The Spa at Woodside now offers Visceral Therapeutic Massage, provided exclusively by Licensed Massage Therapist and Visceral Manipulation Practitioner Elena Velikoivan. Elena holds certifications in VM1: Visceral Manipulation: Abdomen 1 from The Barral Institute and LBTB: Lympathic Balancing: Total Body from D’Ambrogio Institute.
WHAT IS VISCERAL THERAPY?
Visceral manipulation involves abdominal massage that combines pressing, deep strokes, and friction to strip away the adhesions. The goal is to restore the pliable, mobile state that helps your organs get the circulation, nutrients, and suppleness they need to function properly. Our bodies need movement to be healthy. This same principle applies to every structure in our bodies including the viscera. For an organ to be healthy and have an optimal function, there needs to be motion. If an organ does not have optimal motion, it can cause complaints such as neck, mid-back and lower back pain. Joints of the spine or extremities can become restricted and painful.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Emotional and visceral wellness are intimately related. The organs record physical and emotional trauma and retain this information throughout life. It is common to have an emotional release during a service. Your practitioner will guide you throughout the procedure, as some areas are more tender. Communication is an important part of the client and practitioner treatment.
This is at times a firmer pressure, similar to a deep tissue massage. Some parts of the body are guided through gentle compression, mobilization and elongation of the soft tissues.
Thermal manual technique allows the therapist the ability to feel if the organ has been altered, decreased in motion within the viscera, fascial or ligamentous attachments to the musculoskeletal system or if there are restrictive patterns throughout the body. Once found restrictions are released which then allows the body to self-correct.
The practitioner will be working over the entire body, including the front of the body, abdomen and ribs and the back of the body- kidneys, liver, hips and glutes. You may feel tenderness, tightness or even a gurgling of your tummy as the tissues start to relax. Proper draping is always practiced for client comfortability.
BENEFITS
The goal of Visceral Manipulation is to restore the inherent motion of each organ and synchronize the organs’ motion to re-establish the brain-body connection. This restoration leads to improved bodily function and decreased pain. Decreased pain leads to improved functional activity tolerance such as household chores, childcare, general movement and recreational activities. Decreased pain leads to improved quality of life.
By approaching the body as an integrated and interdependent whole, this work is effective in treating a variety of issues, including motor vehicle injuries, reproductive and urinary issues, postural imbalance, PTSD, digestive issues, migraines, nerve pain, heart and lung issues, brain injuries, anxiety, depression, chronic or unexplained illness and much more.
NEW SERVICE
VISCERAL THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE
Visceral manipulation enhances the normal mobility and tissue motion of the organs of the visceral system. The term “visceral” in this sense pertains to the soft internal organs in your body. Visceral manipulation involves gentle manual therapy of the viscera (organs) and surrounding tissues to restore normal mobility and improve function.
Visceral manipulation and physical therapy are often used together as a whole-body approach to healing the body from injury by addressing fascia restrictions around the nerves, blood vessels, and organs. This service alleviates compensatory movement patterns and restores a multitude of musculoskeletal abnormalities by releasing organ and fascia restrictions.
