Get an Edge on Your Golf Game with Sports Massage

All athletes, including golf enthusiasts look for an edge that can help them train more effectively, perform better or overcome injuries quickly.  A competitive athlete will push his or her body to the limit to achieve greater speed, endurance or power.   All this pushing puts stress on the muscles and requires a great deal of recovery in order to avoid injury and overuse trauma.  Golfers are no exception to the risks of injury due to muscle overuse.  Sports Massage for Golf professionals and recreational golfers, can increase flexibility, speed recovery time after rigorous practice and decrease your chance of injury allowing you to achieve your true golf potential.

Sports Massage for golfThe main golf swing muscles and their role in the golf swing:

  • Shoulders support the golf club at the top of the swing and also add clubhead speed as an extension of the core
  • Upper Back maintains spine angle for ease of turning on back swing and follow- through
  • Lower Back is critical in maintaining golf posture during the swing and while putting
  • Glutes help maintain flexion in the hips and produce the ‘golf squat’ position for a powerful swing base
  • Quadriceps allow consistent knee flexion and golf posture for a repeatable swing
  • Hamstrings allow you to transfer your weight correctly on the backswing and downswing for maximum power
  • Core muscles produce maximum power from the pivot and store energy from torque created on the back swing

Sports massage for Golf players aids performance in the following ways:

  • Reduces chance of injury through assisted stretching and event preparation
  • Increases ange of motion and muscle flexibility resulting in improved power and performance
  • Shortens ecovery time between workouts by maximizing the supply of nutrients and oxygen to muscle tissue through increased blood flow
  • Enhances elimination of the metabolic by-products of exercise

Holiday Detox Solutions

The holiday season is here and with it comes the whirlwind of parties, shopping, and gatherings with family and friends. There is much planning to do on top of managing existing schedules. Abundant opportunities to eat, drink and be merry present themselves. Stress abounds, whether we welcome the season or can’t wait until it’s over.

dreamclinic massage seattle detox

Numerous parties and holiday events make it easy to over- indulge in sugar, alcohol, and foods you may not ordinarily eat. When you repeatedly partake, toxins build up in the body and can upset your internal balance. The resulting effects may include poor digestion and headaches and fatigue. Added to these challenges is the emotional stress of juggling multiple social engagements or dealing with difficult family members while attempting to maintain your own sanity. Emotional stress can cause you to eat and drink more to cope with anxious feelings, thus increasing the toxic load on the body.

Here are 5 holiday detox strategies you can do to eliminate toxins this holiday season:

  • Exercise. Exercising regularly increases circulation and oxygenation, and eliminates waste products from the body.1 Daily movement also reduces stress and improves cognitive function.
  • Eat cleansing foods. The liver is the body’s primary detoxification organ. Foods that help cleanse the liver include garlic, onions, and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.2
  • Drink water. Water helps flush out toxins, so drinking an extra glass or two of filtered water each day can make a big difference. Add a squeeze of lemon to ease gas and bloating.
  • Try Acupuncture. When toxins build up in the body, the flow of life force energy, or qi, becomes inhibited. This imbalance can show itself as food and sugar cravings. Acupuncture balances the body’s qi, restoring a normal appetite and reducing cravings for toxin-loaded foods.3
  • Schedule a Massage. The pressure and rhythmic strokes used in massage improve the body’s circulation and lymph flow, facilitating toxin removal.4Massage also helps to reduce stress levels and boost the immune system.

As the holiday season proceeds, follow these holiday detox measures to keep yourself healthy and manage your stress with ease. Taking the time to take care of yourself will give you the energy to tackle all of your holiday commitments with cheer.

 

FUN FACTS

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The stones used in a hot-stone massage average 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bastine Hemp Chic Sustainable Clothing Now at Roosevelt Dreamclinic Massage

Dreamclinic Welcomes Bastine Hemp Chic

Dreamclinic would likdreamclinic massage seattle partners sustainable clothing bastine hemp chice to welcome Bastine Hemp Chic.  They are our new downstairs neighbors at our Roosevelt location. Bastine Hemp Chic Boutique is a local business offering clothing and housewares made solely from environmentally sustainable materials like hemp, organic cotton and recycled fibers.

In modern times, with a prominent trend towards sustainability and being ‘green’, sustainable clothing has expanded towards (1) reducing the amount of clothing discarded to landfills, and (2) decreasing the environmental impact of agro-chemicals in producing conventional fiber crops (e.g. cotton). Under the accordance of sustainability, recycled clothing upholds the principle of the “Three R’s of the Environment”: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, as well as the “Three Legs of Sustainability”: Economics, Ecology, and Social Equity.

Bastine creates updated classics with a dash of retro flavor.  They offer a product line that is green and versatile. Their passion and commitment to quality starts with production using solar-powered Fair Wear certified facilities.

Bastine Hemp Chic is located at 916 NE 65th Street, on the 1st floor of the Dreamclinic Roosevelt building. The store opened its doors to the public on December 5th.

Store Hours:  Tuesday – Saturday 10am to 6pm.

Skip the Self-Skimping

Holiday fuss can so easily intrude on your practice. In all the hustle and bustle of places to be and errands to run, it can be easy to skip your simple self-care. After all, you had to use your lunch break to run to that one shop for that special gift, right? It’s important to know, that when you do self-skimp, it shows. Clients can not only tell, but they can feel, when something in you isn’t wholly stable.

One time, I was receiving a massage from a therapist whose hands were actually shaking as she worked on me. I waited a couple minutes, thinking that it would pass, but it just became more pronounced. So, I requested that she pause, and I asked her what was the matter. She admitted that she had skipped lunch and was feeling a little low blood sugar.

“Did you know I could tell?” I said to her. “I could actually feel you shaking.”

She was surprised—and also a little bit embarrassed. Who wouldn’t be? We ended up working it out where she stepped out of the room for five minutes and had a quick snack. She came back and finished the massage, and it felt a lot better.

As a fellow therapist, I was glad to see her rally like that, but as her client, though, I was a little bummed that I received what amounted to a sub-par experience given those five minutes, as well as what had come before. When we come into the massage room, we need to be ready to present our best selves to our clients so as to give them the best, most effective massage that we can.

Holidays May Stress Your Massage Clients

While you can’t change or fix the fact that holidays can bring on extra stress for your clients, you can choose to give them the greatest gift of all this time of year—peace. You can choose to consciously make your practice a place apart from such. That doesn’t mean you skip hanging up some twinkly lights. With these dark days, we all need a few extra photons, wherever we can get them. It just means that you keep to your healing intention, knowing that you are holding a space for your clients where nothing is expected of them, where there’s no agenda, where they can really relax and freely receive the nourishing & healing treatment you have to offer.

Just consciously reminding yourself of, and holding to, that intention to be a haven helps you to embody that healing ideal. You may find that keeping your focus on holding that space for your clients, paradoxically, helps you stay more grounded and centered, better able to channel away any of the harried or frenzied energy they may be carrying.

When you talk with your clients:

  • Engage them with questions about how they are doing, rather than about what their holiday plans are.
  • If they do go into the difficulties of their plans or family dynamics, help direct their awareness back to themselves and their own well-being. After a couple words of empathy, ask them how they are feeling in the midst of all that & whether they notice a physical response to the stress.

As massage therapists, we have a unique opportunity to be a “holiday haven” for both those craving connection at a lonely time & those who might need some space from the chaos of their family connections, giving them (and us!) a much-needed gift of seasonal serenity.

FUN FACTS

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Specialized massage improves the flow of lymph through the body, relieving aches, pains, and flu-like symptoms.