights hosted by The Earthspirit Community. I got to learn about the work of a lot of great people, and bring my workshop on building sacred containers. Much gratitude to everyone who came to support my work!

What is Craniosacral Therapy? In this modality, we are able to look at many layers in the body and help them find balance. I could use a lot of words and concepts, but I really like this simple cartoon from Earth Acupuncture.

A Simple Piece On Craniosacral Therapy Made for Earth Acupuncture 2013 copyright 2013 Amy Kuttab and Sarah Costonis

Hello Friends,

Thank you for visiting my new page. Many of my goals for this winter revolve around making my work more visible. Not just so I can have a sustainable practice, but also because there are many people who are suffering from ill health who don't know that Craniosacral Therapy and Massage Therapy can help them. If you have a moment, please write me a review here, and also on Google (https://goo.gl/WSZLZM). This helps me to connect with people who are already looking for my services, and educate those who are looking for a path to greater health. Thank you!