What is Reiki?
Reiki – I call it the power of ‘ki’, ‘chi’ or simply ‘energy’, is a Japanese Healing system developed in 1922 by Dr Mikao Usui who was said to have been given the healing symbols to use during one of his many meditations in his search for the secret to the miracle skill of healing body, mind and soul.  It involves directing the ‘ki’ or ‘chi’ to yourself or others to build up your own or their energy resources … rather like charging up a battery.  The technique used is healing through the hands and eventually (after Reiki 2) absent healing.  Reiki is a non-invasive form of alternative therapy which can be used in conjunction with other therapies including orthodox medicine.

How does it work?
Reiki is given by laying hands on various energy centres of the body either on yourself or another, allowing the ‘ki’ or ‘chi’ to flow through you – balancing, recharging and healing as the ‘ki’ flows through the body.  Some people heal with Reiki without touching the other person, they hold their hands above the energy centres, this works just as well.  A consistent flow of ‘ki’ assists you in staying healthy, emotionally more balanced and more peaceful inside.

How does it feel?
Reiki can feel like a warm or even cold flow going through you.  Rather like the ready brek advert – you can feel like you are glowing from the energy.  It helps to calm your mind and relax your body, leaving you feeling calm, floaty and peaceful.  Some people aliken it to the feeling of deep relaxation you have during meditation or a yoga class.

What can it be used for?
Reiki can be used to help you feel better either physically or mentally.  It is fantastic if you are tired, have mood swings, lack energy, suffer from any kind of illness or simply need to build up your own energy reserves in order for you to be more dynamic in your already busy life.  It is a great balancer and enhances your own personal vibrancy.  Many people use it to find an inner calm and peacefulness they don’t normally have in a stressful, busy life.  Others use it to help heal themselves both physically and emotionally.

What are the benefits?
Reiki promotes relaxation and reduces stress helping your body relax and your mind switch off, allowing you to be more effective in your life afterwards.  Reiki can also assist in healing ailments both physically and emotionally related.  Either way, the energy will help you feel more balanced and happier.  For me and others I have spoken to who have followed the Reiki path, it has changed my life completely and I feel much more balanced and happier than before.

Reiki Courses

There are 3 Reiki Courses using the Usui Method.

Reiki I :              Personal Power and Protection / Self-Healing / Healing Others

Reiki II :             Mental/Emotional Healing on Self and Others / Absent Healing

Reiki Masters:   The Process / The teaching and Attunement of Others

Please call Angela on 07906 252727 for more information on the above training courses or email Angela on: angela-bodyangel@hotmail.com

Reiki I Course

Personal Power and Protection / Self-Healing / Healing Others

During Reiki I you will have 4 attunements to the Reiki I symbol, connecting you to the source of healing energy which you will use to help heal yourself and if you wish, others to.

You will be taught the techniques and ethics behind Reiki, giving you the tools to use the ‘ki’ energy from the time you leave on the day.

Once you are attuned you are asked to give yourself Reiki healing for 15-20 minutes a day for 3 months to balance your own energies, become used to the power of the healing and to assist you in your healing process.  Many people remark they feel like they have had a detox of the mind and body after this process.

Reiki 1 will give you the resources to be able to build up your own energy, relax and balance yourself and later on you may want to share that with others.  If you would like to use this healing process on others after your 3 month self-healing you are welcome to.  You will be taught how to heal others during the course.

After your attunements you will be given a 20 minute healing session before leaving the class.

The courses are relaxed/comfortable and non-invasive.  As this is not a religion of any sort, it will not affect any existing religious beliefs you have.

Reiki I can be taught on a one-one basis, or in a class of up to 4 people maximum depending on what is more comfortable for you.

All classes are certificated and you will receive a binder to take home with you.

After the course you will have continued support from me during your healing process.

Please call Angela Small on 07906 252727 or email her on: angela-bodyangel@hotmail.com for more information on the course, available dates and costs.

Positive Light To You!

Angela

•    Foundation in Advanced Clinical Massage
•    Living Anatomy
•    Lower Back Pain
•    Neck and Upper Shoulder Pain
•    Shoulder Girdle Pain
•    Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Wrist and Arm Pain

I studied at Jing Institute of Massage in Brighton and I will be continuing my education through January – May 2013 learning to treat the lower body. I have a passion for great bodywork and these exciting new techniques achieve real results.
I look forward to treating you soon, best wishes, Sarah

If you are physically active with sport or the gym it is very important to stretch properly and have regular massage to help to release and realign muscle fibres. Over use or continuous use of muscle groups as in running or weight training can cause the muscles to become tight or over stretched and this is when injuries occur. Regular treatments can reduce the risk of injury, promote flexibility and circulation and boost performance.

The body is an amazing machine and can be put through many ordeals but all machines need an M.O.T and a service regularly and should never be taken for granted.
Listen to your machine!

Today I attended a one day course by Rock Tape in Fascial Movement Taping with Barry Spencer and Mark Archer, two Physiotherapists and excellent tutors. In this blog I want to share with you some simple concepts taught on the course.

The first concept to share is that of Fascia. In simple terms this refers to the connective tissue that runs though out our bodies. For years it was the stuff that anatomists ‘threw away’ in the eagerness to reveal the muscles and bones, believing it to have no value in understanding body mechanics.

Now it is viewed as essential in understanding how muscles work together to achieve motion and how pain and restrictions in one part of the body can be connected to another part previously believed to be disparate. Barry demonstrated this on the course by asking us all to stand nice and relaxed, feet apart, shut our eyes and lift the arches of our feet. Everyone felt their Quads (at the front of the thigh) engage to allow this movement – showing a connection that had to be fascial since there is no single muscle connecting the thigh to the sole of the foot. The course referred extensively to Anatomy Trains which you can read about in more depth here.

The next two concepts to share reveal how taping works.

One significant way the tape works is to improve Proprioception… so what does that mean?

 

One of the first questions a runner will often ask me is ‘Do you run?’ Up until a month ago the answer was ‘no … not really’ followed by a slightly apologetic explanation that my running was limited to ‘warming up’ on a treadmill prior to lifting weights in the gym. Whilst the treatments I gave were still effective and the hundred or so runners I had treated gave me a wealth of experience to draw upon there was always that slight feeling that I didn’t quite understand the runners experience.

So what changed a month ago? Well in short I signed up for my first event – The Brighton Half Marathon and with a fixed date to work towards found myself immersed in the ‘culture’ or is that the ‘cult’ of running lol.

This transition started with a shopping trip (always a good start) where rather than spend money I ‘invested’ in the essentials that would give me the best chance of keeping to my training plan.

The shopping trip started at RUN on Blatchington Road in Hove where I was informed that buying the right gear would negate my concerns about having to train through a cold, dank and dark British winter. The enthusiasm and experience of the guys in this shop was infectious as I purchased the best all weather gear you can imagine – running tights (!), Jacket, base layer … even underwear.

The next stage in my shopping trip was online as I had to have the best GPS watch for plotting my position, mapping the distance run, my heart rate and calories burnt. I bought a Garmin Watch and downloaded RunKeeper onto my iphone – the two essesntials for anyone wanting to monitor their progress (and bore their friends senseless with pretty maps and lots of stats on Facebook).

A month on and I’ll say this… everything purchased so far has been a sound investment. I haven’t yet run in really cold conditions (apparently they’re coming next week) but I have run in pouring rain and a 35 mile an hour head wind and whilst the gear doesn’t make it easy it does make it easier.

Another thing that makes running easier is training with friends… that feeling that when things do feel tough there are others around you to give you encouragement (or share your pain!).

4 weeks on and already we have completed a 10 mile run (that’s 16 km for my old treadmill buddies) – something I didn’t think I could achieve so soon. It really opened my eyes up to how your body doesn’t always react in the way you think it will. I thought I would ache immediately in my legs but apart from a sore left Achilles, nothing else hurt …..until about 5 hours later when I felt like my abdominal muscles just beneath my rib cage had been punched … and the next day when my calf muscles and quads were tight and achy.

Achieving this distance so soon really shows the important role that strength training can play (getting good strong Glutes, Hip Flexors and legs) since prior to starting my training this was my sole focus…

In part two of this blog I’ll share my experience of working to the 5 ‘S’ s – stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit (or Psychology)… lol

I hadn’t even heard of the JDRF before a month ago or really understood the impact Diabetes has on a young child. Chris is a local Personal Trainer – Some of you may know Chris from various fitness classes he teaches (Pump, Combat, RPM & Balance) around Brighton.

“Hello my name is Chris, in 2010 my son Jalani was diagnosed with Type1 diabetes, he was 2 years and 3 months old, he was slowly dying and we had no idea! He was in intensive care and hospital for nearly 2 weeks. Type1 has devastated our family but somehow we are getting through it all together, all of us making sacrifices everyday so that Jalani can live as ‘normal’ a life as possible. He is doing pretty well and now wears an insulin infusion pump, he has just started school and is full of fun and laughter, just accepting all the finger pricks, cannula changes, blood tests, waiting for his food to be weighed and the many others awful things he has to have done to stay alive and keep healthy. JDRF, the juvenile diabetes research foundation are a charity who are so supportive to all the children and their families affected by Type1 diabetes and are working very hard to find a cure for this auto immune disease.”

For every massage booked during October, Natural Balance Therapies will donate 50p to the JDRF!

Imagine the ground has been electrified and every time you place your foot down an electric shock passes up your leg!! That was my experience of sciatica and it left me hobbling afraid to put any weight onto my right leg because of the sharp leg pain caused.

I didn’t immediately make the connection between the work out and the pain since several hours had passed before any symptoms occurred and this is fairly typical of an ‘over use’ injury. Initially the muscle is torn on a microscopic level and so the injury doesn’t register at all. As you move around the tear grows and inflammation occurs and that’s where the pain starts.

At  this point it’s important to differentiate between true sciatica and sciatic type pain known as Piriformis Syndrome. True sciatica is caused by compression of the sciatic nerve by a vertebrae of the spine. What I was experiencing was muscular in origin.

I had overloaded the muscle doing a seated leg press and this had caused Piriformis – one of the muscles in the buttock to tear and become inflamed.

The sciatic nerve passes above, below and occasionally even through the Piriformis muscle so when it becomes inflamed it presses on the nerve causing that debilitating sharp leg pain. Whilst Piriformis is the ‘prime suspect’ for muscular sciatic pain because of it’s proximity to the nerve, there is some debate that other gluteal muscles may also have the potential to cause sciatic pain so treatment will involve stretching out and icing the whole area to take pressure off the nerve.

So what should you do if you experience a sharp pain down the leg?

If the muscle or joint has an unusual appearance or you are unsure of the cause get advice from NHS Direct or your G.P. before booking a treatment.

If you can make an association with an over use injury:

• Stretching a muscle too far
• Overloading it
• Repetitive action such as running or cycling

then book in for a Sports & Remedial Massage at Natural Balance Therapies in Brighton.

Whilst the pain is acute you may want to try icing the area but remember the following:

• Never put ice directly onto the skin (you could wrap in a tea towel)
• Do not apply for more than 3 or 4 minutes at a time (but do ice for 10 to 20 minutes in total)
• If you leave the ice on the area for too long the skin will go red – this means the area is too cold and your body is pumping blood to it to warm it up – This will INCREASE inflammation NOT reduce it.
• Do not apply heat to the area (deep heat, hot baths will increase inflammation)

For more advice or to book a treatment call Brighton 771441 or Book an appointment online at www.anaturalbalance.co.uk
Mark Alexander is a massage therapist and owner of Natural Balance Therapies in Brighton & Hove. We have offer massage, osteopathy and acupuncture with 5 treatment rooms and a team of 15 talented caring therapists.

I don’t hypothesise about ‘how’ it could work. I actually believe and am a result of what it does do.

Imagine: a busy corporate career, demands of delivering multiple projects, managing your reporting lines, managing teams, playing tag with timezones, extensive travel, family commitments, relationship commitments, career advancements, extra study, falling asleep within seconds of reaching home, comfort eating (because it’s easy, not!)….oh and trying to find the energy for a personal and fulfilling life! That was me.

I met with a Life Coach when I knew all the priorities were wrong.

Regular sessions allowed me to maintain focus and to get to a point where I was able to clarify what I wanted in my life, make those changes and genuinely become much happier in how I live. I still review it all on a regular basis.

So every time I come to a life coaching session I am genuinely enthused about seeing the possibilities people have and being part of the process in supporting that to happen.

So why work with a Life Coach?
A Life Coach is a neutral & objective listener who can help you to remove your problems and find solutions to the things you want in life.

In the outside world you have friends who will listen to you. They are also part of your life; so they may not be able to be as impartial as you need. Also, you may not be able to be 100% honest with them. An easy ear can be an easy out by telling you what you want to hear.

Life Coaching isn’t simply about Goal A being achieved by X Date. You can add that approach to the list of lists you’ve possibly dropped by the wayside many times.

Life Coaching is about:

• Understanding why you need to do what you want to do
• Connecting with what it means to you
• Talking out the options & permutations you have available to you
• Knowing that change doesn’t work in isolation. There are all manner of external influences impacting our decision making, not to mention what I call ‘change creep’ where what you want can bring all manner of benefits into all areas of your life (for example; your family, your relationships, your health, your wealth, how & where you live)
• Crystalising your thoughts into real language. Once you can fully articulate what you see in your head and feel in your gut you can then lay the groundwork for the best DIY project you ever delivered
• Making you responsible for managing your change
• Being supported throughout

Benefits

• Life Coaching is what I call “the full-360”. It gets to the heart of why change must happen and how it touches every part of our lives
• It removes frustration. We all know there are direct associations between how we feel and act, Making those positive connections is what coaching can do for you and equally disassociate those negative thoughts harbouring procrastination
• Understanding your emotional state, your readiness and what is stopping you making any type of change is where I focus & function best.
• I love the fact that Life Coaching is not passive. It requires thought, planning, supported dedication and tangible results

Common symptoms include earaches without infection, headaches, tenderness of the muscles around the ear, neck, jaw, face and shoulders, teeth grinding and difficulty swallowing.

It can be caused by stress, whiplash injury to neck, dentures, lots of dental work and heavy phone use where the phone is cradled between chin and shoulder (Jing institute for advanced massage).

If your doctor or dentists diagnoses you with TMJ or you suspect your symptoms might be muscular in origin then massage may help. Treatment includes a range of techniques to encourage muscles to release and dispel trigger points (areas of hypersensitivity within the muscle) and any associated referred pain. It will most likely include treatment to the Masseter muscle, the powerful muscle used for chewing.

Treatment of this muscle requires your therapist to work inside your mouth – one of the few occasions where a massage therapist is required to put on surgical gloves. This aspect of the treatment can be a little bit uncomfortable but is brief and usually very effective where the jaw is tense and the teeth gritted. Other aspects of your treatment are more relaxing and include gentle work around the scalp and neck – focused work that can be profoundly relaxing.

The following therapists at Natural Balance Therapies are trained in treating TMJ: Jan Wolsey, Mark Alexander, Russell Halil, Richard Jackson, Steve Mason.

The importance of reviews cannot be underestimated. For massage therapists in Brighton this has recently been brought into focus by one unscrupulous massage centre leaving fake negative reviews on many of its competitors listings on Google Places. At the same time not surprisingly they left several positive reviews for their own business.

Review sites such as Google Places, Qype and Trip Advisor are now often the first place people go when wanting to buy a product or find a service. Readers do however need to make judgements as to whether reviews are genuine or not and whether the reviewer if genuine is likely to have the same values, standards and expectations as yourself (lets face it – there is no pleasing some people!) . Trip Advisor is a great example of this having recently come under criticism for claiming to be a site where the reviews can be trusted but without a foolproof way to ensure the reviews are genuine.

With this in mind we can broadly class reviews into 3 categories – the good, the bad and the ugly!

The good review will drive more business to you, get you noticed by Google and reaffirm where you are doing things right.

A bad review is gutting BUT can be a wake up call and make you reflect on your practice. In the world of massage you really are only as good as your last massage.

Then there is the ugly review – posted by your competitor to try and discredit you. This is the worst sort of review, in that it tells you nothing to improve your business, shows how malicious and insecure the business posting the review is and, of course, can have a serious detrimental effect on your business.

Review sites are coming under increasing pressure to find ways to establish whether reviews are genuine, and rightly so. It would be a great shame for this great resource to be polluted by so many fake reviews that it ceases to be of any value anymore.

If you are looking for a massage centre in Brighton the reviews on Google places is still a great place to start. You can spot the fakes both good and bad fairly easily. Click on the reviewer and see if they’ve left lots of bad reviews for other similar business in the area (a sure sign this is an ‘ugly’ reviewer) and then a few glowing reviews for themselves. Integrity will always win the day (lets hope)!

Mark Alexander is the owner of Natural Balance Therapies in Hove,  a remedial massage therapist, part time lecturer in Business Studies and occasional Blogger…(when he feels inclined:))