Therapeutic Techniques

Breathwork

Breathing exercises are one of the best tools of body therapy. They help relieve stored emotions (for example, anger or frustration) from the body. Breathwork is inevitably incorporated into our guided meditations, but certain techniques will also be done in combination with yoga poses and movements. Different breathing exercises have different purpose (calming vs exhilarating) so we can utilize the ones that best fit you on a given day. Personally I believe that besides yogic breathing practices, singing exercises are one of the best techniques to unlock the breath during our body therapy sessions, so I might be challenging you with some of them as well.

Dance

Dancing is spontaneous moving to the rhythm. It's one of the most primal ways of releasing tension from the body (think of tribal dancing around the fire) and therefore I incorporate it into body therapy sessions. Dancing so much fun especially with other people. Unfortunately, with age many people lose the ability to just let go and shake it off. Every body therapy session will incorporate shaking and rocking of some kind: it could be as simple as shaking your hands, your head, or doing pelvic rocking. We will NOT be learning Michael Jackson's moves or a choreographed routine, but rather using some basic rhythm and movements that would feel relaxing and natural for your body.

Yoga

Yoga is an ancient body and mind relaxation practice that has been very popularized in the Western world over the past several decades. Yoga connect the body, the mind, and the spirit and it's one of the best tools for body therapy. Any pose could be a yoga pose, if you are mindful of your body and your breath when doing it. As simple as standing tall with good posture (Tadasana - mountain pose), lying down on your back fully relaxed (Savasana - corpse pose), or squatting down with legs wide (Malasana - yogic squat). My first teacher Rudy Mettia always said: “If you have a body and you can breathe, you can do yoga!” :) Together we will discover most beneficial asanas for you. I will take pictures and videos every session, so we can slowly build your personalized yoga library.

Pilates

Pilates is a body and mind practice developed by Joseph Pilates almost a hundred years ago. Just like yoga, it's regained it's popularity over the past 20-30 years, especially as a form of physical therapy for people with injuries who are unable to train standing, but can do exercises on the ground. Pilates exercises are slow, controlled, isolated movements that done on the floor with or without resistance bands. Pilates took a lot of inspiration from yoga, so there's similarity in the positions used and principles of breathing. The main goal of pilates is strengthening deep core muscles of the body while stretching some superficial tight muscles. During our body therapy sessions, you may expect to learn how to properly engage your core while lying down on your back, your belly, and being on your side.

Qigong

Qigong - pronounced “chi gong”- was developed in China thousands of years ago as part of traditional Chinese medicine. It incorporates slow movement, breathing techniques, self-massage, and exercises for the mind such as visualization. Qigong exercises address internal organs of the body. During our body therapy sessions, I might incorporate some simple qigong exercises that are easily memorized and could be done safely on a daily basis without my supervision.

Thai massage

Using Thai massage techniques in combination with yoga and pilates have been extremely useful for body therapy and rejuvenation. During Thai massage, a client is completely relaxed and being moved by a practitioner. Thai massage incorporates lots of stretching, pressure point work, shaking, rocking, deep breathing, and mindful movement. It's traditionally done on the floor but could be also adapted to a table for clients who have a trouble getting on and off the floor. Therapeutic touch is one of my greatest gifts and one of the most powerful healing tools.

Fire cupping

Cupping therapy is yet another ancient practice that has its roots in many different cultures. Chinese medicine practitioners popularized cupping (and acupuncture) in the Western world, and I'm sure even if you've never done it, you have friends or relatives who walk around with dark blue circles on their backs from cupping therapy- and most likely, they swear by it ;) I personally use fire and glass cups vs hand pump and plastic /silicone cups. Engaging with fire can be very healing, moreover, fire creates a lot better suction and a stronger overall healing effect .

Cupping therapy is very beneficial for the body therapy - it improves blood flow, strengthens immune system, and loosens up deep core muscles that are hard to access any other way.

Writing therapy

Writing therapy is so simple and so powerful. You might already have been journaling or know what it is about (writing down anything that comes to your mind). However, writing therapy has a little more focus on helping you organize your thoughts/ feelings/ and also concentrate on thoughts and feeling you want to attract into your life.

Writing therapy tasks can include writing gratitude lists, affirmations, or even engaging in creative writing as rhyming and making up short poems or stories on a given subject. I insist on journaling being done only by hand vs typing on computer, as it engages completely different motor skills and also gives our eyes a break from looking at the screen. Writing therapy is an excellent body therapy technique and definitely worth exploring for everyone.