Metta Wellness, Ayurveda, Massage & Wellness

Fall is here, and so are the Holidays. With the holidays comes family gatherings, work parties,busy stores and change of food and drink. This time of the year can be exciting, and fun, but can be tiring and somewhat stressful on the body. This is where taking some time for yourself daily can help. The last few months I have been going to and part of conferences all related to self care, meditation, massage, yoga all to keep the mind and body relaxed, lowering the stress response. Stress is a part of our daily life, it can be the thing that pushes you to work harder to change your lifestyle, but it can also be causing you stagnation.Feeling heavy, or disconnected from self, family, or work can be signs of imbalance due to a build up of stress. Their are many ways to bring the balance in and calm the system. Starting with the breath is a quick and easy way to feel the body reboot and see the calming of the system in a short time. When I am teaching, working with a client o...

Meditation as a healthy routine, is an easy way to keep the emotions of the Holidays in balance. Meditation is also a simple and easy approach to calming the mind body connection and can be done anywhere. Their are many options out their when you start to look into meditation, find the one that connects to you. Lets look at some of the benefits of adding meditation into your healthy routine:                             with regular meditation, these are just some of the ways you will see change in your day to day.  Increases joy, peace and energy levels in the body Decreases tension in the body, helping with pain, insomnia Improves the immune system Anxiety decreses Balanced emotions Problems become smaller Clearer focus as the mind increases through relaxation So, lets make a nice cup of Meditation Tea and find our space.

Herbs and seasonal health go together so well, they work for any season. I started my holistic journey along time ago, before I even realized that I would even get into a life of holistic healing. Growing up in a small southern town, understanding that you look around and work with the resources available to you. With this understanding whispering in your ear as you go through life, you start to see you have everything you need right here. In the spring and summer you can gather herbs, such as dandelion, mullein, nettle then dry for the winter months. When the fall blows in, we start to prepare syrups, teas and herbal blends to work through the winter months. Now as we transition through the seasons, it's time to look at and check in with our health routines.Herbs are a great addition to your cold weather routines, as simple as adding a nettle tea to nourish the body, blending a heating chai with root herbs or making a bone broth for strength or during a cold are all great...

As I move Metta Wellness into its new space this week, I am guided by the simplicity of change. I went to a Buddhist Temple this weekend, and was given a light, a small candle to sit in front of the Buddha, and as I did I stepped back and observed in calm and full of peace. It was then explained that the candle is a symbol of guidance( as you enter your home at night, you turn on the light, now you can see) this is the candle left behind. Inside you you have that light, and you can clearly see.This was a powerful time, as any change, we fell fear, anxiety and excitement and moving your work is no different. This calm in this move, the candle just reminds you that you have the light to see clearly inside of your self. With this change, I have come to appreciate that vulnerability, in myself and the people around me. As I move forward and move Metta Wellness into our new space, I welcome this change, this is a time to reflect, learn and grow with this change in front of us. ...

Yes, as I'm checking my dates, and looking at kids getting back to school, I too am sneaking away for a relaxing journey. This year is going to be a year of great changes and movement at Metta Wellness as well as at home.On the work front, I am teaching more,doing Herbal Consults and working on bringing you herbal products for your everyday along with seasonal changes( and yes specialized massage oils for balance). At home we have kids getting ready to go back to school from wrapping up college to starting high school, this is a big year. So, balance is in need. Now as I have picked my dates for my journey, planning my road trip with AAA, setting up a dog sitter, I also make sure I have my travel kit. As I pack, I add in my herbal teas( a great allergy defense tea and my stress tamer tea) magnesium lotion along with my personal dosha oil. For me, my dosha oil is a blend of vata and pitta, to cool , center and ground, this helps balance my system (which when we travel can e...

Welcome August! For most of us, this is the end of the summer vacations, kids getting ready for school, heading off to college for the first time, back to our routines and schedules. For me, work will slow down in the massage side of things this month, while vacations are at hand, but will be busy with the herbal side, drying and prepping for oils and salves. I also use this time to sneak away and plan some space to rejuvenate and reflect before the winter comes in. As we have these times of ebb and flow, we forget to take care of our selves, and a little planning will go a long way to make this time run smooth. So as you are planning those last minute beach days, or sneaking in a road trip, think about self care. Throughout the month of August, each week we will find ways to plan, pack and stay healthy while on these end of summer journeys. For me, I love my herbal teas, so before a trip I will blend a tea - if it's a day trip I will make it and have it ready t...

As July comes to an end, what ways have you found to keep cool this month? As you focus in on self, self care and keeping cool in the hot summer months, think yoga. Yoga helps with blood flow, breathing and self awareness, so what better way to cool down. I find for myself being a a pitta dosha(Ayurveda constitution that typically runs hot) that yoga with a heart centering and grounding focus helps to keep my mind and body calm helping me feel cooler.  Poses that are helpful for cooling would be child's pose, mountain, cat cow, downward dog, warrior 1(or side angle), and so many more. Finding a pose that works not only for your body type, but for the season will help you to stay cool and balanced. Explore a yoga class, or look for more information for pitta, heart centering or cooling yoga. Learning to work with your body and the many ways to cool down the body will help with the seasonal changes.

Yes, I love Nettle, and as you see I  featured them last week in my teas:  Blueberry Nettle and Nettle with Rose-hip and Cinnamon chip. Both have the nourishment that we need in the change of season and are a great source of vit.C, not to mention they taste great. You will also find nettle in my massage oil for the head and scalp massage(helps wake up the scalp while nourishing the pores, this oil is made right at Metta Wellness), along with my muscle oil for the Ayurvedic treatment Kati Basti.   Not sure what an Ayurvedic Kati Basti is? Start off with an Abhyanga or a warm oil application, wrapped in warm towels you will rest while the oils soak into the area or areas that we are working.This treatment can be done on the low back, neck area, stomach and yes even for the eyes(different oils are used for the eye treatment), each one has its own herbalized oils that I make here at Metta Wellness, your oil could have up to 20 different herbs that ...

Yes here we are, between winter cold and wet damp Spring. As the weather starts to change this is the time to prepare the body and mind for the spring. A great way to do this is with a gentle cleanse. I like to start with teas, then add in daily massage(I do garshana then abhyanga), this wakes up the system while starting to clean out the old. This is also the time that I slowly decrease any bad habits that I have picked up over the long winter months, mine would be lack of my yoga practice and coffee. So as the weather is changing, I slow down on my coffee intake, and add in yoga, while eating warm nourishing foods with herbs that my body needs along with cleansing teas.                                    Look for  Metta Wellness  for massage and body-work, and now  Metta Wellness Herbals  for your blends of our in-house teas, oils and salves. The products and body-wor...

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.

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 ...

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 a...

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 ke...

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...

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...

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. ...