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Get to know Alicia in this quick, fun little Q&A 🙂

What are your passions?

In life, I love pushing myself and seeing how far I can go. I love pole fitness and how it allows me to move my body and use my strength in different ways than I use in the gym. I am also very passionate about Spartan races, I have been doing them for 4 years now and completed my first trifecta this year (next goal is 2 x trifectas!). In regards to massage therapy, I love helping my clients gain more mobility and live a pain free life in whatever it is they love to do. I’ve always loved the rehab aspect and helping clients regain or even surpass their limits prior to injury.

Favorite food? Drink?

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

If I could visit anywhere in the world, it would be New Zealand. I love nature and natural scenery (hills, oceans, forests), as well as old architecture, and New Zealand just looks absolutely breathtaking.

What is your specialty in your field of work?

I love working with rehab clients and TMJ clients. I love seeing improvement and hearing back how something we’ve done has helped my clients. A lot of clients who have jaw pain were hesitant to try intra-oral massage, but after the first session, were very happy with how they felt afterwards.

Secret talent?

Pole fitness! 

What energizes you at work?

What’s your biggest work pet peeve?

When linens aren’t restocked in the room or if my lotion/gel bottle is greasy because it wasn’t washed.

Get to know Michelle in this quick, fun little Q&A 🙂

What are your passions?

My passion is CrossFit. I’ve been doing it for 4 years now. I remember when I first started out how much I dreaded going to classes because of how difficult they were. I couldn’t wait to be finished my 6 month membership so that I could never return. Now here we are 4 years later and I couldn’t imagine my life without it. I’ve gained so much strength and confidence as well as creating many friendships that will last a lifetime.

Favorite food? Drink?

My favourite food is pizza with a good garlic dipping sauce. 🍕 My go to is pepperoni, hot peppers and bacon from Gabriel’s. My favourite drink at the moment is hands down the nitro pumpkin cream cold brew with .5 sugar free vanilla and light foam from Starbucks.The pumpkin cream on top is just enough to enjoy fall in a cup without going overboard. 🍂

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I’d love to visit Iceland around Christmas time. They have a few Christmas trees that stay up year around, and I just think that’s really cool so I can only imagine what Christmas time would be like. Of course , I’d love to visit the hot springs and swimming pools such as the Blue Lagoon, and the Secret Lagoon.

What is your specialty in your field of work?

Since I am still new in this field, I’m not sure what my specialty is yet, however, I look forward to figuring it out.

Secret talent?

My secret talent is I used to be in animation so I can draw really well. Another secret talent is handstands and handstand walking. I love being able to do them at anytime, any place! 🤸‍♀️

What energizes you at work?

What energizes me at work is being with a great group of individuals who have goals and work hard at what they do.

What’s your biggest work pet peeve?

A work pet peeve I have is people talking over someone else that is trying to speak or explain what they’re talking about.

Hi everyone! Dr. Lovely here, Chiropractor at Whole Therapy Lancaster!

Many of us think we’re in reasonably good shape but, do you give your spine a second thought? We go on about our days at work in a not so perfect posture for prolonged hours;  Some of us slump on a couch or favorite chair in a lousy position in the evening to relax ,never even thinking what effect that may have on our spines!

Our spines are designed with specific curves and joints that must align with each other for optimal functionality.  When we place our spines in abnormal,  awkward postures for prolonged periods of time with no movement, it is a recipe for disaster and  leads to unhealthy  spines!  What are some of the issues that you may encounter?? Well I’m glad you asked!!

• Decreased range of motion
• Pain
• Early signs of arthritis
• Actual changes to the curves of the spine

Being aware of your posture can go a long way in helping to curb the effects of joint misalignment. Be sure to get up and move around for at least 60 seconds every 60 minutes! Set an alarm on your phone, get up and grab a glass of water, do a lap of the office, anything to get you out of the awkward posture!

And of course, being proactive with self care doesn’t hurt either. Book an appointment with myself or one of our other fantastic Chiropractors.

Can’t wait to meet you! 😊

Dr. Jennifer Lovely
Chiropractor

The Graston Technique was developed over 20 years ago when a patient was not satisfied with the rehabilitation regimen suggested to him following surgery.  Recovery was taking too long and was not providing him with the range of motion he was looking for. In search for a better option, he began researching and consulting with a number of medical industry professionals. Through this process, he established a set of stainless steel tools to help break down the scar tissue that was limiting his mobility. He created six different instruments, all uniquely designed for specific areas of the body to encourage faster and more effective healing. The techniques used to apply these tools promotes overall health and wellness, and is now known as The Graston Technique. It is an excellent, evidence-based, non-invasive healing method for those wishing to reduce acute, chronic, and post-surgical pain.

When you suffer from a strained muscle, or a pulled ligament or tendon, the soft tissues experience trauma. This can result in scar tissue developing around these structures, which then causes restrictions and reduced mobility as the surrounding fascia tightens up. Therefore, the focus of The Graston Technique is to break down this scar tissue and fascia and ultimately freeing everything up to move the way it was designed. When applied correctly, patients see a notable difference in reduced pain and increased function.

One of the unique elements of The Graston instruments is that they enhance the clinician’s ability to detect adhesions, scar tissue, and/or restrictions in the affected areas. An initial step to the technique is to run one of the tools over the area. During this process, it “catches” on fibrotic tissue. As the restricted areas immediately appear red in colour relative to the other surrounding areas, the practitioner knows that those areas are what need attention. Once the practitioner identifies the proper location, he/she uses the specific instrument(s) for that area to break up the scar tissue, which the body then absorbs. What makes The Graston Technique so effective is that it treats the area from multiple directions to accommodate for any irregular formation of scar tissue.  During this process, temporary inflammation in triggered, which is incredibly beneficial for the injury, as it increases the rate and amount of blood flow, and initiates the healing process of the affected tissues.  Therefore, when applied correctly, The Graston Technique promotes the body to heal itself.  So not only is it a fantastic treatment for decreasing pain and improving mobilization for acute and chronic muscle tightness, it also improves your range of motion and decreases delayed muscle soreness, making it the preferred treatment for many major sports teams.

As just mentioned, The Graston Technique can treat multiple types of pain, in both acute and chronic stages. Patients with the following diagnoses make excellent candidates for this type of treatment:

• Tendinopathies (all the conditions that end in -osis or -itis, such as Achilles tendinitis, medial/lateral epicondylitis and greater trochanteric bursitis)
• Fascial syndromes (such as trigger finger, plantar fasciitis, ITB syndrome)
• Ligament pain syndromes (such as ankle sprains or other types of sprains)
• Edema/swelling reduction
• Post-surgical or traumatic scars/adhesions
• Entrapment syndromes (carpal/tarsal tunnel, ulnar entrapment, thoracic outlet).

Benefits of The Graston Technique include:

• Breaks up and releases any adhesions, resulting in decreased pain

• Reduced scar tissue
• Increased mobility
• Decreased back & neck pain
• Sports injury relief
• Repetitive work injury relief
• Decreases migraines & headaches

Possible risks and complications are quite minimal when using this technique, and the side effects generally only last for1-2 days, but most patients experience the following in the treated areas:

• Bruising
• Soreness
• Redness

Over the 20 years since its discovery, The Graston Technique has become one of the most sought after treatments for all individuals. Regardless of the type and severity of the pain experienced, this approach is so effective that patients rarely walk away without noticing significant benefits. If pain is something you are currently experiencing, or have been experiencing for some time now, this treatment could be the answer you are looking for.

Cory Boyd, RMT
Personal Trainer
Graston Technique Provider
Bioflex Laser Therapy Provider
Rapid NeuroFascial Reset Provider
Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
Officially Running Out Of Room For Qualifications Guy 😉

ENTER HERE!

It’s that time of year again. The leaves on the trees are changing and making their way to little (or big) piles on our front yards. Autumn and Winter never fail to conjure up fond memories. Whether its of playing in the leaves as a youngster, or flopping down in the snow to design your first snow angel, the memories stick with us and become tradition.

At Whole Therapy, we’ve got a little tradition of our own. Each year, we join collaborate with our friends in the business community to help spotlight some really amazing people, places, and products right here in our own backyard. Each of our collaborators give generously of their time and supply us with some pretty amazing prizes to include in the draw.

This will be our 3rd seasonal #WinThisBasket event and we just can’t wait to get it started! If you haven’t participated before, the rules are very simple:

• Refer a friend to Whole Therapy (either location!) and receive a ballot entry for the grand prize.
• If your referral books an appointment when we contact them, they will receive a ballot and you will receive an additional 5 ballots!
• SHARE and tag us on our #WinThisBasket posts on Facebook or Instagram and receive an additional ballot!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

ENTER HERE!

Are you experiencing tired eyes or a raccoon mask of pain wrapping around from your eyes to behind your ears? You may be experiencing a suboccipital trigger point. These 8 small muscles pack a punch and can cause some serious headaches around and behind the eyes.

Sitting in a head forward posture for long periods at a time can promote these trigger points/knots to form and build up. Add in a dash of stress and voila, you’ve got yourself a live tension type headache for the day. 

Here are some tips and tricks to help relieve the superficial tension you are experiencing from these angry little muscles.

Self Massage Using A Yoga Or Lacrosse Ball

Lie on your back and place the ball right under the base of your skull. While taking a nice deep breath, on the exhale, allow your head to roll towards one side, focusing specifically on one side at a time.

**No need to press into the ball. Allow gravity and your deep belly breathing to allow these muscles to melt away into the ball. Believe me. If they are sore, you will feel it.

Chin Tucks

It’s time to stretch them out with some chin tucks: In an upright position, use two fingers on your chin to guide your chin directly back into a double chin. Yes, I know, it is not a flattering exercise but it does help! Hold the double chin for 3 seconds and release. I would repeat this 5 times, twice daily to notice a difference within these muscles.

**Make sure while performing this exercise that you do not tilt your  head up or down. We want to solely target the suboccipitals without straining anything else.

The suboccipital may be a smaller muscle in the body but they can sure leave a mighty big mark on our day to day lives when they’re angry with us. Give these exercises a try the next time you start experiencing suboccipital tension pain. It may not just be due to straining your eyes by staring at a computer screen for long hours.

Stephanie Lanthier
RMT

The placebo effect: Often called the expectancy effect, it’s the ability of our minds to powerfully influence healing in the body. Most are familiar with this concept, with many caring physicians integrating it into their practice to enhance the benefits of whatever treatments they prescribe. 

The dark side of the placebo effect is the nocebo effect. It’s the mind’s equally powerful ability to prevent healing due to negative expectations or limiting beliefs. Sometimes seriously ill patients overhear their physician talking about their case with other staff. The words used, depending on the subconscious programming triggered in the patient may mean the difference between health and illness. Healthcare professionals need to realize words matter; they have power to harm or heal. As patients, the words we use about ourselves matter too.

Being an Integrative Therapist working with conditions such anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, PTSD and self-sabotage, I see the effects of this all too often. A “treatment resistant” client will be responding very well but suddenly seem to hit a wall.  When we explore the reason or reasons for the impasse, I often hear that their psychiatrist or other “expert” has told them “that’s just the way they are”. They have a chronic condition. Basically, “get used to it”. 

I vividly remember one PTSD client who was doing quite well as we used Emotional Freedom techniques (EFT, Tapping) and Picture Tapping Techniques (PTT). During one session we suddenly lost traction. As we began to explore what might be standing in the way of further progress, she reflectively commented “my psychiatrist and clinical psychologist both told me, you know, you’re never going to be the same woman again.”

To her subconscious mind, they’re the experts. What they say must be true.

I then pointed out “there’s an element of truth in that, but it’s not the whole truth. You’re also not the same woman after you read a book, meet with a friend, have a good meal or take a walk in the park. It doesn’t mean you’ll never be a woman who feels confident, safe and secure again.” This opened the door to further progress and she also processed the anger that came up. She felt these comments had stolen her hope. 

Sometimes just being aware of these possible blockages to recovery can help. Other times we need a compassionate helping hand.  Is the nocebo effect, the words you tell yourself or limiting beliefs standing in your way?

If so drop by our clinic for a Health Pass. This covers the $80.00 initial consult fee to meet with David Gilbert our gifted Integrative Therapist. He can also be reached directly @ 613-747-5458.

Author: David E P Gilbert. David is a highly experienced Integrative Therapist particularly focused on anxiety/depression, stress, burnout, grief, trauma or PTSD, Post Concussion Syndrome and self-sabotage.  Being trained in a number of modalities including Emotional Freedom Techniques and PTT (Picture Tapping Techniques), he works with clients both in-office and via phone or video cam across the world. Work so powerful it’s guaranteed. 

Get to know Melanie in this quick, fun little Q&A 🙂

What are your passions?

I’m a book nerd. 📚🤓 Give me a good book and I can get lost in it for hours. I also enjoy photography. Whether it’s taking pictures of nature or of people, taking pictures makes me happy. I also joined an axe throwing league 2 years ago and even though I’m still improving my throw, I’ve met some of the most incredible people in this league and I love it!

Favorite food? Drink?

That’s a tough one! I’ll have to go with lasagna or a nice steak. As for drinks, a nice red wine and anything peppermint! (peppermint mocha, hot chocolate or tea)

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Scotland and Ireland. Don’t know who wouldn’t want to those places!

Secret talent?

I can make chocolate disappear. 🍫

What energizes you at work?

Working in a positive environment and challenging myself by learning new things.

What’s your biggest work pet peeve?

Clutter. I work best when my work area is organized and clean. Aside from that, I’m very easy going. 

To recap from my previous blog post, the three principles of Osteopathy are:

• The body is a functional unit (parts of the body work in unison, not isolation)

• Form and function are interrelated

• The body has self-healing properties

So, how does that help me, a Massage Therapist, help you? I’m glad you asked.

As an RMT, Osteopathy allows me to see the body at a systemic level. To illustrate this, I’ll use the analogy of looking at the body as though it were a computer.

Just like a computer, our bodies have many, many parts. Knowing about these individual parts and how they work is very important, but when we understand the “operating system” that combines and coordinates all of our various parts, then we can fully understand how the many parts work together, or, how our bodies are indeed functional units.

In the human body, the operating system is partly equivalent to the nervous system, therefore in Osteopathy, we try to address exactly that. The nervous system is divided into two parts, the Central Nervous System (CNS), and the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).

The CNS is the part of the nervous system which allows us to have self-awareness, and take deliberate actions ,like threading a needle for example, while the ANS takes care of all the things that are happening in the background. Our heart rate, digestion, muscle tone etc.

Broadly speaking there are two parts of the ANS. The Sympathetic Nervous System, or SNS, sometimes referred to as our “fight-or-flight” system, which, as its name indicates, gets us ready to either fight the bear or run from the bear. (I recommend not fighting bears!)

The SNS does this by increasing our heart rate, directing blood away from our digestive system and into our limbs so that we can run really fast, or fight really hard, and focus our attention where it is immediately required (again, angry bears).

The second part is the Parasympathetic Nervous System, or PSNS. Also commonly referred to as our “rest-and-digest” system. This system lowers the heart rate, directs blood flow to the digestive system, helps us relax, and perhaps most importantly for the Osteopath,  it also promotes self-healing. Yes!

The vagus nerve is the main carrier for the PSNS as seen in this picture in yellow.

Optimal health, is when these two systems are in balance, unfortunately most of us in the modern world are often waaaay too stressed, meaning our fight-or-flight systems are hyperactive.

Knowing that, when it comes to treating clients, it is clear that we would like to increase the system that promotes relaxation and self-healing.

Ok, but how do we do that? 

To give a specific example, when a client comes in to see me complaining of a tight neck, (which is a problem in the function-structure complex) before treating the neck, I’ll take the time to promote relaxation first, thereby reducing the fight-or-flight response from the SNS.

By mobilizing the upper back as well as softening and massaging the muscles in and around the ribs and spine area, we help the client RELAX and in turn promote self-healing. This is one of the reasons everybody likes a good back rub!

More specifically, the upper back is where the nerve that tenses our neck muscles resides, so by mobilizing this area, we are directly affecting the neck. Makes sense right? After concentrating on these areas, treating the neck, as you might guess, becomes much simpler. The neck is now already more relaxed, thus making my job that much easier. As the neck muscles relax, more blood will be able to flow in to the tissue and that will help wash away the lactic acid and inflammation substances that were lingering there, which in turn will reduce the pain and improve the function-structure relationship.

As a massage therapist, understanding how the human body works helps me to help the client by releasing the source of their pain (and sorrow LOL) in a more efficient and profound way, because not only is the neck now able to be released, the whole self-healing mechanism gets a big boost.

It is important that I mention that performing osteopathic techniques is indeed within my scope of practice as an RMT. Meaning that the governing body overseeing RMT’s in Ontario (CMTO) is approving of and comfortable with me using these techniques.

Last and perhaps the most important fact about the nervous system, is that it is a”habitual creature” which means that the more time spent being relaxed the more we are likely to be relaxed in the future. And the same is true in reverse. The more time we spend being tense..You get it.

The nervous system although important in making the body a functional unit, and in facilitating self-healing, is just one part of the human body’s operating system, I am looking forward to exploring with you in treatment (and in writing!) more of that system.

Until next time!

Roy Cohen is a Registered Massage Therapist at Whole Therapy who is currently studying Osteopathy. Although he currently does not practice as an Osteopath, his Massage practice reflects his learning on the subject.