Saturday June 2nd 10-6pm
Come and enjoy a couple of hours at Kiva Therapeutics!
Festivities include:
Root Beer Floats
$5 Mini Spa Treatments
Animation Cel Exhibit
Vizions of Glassware is our guest artisan
Meet the Chief! creator of the topical elixir “Snake Oil”
Free coffee and cookies
Hope to see you all!
Marketing Massage in a small community can be tricky. It is a different animal all together than marketing in a city. In an urban setting all one needs to do is put out a sign and run a small little marketing campaign to your demographic and people come and check out your new business. In a small community it can be a bit trickier.
What to Market:
Is Massage Therapy a viable service in the community? Do people understand the value in Therapeutic Massage? How about spa services? Will they be utilized by the community members? If you are in a conservative community, your time might be spent on marketing the benefits of Massage Therapy. Unfortunately there are a number of massage therapists out there selling sex with their services. This kind of behavior creates a bad rap for therapists who have a practice focusing on musculo-skeletal pain relief. You can spend all your time and budget on marketing your massage business but if people don’t believe in massage as a therapeutic treatment but as a sex treatment, they will not seek you out in times of need.
How does it look:
Evaluate your market to determine if your personal presence and business appearance will complement the environment. In a small community one will find greater success if you fit into the dynamic that already exists. If you arrive into town with brightly colored hair, piercings and urban hipster dress, your welcome will be different than in an inner city setting. In addition, if your business setting does not fit the confines of the community, people may feel uncomfortable coming into your business. It needs to be accessible for the demographic you are seeking. If you build a 4-Star Spa in an economically depressed community, people may not come in to check it out due to fear of feeling out of their comfort range.
Who You Know:
Also known as word of mouth. People talk to each other and let their friends know if they liked the new restaurant, store, spa etc… Massage can be an expensive luxury for the average person so they need to know they will get what they paid for. Your interactions with other community members and clients will be a powerful tool to get the word out about your business.
Meet the people in the know; the grocers, librarians, city council members, business owners, matriarchs and patriarchs of the community and offer them a discounted or free session in exchange for their good word.
Where to Advertise:
Find out what news sources people utilize. Do they read the newspaper, watch the local news, read the community boards or listen to the radio? Once you find out this information you can direct your marketing accordingly. Look into local groups and spend some marketing time with these groups. Market your business in conjunction with other special events that happen. It doubles the impact of your marketing and saves you a little money. People are already looking at this other event so it is a prime time to market that your services fit into that arena as well.
Advertise Here:
Community Boards
Newspaper
Social Network:
Blog Sites
Facebook
Twitter
Chamber of Commerce
Non-Profit Organizations
Philanthropy Events
Professional Networking Groups
Social Events
Why Massage?
Perhaps you consider massage to be luxurious or too outside of the box to add it to your health regiment. Adding massage to your regular health regime will not only improve your muscular function but also your mental and emotional state; relieving symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Take a look at the following ways massage can help your body perform better.
Massage Improves:
» Circulation of blood and lymph
» Immune system function
» Muscle flexibility
» Joint mobility
» Energy flow
» Skin tone
Massage Alleviates:
» Stress and anxiety
» Tension headaches
» Muscular aches and stiffness
» Signs of aging
» Repetitive Use Syndrome; ie…Carpal Tunnel and Tennis Elbow
» Post Surgery muscle spasm
Massage Enhances:
» Muscular performance
» Tissue elasticity and joint flexibility
» Mood and relieves burn-out
» Focus by relieving stress symptoms
» Work productivity by relieving muscle stiffness and improving blood flow
» Scar tissue functioning
Massage is great for those with physical jobs, caregivers, desk workers, travelers and athletes. Massage can be received clothed or unclothed with appropriate draping on a massage table. Seated Chair Massage is a great way to be introduced to massage or receive shorter treatments. Regular maintenance on our bodies will increase flexibility, improve performance and elongate the lives of our bodies…just like a car!
InfraRed Light is an excellent remedy to help detoxify the body, warm the muscles and increase circulation. Kiva Therapeutics already utilizes InfraRed Light with a TDP lamp but we are searching for a more encompassing treatment. We are looking at purchasing a portable sauna to fit within our cozy two roomed spa or to bring to your home for a mobile spa experience. Here is a link to check out the portable infrared sauna. How many of you have used or would use this type of portable sauna? Do you think it would be “odd” to sit in a little box with your head sticking out like a ribbon on top of package? Or could it be a fun way to spend a healthy afternoon with your friends or family members? I think it would feel delightful as part of a spa package. Imagine an infrared treatment; a massage, a scrub and a manicure and pedicure just a day or two before your big event. You would be on top of your game for sure!
It is late-March in northern Idaho and it seems the snow will never go away. Even though it is officially spring-the equinox has come and gone-we have gotten 6-8 inches in the last 5 days. We try to make it into town each week for fresh vegetables and food but sometimes we don’t make it and run out of ingredients or have to make-do with what the grocery stores have in stock.
This seems to be a problem for many people up here in North Idaho. Three times this winter I have gotten food poisoning from outdated food items I have purchased in a store. Frequently I will find mold and bruising on fruits and vegetables in the grocery stores. Coming from the Seattle, WA area where food is constantly rotating and fresh produce is abundant I have had to remind myself that the expiration dates are on the food for a reason- check them before purchase! In addition, the produce selection is not as abundant as I have grown accustomed to. In Seattle there are all sorts of Tropical and Asian fruits to entice the senses. Not to mention the fish markets and specialty shops with cheeses, olives and breads.
I have been experimenting with what vegetables keep and which need to eaten asap. We are now at the end of grocery run and are starting to run out of ingredients to prepare. What can be made with easily stored food items but is also nutritious? I found the recipe below on this quest and I have to say it is quite delicious. Not to mention, cabbage can last in the fridge longer than other vegetables so one can make this at the end of a grocery cycle.
Dilled Cabbage Soup
½ Medium cabbage, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
1 teaspoon dill seeds
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 cups stock
11/2 cups tomato juice
1 large potato, diced
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup minced fresh parsley
In a 3-quart saucepan, saute the cabbage, onions, dill, and caraway in the oil, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is translucent and wilted, about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic and vinegar. Cook for 1 minute. Add the stock, tomato juice, potatoes, and soy sauce.
Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Add the parlsey.
Serves 4
Tuesday 3.6.12 5pm Priest Lake Elementary School
Thursday 3.8.12 5pm Hills Resort
Saturday 3.10.12 10am Hills Resort
Tuesday 3.13.12 CANCELLED
Tuesday 3.20.12 5pm Priest Lake Elementary School
Tuesday 3.27.10 CANCELLED
Have you ever woken up and looked in the mirror and not liked what you saw? Perhaps your face seemed bloated, wrinkled and saggy? Unfortunately, this isn’t a rare occurrence for me. I have to admit it to myself. I am definitely getting older. I no longer have the same amount of collagen and elastin I once did. This morning, after a particularily heavy night of sleep my face looked just like that; heavy! When my boyfriend got out of bed he exclaimed “ what happened to your face?! It looks like aliens came and peeled it off during the night and then tried to put it back on.” Hmmph! Maybe I will just go back to bed, I thought to myself. Gone are the days of late-night heavy meals and staying up late. Long hours of work in polluted cities, sun damage and my physical job as a massage therapist has had it’s toll on my face.
If looking into the mirror in the morning is not your favorite thing to do; I am here to tell you that there are a few methods one can utilize to combat the aging face. We have some muscles in our face that express sad and angry emotions, while others express emotions of joy and happiness. In a modern day world sometimes the unhappy muscles get overworked and become tight. Henceforth we are locked into our sad and angry expressions. Use the following techniques to combat this effect and look and feel at your best!
Drink Water:
Water helps to detoxify the body by supporting your organs of elimination; the kidneys, the colon, the liver and the lungs. Not only does water help to normalize sodium levels causing less bloating it creates a clearer and brighter looking skin by helping to get rid of toxins in the body.
Wear Sunblock:
We all love the heat of the sun. Those UV rays are quite damaging, especially to the tender tissue of our face and neck. Wear a hat and a good daily sunblock of 30 SPF or more to protect your skin from those dangerous rays. You will look better in the future and have a reduced risk of skin cancer if your protect that tender skin.
Facial Massage:
You can’t forget about massage! The key with facial massage is to not pull the tissue too forcibly in the direction of sag. The chest, neck and chin areas often show the first signs of sagging and aging so light upward strokes here will help to stimulate collagen production and lymph drainage. Also the muscles on our forehead and scalp can often cause extra wrinkles to appear from chronic stress and squinting or frowning. A good scalp massage and some firm but gentle soothing of the muscles above the brow line will help to ease these wrinkles and frown lines.
Face Yoga:
Like our bodies our faces suffer from the effects of muscular strain. Overused facial muscles from stress, squinting at a computer or at the sun can grow congested and lack good circulation. Moving our faces in all ranges of motion can strengthen, lengthen and tone facial muscles that might be showing the sag of age. A simple exercise to keep the cheeks nice and strong is like that of a trumpet player. Keep the lips tight together and blow the cheeks till they puff out. Alternately blow out one cheek and then the other.
Visualize Happy:
We are what we think, track your thoughts and take note! Are you thinking negative thoughts all the time? Try to change these thoughts through an exercise of visualizing your happy face. Imagine how you would look without those frown lines, those saggy cheeks, the squint lines around your eyes, the pursed lips from smoking…I think you can see the pattern here. Imagine your buddha face whenever you need a good pick-me up and your face will follow your vision; lessening lines of tension and worry and also of excess mirth and merriment.
Happy go-lucky you.
If you like the above face yoga and want more like it check out this book I discovered on face yoga. “The Yoga Face; Eliminate Wrinkles with the Ultimate Natural Facelift; by Annelise Hagen. This is a great book to have in one’s tool kit on how to look and feel healthier.
Infra-Red Light Treatment:
I was first introduced to this type of treatment after a car accident in which we were t-boned by an on-coming car. The deep muscles of my spine had been in contraction from this accident for a couple of weeks by the time I received the treatment but I received immediate relief nevertheless. The small postural muscles of my spine, not easily palpated and massaged by the average practitioner, let go allowing small micro adjustments of my spine. Bit by bit, my energy increased, my mood improved and my range of motion improved. Not to mention the pain relief!
For this reason, an Infra-Red lamp has been added to the menu of treatment options at Kiva Therapeutics. With one treatment as short as 30 minutes you will receive the following benefits:
Reduction of inflammation
Improvement in flexibility and joint mobility
Relief of pain and muscle spasm
Enhanced healing
Decreased soreness, swelling and numbness
What is Infra-Red Light?
Red is the longest wavelength of light visible; emitting at 5-1,000 microns. All objects emit infrared heat; some more than others. The human body emits anywhere from 3-50 microns with 9.4 being the average. The Earth once it is heated emits around 10 microns. Infra-Red is the heat you feel from the sun, without the harming ultraviolet rays that cause sun-burn and cancer. An electromagnetic radiation that stimulates vasodilation therfore increasing the thermal temperature of the correlating tissues. The InfraRed Rays heat the object not the air; therefore making it safe for individuals who are heat intolerant.
How is InfraRed Light utilized?
InfraRed is used in maternity wards to help the infant stay warm and recover from the birth trauma. PT’s use it to heal acute injuries, and soften old scarred tissue. One can utilize a sauna for full body access, a lamp for specific treatment or various other sleeves, mats and clothing. When the frequency matches the frequency of the body, cellular reconstruction and repair happens. Toxins get sent out through the cirulatory system and new blood gets brought in to the tissue.
What it does:
Stimulates collagen production and protein synthesis
Improves the condition and appearance of the skin
Stimulates micro vibrations increasing thermal temperature of the tissue therefore vasodilation occurs; revitalizing the tissue through increased circulation,
increase metabolism
stimulates sweating-detoxifying and getting rid of cellular debris
The infrared can read 1-3 inches deep in the body stimulating deep muscles and organs
Use to treat:
Arthritis
Carpal Tunnel
Chronic Pain
Raynaud’s Syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue
Depressed metabolism
Some Possible Contraindications:
Hemophilia
MS
Pregnancy
Menstruation
Systemic Lupus
Adrenal Suppression-body does not respond to heat
Hyperthyroidism
Silicone joints
Closed infection
As with all new health-care regimes if you are concerned with how it will effect your body and its’ systems, consult with your health care team before utilizing.
Many people of the middle state’s in the United States grew up on the potato. It tends to get a bad rap from those people on a diet restrictive to nightshades; possibly causing inflammation in the joints and irritability amongst a list of other things.
If it works well with your constitution however, I think one should eat and enjoy this beneficial vegetable.
It stores well, tastes good and is inexpensive. Potato’s are high in potassium, vitamin C and B6, and contains iron and magnesium. Potato’s have protease inhibitors that may help fight cancer. Potassium is essential in fighting high blood pressure whereas vitamin c and B6 fight fatiue and infections. Iron helps to rebuild muscle tissue and magnesium helps with muscle contraction. These are all wonderful attributes to add to your diet. Modern day stress depletes our immune system and raises our blood pressure simply by existing.
I sometimes make this potato soup for my massage clients and offer a cup before or after a treatment session. Everybody always loves potato soup and wants the recipe.
Potato Soup
8-10 Medium Potatoes
1 carrot
2 celery stalks
½ yellow onion
4 garlic cloves-minced or crushed
tbsp olive oil
Handful (2-tbsp) of dried parsley
cayenne pepper to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
8 cups of H2O and 2 tbsp cx boullion paste
or ½ H2O and ½ Chicken broth
Mince carrot, celery, garlic, onion- set aside
Scrub potatoes or Peel and cut into cubes- set aside
Saute onion, celery, garlic and cayenne in oil
when the onions turn translucent add H2O, broth or bouillon
Add potatoes and bring to boil then reduce to a simmer
Add parsley and salt and pepper
Simmer till potatoes are soft
With a food processor, blend portions of the soup at a time combining with the soup till the soup is of desired consistency.
Top with fresh Parsley and serve alone or with a sandwich or salad!
A yoga client asked me about HCG the other day and what my thoughts are on it. I am not a weight loss specialist and knew nothing about HCG, so I decided to look into a bit.
What is HCG?
HCG or human chorionic gonadotropin isa hormone produced during pregnancy by the developing embryo and then later by part of the placenta. HCG is thought to protect the baby from the mother’s immune system and contributes to rapid and sustained growth by stimulating progesterone production. The progesterone thickens the lining of the uterus and enriches it with more capillaries for the fetus. HCG recruits extra fat in the body and sends it to the developing baby for fast growth and protection.
What does HCG do?
HCG is similar to Luteinizing Hormone which is produced in the Anterior Pituitary Gland. LH helps to maturize cells in the ovary and testes, stimulating ovulation as well as testosterone production in the testes.
The Simplified History of HCG
HCG for weight loss came about when a scientist noticed fat loss in his pregnant patients. This scientist decided to administer a small amount of HCG to his overweight patients with a restricted calorie diet of only 500 and monitor the results. Consistently, his patients lost 4-5 lbs/ week; In addition the weight stayed off for the long term! Hence the beginning of a new weight-loss program.
Using HCG means?
Years later HCG has been in use by many people trying to lose those stubborn pounds. Recently the FDA toted it as a substance not approved by the their governing board. Not being a doctor or an endocrinologist, I have to assume there must be a correlation between levels of progesterone, testosterone and metabolism; higher levels of these hormones creates a faster metabolism. Which seems to make sense being that most youth of pubescent age have high metabolisms. We have all watched a teenager scarf down thousands of calories and still look great in their swim suit.
In summary:HCG, a stimulator of the sex-organs, produces more testosterone and progesterone; there-fore it increases metabolism and encourages fat cells to be utilized by the body. Combine this with a low caloric intake and the body has no choice but to use stored fat for energy. Brilliant, right?!
For some people this is great; obesity is a national epidemic and most average individuals want to lose 20-30 pounds. My question is: do we really want to be messing with our sex hormones in order to lose weight? Perhaps we should look at our food source, activity level and mind-set before we mess with our biological functions with a supplement. Most of our meat sources are inundated with antibiotics and hormones in order to make the meat juicy, plump and healthy. If you compare meat that is grown from a small organic farmer it is much different from one that is raised on a big ranch with poor quality of food and living. Looking at the source of our food and other habits of living might just fix this epidemic of obesity we are suffering from.
Granted some people need hormone supplements. They have gone so far down the rabbit hole and need to work closely with their health care team to get healthy. These people, especially people who are aging and aren’t producing the same amount of progesterone and testosterone as they used to might actually benefit from HCG but this should be determined by your health care provider.
Is HCG for you?
I don’t follow the diet fads all that much and as you can see, I am traditional in the sense of how you lose weight. If you are young to middle-age, it might behoove you to examine your activities of daily living. What is your caloric intake? What is your activity level? What about your mindset? Look at your habits and change them! It is all about lifestyle and mindset in my opinion. In my profession as a massage therapist have seen many people who are overweight obsess over negative emotions, have low levels of activity and eat a diet rich with sugar, rancid oils and empty of vitamins and minerals. And then they complain about being overweight, in pain, and unhappy; looking for some medical reason this is happening.
Everybody raves at how fast you can lose weight on HCG. And it stays off! This is the kicker for all diet fads. Usually people complain that once they go off the diet the weight comes right back on. Which is why lifestyle and mindset are so important. We live in a society that values quick and easy so naturally we would value a quick and easy weight loss. It comes down to self preservation and will power. Without the drive to self preserve and the will power to follow through we get what we have now in our society, an epidemic of obesity and depression.
