Underestimated? Healing Potential & Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga brings energy and healing potential in to the body by increasing the amount of life force we have in our bodies.
We have billions of cells in the body. The cell is the basis of all tissue, bones, muscles, fluids.  The cells of the body are nourished by the blood flow, the rivers of life that bring nutrients and oxygen and take away the trash and carbon dioxide.

Yoga For Oxygen Flow

Lack of oxygen in the body leads to disease on every level. Oxygen is what supports the healing abilities of the circulatory, respiratory and endocrine systems.  Oxygen is a very important ingredient for tissue renewal.  Oxygen is half of what makes water. We are about 97% water. Oxygen is life.

We stretch the heart and lungs with breathing techniques and physical postures thus increasing our lung and heart capacity. This increases the body’s ability to feed the cells by improving circulation and the amount of oxygen in the blood stream.
Circulation is stimulated in yoga by contracting muscles, doing inversions, increasing the heart rate, and applying the “tournequite effect; essentially, creating a dam on the blood flow, then opening the dam allowing the blood to surge through tissues, cells, muscles, and joints with extra power. More circulation means more oxygen, more life-force, and more healing.

Yoga’s Health Benefits Found in Millennia of Study

Yoga is in a class of it’s own in the modern day world. It comes from thousands of years of study and gaining knowledge through doing and seeing the results over time. It is a very sure outcome of increased health and vitality if properly practiced.
Many very famous yoga teachers including mine, Bikram Choudhury, have made it their life work to prove with the Western medical community,  the specific affects of yoga on specific parts of the body and on the whole body as a whole.
Yoga is an ancient study of breath, of consciousness, of body, and all that follows. It is an endless study of human potential.

Author - Peggy Preston is a yoga teacher at Studio Sangha, Queenstown (03 442-YOGA). For more information on yoga and a class schedule, see www.queenstownyoga.com.

Massage Therapy Benefits: A Personal Story

Summer is the season of expression and creativity. Celebrate summer’s abundance and increase your capacity for joy and playful vitality. Summer is the chance to soften up your upper body tension, open and heal your heart and connect to your inner strength and power. This summer, let your massage therapist help you to refresh and replenish yourself, boost immunity and feel revitalized.

Massage Therapy for More Than Just Muscle Aches

“I first went to Danielle over five years ago when I was looking for a massage therapist, what I found was much more. Not only does Danielle give the most amazing massages but she has a multitude of knowledge and skills, techniques and gifts which she uses to treat the whole person.

During my pregnancy I continued to see Danielle, having massages and reflexology, which I found very beneficial. My waters broke at 36.5 weeks and so I called Danielle to come to the hospital and aid the delivery of my baby with a very much needed reflexology treatment. As most mums find for the first 18 months of my son’s life, I found little time for myself, so the treatments went by the way side.

When my son was about two I felt quite lost and somewhat unsettled and unhappy with my little world. I decided I needed to get myself back on track and contact Danielle. It was the best thing I could have done for myself and my family (happy mum = happy dad and kids).

We talked, I cried, I talked, I cried and Danielle listened with empathy and then gave me some useful tools to help me see the glass half-full again. I had massages, reflexology and chiron. I felt amazingly different after my first session. I was more grounded, stronger, calmer and healthier.

I see Danielle every 6 weeks. We talk. I tell her my worries openly and honestly. I feel totally relaxed in her presence, knowing she will guide me in the way I need to heal myself.”

I believe that your power to heal comes from within; I just provide you with the tools and advice. I treat each person as an individual, addressing their health issues on an individual basis whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual. My aim is to empower and encourage each person I treat to take responsibility for, and thus make more, positive choices about their own health and development.

Author – Danielle Argent is a Wanaka massage therapist.

CranioSacral Therapy (CST) – The Mystery Unveiled

A puzzled look tends to cross the face of most people when I mention CranioSacral Therapy (CST).  As a relative newcomer to the holistic health world, CST is often veiled in mystery.  But mark my words, this is rapidly changing, as more and more people are drawn to this holistic approach to mind, body and soul wellbeing.

Developed in the United States in the 1970s, CST is the culmination of many years of research and trials by osteopathic physician, Dr John Upledger.

CST Taps Into Your Body’s Natural Healing Powers

Performed on a massage table whilst fully clothed, CST is a deeply relaxing, hands-on experience.

There is no greater expert on your wellbeing than you own body and by tapping into its natural healing powers, CST facilitates change in a way that honours each individual.

Get Long Term Relief

Treating symptoms will bring short-term relief, but by taking the time to unwind through the layers of dysfunction long-term relief can be achieved by resolving the underlying cause.  The root of many conditions lies in emotional issues we are holding on to and CST offers a gentle way of releasing what is no longer serving us.

If you are in pain, be it physical or emotional, then the body is already trying to tell you something.  Sometimes we just need a little help to hear what it is saying!

In addition to increased energy and immunity, CST can help with a wide range of conditions, including neck and back pain, digestive problems, fatigue, stress, sleep difficulties, headaches, migraine and TMJ dysfunction.

Author - Vicky Cavanagh-Hodge at Balance Therapy on 021 464 533. For more information on craniosacral therapy, please visit www.balancetherapy.co.nz or contact.

Make Massage Part of Your Life To Maintain Health

Regular massages, more than just wellness? Regular massage is an excellent way of maintaining health by addressing imbalances before they become serious and need other forms of treatment.

People comfortable with touch, need little persuasion to consider regular massage with all its benefits. Massage is often perceived as an indulgence rather than a treatment, yet it often provides instant relaxation and increased physical and emotional wellbeing.

Benefits of Professional Therapeutic Massage

For those more reluctant ones, skilled and professional therapeutic massage has measurable benefits:

Pain relief: Muscular tension is a main contributing factor in pain conditions such as repetitive strain, headaches, back, neck and shoulder pain. Unevenly tensed muscles pull on the skeleton, causing painful misalignments, uneven wear and loss of balance that is compensated for by more muscular tension. Release of muscular tension, or combined with gentle skeletal realignment, is often enough to allow the body to re-establish its balance, eliminating the cause of pain and heal itself.

Massage can increase performance. Tension uses muscular power that becomes unavailable for work. So relaxation actually increases strength.

Massage promotes circulation. It pushes blood through capillaries of the skin surface and underlying tissues. Sufficient blood supply is a pre-requisite for the transport of immune cells, antibodies and anti-oxidative enzymes into every area of the body. Cells of the immune system prevent invasion of viruses and bacteria by eliminating them locally before they can spread via the lymphatic system and bloodstream. Anti-oxidative enzymes prevent tissue degeneration from oxidative stress that can be seen as a factor in aging. Maintaining good circulation can be seen as an efficient means of delaying the aging of body tissues.

Massage removes small blockages and deposits. These are reconnected to the bloodstream and transported away to be metabolized and eliminated. This prevents inflammation and maintains elasticity of skin and tissues, keeping them younger and healthier.

Regular contact with a medical professional can mean early detection. A therapist trained in medical issues can point out early signs of skin and tissue changes and recommend that the client seek medical advice. This means that more serious health issues can be addressed early and treated more successfully.

The Value of Touch

Young babies fail to thrive and grow in the absence of touch and human contact. It is also likely that humans beyond the early development stage also need touch and massage to maintain tissues in good health.

Stress is known to be a contributing factor in many diseases, including cancer and circulatory diseases. The increase of emotional wellbeing and reduction of stress can be seen as a preventive measure against many such serious diseases.

The survival rate after a heart attack increases if the patient has a loving partner. Regular touch and massage might also be able to contribute in similar ways, especially for those who live alone, have separated or lost a partner.

Emotional experiences and habits often manifest themselves as patterns of muscular tension. By releasing those patterns of tension, it can help to resolve those experiences and issues, sometimes where words have failed.

Do you need more convincing to feel good about booking an appointment?

Author – Steffi Rethwisch is a Wanaka massage therapist 027 313 5114 or feel free to email her

Bowen Therapy: Stimulate Your Body to Heal Itself

The Bowen technique does not seek to treat specific conditions or disease but rather to gently stimulate the body to heal itself.

Tom Bowen the founder of Bowen Therapy believed that bodily dysfunction is a result of disturbances in the tissues. His goal was to restore the structural integrity in the body in order to restore its optimum function. And his gift was to discover a system of mobilization to rebalance the natural flow of energy.

The technique uses a series of selectively placed transverse muscle fiber moves to stimulate soft tissue (fascia) found between muscle and skin. The effect allows the fascia to become rehydrated which in turn assists structures housed within this tissue including nerves, muscles, lymph, organs and vascular structures. Improved function leads to improved general health.

Since the main goal of the technique is to stimulate the body to engage its own self-healing mechanism it can be used effectively to reduce rehabilitation time after any illness, surgery or injury regardless of how old or recent it may be. It reduces the possibility of re-injury and also reduces the chance of injuries by keeping the body supple and toned.

Bowens holistic approach treats the whole body not just injured sites.

Case Study – Bowen Therapy & Back Problems

- Bobbie Pledger

Author: Lyn Brown – A bowen therapist in Wanaka, New Zealand, has participated, coached and worked in the Health and Sports industry for most of her life. Her entire family, parents and grandparents were all actively involved in sports and any injuries sustained were always dealt to by her grandparents using natural healing methods. They trusted their intuition with the knowledge that the body can heal itself.

Lyn studied Naturopathy and Deep Tissue Body Therapy while working at a Health Retreat/Clinic in Perth and used her knowledge extensively as a coach in many sports including those of her three very competitive children.

It was in Perth 20 years ago where Lyn first saw the fantastic benefits of Bowen therapy. She believes it is one of the most effective healing modalities she has ever worked with.