Inner Focus Massage and Bodywork

Body Wellness Blog

Add Massage to Your Active Lifestyle

Regular massages not only help with relieving back pain, neck pain and other common ailments, but they can also help to reduce the mental and physical stress associated with strenuous workouts, while increasing your body’s circulation and range of motion.

Specifically, therapeutic massage can increase health and well-being of individuals with an active lifestyle by aiding in the following:

  • Increasing circulation, which allows the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs.  
  • Improving range of motion.
  • Relaxing and softening injured and overused muscles from repetitive training or intense competition.
  • Reducing muscle spasms and cramping before and after a sporting event.
  • Increasing joint flexibility.

Whether you are a competitive athlete, weekend warrior or routinely active individual, incorporating massage therapy into your training regimen is not only good for your mental health, but also for the health and wellness of your body’s muscles, joints and internal systems.

Tips to Relax and Unwind for a Good Night’s Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep is essential to a healthy mind and body. Of course with hectic schedules, kids, and many other distractions, getting enough sleep is easier said than done. Here are some tips on how to fall asleep from the National Sleep Foundation.

Keep a Standard Bedtime and Wake Up Time
Yes, even on weekends. Standard bedtimes and wake up times help keep your body’s internal clock regulated.

Practice a Relaxing Bedtime Ritual
Stress, excitement and anxiety make it tough to fall asleep; try doing an activity that will help you relax and unwind before bed. Make sure the lights are dim to help you relax even more.

Avoid Naps, Especially in the Afternoon
A good nap may get you through your busy day, but if you cannot fall asleep at night, you should get rid of your napping routine.

Exercise Daily
A good workout will help you sleep better at night. The harder, the better and you can do it at any time of the day – just don’t let it get in the way of your sleep.

How’s Your Sleep Environment?
Take a good look at your bedroom. Is it ideal for sleeping? Make it cool — between 60 and 67 degrees. Is there noise? Too much light? Electronic devices within easy reach?

Avoid Alcohol, Cigarettes and Heavy Meals
These things can all disrupt your sleep. Eating a big and/or spicy meal can cause indigestion that could keep you up or even wake you up in the middle of the night.

Having a relaxed body and mind is an extremely important element when getting a good night’s sleep. Regular massage can help relax your mind and your body. Call Jodi at Inner Focus Massage for a truly relaxing massage. 701-238-8257.

Summer Activities Can Take a Toll on Your Body: 3 Benefits of Regular Massage

Summer is here, and your days are filled with nothing but hammocks in the warm breeze, tall glasses of iced tea sipped in the afternoon shade, and a towering stack of novels to be devoured, one by one. Right?? Ummmm, no. The truth is that summer can be hard work. If you’ve got kids, while your days are fun, they’re not quite of the relaxing variety. You spend a lot of time slathering sunscreen on squirmy and unwilling limbs, driving to summer camps and sports, carrying coolers packed with snacks for, what seems like, miles, playing at the park, and giving piggy-back rides. There are plenty of sweaty days at the zoo where, after 25 minutes, you end up carrying, pack-mule style, 3 hats, 4 water bottles, an insisted-upon superhero toy and his accompanying vehicle, some granola bars, and a helium balloon.

Kids or no kids, your evenings, and weekends are likely comprised of plenty of weeding, mowing, and group sports. Add a few hiking or camping trips, with the required hauling and carrying, loading and unloading of needed items. Indeed, these are fun, exciting activities that many wait all year for, but it’s no wonder that summer can leave you feeling a little tired and sore.

In order to keep summer in its proper place of a much-loved and much-anticipated season, it’s important that you keep your body and mind in the best possible condition.  In order to do that, regular summer appointments with your massage therapist will be exactly what’s needed.

Here are just three benefits of regular therapeutic massage:

  • Cell Recovery
    As you toil, play, and carry, your muscles get strained and develop tiny tears. As your body works to repair these tears, what you feel is sore, aching muscles. Sure, ice can help with the pain and inflammation, but a massage is key to promoting more effective cell recovery and can lessen inflammation more permanently.
  • Self-Care
    After the playground visits with the kids, your neighbor’s BBQ, your sister’s yard makeover project that has somehow become your project, and all of the other endless things you do for others, it’s time to take care of yourself. YOU sometimes become the lowest thing on your priority list, because it seems that the only one impacted is you. However, as you make the time for regular massages, you’ll find that you will be a much better (and happier!) employee, parent, friend, and family member. Self-care is critical for people who care for everyone else.
  • Quiet Time
    Wouldn’t you love an hour of uninterrupted quiet? When you’re on the massage table, there are no lawn mowers, no kids splashing water on your sandwich, no laundry piles in front of you, and no computer. There’s just the sound, perhaps, of soothing music, and the knowledge that you are exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you need to do.

Summer is wonderful, without a doubt.  Make yours even better by taking care of your muscles, your mind, and your well-being.  A massage can help ease those sore muscles. Schedule an appointment with Jodi at Inner Focus Massage by calling 701-238-8257.

Don’t Stress Back-to-School

For many, August is the time when we start to think about our kids going back to school. We say to ourselves, “summer just flew by.” Don’t be surprised if moods change and anxiety starts to kick in for both you and your children.

After a summer without routines and floating bedtimes, it can be stressful to get back into the “school routine.”

Here are a few tips to help you get organized and minimize the back-to-school stress.

Get Organized 
A week or two before school starts, make lists of items you need. Often schools will post supplies lists on the school’s website. Sometimes schools also distribute supplies lists to local department stores. Try and make this fun for the kids and highlight the new exciting supplies they will get to use this year. If they’re having fun, then they won’t mind shopping. If they’re happy shopping, you’ll be less stressed.

Family Planner 
There are many events that happen at the beginning of the year. Try getting a family event planner to help keep activities and meetings organized. Keep it posted in a place where everyone can see it to reduce communication breakdown.

Dry Run 
Give your family a dry run of school routines. Have your kids start going to bed at their regular school bedtime if it’s different from summer. Also, have them wake up, eat breakfast and get dressed as if they were going to school. This will help you and your kids get your minds and bodies ready for the school year.

The more you and your kids are in a routine before school, the easier and less stressful the big day and first weeks of school will be.

It’s important to make some time for yourself as well, to reduce stress try a relaxing therapeutic massage. Make time for yourself. Call Jodi at Inner Focus Massage to a little “me time”. 701-238-8257.

Aging Gracefully: Tips to Keeping Your Mind, Body Young

As you watch your children or grandchildren grow and begin a new grade at school this year, it’s only natural to start thinking of how you’ve aged over the years and what your future holds as you and your family progress in life. To help slow down some of the effects that naturally occur as you age, Inner Focus Massage offers the following tips to keep your mind and body feeling young.

Stay Active

As you age, you might think you’ll naturally slow down. But, the more active you stay as you reach milestone birthdays, the healthier you can feel physically and the happier you can live mentally. Regular cardio exercise, like walking and riding your bike, not only helps keep your body active and strong, but it can also be great for releasing stress and promoting a more positive attitude. Regular strength and flexibility training is also great for helping keep your posture in line and your mobility flexible, both of which are important factors to aging gracefully.

Keep a Positive State of Mind

Your mind can be one of the weakest muscles in your body if you leave it to wander into negative feelings of self-doubt, self-defeat and low self-esteem. You can only experience true piece of mind when you learn to let go of the negative thoughts and influences in your life. To keep your mind free of negativity and full of youthfulness, take notice and appreciate all of the little things in life. And, remember that age is only a number. You’re only as old as you think you are, so throwback your attitude to your earlier years when you found pleasure in the simpler things in life.

Take Time Out for Yourself

Whether you have children or not, adults are notorious for putting the needs of others before themselves in both personal and professional situations.  It is only a matter of time before you’ll experience total burnout if you don’t take time to focus on your own health and well-being. To be the best version of yourself for you, your family and your career, it’s important to designate regular time in your life that’s dedicated to refueling and reinvigorating your mind, body and soul. Monthly massage sessions are great times to do this as massage helps relax and repair your mind and body so you’re prepared to continue running strong in all aspects of your life today and as you age. Call Jodi at Inner Focus Massage and begin a program of goodness for yourself: 701-238-8257.

Massage and Medical History: Top Three Things to Tell Your Therapist

If you’re looking for a good massage therapist, it’s important to find someone who is invested in getting to know the entirety of their clients and not just what hurts in the moment. A good therapist wants to know not only how a client feels mentally and physically at the time of the massage appointment, but also how they can help their clients move forward to accomplish their goals during and after the massage therapy session.  In order to give you the best massage experience that meets all of your needs medically, mentally and physically, Inner Focus Massage encourages its clients to discuss the following three areas with their therapists prior to receiving a therapeutic massage.

Medical History

Getting a massage is more than just rubbing a tight muscle here and there. Therapeutic massage is a non-invasive and drug-free approach to well-being based on the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Massage therapy addresses a variety of health conditions that range from stress-induced tension and sleep disorders to high blood pressure, diabetes, lower back pain, immunity suppression, spinal cord injury, autism, cancer-related fatigue, post-operative care, age-related disorders, infertility, eating disorders, smoking cessation and depression.

Due to the power of massage to heal and restore your mind and body’s health and wellness, it’s important to disclose all of your medical history to your therapist before starting a session so that he or she can customize your massage experience. Prior to getting your first massage from a new therapist and every massage going forward should include a thorough dialogue between you and your therapist about current and past medical conditions.

Current Medications

When you’re seeking a massage to relax and unwind your muscles and your mind, you may not think about the importance of letting your therapist know about prescription and over-the-counter medications that you take regularly. However, massage is such a circulatory process that can promote healing on even a cellular level that it’s important to disclose every medication or pain relievers that you may be taking. This critical information can help the therapist make sure that the bodywork he/she provides doesn’t interfere with the purpose of your medications.

Accidents and Injuries

Using massage therapy to encourage a more rapid healing process for existing injuries can be a powerful approach to rehabilitation and recovery. In these instances, therapists will want to know specifics about the pain you’re feeling and the details associated with the injuries so they can deliver the best massage experience to meet your goals. However, it’s also important to let therapists know about past injuries or accidents too so they can ensure to not aggravate the affected area.

Before getting a massage always take the time to discuss your medical history, medications and accidents or injuries with your massage therapist. Trust Jodi at Inner Focus Massage to work within your physical limits to help you relax and restore. Call for an appointment today 701-238-8257.

Quality Over Quantity: Daily Approaches to Make the Most of Your Life

We’ve all been told at some point in life to “make the most of your life.”  However, do you really know how to make the most of it? Here are a few things you can do each day to help you live a happier, more fulfilling life.

Hold on a Minute
One of the many things you can do each day is to take a minute and put life on pause. Take just a couple of minutes for a break and concentrate on living in the “now.” It can act has a bit of a reset button for each day. Check yourself to make sure you are focused on that moment.

Get Better Sleep
We’ve all heard about how important sleep can be. Well, there’s a reason everyone says that: an excellent night’s sleep directly affects our mood and our body. Without sleep, you’ll be irritable, less productive and could have a difficult time remembering things.

Get Physical
It’s amazing how a good workout benefits both your body and mind. You need to do something physically active every day. Even if it is just a quick walk, you’ll feel better about yourself.

Set Daily Goals
Each day wake up and think about a goal that you would like to accomplish for the day. Make it something attainable. If your goals are too lofty and at the end of the day you don’t achieve them, you’ll get down on yourself.

Control What You Can
If you can’t control it, don’t stress it. If there’s a situation that you can’t control, you shouldn’t spend time stressing. Put your time and energy that you can directly affect the results. You’ll be happier.

A key component of making the most of your life and leading a quality life is eliminating stress. Massage therapy from Inner Focus Massage is just one way to help reduce stress. Call Jodi for an appointment right now: 701-238-8257.

Four Ways to Have a Stress-Free Vacation

For many people, the highlight of their year is the summer vacation. Spending much needed time with loved ones and visiting places that get crossed off bucket lists. Whether you’re sitting on a beach, on an adventure or unplugged in some far-off place — it should be the most relaxing, stress-free time of the year.

Unfortunately, there can be a ton of stress involved with vacations. There’s the planning, the packing, making sure the world does not end at work while you are gone — there’s a lot that goes into taking a vacation. While you are on vacation, there can be the stress as well. You must make sure you do everything, and try endlessly to please everyone in your party. If you have kids, keeping track of their whereabouts is a chore that a vacation should never have. When you think about it, a stress-free vacation doesn’t seem very realistic at all. In fact, the phrase “I need a vacation from my vacation” is often a reality. If this is the case for you, take these few steps to help you enjoy your vacation.

Take a Minute and Breathe 
The key is to slow down. You’re on vacation, just slow down and take a breath. You’ve waited months for this moment. Be in the now, take in the scenery around you and just relax. Anytime you feel yourself itching to reach for the to-do list, check yourself and take a big deep breath.

Plan to Do Nothing
Rather than think about the “should dos” and “must dos” think about doing nothing. You are on vacation after all don’t get stressed. Doing nothing is what you wish you were doing at home, so make it a reality and an important aspect to your vacation.

Do what You Love to Do 
It is your vacation. You should take some time to do what you want to do. Doing nothing is necessary, but eventually you may get the itch to get out and get after it. When that itch shows up, scratch if off with an activity you love to do or a place you have always wanted to see. Think about what refreshes you, what do you like to do. Each person on your vacation should be doing something that they love. This satisfaction will help relieve stress.

Get a Massage 
Massage is a great relaxer. Whether you get one before you go to reward yourself for planning and preparing, or you get one once you arrive at your vacation spot. Nothing completely relaxes your mind and body like a massage.

A relaxing massage from Jodi at Inner Focus Massage will help relieve any stress in your mind and your body. Call Jodi today for an appointment soon @701-238-8257.

Heal the Burn after a Summer Ride

Anytime you hop in the saddle and go for a ride, it’s going be a good workout — especially in the heat of the summer. Whether you’re an amateur out for a nice Sunday ride or a professional on a multi-day stage ride. Either way you’ve certainly felt the burn after being in the saddle for a few hours. Massage therapy can help your body feel better during your ride, and help your body recover faster. In fact, many top pro riders include massage therapy as part of their routines. If you’re an active cyclist, both pre and post massages can help you on your ride.

Pre-Ride Self Massage 
One of the main reasons you would want to have a pre-massage is to warm your muscles and tendons. If you’re in a race or event, the odds of a massage therapists being onsite are pretty good. Take advantage so that you won’t experience cramping during your ride. If there isn’t a therapist than a self-massage is necessary. Take 10-minutes to massage your legs to get them warm, loose and ready for your ride.

Post Ride Massage 
Again, if you’re riding in an event than the odds of a massage therapist being around once you finish are high. It will probably be one of the first stops you make after crossing the finish line for the day. Naturally, your legs take the brunt of the work, but your upper body will be pretty sore too from the awkward posture during your ride.

Even if you’re not at an event, it’s good to make plans to see a massage therapist after any long ride. This will help your overall recovery as well as helping to prevent injury on future rides. Massage will give blood flow, oxygen and important nutrients the ability to get back into your muscle fibers, thus speeding up your recovery and healing process.

If you’re feeling the burn after long rides, call Jodi at Inner Focus Massage for relief. 701-238-8257.

Benefits of Massage and Swimming

Swimming is perhaps one of the great full-body workouts for any fitness level. It is the perfect combination of muscle and cardio conditioning. Plus, in the summer it provides an excellent way to stay cool. Did you know that massage therapy can play a significant role in your swimming technique as well as in helping your muscles recover after a swim?

Increased Range of Motion
Massage therapy will improve blood circulation throughout your body. When swimming you are using your entire body, with increased circulation your muscles will loosen up, you’ll be more flexible and eventually you’ll have a greater range of motion. This will increase your time in the pool and allowing you to be a strong swimmer.

Restore Mobility to Injured Muscles 
With an exercise that requires a lot of muscle movement and stretching, it is easy to get tightness and even knots in your muscles. Regular massage therapy will help will help repair any damaged muscle tissue.

Reduce Risk of Overuse Injury
With so many muscle groups working hard repeatedly, swimmers can experience injury and muscle fatigue relatively easy. Massage therapy will help keep your swimming muscles loose, helping to avoid injury from overuse.

Quick Recovery 
After any exercise, you’ll feel tightness. It is best to stretch to get the blood flowing again and to avoid lactic acid build-up. After a swim, make sure to stretch properly. A post swim massage would be very beneficial for muscle and mental recovery.

Improve Mental Focus
In general, when your body is relaxed, your mind is at ease as well. It’s only fitting that massage therapy helps ease the mind for swimmers which allowing them to focus when they are in the water.

As you approach your summer swimming regimen, think about massage therapy to help improve your swimming fitness levels. Jodi at Inner Focus Massage & Bodywork will help you with treatments that will help maximize your swimming exercise benefits and while relaxing those tired muscles. Call for an appointment today 701-238-8257.