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Healing Touch

A Regular Dose of Touch

There is a growing body of research that shows a link between many forms of touch—from massage to hand-holding—and improved health. A study from the University of North Carolina found that sitting in close contact with a partner for just 10 minutes lowered blood pressure.…

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Acupuncture for Allergy Relief

Looking for seasonal allergy relief? Kathryn Roethel reported in the San Francisco Chronicle that researchers found acupuncture may be an effective treatment for the sneezing, watery eyes, and general misery that strike 40 millions Americans during this time of year. In a study published in…

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All That Matters

Not permanence but change ~ its pace and its direction, is all that matters. ~ Freya Stark At Massage Therapy Center Palo Alto, we know that we all have an inherent ability to heal, given supportive conditions. The body-mind is a flowing process that changes…

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Allow Relaxation To Naturally Happen

Relaxation is an inborn, integrated physiological process that can be easily triggered just by setting up the right conditions. In quiescent relaxation, in which the mind is at rest, most energy-consuming physiological processes slow down, and there is a sense that we are being restored…

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Healthy New Year

Better Self Care In The New Year

Better self-care is a resolution that most people make each new year. We're all increasingly aware that stress reduction and relaxation are critical to our health. ‘Our bodies break down under the onslaught of stress—insomnia, anxiety, depression, and all chronic disease is made worse by…

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Calming Your Hypertension

Did you know that high blood pressure is the number one risk factor for stroke and a major contributor to heart disease? It also contributes to: Memory Loss: Hypertension can cause blood vessels to narrow or rupture, leading to stroke. But it has subtle neurological…

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Caring Touch Creates Well-being

Caring Touch And Well-Being

A naturally occurring chemical produced in the brain when we feel safe, nurtured, and receive caring touch, Oxytocin acts like a hormone in our bodies to regulate the arousal level of our nervous system. It is also the hormone of attachment, the 'neural cement' of…

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Sensation And Healing

Embodiment and Bodywork

The state of embodiment implies a perception of our physicality as well as a relationship to our sensations outside the realm of thinking. In other words, we are engaged much more in the brain stem rather than the neocortical part of our brain. Embodiment is…

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Self-healing

Freedom of Movement Supports Self-Healing

Says Bonnie Gintis, Osteopath, Continuum Movement teacher, and author of Engaging the Movement of Life: "If our bodies were able to move freely, the way they are designed to, without the constraints of habit, they would self-correct more often. Many people have lost the instinctive…

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Improve Your Posture

Good Posture

Sitting ~ Sit in an office chair. Align your back with the back of the chair. Avoid slouching or leaning forward, especially when tired. Keep your shoulders straight, shoulder blades moving slightly down the back and together towards each other. Flex your arms at a…

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Got Tech Neck?

Tech neck is a repetitive stress injury caused by staring down at the small screen of your laptop, smart phone, or other mobile devices for long periods of time. The condition is most common in people with multiple digital devices, who are peering at them…

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How Massage Can Benefit Our Relationships

Whenever we feel stressed, volatile, or are escalating into an argument, the stress hormones that are coursing through our body have revved up our nervous system out of our 'window of tolerance,' where we function at our best, not hyper-aroused or under-aroused. And whenever we…

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Injuries

Massage Can Help Heal Injuries

Many people who come to Massage Therapy Center Palo Alto schedule appointments well after they have suffered an injury, because the injury is not healing. But by that time, your body has developed holding patterns and scar tissue in reaction to the injury. These issues…

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Alleviate Neck Pain

Massage is Effective for Neck Pain

A popular but little-studied method of easing neck pain—by moving patients' necks in specific ways—may be more effective than traditional physical therapy or physician’s care, according to WebMD. A new study shows manual therapy as practiced in the US by chiropractors, osteopaths, and some massage…

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Massage Treats Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve at the wrist becomes compressed, resulting in pain, tingling, and numbness in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and ring finger. Sometimes the sensory symptoms may seem to extend to the entire hand, forearm, arm, and occasionally…

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Mindful Approaches for Stress Reduction

Since the founding of mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) in 1979, by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, there has been steady acceptance of the importance of stress reduction for health, as well as the need for patients to take on…

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Moms Need Nurturing Too!

Mothering is one of the most important jobs you can do, and one of the most demanding. In the introduction to the book she co-authored entitled Mother Nurture, Jan Hanson writes ‘Being a mother has been the most wonderful, extraordinary experience of my life, and…

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Moving Energy

In every culture and in every medical tradition before us, healing was accomplished by moving energy. ~ Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel Prize winner, biochemist At Massage Therapy Center Palo Alto, our expert professionals take you to a timeless space where each felt moment is expanded into…

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Partners, Connect With Massage!

At Massage Therapy Center Palo Alto we know that massage is a great way to connect with your body. It's also a great way to connect with your partner. The simple act of caring touch can help two people bond by feeling each other in…

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Release Tension For Healthier Breathing

Healthy breathing involves the harmonious interplay of the rib muscles, abdominal muscles, and diaphragm, as well as various muscles throughout the body. Unnecessary tension in the muscles of our shoulders, chest, belly, back, or pelvis—whether it is caused by negative emotions, physical or psychological stress,…

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Self-Massage for Pollen Allergy Symptoms

The itchy eyes, congestion, aches, and fatigue symptoms of pollen allergies can be debilitating. Here are some simple acupressure and lymphatic techniques that you can use to relieve your symptoms. Try using a combination of these for five minutes every few hours while your symptoms…

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Self-Massage: Reduce Anxiety, Support Immunity

According to Ayurveda, the traditional system of medicine of India, massaging your body with warm, pure oils promotes detoxification and stimulates circulation in the lymphatic system, a key component of the immune system. It also calms the nervous system to support health and healing. And…

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Sensing What’s Good For You

  At Massage Therapy Center Palo Alto, our expert therapists re-align your muscles and tissues so that you not only breathe better, but your sense of what is an appropriate decision speaks to you clearly and effortlessly.

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Stand And Sit Up Straight

Stand and Sit Up Straight

A good reason not to slouch: poor posture actually accelerates the aging process according to Alice Chen, a psychiatrist at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery. It lowers lung capacity, interferes with digestion, and puts abnormal pressure on the spine. Here's how to give yourself…

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Stillness, Movement, and Space

Stillness is the state from which all other states arise. It is always present and overlaid by movement, since body and all its cells are always in quiet motion. We are 70% water, and water is paradoxically still and moving at the same — a…

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Ways To Reduce Your Stress

Stress Medicine

Stress is accepted as part of our modern lifestyle. We shrug it off thinking it won’t impact our health, using unhealthy coping strategies to keep pushing on. But to stay healthy, the body-mind needs quiet time, to recover after stressful events and reduce the impact…

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Acupressure And Lymphatic

Techniques That Relieve Cold Symptoms

The congestion and aches of a cold can be debilitating and depressing. Here are some simple acupressure and lymphatic techniques that you can use to relieve your symptoms. Try using a combination of these for five minutes every few hours while your cold is at…

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The Brain and Your Immune System

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health saw the first long-sought-after evidence that our brains may drain waste out through lymphatic vessels, the body’s sewer system. The results further suggest the vessels could act as a pipeline between the brain and the immune system. By…

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Healing From Stress

The Feel-Good Remedy For Stress

Experts estimate that 80 percent of disease is stress-related. Thankfully, therapeutic massage and bodywork are available to combat this frightening statistic. The profound physical changes that massage has on your body will affect many areas of your life. Besides increasing relaxation and decreasing anxiety, massage…

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The Healing Power of Peace

Health and well-being require spaces of time for being still, where we can tap into the deep peace within, always present below even the most turbulent of surfaces. At Massage Therapy Center Palo Alto, stillness, mindful presence, and therapeutic touch help ground you in your body…

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The Need for Nurturing Touch

Human beings and other mammals are hardwired to be watchful for threatening situations. A part of our subconscious brain is always asking and answering the question ‘Am I safe?’ This is healthy, as long as we are able to recover from stress as readily as…

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The Value of Sensory Awareness

"Most people don’t know how to listen to the deep messages conveyed by the wisdom of their own biological process. Many people are able to follow someone else’s directions, but this is not as effective as learning to participate with one’s self ... It would…

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Ways to Support Heart Health

The latest science offers some simple and surprising things you can do to keep your heart going strong. Watch work stress ~ People in high-stress jobs may be at higher risk for heart attack and stroke. If you’re in a stressful work situation, be sure…

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What Causes Stress For You?

When we are stressed, our body responds as though we are in danger and releases hormones that speed up our heart and breathing, to give us a burst of energy. This is known as the fight-or-flight stress response. Our bodies recover from normal short-term stress…

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Stress And Body Mindfulness

What Is The Relaxation Response?

The relaxation response is a state of deep rest that changes our body's responses to stressful situations, both internal and external. It is as much an inborn mechanism as the stress response, and it is vital for reducing the negative effects of physical, emotional, and…

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Winter Quietude And Deep Listening

Sensations, feelings, intuitions—through these we grasp our inner wisdom which gives us grounding and guidance. This deep intelligence does not speak directly through the mind; rather wisdom arrives in the emotional body and then travels to the mind as a 'knowing.' The mind thus analyzes…

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Your Feet Need Care, Too!

Feet go through a serious growth spurt when you’re young, increasing a full size every four to eight months during your first five years. They stabilize around age 18 to 20, but once you hit your forties, you may need to start shopping for larger…

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Back Pain

Your Thoracic Spine

About 80 percent of Americans experience back problems at some point. Most people attribute back pain to their low backs or necks, but oftentimes issues in the upper back are actually to blame. Although the upper back, thoracic spine, doesn’t get much attention, it’s literally…

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