Some helpful exercises to benefit you best

 As i have discussed with many of you before, massage works best and sees longer standing results when teamed with exercise, as it's through strengthening muscles and being active that we see lasting results.  Massage works well in conjunction with exercise and can help to reduce the tightness and restrictions, allowing us to exercise better, get better stretches in and increase range of motion so we can work on strengthening.

One of the key areas that often needs loosening up is the piriformis muscle.  A tight piriformis along with other key muscles and weak muscles can be the source of lower back pain.  This video has some key common and useful piriformis exercises in that you can make a part of your regular exercise routine.

Another key area of tension and common issue and goes hand in hand with piriformis pain, is sacroiliac joint pain and this joint can be found at the base of the spine.  Again working on loosening this area up, both by performing the piriformis stretches above and these exercises to help strengthen the surrounding muscles around the SI joint, can be beneficial in reducing lower back pain.

This is another one of Michelle Kenway's videos, as she is very good at explaining how to do it correctly to get the maximum benefit.  This time a video on strengthening the core, as once again, it all goes hand in hand and is all connected.  By strengthening the core, it takes the pressure off the lower back that has had to compensate for weak core muscles and is likely to have in turn caused issues in the glutes, piriformis and SI joint.  Strengthening the core is very important to overall body health.

Hopefully these videos give you a good starting point and a reminder that you are an active participant in your own health and well-being.

Impacts of cold weather on the body

It's definitely starting to get a little cold out there and one of the first places we feel it is in our muscles and joints. In the cold weather our muscles and connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) are less supple and don't benefit from being warmed up from the heat. This can leave us feeling stiff and achy.

We can spend a lot of time hunched to try and stay warm which ends up holding muscles in a tight and tense position....adding further to the aches and pains you already have.

So what can we do to combat this....

• Keep warm! Layer up and make sure you have a good base layer so you don't feel the need to hunch.

• You can use things like electric blankets, especially helpful if you use this on a morning five minutes before getting up as it will warm up those back muscles so you don't feel so stiff and achy.

• You can also apply heat in different forms such as a hot water bottle, a warm towel, anything that gets heat to those areas that are particularly tight or painful. Heat is wonderful at warming and loosening things up.

• You can also apply things like the natural pain balm we have for sale here at the studio as it helps to warm up the muscles. Or purchase wheat bags and heat packs from the pharmacy and apply to the area.

• When getting up on a morning, try to start with a five minute stretching programme, simply to waken up the body and warm up the muscles ready for what you require of them throughout the day. People are a lot like a car, we don't expect that to start too well on a cold day and nor should we expect ourselves!

• There's many simple stretching programmes you can start with to waken you up on the morning. I'm attaching a nice basic one here to get you started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4waoBbIZA

• However stretching is not enough and during these cold periods, once our muscles are feeling warm, another good way to get the body going and keep that tension at bay is to do some movement. Something cardio based that gets us all warmed up and the whole system going. You can think skipping, running on the spot, doing big arm circles, dancing. Anything with lots of movement! I actually enjoy hula hooping and have found it so beneficial for my back.

So hopefully some good pointers to keep you going through these winter months! As many of you know, I am not good with the cold and in seasons like this I wonder if the sunshine will ever return....but before we know it summer will be here.😁

P,s. Not forgetting we have hot stone massage available at the studio, another option for a wonderful warming blast of heat.

We made it! The year that challenged us all!

 It's been an incredibly challenging year and as this year draws to a close, it's a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon what we have learnt, what we can take away from this situation, where we need further growth and development, what challenged us, what broke up, what gave us strength, what made us smile and what made us realise we are stronger than we think!

I don't think many people will be sad to see the back of 2020, it was certainly a strange year!

A reminder of our Indi-ssentials product range

 Just a little reminder to you all that we have our Indi-ssentials aromatherapeutic product range available.  

Ranging from our skin softening and nourishing body oils great for this dry weather, to our hair oils and mask designed at providing your hair with what it needs.  

We even have beard oils for the men.

  

If you're not wanting anything for the skin, we have our ever popular candle range, which sold out whilst i was in the UK and our fragrance burner oils.  

We have a new face oil available, designed for mature skin and we have our firm favourites such as the pain balm or body scrubs.  Lots to enjoy and great as a gift for a loved one😊

Individual or small private group sound meditation classes again:-)

 I don't know about you but i am really missing our sound meditation group.  I know a few of you asked about it and i have also been doing one or two private sessions for this.

As a recap, you can either book a 60 minute sound meditation session for yourself or for you and a family member/friend.  At this stage we will keep it at three people maximum who all must be connected to one another.  Two people is preferred.

I'm offering this at a special price, much lower than our usual private session charges as it's such a lovely treatment option and should be experienced.

Prices are 1000 inr for 1 person session or 600 inr each for two people.

It's feeling a little cold outside!....Time for hot stone massage!

The UK may be a lot colder than India but it is really starting to feel cold here in Jaipur!  Which in some ways is great, as it means it's time to have a hot stone massage!  Hot stone massages are lovely!  They give a wonderful blast of heat and help to warm you up.  But they also help to warm up the muscles, penetrate deeper into the tissue whilst providing a relaxing or therapeutic treatment.

Whilst, doing the big clean, I had a stiff and achy neck, I figured it was an opportunity to check the hot stone heater was working and get the stones ready to be used once more.  I heated them up and enjoyed the wonderful, warm and soothing blast of heat, as it melted the tension away and eased up the headache I'd been having that day.

Also not forgetting that the heated blanked is back on the massage table once again.  The massage room will be nicely heated with the heaters, when needed so you are sure to feel warm and snug and soothed!  Bliss!

It's taken some time....but as you see we are ready to go....but.....