The Art of Listening

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Sue Vittner, Massage Therapist

The other day a friend said to me, “you’re not listening to me.”

It really took me by surprise, because I thought I was a good listener…and in fact I had just said to my boyfriend the other day, “I don’t feel like you’re listening to me.”  All the while thinking I was totally hearing what he was saying!

So now I see, he was just being my mirror, and maybe I am the one who needs to work on my listening skills more.

When you come to me for a massage, you are really paying me to listen to you.  You are paying me to listen to your body.

I need to really hear what your body needs, how much pressure the muscle can take, how fast or slow to massage, if I need to linger a bit longer on a muscle or move to another body part.  I need to listen to your energy body as well.  Do you need more energy in an area or is there too much stored in one place which needs to be dispersed?

Luckily, my hands seem to listen better than my ears…according to my friend.

But I am also working on my listening ears through studying Non-Violent Communication (NVC), a practice developed by Marshall B. Rosenberg, PhD.

Rooted in the principles of nonviolence– the natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart, NVC reminds us what we already instinctively know…about how good it feels to authentically connect to another human being.

What if communication is really about connecting, not convincing?

Another training I went to once on Couples Communication taught me that when someone is truly heard they feel loved.

With NVC we learn to hear our own deeper needs and those of others. Through its emphasis on deep listening—to ourselves as well as others—NVC helps us discover the depth of our own compassion. This language reveals the awareness that all human beings are only trying to honor universal values and needs, every minute, every day.

Who in your life is calling out for you to listen more?  What in yourself is desiring to be heard?  Do you ever find yourself thinking how to respond while the person you’re communicating with is still talking?

I invite you today to pay attention to what is going on inside of you when a loved one, a stranger or yourself is talking.  Where is your focus?  What would it feel like to be centered in your heart with ears wide open?

Posted in Personal Development | Tagged Personal Development | 1 Comment

Massage and Golf

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Sue Vittner, Massage Therapist

What if Massage could take some strokes off of your Golf Game!!??

My dad is a huge golfer.  He has a golf newspaper and radio show in
Rhode Island.  I love golf too.  Although it doesn’t happen that often,
there’s nothing like hitting that ball so perfectly that it didn’t even feel
like I hit it…and it went exactly where I was aiming.  But I must
admit, when I try and crush the ball, my body totally feels it and I
definitely need more massages during the golf season!

Here are some areas we would specifically focus on during a massage for golfers…

Hip Rotators
Golf requires a high level of rotation through the hips, but because so much of our modern lives involve sitting at computers and in vehicles, the hip rotators often become “stuck” and in need of massage.

Hip Flexors
The golf stance can often lead to excessive tightness in the hip flexors, the muscles along the front of your thigh and abdomen.

Thoracic Spine
The middle portion of your back, called the thoracic spine, plays an integral role in the golf swing. Many swing errors put too much tension on the muscles along the spine; release this tension to improve your swing’s effectiveness.

Head and Neck
Often golfers experience tightness in their head and neck area.  That pressure to keep the eye on the ball combined with all of the other things that need to be kept in alignment really puts stress on the neck muscles.

Here are some ways Massage could benefit your golf game…

  • Increased blood and lymph circulation:  If a muscle is stiff because of a long day on the course, getting oxygenated blood to the area improves the condition rapidly.
  • Muscle relaxation:  Relaxed golf muscles function efficiently, reducing the risk of “strain,” and producing consistently better shots.
  • Pain relief :  Anytime you have pain, you’re not maximizing your golf swing. Instead you’re making a modified swing that guards against the pain, which of course makes a big difference when you’re trying to hit the ball. When you have an injury, or experience pain, those muscles shut down and other muscles kick in to help the injured ones. It’s hard to swing well if you have aches and pains.
  • Adhesion removal and Fibrosis alleviation:  The repetitive motion of a golf swing, if done incorrectly, can cause injuries in many parts of the body, backs, knees, elbows, shoulders, and wrists.  An adhesion exists when two tissues are joined by scar tissue following an injury or disease. Fibrosis is formation of excessive or abnormal scar tissue after an injury. Massage may be effective in breaking down such adhesions and relieve this condition.
  • Stress reduction:  When you are stressed, you’re often unconsciously clenching your shoulders and arms. This is counterproductive to the normal motion of the joint and tight muscles severely restrict your golf swing. Because massage reduces anxiety and gives the sense of well-being, this allows the golfer to stay relaxed and swing more fluidly. Being relaxed and feeling good allows one to play better.
  • Fatigue reduction:  Post-round massage increases circulation in the muscle tissues, helping to prevent build-up of harmful “fatigue” products resulting from strenuous exercise and competition.
  • Massage with stretching:  A golfer will often notice increased flexibility after only one or two sessions. If you have limited flexibility, it may help you and your game move in the right direction.
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Golfer’s Elbow Exercises

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Sue Vittner, Massage Therapist

I found this great video to help people with golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow. Pain at the inside of your elbow is a common injury seen in golfers, but it can occur to anyone. Pain at the outside of your elbow is a common injury seen in Tennis players.

In this video he goes over a rehabilitation exercise program for medial elbow pain.

Lately many clients have been coming in for a massage with either golfer’s elbow or tennis elbow. Basically, these occur because there is overuse of the muscles and tendons of the forearm, leading to inflammation and pain around the elbow joint. You don’t have to be a golfer or tennis player to feel this pain…construction workers, guitarists, drummers, people typing a lot, and any anyone else who uses repetitive elbow and wrist movement…like a massage therapist…can feel it.

Massage can also help both golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow by loosening those muscles that attach to the elbow. The triceps, flexors and extorsors of the forearm often get extremely tight and contribute to this pain at the tendons of the elbow. Also massage can help to circulate new blood into the area to speed up healing.

With this warm weather around the corner, let’s keep our elbows in good health so we can really swing that club!

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Ho’oponopono

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Sue Vittner, Massage Therapist

I’ve recently been using this healing practice called Ho’oponopono (ho-o-pono-pono) which is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness.

It is very simple and so powerful.  In any order, you say the following statements over and over…

“I love you, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you.”

A shaman and therapist in his 70s, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, used this method to cure a complete ward at the Hawaii State Hospital of criminally insane patients…without ever seeing any of them. Every day he would study an inmate’s chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person’s illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.  The crazy thing is, he never actually met with any of these patients!

The ward was a mess.  Psychologists and staff were always quitting and many people would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall because they were afraid of being attacked by patients.

Dr. Len never saw patients, he only stayed in an office and reviewed each of their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.

“‘After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely.  Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed.  Not only that, but the staff began to enjoy coming to work. Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed.”

So, what was Dr. Len doing that caused these people to change?  He says that he was simply healing the part of himself that created them.  He believes that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life, since it is in your life, is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

Holy smokes!  So if we really believe in taking total responsibility for our lives, then everything we see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is our responsibility because it is in our life. This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy or anything we experience and don’t like is up to us to heal.  They really only exist as projections from inside ourselves. The problem isn’t with them, it’s with us, and to change them, we have to change ourselves.

But, it’s so much easier to blame than to take total responsibility!  Actually, Dr. Len believes that healing really just means loving yourself.  If we want to improve our lives, we have to heal our lives.  For Dr. Len to cure the mentally ill criminals, he had to do it by healing himself.

What I like most about this whole thing is how simple he did this.  He just kept saying over and over, “I’m sorry, I love you” as he looked at each of the patients’ files.

So, loving ourselves is really the greatest way to improve ourselves, and as we improve ourselves, we improve our world.  Just think how powerful this is if we really believe it…whenever we want to improve anything in our life, there’s only one place to look: inside ourselves. And when we look with love, we have the power to change anything!

Here’s a video of Dr. Joe Vitale talking to a group of people in Maui about this practice.

Imagine living in this new year in Magic and Miracles?  What is possible for you in your life when you live this way?

Posted in Personal Development | Tagged create your mood, Law of Attraction, Personal Development | Leave a comment

Ashtanga Yoga is a Growing Trend in Portland

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Sue Vittner, Massage Therapist

Ashtanga Yoga in Portland, MaineThere are hundreds of different yoga styles, each with a different focus and set of characteristics.  Ashtanga yoga, a style that originated in India and is gaining popularity all over the world, is a practice that aims to synchronize the breath with a progressive series of postures, or asanas.  The practice follows a set progression of asanas to build internal heat, increase strength and flexibility, and calm the mind.

In Portland, most yoga studios and gym classes tend to follow the Vinyasa tradition, or a mixture of different styles, but there are two studios in town that specialize in Ashtanga yoga.

Ashtanga Yoga Community Portland, located downtown on Congress Street, offers both Mysore style and led classes.  In Mysore style classes, the teacher is there to guide you through your individual practice, but they do not call out instructions or lead the class.  Each student goes through the sequence of asanas at their own pace, following the rhythm of their own breath.  Led classes are guided by a teacher who calls out the asana and the class moves in unison.

Studio 72 is another Ashtanga studio on the East End on India Street.  This studio provides a more intimate setting and offers both guided classes and Mysore style, depending on the schedule.

Both studios oofer world-class teachers who welcome beginners, advanced students, and drop-ins for out of town visitors with an established practice.  If you are interested in exploring yoga and the Ashtanga tradition, Portland is the perfect place to start your search!

Posted in Fitness in Portland, Portland Maine Activities | Tagged health and wellness, yoga | Leave a comment