From My Table

By Colleen’s Contributor, Diane Gornell, Massage Practitioner

Do you garden? Lift weights? Cook avidly? Perform desk work? Participate in athletics or other forms of exercise on a regular basis? Affirmative answers to any of these questions could suggest you engage in movements that throw your body out of balance, leading to discomfort and even pain. What’s more, the unique asymmetry of each human body, and the stress of modern living, can lead to the same uncomfortable states even when your answers to the above are all negative. Massage therapy has been used successfully since ancient times to alleviate discomfort and to promote overall health and well being.

Several massage therapy methodologies exist, with varying approaches within each category. (See full article for descriptions of these methods at http://colleenwalshfong.com/2011/05/from-my-table/)

During my more-than 25 years as a trained and licensed practitioner of massage therapy, I have found that an eclectic approach, in which I assess each client through a nonverbal and verbal conversation, allows me to develop a customized approach to best serve her or his unique needs. The ability to act eclectically requires a deep level of education, training, research, practical experience and continual learning.

Clients come to me for many problems with all manner of etiology. Often I learn through our verbal and nonverbal conversations that the source of their bodily imbalances, and thus their discomfort or pain, is multi-causal…Sports and auto injuries left untreated or inadequately treated can cause weaknesses which are more prone to re-injury. They may also cause other areas of the body to overcompensate for the body part(s) taken out of commission. When one limb compensates for what the other cannot do, overdevelopment may result in pain or injury…If you’re starting to think leading a sedentary life will prevent imbalance, think again. Life itself leads to that inevitable place from time to time.

By this, I mean a few things. Every human body is asymmetrical. One leg, arm, foot or ear may be longer than the other; and we naturally favor either left or right in everything from eyesight to handedness. We tend toward greater use of our preferred sides, which leads to overdevelopment, overuse, and/or imbalance. Other ways in which life brings about imbalance include the impurities entering our bodies through our water, food and the very air we breathe.

View full article and comments at http://colleenwalshfong.com/2011/05/from-my-table/