Metta Wellness, Ayurveda, Massage & Wellness

#03 Self Care: Self Abhyanga Winter is here! Snow, ice, warm fireplace, cozy blankets, hot cocoa and dry skin, oh my. This is winter here in the New England area, dry, wet cold and is a challenge for our skin over the long winter months. What to do? Well Ayurveda has this under control!  A few ways Ayurveda helps in the winter: Eating warm grounding foods                    Do you remember when you where young and your mother or grandmother would make a stew or pot pie and left you feeling full and loved. Relaxing with warm foods in the cold dry weather helps keep you feel comfort, grounded and nourished through food. Nourishing foods keep the body strong,healthy and balanced the immune system. Add ghee to your diet                    Ghee is the perfect winter soother. Ghee can...

Blueberry Nettle Tea With the summer heat in the high 80's to 90's, it's hot out their. At Metta Wellness I look to Ayurveda for tips on staying cool during the summer heat. This summer has been one for looking at many tools to keep cool since we are not accustom to the heat for the amount of time we have had this summer. Even for me, loving this heat, I had to go to some of my cooling tips from Ayurveda. So, let me share with you some of the ways that I have stayed cool this summer:   Coconut oil , apply coconut oil to my feet and face to keep the skin hydrated and cool. You could add in some essential oils to bring in a calming effect. Blueberry nettle tea : this tea is refreshing and energizing tea. I like to  make this tea, let it set at room temperature then add in frozen blueberries to keep the tea cool, not cold. I will switch this out with hibiscus cooler , just as cooling. Earthing, this is one I like to do in the late morning or early in the evening ...

Massage is one of the best ways to relax the body, and the mind. In this world of busy, fast pace, high stress day to day life we live, having ways to relax is key. Relaxing the body seems simple, but the effects on the mind and body has a ripple effect. The impact of our daily lives can cause the body, mind to be overwhelmed or feel tired. The long term stress can cause other issues for the body, headaches, auto immune issues, problems with sleep, moods can be off. This is where the power of relaxation tools come in. Doing daily meditation, healthy eating, herbal teas, exercise and yes, massage. Giving the body this space to calm brings in a natural healing, a balance allowing the system to come back into its whole(whole= mind, body, spirit connection) self. A regular wellness routine is key, so look at your wellness tools and see if you are working in balance. Do you need to add or adjust your wellness routine? Its always good to check in. At Metta Wellness I work on guided ...

Create balance in your everyday through massage. At Metta Wellness, we work to create ways to share the benefits of the tools we have learned over the years to create balance in your everyday. Life is in constant motion, ever moving, faster and always available at the touch of a button. Through social media, phones, emails we are just a touch away. This can be overwhelming for the adrenals and creates an imbalance in the emotional connection to self and the natural environment around you. Allowing the body to relax through massage, gives you a space to come back into self and gives the mind body connection time to balance. Creating space to come into calm is one way to boost the immune system, giving time away from the virtual world and just be. Massage is just one of the tools that I us with my clients here at Metta Wellness to create well-being, balance in your everyday. Lets work together to create a wellness routine that brings you into a space of wellness and bal...

This is a journey! As we reach the starting point of this next step, a new journey, self care is in my view this weekend. This weekend we will be doing the final projects in the new Paxton space, before the clean up and placing furniture! This is the time that I step back and breath, and do a self massage with  coconut oil to keep the body cool and hydrated during the busy time. Coconut oil has many benefits, and when used for massage brings the balance inward. Coconut oil not only smells great, but goes onto the body easily. I prefer to use a raw coconut oil, and scoop it right out of the jar and start applying it to the body. The easiest way for self massage is to place an old towel down, start at the head and just work your way down the body, sitting on your towel at the end to get into the feet. Benefits to using coconut oil: Protects the skin from drying, cracking Eliminates body Oder Protects skin from aging, peeling Perfect carrier oil for essential oils for ...

Welcome summer! I love the heat, I love the summer. This does not mean I always enjoy a heating massage on a 90 degree day. Keeping up with your wellness routine throughout the year can be a challenge, but heat should not be one of them. At Metta Wellness I work to bring in elements, to you and your massage, to help balance with the seasons and each person on an individual bases.When the weather heats up, most of my clients are looking for ways to stay cool, I have just the massage for that. With a blend of coconut oil to hydrate and cool the body, Aloe oil to also cool down the body, balance the heaviness of the coconut and relieve any dry itchy sun(or bug) damaged skin. With this cooling blend of oils you can then add in essential oils during the massage to create your personal massage and to enhance the effects of this massage. Essential oils will allow the senses to wake and open, the benefits will be felt for a longer period of time. Essential oils that encourage and  ...

Wow! These last two months have been crazy, overwhelming, exciting and powerful. We started this journey in 2005 when I finished and stepped away from massage school and entered the world of holistic healing with massage. Since I finished school I have continued to study, learn and train with different healing modalities from massage, meditation, herbs and always my clients. In 2012 with the closing of Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center, it gave me the push to step out and  work for myself. Since 2012 it has been a journey from working with and inside of a meditation center to a wellness space and now moving into my own. From each space, this journey has been so powerful, from the people I have meet, worked with and watched, I have learned so much. Now as I enter into my own, I am so thankful for the journey and the people I have in my life. The support team Metta Wellness has, we have already succeeded, its now time to bring this dream to reality. So what is coming next!...

Inflammation seems to be the word right now. Everywhere you look or read you will hear about inflammation, even radio commercials now are reminding you that you have inflammation. So how does inflammation and massage connect? When I work with my clients the focus is the whole person as an individual,what is the goal, and what is the approach for each person. Lets set up the scene, the space that you could walk into and how massage and herbs can work with you and inflammation.               I have a client, Sara, she's married with two young children, works full time and is coming in for massage for headaches and low back pain. After talking more with Sara we find that her digestion is sluggish, and she has difficulty loosing weight, and feels overwhelmed,tired.              You can start by looking at our lifestyles, working, eating habits, time in front of computers, longer commute...

Metta Wellness Herbals As my clients, family and friends know, I am passionate about my "work". I say work, because this is how I make my living, so I have found my love, my passion and I'm able to support myself and my family. This is a win - win! I started this journey towards holistic healing, herbal wellness as a child. From day on I had medical issues, but my parents never allowed it to be what made my everyday, they worked to treat me as if I was as healthy as any other kid. They surrounded us with people that where very clearly into the holistic approach, you know those people we call "hippies:, that was our people, our tribe. Growing up in a house where we ate from our garden, and played outside from sun up to sun down, and when we where sick, it was food and herbs that we went to for help, not Drs( let me note here that we always went to western Dr when it was necessary, and learned to respect the medical world for what it is and what it offers). The ...

Their are so many ways to enjoy the holidays with health in mind. No, I'm not saying you can't enjoy the holiday food and drink, but in moderation, consideration and some healthy preparation, and you will glide through with ease. For me, the holidays are, being with family, the food, the decorations, visiting with friends and family. It can take a toll on you if your not ready. I do a lot of baking during the holidays, and I spend a lot of time with family, so I find ways to make healthy choices over the holidays. Some of the best ways that I find to enjoy the holiday's with health: Enjoy the food, yes I will enjoy the food. You have so many parties or gatherings, so for our house, we work to eat a balanced healthy meal every night. Along with eating healthy during the holidays, we do a lot of herbal tea, nettle being my top, then root tea(spicy) or a chaga tea, to help keep the body clean. Doing this between parties helps to enjoy the food that we eat and for it t...

Yes a new year, means a  fresh start!   As we move forward and quickly in this new year, its a time to reflect, and create the space we want. I love taking this time of the year, to see what I have learned in the past year, what I want to take into this new year and what did not work in the past. Metta Wellness will be spending this year settling into our new work space and looking at new ways to bring you more. More herbal tips, new choices in the massage and treatments along with healthy eating and living tips. Throughout the year we will look at ways to create a balanced mind, body and spirit through our everyday routines. In my personal space I have added many new herbs to our diet and working to add yoga back into my daily routine. I look at what we have found to work in the past year and what area that I need to work on, and start to slowly make the adjustments that I need. Enjoy the process of moving forward with your goal and what you can do to ...

Yes, Thai Yoga Massage! The massage style, type of massage, pressure and even down to the music: everyone is a little different. Massage is beneficial to the the body mind as a whole. This is why it is so important to find the massage that is best for you. When a client comes in,  I will asses where they are(how you are feeling, how is the body) and what the goal is for the massage for the day. Most clients come in due to an injury and quickly find that sometimes bringing them back into balance is the first step. Thai Yoga Massage has long flowing stretches to help move the muscular system, help tone the inner organs and balance the nervous system. Thai Yoga massage is part of an ancient healing system, getting its roots from Ayurveda , one of the oldest holistic healing techniques So why not take some time and re-balance the body through Thai Yoga Massage at Metta Wellness .

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.

Thai Foot Massage becoming my clients favorite healing tool. I love sharing different techniques with my clients, and their is nothing better then finding just the right combination for and with your client. I am continually learning different ways to work with issues, such as headaches, stress reduction, low back pain right down to anxiety. Every client is different, so, each combination of treatments can be different. I start by checking in with you, what are your goals, what brought you to me for body-work,then onto  health forms a few questions and from their we see what will work best for you. After a while you know what treatment combination you like, and as we continue to adjust over time , weather it be oils, essential oils, herbs, teas, right down to maybe a different combination of body-work. One combination that has become a favorite of quite a few of my clients is a massage,  followed by a Thai Foot massage. A Thai foot massage can be very deep, work...

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 ...

What have I been up to on my Snow Day, Peaceful Centering Tea Yes, in the past two weeks we have had several snow days. I wanted to stay busy and I did! I did my share of shoveling and I enjoyed getting outside and feeling that cool crisp air, feeling the crunch of the snow under your feet. As I found myself much like other people out shoveling, I found my body to be a little tender(could be from our dog that pulled me on the snow/ice). So I did what I always do, made an oil for my muscles(coconut oil infused with pomegranate,comfrey oil and a blend of essential oils), blended a tincture (milky oats and passion) then sat down with a cup of herbal tea(sample available at Metta Wellness after each massage). Woke up feeling fine, and no areas of tender muscles. I love to work with and blend my herbs, I use them before an issue arises, such as the snow and shoveling, I prepared herbs to help relax and sooth the muscles since they had been worked in a different way. Think o...