Best Way Forward

As you all know, the health and well being of our entire community is our primary value and central to our purpose at Therapeutic Bodywork. This enduring value continues to guide us through these unsettling times.

While it is challenging for a small businesses and our team as a whole, we feel it is our greatest responsibility to align with community efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that we inform you we are going to pause (effective Tuesday, March 17th, 2020) and focus on our collective health, wellness and recovery from this unprecedented challenge.

As this is an evolving situation, know that our response will continue to stay fluid. Like the rest of the world, we will be evaluating the situation on a weekly basis and hope to reopen our doors sooner rather than later.

If you do not do so already, we invite you to find us please find us on Facebook and Instagram where we will be posting regular updates.   

We are more committed than ever before to our mission at Therapeutic Bodywork. The world needs healing, good health and lots of LOVE. We are sending all of that to each and every one of you!

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. You can email me at massagecapecod@gmail.com or call the office: (508) 428-1288 and leave a Voice Message. I will be picking up messages, remotely, on a regular basis.

Take good care. And take good care of each other. We are in this together.

Lots of LOVE,

Beth

We Remain Committed to Keeping our Wellness Community Safe

At Therapeutic Bodywork we remain committed to keeping our staff and our wellness community safe.

As a member of our TB family, I wanted to reach out to you personally with an update on the steps we are taking to keep our members, our employees, and our entire community healthy and safe.

At a time when maintaining your self-care is imperative, we are committed to taking all of the necessary precautions (and then some) so that our wellness center continues to be your sanctuary.

We want to assure you that due to the nature of our services, Therapeutic Bodywork is already compliant with the protocols set forth by the CDC and WHO. The Board of Health sets a high standard of cleanliness and sanitation for our practice to keep you safe and healthy, always. In addition, we have implemented further disinfecting protocols throughout the space. We never come to work sick and we ask that if you have any symptoms, you stay home and get well.

Your well-being is central to our purpose and our top priority as we unite around our Cape Cod community to respond to the current health challenge.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

(508) 428-1288.

With LOVE,

Beth

Simple Ways to Decrease Stress and ELEVATE IMMUNE FUNCTION

Elevated levels of stress and anxiety wreak havoc on our health and depress our immune function. There are so many simple ways to continue to support your immune system.

Here are a few of our favorites:

1.Take a Bath: Fill your tub with Epsom Salts -which are loaded with magnesium and sulfate, both known to decrease stress and stimulate detoxification pathways. Add your favorite essential oil for the added benefit of aromatherapy. Don’t have a tub? A warm foot soak, filled with Epsom Salts has the same effect. Fill a pot or plastic tub with water, pour in your salts, add oils and soak your feet.

2. Spend Time in Nature: Thank you, Mother Nature, for sending us these sun-drenched days lately that lend themselves to getting outside. There is no better way to de-stress than breathing in the fresh air and immersing yourself in nature. Go for a walk, eat lunch at the beach, sit outside with a blanket and breath in the oxygen. It does wonders for your body, mind, spirit, stress level and immune function.

3. Practice Deep Breathing: Taking regular, deep breaths has a profoundly positive effect on the immune system. Here’s an easy breathing technique that’s easy to incorporate anytime of day:

-Sit or lie flat in a comfortable position.

-Put one hand on your belly just below your ribs and the other hand on your chest.

-Take a deep breath in through your nose, and let your belly push your hand out. Your chest should not move.

-Breathe out through pursed lips as if you were whistling. Feel the hand on your belly go in, and use it to push all the air out.

-Repeat 10 times.

4. Movement: Have a dance party, get out for a walk, do some jumping jacks. Regular movement enhances your immune system. If you don’t already have a regular movement routine, now is a great time to start one. How does your body like to move? Find ways you enjoy exercise - it makes it easier to stick with it when you're doing something you enjoy.

5. Rest: Proper rest and a good night’s sleep boost the effectiveness of specialized immune cells. Make sure you go to bed at a reasonable hour. Shut down electronics at least one hour before bed. The rays emitted from your electronics, including your phone, decrease the sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin. Start a 'bed-time ritual' so your body and mind know it's time to prepare for sleep.

6.Add Ginger, Turmeric and Garlic to everything. These powerhouse spices are incredibly effective immune boosters. Start cooking with these spices and enhance the flavor and nutritional benefit of your food.

LOVE; It starts with YOU

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Traditionally our focus is on showering those we love with love. While this is beautiful, more often than not we are better at loving others than we are at loving ourselves. Many of us are much more comfortable expressing love to others than we are expressing love to ourselves. But, the truth is - all love starts with self-love. Self-love is the prerequisite to receiving and giving the abundant flow of love around us.

The term self-love is popping up everywhere and is creating quite a buzz in the world of health and wellness. As a culture, we are beginning to recognize the value in loving ourselves and prioritizing our self-care. We have come to learn that without the practice of self-love, we cannot truly feel compassion and love for others. In fact, psychology studies attest that self-love and compassion are essential for mental wellness - helping keep anxiety and depression at bay. But, how do we cultivate self-love?

Self-love is both an act and an attitude. It takes practice and patience and builds out of our thoughts and actions. The most important thing to remember about your self-love practice is that it is just that - a practice. Some days it may feel easier than others, but eventually, it will start to flow through you.

Small Habits to Cultivate More Self-Love

Practice Self-Care: Self-Care doesn’t have to look like a massage every week or a luxurious bubble bath every night. (although we think those things are great!) Self-care is all about the little ways you nourish yourself on a daily basis; the act of showing love to yourself. It can be as simple as making a healthy, delicious breakfast to nourish your body. Perhaps you carve out a few minutes in your busy day to do a meditation or you bring yourself to bed a bit earlier. Self-care might look different for everyone, so explore how it is that you like to nourish every part of your being - every day.

Forgive Yourself: We hold ourselves to this unrealistic metric of perfection. Let it go. We are not perfect. Life is all about opportunities to learn and grow - that’s what mistakes are. If you struggle with this one, perhaps you can try to write down something you’re holding onto on a piece of paper. Take the paper and burn it, throw it in the fire, to symbolize the act of letting it go. When things bubble up, acknowledge these feelings and say to yourself, ‘I’m grateful for these mistakes and opportunities to learn and grow from them. I can let them go now.’

LOVE Your Body: Treating your body like the loving vessel it is will not only boost your self-love, but will elevate your mood, your energy and your well being. Nourish your body with nutrient-rich, wholesome foods. Drink clean water and teas. The better we treat our bodies, the better they will perform for us. And the better they perform, the better we will feel. Period.

Create a Self-Love Ritual: Identify something or some way you can love yourself on a daily basis. Maybe it’s applying your favorite lotion after the shower? Maybe it’s shutting the TV of 15 minutes earlier and preparing yourself for bed. Find a simple, practical way to practice a self-love ritual on a daily basis and do it religiously and mindfully.

Find Your Positive People: Surround yourself with people who make you feel good, love you for who you are and help raise you up. We all have those people in our lives who like to bring us down or inadvertently suck our energy. Find the people in your life who help you be the best version of yourself and keep them close.

Year of the Metal Rat

Happy Chinese New Year, 2020!

Year of the Metal Rat

by Karen Hayes, Licensed Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbalist, Diplomate in Chinese Medicine

On January 25th, we celebrate Chinese (Lunar) New Year, and welcome in the Year of the Metal Rat! 

In Chinese Astrology, The Rat is known for characteristics such as cleverness, wit, alertness, adaptability, wealth, fertility, and vitality.  

And as the Rat takes first position in the Chinese astrological 12-animal sequence, the Rat year places emphasis on new beginnings.

How would you like to begin this year?  Or begin anew?

What would you like to start doing, creating, being, considering, becoming? 

Are there areas in your life where you could use support in sustaining or in reawakening vitality?  

Do you remember a time when your wit and spirit were in their prime ~ and do you sense a longing to reconnect with this aspect of joy?  

Are there areas of creativity, fertility - physical or metaphorical - that you desire in order to feel more complete?

The year of the Rat heralds fertile ground for any or all of these ventures – so take heart!

And, to make things more interesting, or you might say clever, when we further consider the Year of the Rat, we must also consider the element assigned to Lunar 2020 ~ Metal.  Of the Five Elements in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Metal is one of the most curious and perhaps elusive to describe.

Metal, like all elements, with their vices and virtues, is sometimes referred to as “The Wise Judge”.  

When you consider the exacting nature of metal in the form of a blade for example, it yields the power to slice through objects; it is decisive and irreversible in its action.  And because of this, benefits from careful (wise) discernment (judgment) before action is taken.

From a psycho-spiritual perspective, this may mean taking greater measures to consider with as much clarity as possible, how our intentions line up with our actions.  How our words match up with our behavior. And how it feels to connect with our integrity.

From a physical perspective, it may mean optimizing the function of our lungs and large intestine (the paired organs associated with the metal element).  Both organs systems, in quite differing ways, are responsible for taking in and letting go.  And when they are functioning optimally, will keep us feeling oxygenated and nourished as we welcome in the pure, as well as detoxified, as we surrender the excess. 

Acupuncture uses Metal in the form of miniscule needles, inserted at various locations according to our pattern diagnosis ~ suggestions to the body, mind and spirit for optimal harmony.  Chinese herbal formulas have their own way of doing the same.

I invite you harness the energy of the Metal Rat now upon us – as you invite new beginnings, engage your wit and intellect, invest in your creativity and vitality.  

See where it leads you! What a ride!  Perhaps even a maze, well worth embarking on. 

I’m here for you through all the turns, temporary dead ends, and brand new openings.  

Happy New Year!

Peace, Karen