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april 2016yogajournal.com.auresearch supports its healing benefits.
Recent research found that multiple
6o-minute massages per week were more
effective than fewer or shorter sessions for
people with chronic neck pain, according to
a study published in the Annals of Family
Medicine; another compared the short- and
long-term effects of structural massage
(think therapeutic, deep-tissue treatments),
relaxation massage (your general spa
variety), and usual care (like meds, ice, and
heat) for chronic lower-back-pain sufferers.
The results? Both massage groups saw
significantly greater improvements in
disability and symptoms after 1o weeks
than those who received their usual care,
reporting they were more active, spent
fewer days in bed, and used less anti-
inflammatory medication.HYDROTHERAPY
This is the external or internal use of water
in any form (i.e. ice, steam, or water) with
various temperatures, pressures, and
durations to treat multiple regions of the
body. While it seems new and trendy, it’s
actually one of the oldest healing tricks in
the book, says Dean E. Neary Jr., ND, chair
of the department of physical medicine in
the School of Naturopathic Medicine at
Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington.
According to Neary, “Water is an
amazingly simple substance that can do
all kinds of healing things, proving that
some of the best remedies available to us
in this high-tech world are some of the
most basic.”From colon-cleansing colonics and salt-
water flotation tanks to spinning and other
exercise classes taking place in pools,
hydrotherapy treatments run the gamut
these days, and there’s plenty of scientific
evidence showing they can improve health
in a number of ways. Various hydrotherapy
treatments can help cardiovascular and
respiratory efficiency, improve stiffness and
pain, and even reduce blood-glucose levels
in those with type 2 diabetes, according to a
review published in the North American
Journal of Medical Sciences.CRANIAL SACRAL
(A.K.A. CRANIOSACRAL)
How can a practitioner who simply holds
the skull and sacrum lightly, using barely
detectable movements, create profound
health benefits in a patient’s body?
Craniosacral therapists believe these
minute manipulations boost circulation of
cerebrospinal fluid—the stuff that cushions
the spinal cord and brain—improving the
functioning of the central nervous system.
While there’s no evidence proving its
effectiveness (even the journal ComplementaryTherapies in Medicine published a review
of the available research and found
“insufficient evidence to support any
therapeutic effect of craniosacral therapy”)
proponents find it deeply relaxing and a
helpful adjunct to other treatments for
pain, trauma, chronic fatigue, and more.CHAKRA BALANCING
Energy work is often all about balance,
and chakra balancing focuses on
targeting the seven major energy
centres—or chakras—in the body in
order to prompt healing on both a
physical and nonphysical level.
“Ancient Vedic (the oldest known
Sanskrit literature) knowledge tells us that
we have a vital energy called prana moving
through the energy channels in the midline
of the body, with each chakra, or centre of
energy, identifying a core human need,”
says Candice Covington, a certified
aromatherapist, massage therapist, and
energy worker at The Chopra Centre in
Carlsbad, California.
“When a centre is open, energy that
flows through allows needs to be met
effortlessly; when blocked, energy becomes
stagnant and intentions are more difficult
to realise.” So if, for example, you have a
blockage in your anahata (heart) chakra,
you may have feelings of shyness or
loneliness. “Unblocking that energy
channel can be a helpful start along your
path of looking at repressed emotions
and finding ways to break old patterns
PHOTOS: THE VOORHES and overcome obstacles,” says Covington.
ART AND MUSIC
THERAPYCHAKRA
BALANCINGIf you... believe the deepest
work happens when you tap
into the subtle body,
Consider... therapies
focusing on energy work.