Metta Wellness, Ayurveda, Massage & Wellness

Yes, recovering from Thanksgiving! I hope that you all had a wonderful thanksgiving, spent time with family, enjoyed good food, and some great laughter. Now we can start recovering from Thanksgiving. The holidays are are typically enjoyed by most , some of us enjoy them more then others, and we feel this in the days to come. We over eat, do a larger amount of driving, maybe an extra glass of wine, and yes, family can be stressful. All of this indulgence in a short time, is - well the holidays, but we can do some things along the way to reduce some of the stress, and make for a smoother holiday. It is expected that we will have some stress over the holidays, so lets finds some ways to move into recovering from Thanksgiving easier, and rest of the year a little more relaxing. Drinking plenty of water: yes, staying hydrated during the winter months is important, now you add travel, lots of food, family and stress. Water will help decrease headaches, keep the body nourished, hydrat

Soothing Turmeric Almond Tea:  4 cups milk of choice 1/2 tsp ground turmeric( I have done it with grated fresh, be aware of the stained orange hands) 1 tsp minced ginger honey, to taste   *to reduce pitta(heat/fire) replace with maple syrup In a saucepan combine everything but honey, medium heat till warm, not a boil. remove from heat, add your honey to your liking. Relax and enjoy. Turmeric is a natural antibiotic , helping ward off colds, sore throats,and good for your complexion, so not a bad idea to have this herb handy.  We have added ginger to help with digestive fire, keeping the body's natural systems moving, contributing to a healthy immune system. Your choice of milk, almond, soy, whole,etc. If dealing with a cold, or congestion it is recommended to go towards a dairy free side, I go with the almond for this one. This tea is soothing and calming, ideal to add to your nightly routine.

Winter Foot Salve with Garlic, Indian Long Pepper and Ginger  What a perfect way to heat the body and keep colds at bay during the long winter months, we have it right here at Metta Wellness  our own Winter Salve. Wild crafted, small batches of Winter foot salve in 1oz tin or 2oz twist top( for those that like the benefit with out the work). The blend of garlic and  Indian long pepper infused in olive oil with ginger essential oils along with Vit E and castor oil to help heat the body and help clear the system to better handle colds and flues that may come your way over the long winter months. Find the option that works best for you. We have crafted a small 1oz tin , you apply the salve to the bottom of the feet at night before bed, or a 2oz twist top for ease of just rubbing onto the bottom of the feet at night.  Our salves are made in small batches from oils that we have for the majority been wild crafted , when we are unable to harvest our own herb we work with an

Yes, positive becomes positive! My work as a massage therapist is so much more then just massaging the body, it's about listening to my clients and encouraging a balanced way of life. I find sometimes the simple things like being positive help me and help working with my clients everyday. Every day we make a choice, to get up and start our day, and what kind of day we will have.Once we step out into the world we then make a choice of how we are going to effect others around us. It seems so simple, but many of use do not take the time to think about this or even consider this into our daily lives. Take a step back, when you are on your way to work, or at the store, your interactions with others will effect how you move forward, it's only fair that your reaction would do the same for another. When your with your group of friends and everyone is having a great time, laughing, talking, being kind to each other, you are more apt to be friendly, laughing, enjoying, its kind

Winter is the time of Kapha season in Ayurveda, a time to find the balance between the cold and wet outdoors and the dry and hot indoors. Kapha is ruled by earth and water, they are slow to move but easy temperament, can be calm lethargic, but when out of balance they are prone to colds, weight gain and depression. The key is creating a routine for your self to bring balance into your space. Early rising, set the same  time to get up every day(it is said before 6am for kapha type is best for setting the day). Up early in the morning will start you off on a good routine.The same is for the end of your day, go to bed around the same time, this again will set that routine and you will find it easier to wake. Winter is cold and I am prone to eat warm, comforting foods to nourish and maintain the body during the long winter. With a kapha type adding in some ginger, cayenne to stimulate the system will help. Kapha is better with a light and fresh diet, but during the winter mo

The meaning behind Metta Wellness is a powerful and person connection to myself, my space and my work. The word "Metta" is simply translated to, "Loving Kindness", for me this is my work. Several years ago, when I was thinking and in-visioning working in a space, my own space. I knew I need to have a name that would say how I felt about my work, my clients, my space. As time goes, and we move forward, we realize that what we are looking  for is right here. Let me share: When I started this path with massage, I had a plan in mind to finish school and just work, simple. As my path unfolded in front of me, I started my first work as a massage and Reiki practitioner at a womens shelter and at a home for cancer patients. Far from what I planned, but yet where I should be. I learned the power of touch and the power of the human spirit. This was the turning point for me, I learned to follow the path that my work was going, not to force myself to be what I thought

Yes, that would be me, and the thought of massage and blogging. I have that look of, "what, blog"and what is massage and blogging and how does that go together.. So here I am, and will be. I have decided to blog twice a week on massage, Ayurveda and wellness. Why, because I want to share with you my love for what I do, and why I do this work. Over the past 9 years of doing this work I've learned a from my clients, reading, observing and doing ;so many ways to help bring balance into lives. One thing we all need is a little reminder from time to time, so I am being reminded to share, learn and yes blog. So hopefully you read, comment or share, as we work to inspire each other through our journeys of massage and blogging. Who am I: Heather, I work with for and at Metta Wellness , my space to share massage, Ayurveda and bring wellness in a holistic space.

Why Rest? I hear this a lot form my clients. Anyone that has come to Metta Wellness for a massage or an Ayurveda treatment knows that at the end of every type of  bodywork I do, I have you rest time at the end. Our lives are busy, whether its work, home, kids, we are always going, and taking very little time to our selves. I realized the importance of rest when I was doing body work for cancer clients years ago. I learned so much about taking time, it's not till we think our time is limited do we take the time to live it. I was blessed with working with a group of clients that where all part of a study on how the body responds during stress, how much more stress can you have then cancer? With this we worked with  the simple touch of massage, reiki, and relaxation techniques such as meditation and resting the mind body. We found that our clients had an easier time with their cancer treatments while they where in this program. From their I worked in an Ayurvedic clinic and again

Lets get healthy and Balanced with Metta  Wellness As we have entered into summer people ask me often enough, how do you stay healthy and get everything done with four kids and starting your own business? So now is the time,lets get healthy and  balanced  with Metta Welness. Massage  is my main focus, my passion at  Metta Welness, and to stay healthy I eat healthy, think healthy and try to live healthy. I have a busy, yet simple life, I work, I cook ,do laundry, relax with the family, and enjoy time sneaking away here and their (sometimes with everyone and sometimes on my own). The key is balance, from my work to my home life they all over lap, we work together to help each other, and to create the space we each need(some days its easy, and others I would like to stay in bed). I eat, create and cook healthy meals( sometimes the kids think I’m a little crazy about eating healthy, but).  My work, I do massage therapy with a back ground in Ayurveda, yoga,  meditation and herbs .

Summer is here, and it's time to help keep the body, mind cool. What better way to keep cool then a cucumber infused water, with rose petals, sage or maybe rosemary. Take 1/2 cucumber, sliced          2 quarts water          Additional options: rose-petals, sage, mint,lemon,ginger or rosemary Place the cucumbers in jar,top with any additional herbs and pour water over and place in frig, sip through out day. I like to make mine the night before and place in the frig, this allows the flavors from the cucumber and herbs to infuse into the water.Try different combinations of cucumber water, see what you come up with, and share with us on facebook . Benefits of cucumber water: Good for your muscles and joints, cucumbers contain silica which is known to strengthen the connective tissues. Cucumber helps with elimination due to the high water content. Cucumber water helps with keeping the skin clear. Cucumber water will help keep you hydrated. We forget or get bored with

The joy of creating my own oils, teas, and salves with wild harvesting.  Wild Harvesting Roses for Heart Glycerin  I have worked in massage therapy and Ayurveda for the last  nine years and through this time have learned, and continue to learn the art of creating. With massage you are always learning and working and finding new(sometimes old) ways to work with and help with issues of the body. With Ayurveda, we are looking at the body,mind spirit connection and finding ways that you can build balance in your everyday life. With balance we create harmony and in harmony we are in a healthy space. While working at the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center in Lancaster,MA I learned to make oils for dosha balance. When learning  the oil making, we worked with large amounts of herbs, most would come in a dry or powdered form, and we would make the oils from their.Over time I learned how to blend herbs for our clients for many different healing treatments, such as oils that would be poured

Yes, the beauty of Thai yoga massage , one of my favorite modalities to practice and work with. When I was finishing up school for Massage Therapy in 2005, one of our last classes was to help introduce us to all the different types of massage that where out their. So we spent time with hot stone massage, body scrubs, and then we got a taste of a few more modalties that we could continue in learning after we finished schooling. Yes, one of them was Thai massage, or Thai Yoga Massage(also know as Lazy Mans yoga), I was hooked.I took a table Thai class right away, enjoyed it, but felt that their was more to it, so I went on the search. I found a teacher that taught here in the states and traveled back to Thailand every year to continue with her practice. I started from their, and at the same time did my Ayurveda training,and found Lotus Palm, school for Thai Ayurveda Training. Now I could take the Thai massage and Ayurveda along with my background in Swedish Massage and truly enjo

You hear this from me a lot, take time for yourself. So have you? With our schedules so busy, and the feeling of having to get everything done, its a wonder we forget to stop and take time for ourselves. I shared some easy recipes with you this week and some ideas of dry brushing as I have focused on self, and getting ready for spring, and spring allergies. At Metta Spa , Ayurveda is the controlling factor of my space, how we eat, sleep, exercise, and so on, so my goal is to share with you every week easy tips to add into your daily life to find balance. So as we go off for this long weekend, many of you will have Good Friday off along with Easter Monday, so I am sharing a real easy wake your skin up recipe. We found this one to work great is you make it the night before and use it in the morning. Wake Up Coffee Facial: 1/3 cup base oil, almond,sesame or coconut 1 tsp organic honey 1 1/2 tsp coffee grounds(use the ones from your morning coffee) Add everything together and

Pumpkin Chia Pudding So I found this recipe, and as many of you know I deal with food allergies, so I am always looking for great food ideas  - since stopping at the grocery store and just picking up any snack, would not be the ideal way for me to go. So I search, and try new recipes all the time, and then tweak them to work for me, the kids and my partner. We found a great chia recipe in one of my Ayurveda cookbooks a few months ago, and when someone shared this pumpkin one, we tried, made a few adjustments(more like added into), and have fallen in love with the ease of this late morning-mid afternoon snack. PaleOMG – Paleo Recipes – Protein Pumpkin Pie Chia Pudding We always start by making the recipe the way it calls, then add or take away what we don't need, write it down on our recipe for next time and we are good. This one, we really had no need for changing, I did add a little more milk the second time, and since then have made it with cacao powder and banana(

April is a great time of the year, weather is changing, flowers are starting to pop up, and that means allergies.So this question has come up several times in the last few weeks about Oil-Pulling, perfect timing, because it goes along with the seasons and helps in so many ways including allergies.So what does Ayurveda thinks of it , how it works, and where to start, lets tackle oil pulling today. First "What is oil-pulling? A little background on oil-pulling:Ayurveda is a time tested, 5,000 year old traditional based; all natural healing. With Ayurveda comes many methods of keeping the body in balance through meditation, yoga, massage, daily routine and yes one is oil-pulling. Ayurveda has many modalities all to achieve health, working to maintain a healthy balanced body, mind and spirit. So what is oil-pulling? Simply put, part of the Ayurveda morning ritual to wake up and flush toxins and bacteria out of the body.Oil-pulling has a powerful detoxifying effect,you are pul

Do you know the powerful benefits to an Ayurveda Shirodhara? The Ayurveda Shirodhara is an incredible treatment that has lots of fantastic benefits for the mind and body. The Shirodhara is done by pouring warm oil onto the third eye, this awakens the bodies intuitive knowledge to self heal. This treatment relives stress, anxiety,depression and insomnia by naturally raising the serotonin levels in the brain. While this treatment is ideal, and balances the three dosha, it is known for its vata balancing quality. Over time this treatment helps to improve your sleep patterns and is known to relieve and help reduce migraines. The warm oil can also work to increase mental concentration along with focus. The Shirodhara helps with improved memory and sensitivity to all the senses. The Shirodhara will also balance your life energy and stimulate your third eye(located in the center of the forehead above the brows,known as self-reflection).The Shirodhara can do many incredible things for

Personalized Oils I love when a client comes into my space for the first time. I start off, like most massage therapist, with a simple health form, but after that nothing is the same from that point on. That health form is my jumping off point, a warm up, for understanding the goal of each client that comes in the door. A massage with me at Metta Spa(Heather Small) will not only settle the body, relax the muscles, but get you started on your road to a healthier balanced mind body and spirit. One way that I will do that is to create your own personalized oils, allowing you to move forward each time you come in for your massage. Think about it for a moment, we all have some stresses in our lives, work, friends, our partners, kids ,taking care of our homes, each day presents us with a different challenge.The healthier the mind, body spirit connection is, the better off we are to handle the stresses that come our way. Some days are great, and others you cant wait to crawl into bed.

March is Kapha Season,  so lets welcome in Spring with a few ways to stimulate your Kapha. Try a  stimulating Snack, Tea and Favored Spices for Spring Spicy Pumpkin Seeds: 1cup pumpkin seeds     1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 3 cups water   1/4 tsp cumin      Pinch of salt        1/4 garam marsala In a medium bowl, soak pumpkin seeds in water with salt overnight, up to 7hrs. Soaking of the pumpkin seeds aids in the ease of their digestion, making their nutrients more available to us. Strain pumpkin seeds and lay them out on paper towels( this will absorb the extra water). Preheat oven *170. In medium bowl mix spices well, add pumpkin seeds and toss to coat. Spread evenly on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 6 hours, till dry and crisp( I turn oven off and  leave mine in for another 2 hours or overnight, they get nice and crispy) I like to make this in large batches for snacks(due to the amount of time it takes and store in large glass mason jars for up to two w

Self love is strength! Love is a very powerful thing. We have to start with ourselves, the power we have and the power we can create? With all the work I do, no matter the issue it always come back to issues in the self. When we love ourselves this is a strength in our self . We can then easily handle areas of stress and you are then able to move forward with greater self. Stop and think for a moment. All of us, at different times in our life have issues, work, family, kids, finances, friends, but the difference is how we handle these things. These issues will either give us the strength to move forward or hold us back from the person we can become. How we feel about ourselves has so much to do with how we react to our environment and how we impact the people around us. We all come into our world with a different self, a different way of looking at the world, and a different way to react to things. Over time our experiences will encourage, shift, or force us to become the