Your Massage Therapist
I am Marie-Berthe Leblanc,
Registered massage therapist since 1993
Best of health to you!
The massage I offer to my clients is inspired from Oriental and Occidental techniques. It is created like a work of art, moment to moment, from several techniques which origins stretch from east to west, including China, Japan, California, Sweden and India. Its main objective is to make you feel wonderfully good in the "now" presence.
While many techniques have been fully integrated, the massage has become an art. At this stage, it is better to give a massage than to teach it, since it is done more in the "being" than in the "doing"... Experience has taught me to trust my hands as they know more than my head as to which movements need to be done: They are guided from a sacred space, where the essence of the person is met… unconditionally.
The Healthy... Difference !
The Techniques Mastered:
It's important, first, to master the techniques. Then when the movements are well integrated, they become second nature to the therapist. Then a combination of movements from various kinds of massage can be orchestrated without the slightest effort. This is possible through many years of experience as a registered massage therapist.
Here is a summary description of each of the massages that make my work so wonderfully diversified and creative as well as pleasing for you to receive:
MOMENTUM:
Momentum massage originates from the 1970s, at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. It is primarily oil based and flows with the intuition of the donor. The quality of contact and listening allows the person being massaged to " let go " and enter in harmony with his/her own sensibility.
Momentum Massage is not intended to solve a particular problem, as relieving back pain for example, but rather to reach the person in his/her wholeness. The technique is primarily derived from Swedish massage, which acts on the circulatory and muscular planes, and touches the sensory awareness through breathing .. Momentum massage induces relaxation and a deep body-mind connection which can be seen as a moving meditation.
AMMA:
Amma massage is oil-free and is given over the garment. It comes with the basic principles of the Japanese and Chinese traditional medicine. It is similar to Reflexology, Shiatsu and Swedish massage. It is very powerful to eliminate energy blocks (knots) and maintain all over good health.
The thumbs, elbows and forearms have a series of very specific movements on several points along the meridians, muscles and joints. The "kata" (sequences) is performed as a fluid dance by the therapist for 90 minutes. Amma achieves a deep state of relaxation and inner well-being. This is a full body massage which is practiced all over the body, lying down on a massage table. It can also be received on an especially designed massage chair. It is played on a shorter time, normally from 10 to 20 minutes. You may have seen this and perhaps received such a divine stimulation short treatment in public places, such as in airports and office buildings.
AYURVEDIC:
Ayurvedic is an oil massage from India, which uses multiple manual techniques. The word comes from Ayurveda and Ayurvedic medicine refers to traditional Indian, which is still used in this country to date. The purpose of this form of massage is the global search for harmony in your digestive and nervous systems. The palpation and pressure done by the practitioner on the oiled body, reduces nervous tensions and improves blood circulation. Formerly, this massage was for warriors before their departure for battle. It has survived the ages because it has been transmitted from generation to generation so to keep all its secrets and its benefits.
CALIFORNIAN:
Californian massage is an oil based holistic approach made up of long slow and fluid movements. It can raise up and release hidden emotions, embodied in the bodily memory. The more a person surrenders to the experience gathered, the more it opens to a non-verbal communication, unique to California massage, so-called touching the heart. Californian massage appeared in the early 1970s, at the time of the emergence of therapy groups which had precedence over the release of the body armour, the expression of feelings and development of human potential. The technique was popularized from the 1980s. According to the Quebec Federation of Massage Therapists, this specific technique would effectively relieve persons suffering from chronic pain, muscle pain, from fibromyalgia, arthritis or other diseases. Finally, it could facilitate the emergence of body memory and help people who have experienced trauma or following a psycho therapeutic approach.
It is the most popular massage technique used in the beauty centres and spas. The technique is also found in private practice in growth centres and in the medical community.
Californian massage usually lasts one hour. The person is naked, lying on the floor or on a massage table and covered with a cloth or towel.
LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE:
Lymphatic drainage is a very gentle massage, designed to stimulate the flow of lymph and to detoxify the body, while strengthening the immune system. The therapist follows the direction of the lymphatic circulation with the fingers and palm of the hand across the body, and exerts a medium pressure that decreases gradually. The Lymph is a colorless liquid that circulates in the lymphatic vessels due to muscle contractions pulse and blood vessels. As a waste disposal system, it drains excess fluid, toxins and cellular debris. The lymph nodes along the lymphatic vessels, especially the groin, armpits and sides of the neck, can filter the lymph and eliminate toxins and debris in the body. When the flow of the lymph is deficient, the body can weaken and become intoxicated, which may cause various health problems: swollen limbs, premature aging, cellulite, heavy legs, stretch marks, and others. This treatment is especially appreciated by anyone impaired or who is recovering from a prolonged hospitalization.
TRAGER ®
At the age of 18 years, Dr. Milton Trager (1908-1997) accidentally discovers the principles of his approach as he gives a massage to his boxing coach completely exhausted. Surprised by the effect on the instructor, Trager then starts to experience his way of touching on people experiencing pain and muscle tension. He spent over 50 years to develop this approach.
It is a method of rhythmic and undulating movements throughout the body without exerting force or pressure. The quality of touch and "listening through touch" is the fundamental to the Trager® practitioner. The technique is not simply to mobilize the muscles or joints, but to use the movement to produce pleasant feelings and positive perceived deeply through the central nervous system, which in the long run by Milton Trager, would bring about changes within the body.
I incorporating Trager® in a regular massage since it serves as a psychophysical approach that aims to relieve physical and mental stress. A Trager session is like a gentle massage technique which also includes a form of movement education. The meetings have therefore two parts:
1) the massage as per say on the table
2) work on specific simple movements, called Mentastics ®: The practitioner teaches the patient how to reproduce the well-being he/she experienced during the sessions.
Trigger Point Therapy:
In my practice, I am often asked about what we call "the knots" the person can feel, especially in the back, causing back pain. In short I explain that it is a trigger point. It is essentially a small, painful hard knot or pebble within a muscle. Imagine a muscle as a handful of spaghetti, with each straight noodle representing a muscle fiber.
In a healthy muscle, all the fibers are long and even like spaghetti. A trigger point causes an unhealthy contraction, so that some of those fibers twist, or size up, into a knot. When that knot appears in a muscle, it causes pain. There are two reasons for this:
Massage for PREGNANT WOMEN
Massage for pregnant women is a very gentle massage. It aims to improve blood circulation, relax the skin and muscles, relieve leg pain and back pain, improve the immune system and increase respiration. It helps to tame and to accept the many bodily changes. This massage promotes close contact between mother and baby because the foetus is sensitive to the condition of the mother and responds to ambient stimuli from the fourth month
- According to the work of Francoise Dolto (1908-1988) pioneer French pediatrician and psychoanalyst specializing in the psychoanalysis of children - Massage for pregnant women is a precious moment in itself. It relieves the discomforts of pregnancy, promotes body awareness and reduces psychological tensions. Multiple studies show that the impact of stress during pregnancy is at least as important as cigarette smoking (maternal stress). During pregnancy it is important that bodily sensations are accompanied by well-being. A pregnant woman can receive a massage safely from twelve weeks of pregnancy until birth. No essential oils are used.
REFLEXOLOGY
The art of reflexology, commonly known as foot massage is certain to soothe aches and tension. There are points at the foot, representing all the organs of the body. By stimulating these points manually, it can relieve pain, help eliminate toxins and prevent certain ailments. In the Orient culture (which we learned from) it is well known that the feet are like a map of the body where reflex areas correspond to the organs that we can stimulate. The feet are a miniature representation of the human body. Foot reflexology (oil foot massage with specific pressure points) provide a real well-being and some even see the secret to long-lasting health…
FACIAL REFLEXOLOGY: DIEN CHAN
This method of stimulating reflex points located on the face has been developed by a Vietnamese medical acupuncturist Professor Bui Quôc Chau about a quarter of a century ago.
Also known as Dien Chan (Vietnamese name) this therapeutic method is based according to the flow of the main principles of Chinese medicine.
This therapy helps relieve most varied sores, aches and pain, simply with pressure of the finger or the rounded end of a pen or some tools specially designed for that application. It's processing is quick and easy for health professionals. The Dien Chan offers the possibility for immediate relief for health related crisis. As a matter of fact, when you come see me for a massage, I tell you and show you, where and how to apply the pressures on your face for your specific problem, if you ask me. It's easy and very effective.
People with CANCER:
In 1996, in collaboration with Leucan Quebec I took a year long training for massage with children afflicted by cancer and their parents. This special touch approach provides comfort to children and adults weakened by a life threatening disease. By lack of information, these people are too often deprived of physical nurturing contacts.
If I have cancer, can I receive a massage? YES YOU CAN.
TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
Call me at: (819) 847-0945
FROM TUESDAY TO FRIDAY, 9-5 weekly
ADDRESS:
597 General-Vanier Street, Magog, Quebec, Canada
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