News
Please note: For family reasons Gean Therapies will be closed for the next month or so. All appointments in the diary will be honoured and further news will be posted as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Love Your Guts – Belly Massage With Heart
With a wonderful title like that I couldn’t resist – especially when it came with recommendations from the Maya Abdominal Massage world. Marty Ryan who teaches “Love Your Guts” is a MAM practitioner himself.
Marty is based in Seattle, USA, and has only recently started to teach his classes in the UK. I squeezed onto the recent “Palpatory Anatomy of the Belly: Applications to the Digestive System” held in Oxfordshire from September 11-13 2009.
What a fabulous course.
Probably only certain therapists would find whole days of palpating different bellies exciting – but I am one of them.
Did you know that this kind of massage – or as Marty puts it skilful, intelligent manual therapy - can help with:
- Digestion and elimination problems to do with chewing and swallowing, the stomach, the small or large intestines and ancillary digestive organs (liver, gall bladder and pancreas). Think irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), acid reflux or heartburn, constipation, diarrhoea, leaky gut issues, food allergies, spastic colon, bloating, wind and pain!
- Obesity and weight management issues.
- Chronic nervous system agitation – or STRESS. Just think how anxiety / depression or sympathetic nervous system dominance adversely effects your digestive system.
- Emotional issues around food and elimination.
- Mechanical trauma to any part of the digestive tract from the teeth, mouth and jaw, to throat, ribs, trunk and pelvis, for example, lap belt injuries or extensive dental work.
Abdominal massage helps the whole body to rest and digest by switching you over to the parasympathetic nervous system, which supports digestion and elimination, increases vital HCl output and peristalsis. It also improves the flow of blood particularly to the small intestine; improves the flow of lymph and chi; promotes good nerve supply and hormone messaging; and it reduces smooth muscle contraction or cramping.
I am delighted to be doing further training to extend what I currently offer in this area. Do ask me more! And don’t be surprised if I have more questions for you about the state of play of your digestive system.
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An Australian experience
Alison had a year’s working sabbatical from Gean Therapies, over in Australia, August 2008 – 2009.
"I had a wonderful time in Australia. I worked for 9 months at Peachy Body Clinic, Annerley, in Brisbane. Check it out at:www.feelingpeachy.com.au.
Here I worked primarily as a Maya Abdominal Massage Practitioner though I used all of my remedial skills as well. I was involved in creating the Peachy Infant Massage and Beyond course and handbook, as well as the Post-natal Exercises and Faja handouts. I mentored one of the other therapists in pregnancy massage and introduced Slavic Massage to the clinic. In my turn I learned Hot Stone Massage and Peachy’s signature Eastern Chic treatment.
It was a great experience to be working in a busy clinic, with a super bunch of therapists who had a similar approach to body work to my own, if with very different backgrounds and training. It was a real pleasure to work with Kristie, Trish, Kath, Steve, Sue and Jess.
I was sad to leave Peachy and will miss my clients there. I return re-inspired to work as a sole practitioner, however, with fresh ideas of how to develop the business – so be prepared for some experiences new to Gean Therapies… Check out, for example, the hot towels at the end of your massage and the Hot Stone options!
As for some general comments about working in Australia – massage was seen as a regular and even mundane activity for a wide spread of the population, but even so there wasn’t good awareness of the range of remedial benefits of treatment. There was also more of a focus on purely physical and outward appearance. I came across more tattoos, skin lesions, and scars from skin cancer than in Scotland. And I don’t think I worked in temperatures of less than 24°C!”
