Managing Partner of Rasa Spa, Rachel Hogancamp, reminds you to take care of yourself in 2018.
Take care of yourself in 2018
The Healing Power of Massage
By Rachel Hogancamp, LMT
There are many ways in which we can take care of ourselves. Eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and engaging in regular exercise are aspects of self-care that we all understand and accept. However, many people raised in the culture of Western medicine still consider massage therapy to be an indulgence and, in overlooking its therapeutic benefits, deprive themselves of an extraordinarily effective avenue for healing.
Aromatherapy and the Mind-Body Connection
By Rachel Hogancamp, LMT
Human beings gather information with the privilege of our five senses and learn to navigate the world around us with the benefit of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Our senses, rooted in the physical world, also mitigate the immaterial world. Phenomenon that’s less tangible, like memory, can be directly influenced by aromatherapy. The olfactory system, linked to the olfactory bulb in the anterior region of the brain, signals the limbic system in the brain where memory recognizes odor. Aromatherapy effectively taps into our sense of smell and all of those learned memories we’ve stored throughout our lives as a way to regulate mood and emotion. If you have childhood memories of baking Thanksgiving pies with your grandmother, for example, it’s very likely that, years later, the smell of a fresh-baked apple pie instantly draws that memory to mind.
The Value of Medical Massage
By Rachel Hogancamp, LMT
Many people think of massage only when they are stiff and sore or when they are healing from an injury. However, massage is now recognized as an effective complementary therapy in the treatment of chronic conditions ranging from cancer to insomnia.