Inner Focus Massage and Bodywork

Uncategorized

You are here: Home / Archives for Uncategorized

Feed Your Muscles to Promote Healthy Healing

The old saying, “You are what you eat,” doesn’t only apply when you’re looking to shed a few pounds. How you fuel your body is also important to how your muscles respond and recover after a vigorous workout or injury. To promote peak muscle performance and improve the body’s healing process, it may be helpful to evaluate your diet so you’re consuming healthy nutrients and reducing/eliminating unhealthy options.

Healthy Foods May Promote Healthy Healing

According to the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP),inflammation can cause pain and swelling in your body and muscles when your immune system begins the process of healing a wounded or stressed area in your body. To help minimize the effects of inflammation and promote healthy healing, the ABMP suggests making simple changes in your diet by adding the following foods into your nutrition routine. 

  • Cold-Water Fish
  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Whole Grains
  • High-Fiber Foods
  •  

Some Foods Better Left Off the Menu

After adding healthy food options like the above into your diet, it also may be helpful to avoid foods that could potentially increase inflammation. As such, the ABMP suggests avoiding the following foods.

  • Processed Foods
  • Red Meat
  • High-Fat Dairy Products
  • Sugar

In addition to fueling your body with foods to promote overall health and healing, adopting a regular massage therapy routine also can help in increasing the health and wellness of your muscles and mind. For the best massage experience that’s designed to provide a handcrafted and personalized therapeutic session, turn to Inner Focus Massage to promote overall healing for your mind and body. Call Jodi for your appointment today. 701-238-8257. Or more information see her website: InnerFocusMassage.com

Have a Happy Heart: Tips How to Feel Good About Yourself

Do you feel good about yourself? Seriously, it’s a question that we often laugh off with an, “of course.” But it’s a very serious question. So often, people overlook the connection between mind, heart and body. If your mind and heart aren’t happy than your body isn’t happy and as well as the other way around. You may be sad, stressed or just not have that much confidence in yourself. Here are some tips you can do to help you have a healthy heart. 

Don’t be Afraid to Compliment Yourself 

Look at yourself in the mirror and give yourself a compliment. There’s nothing wrong with that. We often think maybe patting ourselves on the back is selfish and we should focus on others. But we forget about complimenting ourselves. Do it. 

Be Yourself, Don’t Compare 

It’s crazy, and we’re all guilty of comparing ourselves to others, whether we like it or not. Stop doing it. You should focus on being the best you can be, not wishing were someone else or have something someone has. 

Exercise Frequently 

Get out and exercise at least 30 minutes a few times a week.  If you improve your physical shape, you’ll have more confidence and feel better about yourself. 

Smile

It’s a simple as smiling every day. A smile makes you feel good, and it’s infectious. It will make others around you feel good. 

Treat Yourself to Something Nice 

You work hard so treat yourself to something nice. Inner Focus Massage can offer you the most rewarding, relaxing, therapeutic massage. Refresh your mind and your body with a personalized massage from Jodi at Inner Focus Massage. Call for an appointment 701-238-8257 of review her website at InnerFocusMassage.com

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. To receive the benefits of an extraordinary massage, call Jodi today to make an appointment: 701-238-8257.

The Path to Recovery: Massage Therapy and Concussions

With the beginning of fall sports, specifically football, concussion is a word that you’ll hear a lot. Whether it’s professional players, college, high school or even pee wee football; it’s not news that concussions have become a much more frequent subject of conversation than in the past. Although it takes time to heal concussion symptoms, massage therapy can be very beneficial to your concussion recovery. 

Less Stress 
One of the keys to helping heal a concussion is rest, not just physical, but mental rest as well. Massage therapy releases endorphins, which causes the body to relax naturally. By naturally relaxing your body, the swelling in your head will slow. This will help reduce the pressure and headaches that come with concussion symptoms. Regular massage therapy can be key to helping reduce the symptoms while healing. 

Dizziness 
Dizziness is a very common symptom of concussion. It’s very dangerous too, as dizzy episodes can appear out of the blue. If you experience dizziness or vertigo it can be tough to live an ordinary life. You’ll find it tough to walk, sleep and drive, which leads to added stress and more tension. Massage therapy can target specific trigger points that will help relax your body and ease the dizzy spells. By remaining relaxed, you’ll have a faster recovery. 

Muscle Tension
Blunt force to the head is what causes concussions. It’s not uncommon for neck injuries, whiplash or spinal injuries to happen at the same time. If these injuries occur, then there will be added stress and muscle tension. This tension can trigger pressure in your head and make your concussion symptoms worse. Therapeutic massage can help relieve the pain from these injuries and, therefore, lead to less stress and muscle tension.  The key to concussion recovery is relaxation. It’s best to give your mind and your body a break while recovering. If you’ve suffered from a concussion, discuss your symptoms with Jodi at Inner Focus Massage. Call for your appointment now – 701-238-8257

Complement Your Physical Therapy Routine with Massage

If you’ve ever had an injury, surgery or have a future operation planned, one of the most common concerns you probably have is how long you’re going to be in recovery mode. To help enhance your recovery and complement your physical therapy routine post-surgery or post-injury, Inner Focus Massage recommends incorporating regular massage therapy sessions with an experienced therapist into your recovery routine.

Minimize the Toll on Your Body

Getting a massage that focuses on range of motion as soon as your doctor approves after a surgery or injury can help minimize the toll that your body goes through during the actual surgical procedure. Relaxing muscle tension and promoting the healing of tissue around the surgical or injury area, also can be beneficial to speeding up recovery times and helping prevent additional pain.

Enhance Physical Therapy Results

Physical therapy can be a really effective way to build muscle strength, range of motion and functionality after a surgery or injury. But, it can lead to you feeling sore and uncomfortable after working your weakened muscles. And, if you don’t do the homework required after a physical therapy session, then you might not experience the results you are hoping for. Adding massage therapy as another healing element to physical therapy can help recuperate your sore muscles after a physical therapy session, as well as provide an additional designated time to work on promoting muscle elasticity and range of motion. 

Full Mind, Body Approach Realizes Best Results

In addition to focusing on the muscles affected directly by an injury or surgery, it is important to address all of the muscles throughout your body that may be compensating for your injured area. It also is important to have an outlet for releasing the mental fatigue and stress associated with your physical event. Massage can help you accomplish both by providing a total mind and body approach to healing, restoring and recuperating after an injury or surgery.  

Using soft tissue movements, stretching and working on the muscles around the joints, Jodi at inner Focus Massage can help complement your recovery strategy so you’re back to what you love doing in no time. Call Jodi at 701-238-8257 for an appointment. She’s now located in south Fargo!

Why the Armchair Quarterback Needs a Massage

Your muscles are tensed, your heart rate is elevated, and you can practically feel the stress pulsing through your veins. You find yourself yelling – cheers, jeers, and frustrated yelps emit from your mouth.  Heck, you’re even a little sweaty. You’re breathless, watching the clock, hoping for a victorious finish before the time runs out. Closing out the last loop of a 5K? Nope. Playing the last 30 minutes of a close basketball game? Not even close. You happen to be in your living room, in front of an array of choice snacks and beverages, in your armchair. Welcome to “Big Game” Sunday.

Football can be an intense sport – both to play and to watch.  As a devoted fan, multiply that stress by about a hundred if the football game happens to be THE BIGGIE, and one of the teams playing is YOUR TEAM.

It’s true that the excitement and breathtaking moments are part of what makes watching football, and other sports, so great to watch. You just can’t beat a down-to-the-second nail biter. However, your body can’t actually differentiate between the different stresses we experience. Whether its stress that are “fun”, or the stress you experience at work, while in conflict, or when in danger, it’s all the same to your internal systems. No matter the situation, your body’s response to stress is the same – your heartrate quickens, your blood pressure rises, your muscles tighten, and you can even experience an upset stomach. Stress also raises cortisol levels, which, if left unchecked, can wreak havoc in various systems in your body.

One great way to combat the unsavory effects of stress of all kinds, football game-induced or otherwise, is to book an appointment with your massage therapist, pronto. A Newsweek article pointed to massage as an effective blood pressure reducer, as it stimulates the vagus nerve, which is known to help lower and maintain blood pressure. Also, multiple studies have concluded that massage is an effective means to lower cortisol, reduce the mental effects of stress and tension, and can even strengthen your immune system.  Also, you know your spot – the one that gets all knotty and tight when you’re stressed? Those tight little kinks and knots can cause the surrounding muscles to pitch in, leading to an entire area of strained muscles.  Be sure to let your massage therapist know of any extra-tight spots, and he or she can pay special attention to those areas.

Added bonus: massage can raise the level of dopamine and serotonin, your body’s natural “feel good” producer, which can come in handy in the event (unlikely as it is) that your favored team doesn’t win this Sunday. Treat yourself right after the four-hour Big Game marathon, and your body will feel better, your emotions will stay in check, and you’ll feel your stress begin to decrease within minutes of the beginning of your massage. You deserve it. After all – your body worked hard during the game.

Can Massage Help with Digestion?

Here is, we’re guessing, a pretty common list of reasons of why you might call up your massage therapist to make an appointment: sore muscles, tight joints, excessive stress, and if you just need a little pampering.  Those are all great reasons, of course, and massage handles each of those things pretty effectively.  However, what about those pesky digestion issues?  Surely massage can’t be effective for that, too?  Contrary to what you might think, it turns out that you can add certain digestive troubles to the long list of reasons why you should go running to the phone to book a massage.

Peristalsis is the act of the muscles of your intestine involuntarily contracting to help the processing and digestion of your food.  There are many things, some of them surprising, that can slow your peristalsis process.  These causes include irritable bowel syndrome, mineral deficiencies, constipation, codeine use, and more.  When this crucial process slows, the results can an unpleasant combination of diarrhea, ulcerative colitis, and other bowel problems.  A full-body massage can help prevent peristalsis by stimulating the motion of the intestine, and its contents, to move along more quickly.  Also, massage helps the body rid itself of toxins, and increases the release of enzymes, both of which are essential for healthy digestion.

Another digestive problem that we hear about so often from our clients is bloating, and gas that seems excessive.  Our bodies produce gas in two ways; one is by swallowing air (by eating too quickly, drinking from a straw, or chewing gum), and the other is by the bacteria in our large intestine as it helps digest our food.  Some foods will cause gassier results in some people than others, possibly leading to painful cramping and embarrassing sounds and smells.  Also, some people are more prone to gas than others, depending on sensitivity to foods or the presence of stomach bacteria.  If you experience what seems to be excessive gas, it might be worthwhile to keep a log of foods you eat, and which ones have gassy outcomes.  While full-body massages are great for many things, abdominal massage in particular can be very helpful in alleviating gas buildup, uncomfortable bloating, and can strengthen the underlying abdominal muscles.

Also, you know that uncomfortable knot you get in your stomach, usually as a result of nervousness or stress?  Abdominal massage can help unknot your tensed-up muscles in your stomach, and make you feel more relaxed overall.

Please note that seeking out massage for digestion issues is not to be a substitute for the advice and care of a doctor.  If you have talked with a medical professional, and are very certain that you do not have a more serious underlying medical issue, then massage can be a great tool to help expel your stomach and gut of toxins and excessive gas, and also to help speed up your peristalsis, making you feel a whole lot more comfortable.  Jodi has experience helping folks with stomach issues, so call for an appointment 701-238-8257.

Injury Prevention and Post-Run Recovery

Take note avid racers! You are a prime candidate for sports massage and its raft of benefits. Massage is not just for elite and professional athletes, it’s for you, as you prep and train for your next 10K, half or full marathon. Daily workouts and weekly training runs add up to a well-conditioned body that needs some healing to keep running at top speed.

Sports massage is focused on muscle systems relevant to a particular sport for the purpose of either exerting maximum force or to relax the muscles and induce better circulation.

Injury Prevention: Massage is the Answer

Muscle overuse, or the accumulation of tension in the muscles from regular training, may lead to stress on the joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles, which causes imbalances. Oftentimes, these imbalances go unnoticed and athletes recruit other muscles to make up for their strain. This eventually leads to discomfort and possible injury. A skilled Massage Therapist can detect variations in the soft tissues and restore balance, even before the athlete is aware of an issue.

Sports researchers suggest that injury rates can be reduced by 25% if athletes take appropriate preventive action. Having a licensed Massage Therapist on your team is an easy way to decrease your chances of injury.

Sports Massage Reduces Your Recovery Time

Massage increases blood flow, therefore reducing muscle stiffness. Increased blood flow stimulates the lymphatic system to flush away lactic acid build-up that causes muscle soreness. Massage reduces heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels, which leads to deep relaxation. This, in turn, improves your mood.

Whether you are a professional athlete, training for a specific event, or playing for local rec league, consider adding sports massage to your workout regimen to help reduce your chance of injury, recover faster, and improve your performance. Call Jodi at 701-238-8257 for an appointment.

 

Establishing Good Habits

With so much advice being doled out about how to get healthy it’s hard to know where to begin and who to listen to. The reality is that personal health and fitness regimens are not a one size fits all – they need to be adapted to best suit your lifestyle needs. So, there is no perfect recipe that fits everyone, here are a few tips:

  1. Drink plenty of water.
  1. Workvegetablesinto meals instead of just serving them as sides on a plate.
  1. Keep your portions reasonable to get more in touch with your feelings of hunger and fullness.
  1. Eat several mini-meals during the day. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. But when you’re hungry all the time, eating fewer calories can be challenging. Dividing your daily calories into smaller meals or snacks and enjoying as many of them as you can early in the day — dinner should be the last time you eat.
  1. Eat protein at every meal. Protein is more satisfying than carbohydrates or fats, and thus may be the new secret weapon in weight control. Getting enough protein helps preserve muscle mass and encourages fat burning while keeping you feeling full. So be sure to include healthy protein sources like yogurt, cheese, nuts or beans with meals and snacks.
  1. Stock your kitchen with healthy convenience foods.
  1. Stay active and exercise. No matter how you do it, incorporating physical activity into your daily life is critical for maintaining overall health.

As you are getting back into or intensifying your exercise routine, remember that therapeutic massage is proven to help you recover from workouts faster, increase your flexibility, relieve pain and improve circulation

Remember, changing your behavior means changing your habits. It takes 21 days to change a habit, so as you set your goals, be realistic and give yourself the time to get used to your new healthy way of living. Set small benchmarks for yourself and reward yourself for your accomplishments with a relaxing, therapeutic massage.

Heat Things Up This Winter with Hot Stone Massage

 Nothing sounds better on a cold winter day than a warm, stone fireplace. However, sitting in front of a fireplace will not give you the same benefits as a therapeutic massage. During the colder months combine the benefits of your regular massage with the healing heat of hot stones to get the best of both worlds.

What Is a Hot Stone Massage?

Just as it sounds, a hot stone massage uses perfectly heated stones with a therapeutic massage. These smooth stones are heated and retain the heat due to their high mineral content. The massage therapist strategically uses the heat and structure of the stones to massage trigger points and sore muscle areas to warm the soft tissue for a more potent effect on the outcome of your massage. Not only does this heat feel wonderful on a cold winter’s day, it has some amazing advantages.

  • Pain Relief.We all know heat is used for muscle soreness. The heat helps relax muscles and tendons, allowing them to become less stiff and more pliable. This is a perfect strategy before beginning a deep tissue massage that can be painful if the muscles are too tight and strained. With relaxed muscles, your therapist can penetrate more deeply in your massage to help relieve sore muscles.
  • Poor circulation in your extremities can lead to stiff muscles and lactic acid build up. Hot stones help improve circulation by opening up the blood vessels and allowing more oxygen and nutrients to reach your muscles. Improved circulation releases toxins, assisting in improved self-healing. The therapist places the stones strategically to help improve the circulatory system to your problem areas. Additionally, improved circulation helps with lymphatic drainage and cell renewal.
  • Reduced stress. Although there are many physical benefits of massage, relieving stress is one of the most beneficial both for the mind and body. Considering that the majority of the American population experiences the physical symptoms of stress – this is incredibly powerful. With the addition of hot stones, you are combining the relaxing effects of heat with the generally relaxing effects of massage. This improved relaxation washes away stress symptoms, lowers blood pressure, reduces fatigue symptoms and re-energizes the mind and spirit.

Hot stones can be combined with Swedish or deep-tissue massage for accelerated benefits. Although anyone can enjoy the warmth and healing factors that hot stone massages offer, those with sore muscles or deep tissue pain will especially appreciate the added benefits of heat.