A Guide to Infant Massage

Touch is critical to the growth and development of infants. What better way to get comfortable providing touch to your baby than through massage? You can use massage to bond with your baby, help with gas or constipation discomforts, and increasing sleep quality. Massage can be just as relaxing for you as it can be for your baby!

Try to choose a time when you and your baby are most calm. You will need a large soft surface to do the massage on. For mobile babies, this may need to be the floor! If they are no surfaces like this in your house, try placing a few blankets on the floor to soften it up. Make sure the room is a warm temperature so the baby does not get cold, and you may consider keeping toys nearby if necessary to keep your baby entertained. This is an excellent opportunity for you and your baby to spend some skin-on-skin time bonding through touch.

Next, choose an all-natural oil, we like The Honest Company’s organic body oil, but simple coconut oil works if you’re on a budget. Be careful not to use too much, especially if they’re mobile. You may have a very slippery infant on your hands, as well as oil stains around the house!

It’s good to make the same motion every time you begin massage with your baby, like rubbing your hands together or wiggling your fingers, so that they can learn that their massage time is about to begin.

You can use slow, rhythmic strokes on their back, or over their shoulders and then down to their feet. The slower your motions, the more calming of an effect you will have. If you are looking to calm your baby before a nap, this type of stroke may be ideal. Oppositely, faster motions will have a stimulating effect. You can gently use your thumbs to knead into the palms of their hands or the soles of their feet. You can massage their bellies in a clockwise direction (if you are facing them) to decrease constipation or gas pains. This works by massaging the large intestine, an upside-down ‘U’ shaped organ in the belly, which stimulates it to, ahem, ‘move things along’. Consider this technique toward the end of your massage sessions, so you can get a diaper on them before things ‘move along’ all over you!

Pay attention to your baby’s body language and the noises they make during your massage. Rigid, unsynchronized limb movements or grunting may mean the baby needs a break, is uncomfortable with the massage technique being used, or is over stimulated. Cooing sounds and direct eye contact mean your baby loves the massage!

Remember, massage should be fun and relaxing for both you and your baby. If you are not in the mood, your baby will sense that, and it may be best to wait until another time. This is a great opportunity to provide your baby with skin-on-skin contact that is essential for their growth and development, as well as for you two to bond together.

If you have any questions or are unsure of your techniques, we would love for you to book a massage at the clinic and bring your baby with you! We can spend your appointment time practicing infant massage and demonstrating techniques until you feel more comfortable practicing massage on your baby.

Written by Kelly Swift, RMT

What do Homeopaths know?

As Homeopathy is a recently re-regulated health care profession in Ontario, education and training to become a Homeopath is in the process of being standardized. That said, as per Competency Profile for Entry‐to‐Practice Homeopaths Practicing in Ontario Approved by the transitional Council February 27, 2012. regulated Homeopaths are expected to demonstrate all the competencies necessary to provide safe health care to the public. In order to demonstrate those competencies, Homeopaths need to be knowledgeable in the following areas: 

Homeopathic Theory, Diagnosis, and Medicines.

Homeopathic treatment of the full range of acute and chronic illnesses.

And: 

·  Nutrition

·  Physiology

·  Anatomy

·  Pharmacology

·  Pharmacognosy (Herbs)

·  Drug-herb-nutrient interactions

·  Lab and test result interpretation

A supervised clinical component is part of any reputable training program.

The result of such training is an ability to:

·  understand the basics of conventional and alternative treatment,

·  understand how medicines and lifestyle, including nutrition, affect health,

·  understand how drugs, herbs, and nutrients interact and how they affect health,

·  interpret all the information of a case to determine the different causes of different symptoms

·  determine if their treatment is within the scope and practice of Homeopathy, and if so,

·  know how to treat them, non-invasively and safely.

Homeopaths, like other health professionals, continue their education. How they do so is optional. In my case, I have studied tongue analysis, Iridology, in-office lab medicine, German New Medicine, and energy medicine. There are many options in this vast field of health care! 

Written by: Lisa Torres, HOM.

What is "emotional release"?

 Photo Credit: http://atelierenews.blogspot.ca

It is well known that muscles and other tissues in your body hold tension and patterns from previous experiences. Most people associate this with traumatic physical events like falling from the top of a cheerleading pyramid or perhaps something as simple as twisting the wrong way when reaching to pick up a box. But did you know that there is also a certain amount of emotion held up in those tissues as well? It’s true! Your body, not just your brain, plays a key role in memory and emotional storage.

This can be a bit of a double-edged sword however. As I am sure you have noticed, in times of great emotional stress, you begin to feel physically stressed as well. If left unresolved, the buildup of stress can have long-term effects on your body, lasting long after the emotional stress has faded or been suppressed. Your body moves into a holding pattern that feels safe, even though it may be having a detrimental impact on your health and wellness. So what happens when you go to have the physical stress dealt with?

The term "emotional release" has been around in the massage therapy world for quite some time now. Perhaps you have heard the term but have never thought about what it really means. The fact is, most people have experienced emotional release during or after a massage and have had no idea that this is what they were experiencing. The body-mind connection is very strong. When your body finally tells you it has had enough and you go in for a massage to correct the ailment that is reducing your quality of life, things can get tricky. The therapist begins work on an area and suddenly whatever emotions you though had faded or been sufficiently supressed flood back to you. For some, there comes an image attached to the emotion that you can relate to; for others there is no rhyme or reason to it – you just feel. Whatever the emotion was that was tied into your tissues, it is suddenly being let go and you are left with emotions you didn’t know were there. This can be anything from mad, sad, glad, scared, or even frustrated. It can happen during or even after a treatment. This is called “emotional release”.

So why is it important for you to know what “emotional release” is? First, when emotions come up out of nowhere, you can be assured that it is normal – you are not the only one this has ever happened to and it isn’t something to be afraid of. Second, knowing what emotional release is helps you to process it better when it occurs to you. Third, it is important to know that the massage therapy treatment room is a non-judgemental, safe environment. Most, if not all, RMTs have dealt with some form of emotional release on the table. They know that it happens, and while they cannot counsel you through your emotional trauma, they will sit and be an ear to talk to if that is what you need, and they can help you to regain your focus. Finally, if you need your treatment to stop or change at any time to accommodate dealing with your emotional release, please say so. You have the right to stop or alter your treatment at any time. Some people need the RMT to keep working for them to deal with their emotions, and some need complete hands off time. 

Whichever you need, inform your RMT so it can be done: many times orthopedic conditions are held back from progressing by emotions that have not been dealt with because you didn’t know they were there to begin with – my suggestion would be to embrace it and figure out how you need to deal with your emotions on an individual basis. It is important for your body and mind to embrace emotional releases, however they come up. 

Written by Seana Collins Mander RMT

The Benefits of Prenatal Massage

Therapeutic massage therapy has been used for centuries to improve health and wellness all over the world. For everything from stress relief, chronic pain, and muscle tension to alleviating stress on joints, treating acute or chronic sprains and strains, as well as an overall sense of improved health. Prenatal massage therapy specifically focuses on the mother-to-be's changing body, and helping her feel more comfortable in it. It helps to enhance muscle and joint function, decrease swelling in various areas including feet, and provides a time of relaxation for the mother in an otherwise busy world.

Here is a list of just some of the things that massage therapy can affect and help enhance during pregnancy, and how it affects the mother-to-be:

1. Reduction of Swelling: Massage therapy has a direct relationship with the lymphatic system in your body. This means that a therapist can literally "drain" swelling away (so-to-speak). Whether the swelling is in your feet, hands, or face, a massage therapist  can help to eliminate at least a portion of the excess fluid built up in various areas. Keep in mind that every body responds differently, so relief can be anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days, and for some up to weeks. However, any amount of time where you can fit your foot into your favourite shoe, can be a bonus for an expectant mother.

2. Alleviating Stress on Weight Bearing Joints:  Through joint play, and various on-table positions, as well as muscle work, your back, hips, knees and ankles can all feel some amount of relief.

3. Relief for  Muscular Dysfunction: Calf cramps, back aches, tension and knots, carpal tunnel, foot cramps, neck pain, shoulder aches and so on...

4. Shortness of Breath: Through work with a mother's diaphragm, a massage therapist can help a mother to breathe easier. Whether breathing is affected by knots in the diaphragm or just shortness of the muscles, from a specific cause, or just baby kicking, there is a definite affect on ability to breathe.

5. Decreasing Pain on the sides of the "Baby Belly": Through fascial work, a massage therapist can help to provide length to a woman's sides and create more room for baby to grow. This helps decrease pain brought on by growth and stretching of the sides, though it doesn't eliminate it completely.

6. Some Hormone Regulation: Many studies over the past decade have shown that hormones related to relaxation and stress have been significantly altered with massage therapy to lead to improved mood and cardiovascular health.

7. Many more such as: helping to increase blood and lymph flow which can affect fatigue, strengthen immune system, releases endorphins, eases stress, helps positively affect mother's anxiety or depression, relief from constipation, improve digestion, reduces the amount of "stretch marks" by improving elasticity and so much more!

Things to consider: Please be aware of body position and inform your RMT of any complications you may be experiencing or are being monitored for. Your RMT should be aware of the correct body position for you, but if it feels uncomfortable or is something you have been told to avoid, please speak up and do not stay in that position. You are in control of your own treatment!

Remember! If you feel good, your baby will too!

Written by: Seana Collins Mander RMT