What Is In A Session?
Sarah uses a variety of techniques to get the body to relax and release, but her main method for relieving muscular tension is by releasing fascia, and working on deep musculoskeletal points throughout the body.
Every person has points throughout their body that when worked on, can help relieve muscle tension. These points are often referred to as different things: trigger points, motor points, acupressure points. These points are in a way, an entrance to the deep areas within our body.
This type of bodywork session is very different from a classic deep tissue massage, however it is highly effective. Even a person who is very much used to getting deep tissue massages, may be very sensitive to deep work on the body's points.
Another key component is working with fascia. If you can for a minute bring your awareness to just below your skin, you can do this by gently moving the skin on top of a bodypart, without pushing down too hard. Right underneath your skin lies fascia, a web of connective tissue that helps your body move. Just like other parts of the body, fascia can become "tangled" and tight.
Now let's say the fascia in your right shoulder started to become stiff and could no longer freely move. As you can see from the above picture, pulling on one side would have an effect on the whole body (perhaps, this is why some people will say that even though you're working on their shoulder, they feel it in their low back!) Releasing and cleaning out these areas of tension can have a profound positive effect on one's overall pain levels.
Prenatal Sessions
In a prenatal session, the main focus is relieving pregnancy related aches and pains, and bringing balance to the whole body system. As we melt the fascia and release tension in imbalanced areas of the body, not only does it decrease one's pain levels, it can also have a positive effect on your baby's position in your body. When you are in balance your baby will have more space to properly position him/herself in your pelvis. Releasing fascia and tension on and around the sacropelvis means that you can have a sacrum and pelvis that freely moves, which is imperative when you give birth to your baby! In the picture above, you can see a neutral pelvis, anterior pelvic tilt, and posterior pelvic tilt. While no one particular position should be forced or held, a goal of a prenatal session is for your pelvis to be able to go into these positions comfortably, and proper bodywork encourages this! As your baby descends through your pelvis, it will be moving and changing position from a posterior pelvic tilt (opens up the entrance to the pelvis, where your baby "engages" before birth), to an anterior pelvic tilt during birth! So making sure your pelvis is comfortable with the complete range of motion is important for your "birthday"!
As you may already be aware of, acupressure is working with something called acu-points. These, along with trigger points, and other types of points throughout the body, are what are typically needled in an acupuncture session. During a bodywork session such as this, no needles are used, but the points will still be worked on in other ways.
The basis of acupuncture is that every point on the body means something, and that working on specific points can produce specific results. For example, during pregnancy, there are points and areas that one can work with to help induce labor, ripen the cervix, encourage dilation and effacement, flipping breech babies, morning sickness, and more.
Besides the meaning behind these points throughout the body and what they may correlate to, having your points worked with can be a wonderful time to practice any type of pain coping and breathing techniques that you are planning on using during the birth of your baby (while the work should never be too painful for your to stand, it is normal to feel a degree of discomfort on some points).
Postnatal Sessions
Postnatal bodywork is a great way to celebrate the end of one way of life, and the start of a brand new journey. The journey of parenthood!
In the raw moments of early postpartum, it becomes apparent that what you just went through--pregnancy, birth, recovery, took a lot out of you and your body. And in a way, that was just the start of this new path you are now on. In the postnatal period you are dealing with working through your birth experience, learning how to feed your child, and dealing with new body changes. Your baby up until this point, only knew the comfort of being inside of your body. And now is out in the world, which can cause many sleepless nights. To say that exhaustion--even if it comes with that new baby high-- is something that is almost guaranteed while going through those first few tender months of being postpartum.
Many women feel residual pain left over from their pregnancies and birth, and have now developed new aches and pains from learning how to breastfeed and carrying their child. When you are a new parent, you know that getting one hour to yourself in the postnatal stage is rejuvenating. The intention of a postnatal bodywork session is to relax re-balance the body-mind and help relieve the pains left over from pregnancy, birth, and the aches and pains that come with being a new parent.
Since the postnatal state can be a very unknown time in someone's life, Sarah loves to bring fluid postpartum sessions to families in their homes and offers packages for the whole family (although she most definitely can see you in studio if in-home is not your top location choice). Visit this page to see postpartum packages.
How Do I Know It's Working?
You may feel any of the following:
Extreme relaxation
Dream-like states, or even sleep
Popping and cracking noises
Twitches and jolts in the body (these are deep connections in your body re-educating itself)
Skin feeling loose
Deep breathing
Feeling radiating throughout the body
The intention of corrective bodywork is to aid you in your healing process. While you should expect to feel relief after your first session, it may take a couple of sessions for any issue to be resolved with any therapist. Most when coming in with an issue, will come in more often initially (once a week-once every two weeks), and once the issue has started to resolve, will lessen their visits to a "maintenance" schedule (once a month).
Sarah believes that bodywork therapy should be something that you want to do and are excited to come in for, so you should feel absolutely no pressure to be on a set schedule.
Remember: the pain you are experiencing could be due to months, if not years of body imbalances. It may take time, and multiple modalities of healing to unravel it all. Be patient with yourself.
Is This Type Of Therapy Right For Me?
Do you like feeling amazing?
No, but really. I and many others very much enjoy this type of work. However, there is a chance that this type of session just isn't what you're looking for! If you are looking for a classic deep tissue or Swedish style of massage, Sarah may not be your gal. Please keep this in mind before booking your appointment!
This type of therapy is different, yet very healing and effective. It works perfectly along side any other therapy you may be receiving for what you are going through.