by SharonHartnett | Apr 27, 2015 | Aromatherapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Energy Healing, Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit, Structural Integration, thought for the day
Feeling stressed out by life?
Everyone feels stressed out at least occasionally. Through all of life’s cycles, growth opportunities pop up presenting us with challenges that push against our boundaries. This can make us feel uncomfortable or stressed out. Fortunately, many of us have had positive influences that have taught us how to navigate through rather difficult times efficiently. But when we don’t know how to cope well any longer, then what? Is it possible to take these stresses and turn them around to make ourselves better?
We have to remember that if we change our perspectives about our difficulties, the rest of the energy supporting the stress will shift too.
Craniosacral Therapy relieves stress.
Remember that:
- Overload is just about how we perceive a certain situation.
- The way our bodies habitually respond to stress can be re-organized into a healthier response.
- We are in charge of how we interact with the world in which we live.
Anything that you believe poses a threat to your way of being can cause stress. So how does your mind, body and spirit let go of any ideas of danger?
- Being mindful of your own experience is a good place to begin. By bringing attention to both your internal and external environment, you will begin to see what ignites stress. Some of the physiological signs might be: slower digestion, heart rate rises, muscles contract, breathing quickens, and it may be difficult to sleep. While you are experiencing the thought and the energy behind the stress, be curious and observant. This is a good way to practice meditation.
- Receiving massage and bodywork has been shown to reduce stress, including modalities such as Craniosacral Therapy, Trigger Point, Structural Integration and the light moving touch of Swedish as well. Feeling deeply into the body re-educates how we think and helps us re-route into a more relaxed and calm state of being.
- Body centered psychotherapies can be very helpful as well. For example, Hakomi is based on peaceful methods of bringing awareness to your experience and trying on different perspectives. This can give you new ways to view life down to the cellular level. This therapy is different than typical talk therapy as the main focus is bringing attention to the body to open the doorway to your consciousness.
- Physical Exercise pumps up your endorphins. Stress melts away. A good workout helps you to feel healthier and feel more alive.
- Deep breathing can help slower the heart rate and decrease your blood pressure. A commitment to yoga practice will certainly give you opportunities to experience stress relief.
- Aromatherapy with oils from Young Living Oils or Doterra can help you to relax in a nice bath or with a foot massage before you go to sleep. The intention of using the oils for health and good self-care can be very helpful if you are feeling anxious or imbalanced.
- Finding a good chiropractor who works with stability as well as flexibility can do wonders in helping you feel better aligned. When the spine is healthy, life looks a lot more positive!
- Byron Katie has come up with 4 questions that will help you change your life. Her worksheets are free online and you can view her on Youtube. Check out www.thework.com.
- Gentle movement exercises like Felderkrais or Continuum will awaken your deeper sense of centeredness.
- Eckhart Tolle is known for bringing out focus “Into the Now”. His teachings can help one to let go of suffering and stress by recognizing our tendencies to live in the past and future rather than being Present.
Remember that If stress is interfering with your life’s purpose and health, it’s time to do something different that will help you resource your internal skills to help you move through life with more ease. There are practices you can do alone, in a class, or with the help of a professional. The more serious the issue with anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD it is best to find the right professional with good experience and references.
Let your stress pass right through by taking good care of you.
Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST, SI
(740) 966-5153
Facilitating with Craniosacral Therapy, Myofascial Release, Structural Integration, Reiki, The Work, Brennan Healing and more. See www.massageincolumbusohio.com for more information.
by SharonHartnett | Oct 12, 2014 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit
The Journey
When Clients come to Lighten Up Therapies, it’s the beginning of a Journey. A Journey to Wellness.
Our hope is to support people to find the answers they seek, whether in relief of physical pain, emotional processing, opening belief systems, matter of the heart to spirituality. Yet, our claim is not that we have what any answers, rather that we have a seasoned set of experiential tools that are offered for facilitation of your own healing.
The Journey Inward
The Basics:
1.. By learning mindfulness, one can find his/her own answers…
Active, Open Presence by the Therapist and Client can change everything!
While our practice is based on Massage Therapy, the act of touch can awaken many aspects of life. New information shows up giving clients more awareness and a better ability to make better choices for health and wellbeing. At Lighten Up Therapies in Columbus Ohio, we emphasize mindfulness as a way to self-educate.
2. The intention of the Massage Therapist and Client are key.
Intentions set a specific purpose into action with commitment and expression.
Entering into Another’s Human Energy Field with a positive healing intention can open the door to new possibilities.Our hope is that through Craniosacral Therapy, Structural Integration, Massage, and Brennan Healing Science® that our skills will help support Self-Discovery, a more balanced alignment and a Deeper Sense of Embodiment. When you feel healthy in your body with grounding and fullness, life brightens up and its easier to navigate through challenges.
3. Dialogue with non-judgmental focus in the moment without analysis is healing.
Open Listening means open relationship.
Sessions are not about giving answers but instead held with the possibility of client’s finding their own truth. For real change and empowerment, the client must find what he/she seeks within. At Lighten Up Therapies, the work is about listening, mirroring, and offering new perspectives in the question. Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST, has completed the Hakomi program, studied Trauma Therapy with Pat Ogden at SPI, and worked with the Upledger SER model to facilitate this process for her clients.
4. All things are made up of Energy.
Brennan Healing Science® promotes Personal Growth through working with the Human Energy Field
The powerful combination of leading-edge techniques, High Sense Perception, and gentle self-awareness brings benefits to clients. Each healing session teaches and transforms the the client by balancing, aligning and harmonizing the chakra system. Clients often find themselves with a greater understanding of the intelligence and mystery of the body, of the higher dimensions of consciousness, and of life itself.
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The Deepest Healing comes from letting go of fixed beliefs and dysfunctional patterns so that the authentic Truth can shine its light front the inside out.
Wherever you are in your life, on your path, if you are looking for someone to help you in your journey, take a chance to find someone who will help you discover your own power and wisdom!
For more information, please call Sharon Hartnett LMT and CST at 740 966-5153 for a free 15 minute consultation.
www.massageincolumbusohio.com
by SharonHartnett | Jul 8, 2014 | Massage, Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit, thought for the day
Are you in stress overload?
The by-product of Stress may be affecting you in ways that you don’t even know.
Long-term chronic stress can contribute to experiences such as: digestive problems, sleeplessness, anxiety, anger, headaches and decreased immune function.
If you are finding yourself in ongoing stress, it’s time to take charge of your life with some new choices. Believe it or not- you have the ability to shift your thinking and to re-orient how your respond to life’s challenges.
Some relaxation techniques that are easy to do:
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Yoga-This mixture of exercise, mindfulness and poses can quiet the mind and enhance the body’s vitality.
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Visualization- When you find yourself reaching your limit, think about positive serene places that feel emotionally supportive and nurturing to you. Some examples may be your pet, a beach, or a meditative retreat. Changing your thinking can help you break the patterns of stress.
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Massage and Bodywork- Nothing feels better than having someone knead, and treat tight muscles and to unwind the fascial restrictive patterns of stress. When the body lengthens and feels more fluidity, so does the mind. Craniosacral Therapy and Structural Integration are especially helping in alleviating stress from the body and emotionally.
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Tensing and Relaxing Muscles Alternately
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Meditation-Allowing the thoughts to arise and flow can be very quieting for the mind body connection.
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Music can be very therapeutic and help shift a person into relaxation easily.
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Slowing down with Intention and becoming mindful of the moment can help us to feel calmer and more peaceful.
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Exercise- The body’s communication system during a workout is more sharp and active. Question Your Thinking with Byron Katie’s 4 questions: www.thework.com
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Spiritual Work and transformation
Change Your Stress Habits
Reducing stress can:
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Reduce activity of stress hormones
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Lower blood pressure
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Increase blood flow
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Decrease tension and pain levels
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Regulate the nervous system more efficiently
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Promote better health
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Relieve Depression Symptoms
Take time to re-focus your life. You deserve the best!
Sharon Hartnett LMT, CST
740 966-5153
Columbus, Ohio
by SharonHartnett | Sep 2, 2013 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K
Is your mind going 1000 miles per hour when what you really need is to relax?
One way to receive massage is to just allow touch to carry you away. And it often does. However, at Lighten Up Therapies, we often get clients who just don’t know how to unwind and may need some help.
By bringing mindful awareness to touch and exploring your experience during your massage, the body sends messages to the brain that may help you to reframe or reorganize patterns of thinking and feeling. This sacred space lends to releasing and renewal in so many ways. People often feel re-energized and more centered after a session at Lighten Up Therapies, here in Columbus, Ohio.
Awareness
It is also very helpful to take meditation home and make it a daily practice. This can be achieved by:
1. Be curious. Stay in a mode of asking.
2. Observe what is happening in the moment. Be as objective as possible with this practice.
3. Experience life as it is. Acknowledge your perceptions and sensations. Be authentic in your intention.
Using these skills can help you to calm and move through anything that is negatively affecting you in your life.
A helpful article I found on mindfulness was in the AMTA archives. If you are interested to learn more about meditation, check out:
Sharon Hartnett LMT is trained in Hakomi, Somato-Emotional Release (SER) through the Upledger Institute, and in Trauma work, studying under well-known therapist Pat Ogden, author of “Trauma and the Body”.
by SharonHartnett | Jun 7, 2013 | Massage License in Ohio: 33.007505-H-K, mind body & spirit
In your life, are you the type of person who walks around feeling joy and happiness?
If joy is elusive to your life, then you might want to consider another possibility on how you are living. We are not born to suffer. It is only something that we choose.
Self-Discovery
Perhaps that sounds farfetched to some people. And I am not saying that it appears easy to change one’s perspective about life and joy. However, I do believe that there is an inherent joy in everything if we take each moment and change our thinking to one of appreciation and gratitude. The mind is often a tricky thing. The thoughts that say, “That person hurt me” or “I don’t belong” are suggestive of the point that we are in a place of “they” against “me”. That is only a mindset. It is only in bringing our mindfulness to our hearts that we become more heart coherent. It is in our hearts that we come together in healthy relationship.
Have you ever noticed that when you are “loving” or “in love” that the world looks and feels like a different place? Does that make you wonder? Life is funny in that we often fall in love with a person, situation or an object. That “other” thing seems to help us to open up to a new reality that is expanded beyond the “me”. Falling in love is often fun, eye opening and can take your breath away. It feels so good. Yet, to push the edge a little further, have you also noticed that the sense of happiness also begins to dissolve at some point in the relationship? What made you smile and had your heart pound eventually turned sour or even painful? Love is a door opener, but when that aura drops away, it closes that door only to give you an opportunity to self-discover that new form of love for yourself.
The reality of life is that love is joy. However, when we begin to believe that is something other than ourselves, life decides to teach us a deeper truth. No matter what the circumstances are of the situation, when there is an “up” with infatuation, there will be a “down”. Nothing can remain on a pedestal forever. That is the way of duality. But we don’t have to choose “duality” anymore. It’s up to us to make this world a better place and that begins with self-responsibility to self-love.
When I work with people as clients, my most important intention is to listen well to what is here in the moment, and to be in service to awakening the abiding intelligence inside each person. I have faith that there is joy and love in each heart, and all that client needs is to remember. Sometimes when a person is depressed, there can be chemical deficiencies or habitually negative thinking that can be difficult to shift. If a client has been depressed for a long time and it is deep, it may take a whole team of physician, bodyworker or healer to help turn him/her around. However, I trust that if a person truly wants to change, it can happen. If he/she does not, that can be explored too and the quality of self-discovery hold as much value.
As a Massage Therapist, Healer, and Bodyworker, I have found that much of our suffering is only a condition that is chosen out of adaptation to our environment. The good news is that each of us is empowered to change and move more into a state of unconditional love. I know that there are beings who have been depressed a long time, and they believe nothing will ever help, but that is only the isolation speaking, not the joy that is buried somewhere deep Within.
How is joy self-rediscovered? When a person doesn’t see a way out in his/her own mind, help is needed. Usually people who are unhappy or depressed feel isolated and alone. But the truth is we are not alone unless we want that to be. So to find joy:
1. Find a healing team to work with you. (Physician, Psychotherapist, Healer, Minister, Bodyworker etc…) You need to remember that you are not alone. A good team will help you to rediscover your own value.
2. Make a commitment to yourself to see life as a fresh experience every moment. Before looking outward, bring mindfulness to your heart center. Live there and experience life.
3. When pain arises Within or you feel imbalanced or hurt, continue to stay focused on “Choosing love first” and put your hands on your heart. Linda Tellington-Jones recently said to do a circle and one quarter to initiate more movement there and I believe that helps. Allow the skin to move in a clockwise fashion.
4. Move more into Nature. When we are indoors, we tend to fall more into manmade living and limited thinking. We forget the wonders of life that are being revealed every second. Walk, sing, dance amongst the trees. This may sound a little out of the box for some, but there is something freeing about reconnecting with the beauty and intelligence that nature give us.
5. Bring more awareness not only to your thinking, but to the mind body & spirit connection. Often our thinking sets us apart. However, when we center on our whole body experience, new truths and awareness may arise that will change thinking. Cellular memory speak to us to help us to heal.
It is in unity that there is no conflict. When there is no conflict, we are in harmony and life flows easier. The Sacred Heart is the place where the physical and spiritual meet and the flame of love burns brightly in each of us. If you do not feel that, perhaps it is time to unload the baggage of your mind and choose another course. Be patient with yourself as we each have our own unique blueprint of life. That is the gift of our differentiation.
Know that We each are empowered. When we stop blaming and realize that, we contribute to the awakening of ourselves and all things on this planet. It that is true joy.
Warmly,
Sharon Hartnett LMT
Call: (614) 372-6598
Bodywork that listens to the mind body & spirit connection~
