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Imagine that your fascia is like a knit sweater.

An injury at the hip area can pull and cause distortions and imbalances in the shoulder.

Treating the shoulder would only treat the symptom.

Click here to see an interesting short video by Tom Myers that explains fascia.

Click here to watch a fascinating film that goes inside the body to explore the fascia, Strolling Under the Skin.

The NISA Structural Alignment Series

These twelve weekly sessions work systematically through the body to re-align the posture and are a great help to someone who is making a big change in their life.  As we know, the mind and body are intimately connected; postural holding patterns are linked to emotional holding patterns.  When a person wants to change their direction in life and/or discard their negative attitudes and baggage, changing the way they carry their body can ameliorate that process.

For the series, the client sets out goals in the beginning.  They may be physical and/or internal (emotional, behavioral), and don’t necessarily need to be shared.  The therapist and client then work together to reach these goals within the framework of the twelve sessions.  The therapist works on the physical component (with the client doing stretches/exercises at home) and the client works on processing the emotional component.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is an ancient art/science that is currently used in over 90 different countries around the world and provides improved health to about 2 billion people.  It is the 2^nd largest medical system in the world today.

TCM is a non-invasive healing modality that facilitates the body’s natural ability to heal itself by restoring harmony and balance to the entire individual.  This time-tested professional medicine treats and assesses each person as a unique individual, therefore, treating the cause of the disease instead of just the symptoms.

Some Chronic Health Problems That TCM Treats Effectively:

• Asthma
• Premenstrual Syndrome/Painful Periods
• Acne/Rosacea
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Anxiety/Depression
• Migraines/Headaches
• Insomnia
• Allergic rhinitis/Sinusitis
• Eczema
• Acid Regurgitation/Reflux
• Psoriasis

The conditions listed above are just some examples of those to which Chinese Medicine offers substantial clinical benefits for patients who have been unresponsive to other forms of treatment.  The TCM treatment of these diseases very rarely has side-effects, and is often curative, not palliative, as it aims to eliminate the pathology of the disease instead of controlling or suppressing the symptoms.  In most chronic diseases, modern medicine can at best, only offer temporary symptomatic relief using various medications.  Unfortunately, modern treatments also offer possible side-effects, either repeated or long-term.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the five causes of all illness and imbalance in the human body are:

• improper diet
• emotions
• lifestyle
• external environment
• constitution (i.e. genetics)

Traditional Chinese Medicine:

• is a regulated health profession, just like massage therapy, which means that we are bound by the Ontario government to do no harm to the public by being highly educated, using an evidence-based practice, and following strict standards of practice
• is a style of Chinese medicine taught at 30 provincial medical colleges in China
• is the oldest, continuously practised professional medicine in the world
• has approximately 30,000 volumes of existing Chinese medical literature written before the 20th century and thousands since then
• journals in China publish 100,000 TCM articles per year.  Most of these articles are clinical audits on the effectiveness of certain treatments for certain diseases.
• is a highly sophisticated, literate medicine
• treats and assesses each person as a unique individual (not based entirely on a disease or symptom)
• is safe, effective, and easy to use

Acupuncture needles are very different to the hypodermic needles used for medical procedures, such as vaccinations. Hypodermic needles are thick and hollow since they must remove or inject fluid, whereas acupuncture needles are thin, solid and not designed to be inserted deeply into the skin. Sterilized, one-use, disposable, surgical-grade stainless steel needles are always used.

Acupuncture needles are very thin (usually 0.14 mm to 0.30 mm in diameter) and are inserted no more than 15 mm to 25 mm into the body. These needles come in a pre-sterilized sealed package and are discarded after the first use.

CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a light-touch approach that can create dramatic improvements in your life.  It releases tensions deep in the body to relieve pain and dysfunction and improve whole-body health and performance.

Few body structures have more influence on your health and well-being than your central nervous system.  And few body systems have more impact on your central nervous system than the craniosacral system - the soft tissues and fluid that protect your brain and spinal cord.

You endure stresses and strains and your body absorbs them.  But your body can only handle so much tension before the tissues begin to tighten and potentially affect the brain and spinal cord.  Unfortunately, this can compromise the function of the central nervous system and nearly every other system in your body.

CST releases those tensions to allow the entire body to relax and self-correct.  Using a gentle touch - starting with about the weight of a nickel - practitioners evaluate your internal environment.  They then use distinctive light-touch techniques to release any restrictions they find.  The connective tissues of the body called 'fascia' are accessed to release the restrictions.

By freeing the central nervous system to perform at its best, CST naturally eliminates pain and stress, strengthens your resistance to disease, and enhances your health and well-being.

And because it's so gentle, CST can be effective for all ages, from newborns to elders. 

A typical CranioSacral Therapy session takes place in a quiet, private treatment room where you remain fully clothed as you relax on a comfortable padded table.  Sessions are generally 60 or 90 minutes in length and can be used alone or integrated with other therapies to create powerful effects.

What you experience from your session is highly individual.  Sessions are generally deeply relaxing, creating feelings of warmth and gentle pulsing in the areas being treated.

CST was pioneered and developed by osteopathic physician John E. Upledger.  Dr. Upledger served from 1975 - 1983 as a clinical researcher and Professor of Biomechanics at the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University.  It was during those years that his team of anatomists, physiologists, biophysicists and bioengineers were tasked with performing the experiments testing the existence and influence of the craniosacral system.  The results of those scientific studies explained the function of the craniosacral system, and its use in evaluating and treating poorly understood malfunctions of the brain and spinal cord.  Dr. Upledger went on to develop CranioSacral Therapy and other complementary modalities that are now taught worldwide to healthcare professionals through Upledger Institute International's educational programs.

Trigger points are commonly known as knots in muscles.  They are distinct, hyper-irritable spots within a tight band of muscle which, when activated (poked or overstretched) cause pain in their location as well as in specific referral areas.  This means that a trigger point in your shoulder can give you a headache, or one in your neck can send pain to your chest, shoulder blade and arm.

Because of the tight area in the affected muscle, trigger points decrease the overall range of motion and also decrease the local circulation.  This decrease in circulation causes an accumulation of metabolic wastes in the tissue because they aren’t being properly flushed away, as well as a decreased supply of nutrients.  This imbalance causes an irritation of the local nerves which causes pain.  It also results in tissue of less than optimal health.

Trigger points are very common and occur in muscles that have been traumatized by:

• injury

• overuse

• repetitive strain

• a cold draft

• impaired sleep

• nutrient deficiencies

• long-term poor posture

• lack of exercise

• joint alignment problems

In treatment, the muscle is warmed up with general massage techniques and/or applied heat, and then the trigger point is compressed and manipulated until it releases.  This can be an uncomfortable experience but the relief felt post-treatment is worth it in the view of many clients.

When you have swelling in your body, it is usually caused by the lymphatic fluid collecting in an area outside of it's vessels.

Lymphatic drainage techniques gently push the fluid back toward the areas where the fluid can re-enter the vessels and therefore reduce swelling.

Reiki is a technique for stress reduction that promotes healing.  It focuses on balancing the energy flow through a person’s body, much like acupuncture, although with Reiki, the therapist uses their hands to lightly direct the flow.  This encourages the body’s innate ability to heal itself.

If this energy flow is low or sluggish, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress.  If it is high, we are more capable of being happy, healthy and vibrant.

If you are open to it, Reiki can help you to progress in your personal growth in a spiritual direction.  Most people achieve a meditative state during a Reiki session which helps them to access their inner wisdom and healing abilities.