You’re no longer considered postpartum when your body has largely returned to its pre-pregnancy state.

This is a gradual process, officially recognized for up to 12 weeks (the “fourth trimester”) by ACOG, though full physical and hormonal recovery can take 6 to 12 months, or even up to a year — with some physical changes like hair loss or menstrual cycles potentially lasting longer.

Key Timeframes to Keep in Mind

• First 6-8 Weeks: The most intense recovery phase, often called the “fourth trimester,” where your body starts healing from childbirth. 

• Up to 12 Weeks: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) considers postpartum care to extend this far, though some bodily functions may still be normalizing. 

• 6 Months to 1 year: Many experts suggest this is a more realistic timeframe for full physical recovery, including hormone regulation, return of menstruation, and pelvic floor healing, especially after a C-section or difficult delivery. 

Safety Considerations

As we’ve mentioned throughout the series, there are potential risks with postnatal massage, and this is why a conversation with your doctor before booking an appointment is so important.

That said, here is a handful of health conditions that can be affected by postnatal massage. These are specifically associated with the increase of blood flow that massage can cause …

The post At What Point Are You No Longer Considered Postpartum? appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

In case you missed them, here are links to earlier installments of the series:

• The Benefits of Postnatal Massage
• Why You Might Need Postnatal Massage

Today, we’re taking a look at some postnatal massage methods you might want to consider after giving birth. Just as importantly, we’re also focusing on exactly when you can safely receive postnatal massage, which can be different depending on whether you have delivered vaginally or from a C-section.

For Vaginal Births

• WHEN: As soon as you’re comfortable. Many women start within the first few days or weeks, or even in the hospital. That said, it’s crucial to get clearance from your doctor before booking an appointment, especially after a C-section.
• METHODS: Gentle techniques  like side-lying or face-up positions. Focus on Swedish, lymphatic drainage, or gentle face-up/side-lying positions to avoid pressure on stitches or perineal tenderness.

For C-Section Births

• WHEN: As mentioned above, it’s important to wait for clearance from your doctor. The typical wait is about 4-8 weeks for the incision to heal before regular massage, though light touch or specific therapies might be okay sooner. Again, always consult your healthcare provider to ensure it’s safe for your specific situation.
• METHODS: Some light touch or craniosacral therapy might be possible sooner.

Safety Considerations

Regardless of whether you had a vaginal or C-Section birth — firstly congratulations, you did it! That said, postnatal massage therapy offers many benefits to women, but, like any type of treatment, there are some risks to consider, including increased blood flow, and potentially and potentially have an effect on  certain health conditions. So if you’re experiencing any of these conditions, be sure to speak with your gynecologist or general practitioner before considering massage …

Get in Touch

Feel free to reach out if you have questions, or visit my Scheduling page to book a massage.

The post Postnatal Massage Methods & When Can You Get a Postnatal Massage appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

Let’s take a deeper look at each of these conditions and how postnatal massage can help …

Baby Blues

New mothers can experience the “baby blues,” which often involves symptoms including mood swings, increased feelings of anxiety and sadness, reduced appetite, and difficulty sleeping. 

Postpartum Depression

This is a severe type of depression that affects some women after giving birth. Symptoms include mood swings, withdrawing from friends and family, loss of appetite, and difficulty bonding with the baby. 

Pain

After giving birth, women may experience pain throughout the body as well as residual muscle aches.

Vascular Problems

Pregnancy causes an increased pressure on the leg veins, causing some women to experience varicose veins (twisted enlarged veins).

That all said, massage therapy can increase blood flow, and potentially have an effect on certain health conditions. If any of the following health conditions are present, talk with your doctor before scheduling a massage …

Feel free to reach out if you have questions, or visit my Scheduling page to book a massage.

Thanks for visiting!

The post Why You Might Need Postnatal Massage appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

Your body has gone through many changes over your pregnancy and you’ll need to take the time — and a little bit of extra effort — to allow it to rest and recover.

Postnatal massage is a massage that can help ease women into motherhood by offering both physical and emotional benefits.

What Is Postnatal Massage?

Unlike regular massage therapy, which primarily focuses on relaxation or muscle tension relief, postnatal massage is tailored to the unique requirements of new mothers, helping them regain strength, comfort, and emotional equilibrium. The postpartum period is a critical time for recovery.

Some of the Benefits of Postnatal Massage Include …

• Muscle Relaxation. Postnatal massage relaxes muscles, increases circulation, and lowers stress hormones, bringing both physical and emotional relief. Some women prefer a light-touch massage, while others opt for a deeper massage that reaches further into the muscles and soft tissues of the body for more complete healing.
• Pain Relief. It’s normal to experience achy muscles after childbirth. A postnatal massage therapy can help relieve pain, especially in areas that are prone to getting sore like the neck, arms, and back. Massaging the chest area also opens up the shoulders and relieves breast pain.
• Decreased Swelling. During pregnancy body fluids typically increase by about 50%. After pregnancy, a postnatal massage can help increase circulation so that the body can effectively process excess fluid and restore balance.
• Better Sleep. It’s common to feel exhausted after giving birth and especially as you take care of your newborn. Massage can help ease fatigue, support relaxation, and improve quality of sleep.
• Improved Breastfeeding. Postnatal massage has been shown to increase a lactation hormone known as prolactin, which increases milk production.

Safety Considerations

Postnatal massage therapy offers many benefits to women, but, like any type of treatment, there are some risks to consider. 

Massage can increase blood flow and potentially affect certain health conditions. If you’re experiencing any of the following conditions, talk with your doctor before scheduling a massage:

• High blood pressure
• Congenital heart disease or preeclampsia (a condition that includes high blood pressure, protein in the urine, and swelling in the legs, feet, and hands)
• Listen to your body: The postpartum period is a time of healing, and massage should support that, not add stress.

In our next installment of our postnatal massage therapy series, we’ll take a look at why you might need postnatal massage.

Until then, if you’d like to schedule a postnatal or prenatal massage, you can do so here.

Thanks for visiting!

The post The Benefits of Postnatal Massage appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

This post will explore the shamanic journey as its own practice and address how shamans know which of the three spirit realms to travel to for a journey as well as how shamans gather information while in the spirit world through the five claires.

 What are the Claires?

The claires are the ways that shamans obtain information from the spirit world. They are clairvoyance (seeing), clairaudience (hearing), clairsentience (feeling – both bodily and emotionally), claircognizance (knowing), and clairolfaction (smelling & tasting.) Many shamans will have one or two primary ways of receiving information but will still intuitively use all five to obtain information on their journeys.

Knowing Which of the Three Realms of the Spirit World to Journey to

Before a journey can begin, a shaman needs to know which of the three realms of the spirit world to journey to. This is determined by intent, as the reason for the journey plays a large role in which realm is the best place to start. Sometimes shamans travel between the three realms during a journey, as beings and information can be anywhere in the spirit world, but having a clear reason for the journey makes it easy to know which of the three realms it is best to travel to first during a journey.

Journeys to the Lower World are the most common in shamanic healing and are typically used for things like power animal retrieval or ancestral healing. Middle World journeys are typically used to interact with the energy of beings in the physical world. A journey to the Middle World could be used for things like a remote healing, helping a discarnate spirit cross to the spirit world, or to communicate with a being such as a tree. The Upper World is a place of destiny and future, so a journey there might be used for divination or a destiny retrieval. Upper World journeys are also used to meet spirit guides and ascended masters.

The Shamanic Journey

Before a journey begins, shamans create sacred space through the method or practice followed in their personal spiritual belief system. Shamans then call on the four directions and their spirit helpers before concentrating on their intention for the journey and grounding themselves. Some Shamans may use drumming or percussion to begin the journey, but not all.

After starting, shamans may imagine themselves in a place in nature or a place of sacred energy. After restating their intention, shamans will look for a way to get to the desired realm of the spirit world. They may visualize a rabbit hole to the Lower World, climbing a mountain or tree to the Upper World, or simply walking out their front door to the Middle World. Once they have arrived in their desired world, shamans will call on their power animals and spirit guides to join them in the spirit world and state their intention to their guides. Shamans then ask their guides to take them where they need to go to receive information pertinent to their intention. Then shamans experience the journey, being open to information as it comes, in any form. Once the journey feels complete or the callback sound plays (if percussion is in use), shamans will wrap up what they’re doing, thank their guides for assisting them, and tell them they will see them again. Then shamans will return to their body the same way they came into the spirit world (i.e. up through the rabbit role or down the mountain.)

Once they have returned to their body, they typically settle in by wiggling their fingers and toes before opening their eyes. Sometimes they may make notes in a journal while the journey is still fresh. Then shamans sit with the journey and look for ways to interpret the information they received and what everything they experienced might mean. If any information is particularly puzzling, shamans may journey again for clarification or re-enter the same journey. Once they feel the journeying experience is fully complete, shamans thank their spirit guides and close the directions.

Shamanic journeying is a highly complex and nuanced process, but hopefully this blog was able to give you a decent understanding of how a journey is performed and how shamans obtain the knowledge and information that they use in healing sessions and beyond.

Interested in booking a shamanic healing? Head over to our bookings page to find a time that works for you!

The post Shamanic Journeying and the Claires appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

Why Might Someone Need a Shamanic Healing?

Shamanic healings may be necessary when an individual has an imbalance of energy, which can, or may already have, triggered unhealthy patterns, actions, or decisions. This imbalance is caused by something called the original wound, which is often created as the result of a traumatic event or incident that has happened in this life, a previous life, or to one of the individual’s ancestors.

What Happens During a Shamanic Healing?

Shamanic healings are conducted jointly between a shaman (or shamans), Spirit, and spirit guides. Similarly to a shamanic journey, shamans travel to the spirit world during a shamanic healing. The two are distinct from each other in that a shamanic healing occurs when the shaman enters the spirit world while carrying a healing intent for their client. The shaman then asks Spirit to reveal the original wound, and the healing can begin.

What are Some of the Shamanic Healing Techniques a Shaman Might Use?

Since shamanic healings seek to restore an energetic balance, most techniques either remove intrusive energies, or return energies that have been lost.

Energy removal techniques include ancestral healing, compassionate depossession, curse unraveling, illumination, extraction, cord removal, and house clearings. These techniques all involve the removal of heavy, negative, and/or intrusive energies (and sometimes suffering beings like a discarnate spirit) from a person’s body or energy field. Energy return techniques include soul retrieval, destiny retrieval, and power animal retrieval. Each of these techniques unites individuals with an energy that can restore wholeness and spiritual vitality as well as aid in guiding them towards their true purpose.

Benefits of a Shamanic Healing

Shamanic healing has several benefits including helping with the release of physical and emotional trauma as well as other painful experiences. It is also helpful in clearing and/or shifting heavy energy, allowing for restoration of joy and vitality. Shamanic healings also help form and strengthen connections with spirit guides and our own inner knowledge and spirituality.

Thank you for reading! I hope you were able to begin to understand the benefits of shamanic healing, some of the techniques shamans use to work with energy, and situations in which they might be applicable. There’s a lot more to each technique than can be covered in one post, so keep an eye out for future posts that will dive deeper into each!

Get in Touch
If you’re interested in booking a shamanic healing session, you can schedule an appointment online.

The post An Overview of Shamanic Healing appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

Shamanism is an ancient spiritual practice that allows for a deeper connection with our own spirituality and the spiritual world around us. Shamanism was practiced around the world and predates organized religion. There are several concepts, beliefs, and ideas that are central to the practice of shamanism. These beliefs include:

1. The Spirit World

The belief in a spirit world is a belief central to all of shamanism. The spirit world as a whole is composed of three smaller segments: the lower, middle, and upper worlds. The lower world is the realm of mother earth, power animals, and ancestors. The middle world is the spirit realm of the physical world we inhabit. It is the home of nature and animal spirits. The upper world is the realm of higher consciousness and divinity where ascended masters and other divine beings reside.

2. The Spirit & Universal Energy

Shamans believe in the concept of animism, which is the belief that all things, living and non-living, have a spirit. These beings also share a universal energy. This energy flows through all and allows for communication and interaction between beings in both the physical and spirit worlds.

3. Communication & Journeying

Beings such as power animals, spirit guides, and nature spirits reside in the spirit world, and shamans will often communicate with them and may ask for their assistance or advice in healing sessions. A shamanic journey is one of the ways shamans communicate with beings in the spirit world. Journeys occur when shamans enter a trance-like state in which they travel to one of the spirit world’s three levels.

Hopefully this post has helped in giving you a basic understanding of some of shamanism’s central concepts and beliefs. Future posts will further explore specific shamanic healing techniques as well as other shamanic topics, so stay tuned for more shaman knowledge!

Get in Touch
We hope you found this article helpful! If You’re interested in booking a shamanic healing session, you can schedule an appointment online.

The post Understanding Shamanism appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

Lighthouse Healing Massage Therapy is having a holiday promotion.

Here are the details …

HOW TO ENTER

Runs from December 1 – December 31st 2020

1. Get a service from me (massage, shamanic healing, infant massage instruction, Yomassage): You get one ticket. Schedule a session
2. Purchase a gift certificate (either in person or online) and you and the person you gift it to, will each receive one ticket. If you purchase a gift certificate for yourself, you will get 2 tickets. Purchase gift certificates
3. Refer a new client to me AND they book a session between 12/1 – 12/31 – both you and your referral will each receive a ticket.
4. FB entry: If you are a member of my FB page: If you like, share, and tag 2 friends – you and your two friends will each receive a ticket. Go to the Lighthouse Healing Facebook page

All tickets will be entered into a daily drawing. 31 prizes will be given away. Prizes must be picked up from Lighthouse Healing Massage Therapy, LLC by January 31st, 2021. No shipping or delivery. Contactless pick up can be arranged. Unlimited amount of tickets. One prize per person. Prizes given out on a first come/first serve basis. All winners will be contacted by email on January 2nd. If I do not have your email address, I cannot contact you if you are a winner. I will also post FB winners on the Lighthouse Healing FB page.

PRIZES

• Yoga mat
• Massage therapy ball
• Blue tapestry
• Dream tapestry
• Casserole cookbook
• Keepsake Holiday Recipe cookbook
• Anti-stress Health Orbs
• Plant Therapy Tranquil Synergy roll-on essential oil
• Plant Therapy Relax Synergy roll-on essential oil
• Plant Therapy Meditation roll-on essential oil
• Plant Therapy Balance Synergy roll-on essential oil
• Lighthouse stress ball
• Norwex Blue netted dish cloth
• Mexican multicolored blanket
• In addition – the client with the most tickets will receive one free service!

Thanks for visiting Lighthouse Healing Massage Therapy, and stay well …

The post Holiday Promotion 2020 appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

Let’s face it, stress happens. It’s part of being human. It requires effort and skill to take care of ourselves in ways that minimize stress, ensure we truly enjoy our free time, and enable us to be fully present in our lives. When we experience stress our brains trigger the release of stress hormones into our bloodstream, you can help the stress with Full Spectrum CBD Tablets. After a stressful situation, it can take anywhere from half an hour to a couple of days to return to a normal resting state. Chronic elevated levels of stress hormones can lead to serious issues, and that’s why we look for relaxation method like fun activities or meditation, and there are also other alternatives like consuming products such as cbd gummies for stress which really help people feel more relaxed and better overall., even getting a CBD Lip Butter can help you. For example, too much cortisol can suppress the immune system, increase blood pressure, decrease libido, produce acne, contribute to obesity, and more.

Learning to Listen

How can we reset our body and return to the desired resting state, free of stress hormones? Awareness is the first step. Our body can give us signs right away that our physiology has changed. Often, our heartbeat and breathing changes; we can feel heat in our body or sweaty palms. Eating and drinking patterns can change when we are stressed. We may feel the fight-or-flight response.

Our body is our best ally. Learning to listen is a practice. And easy way to start is simply to slow down.

Meditation is one great way to slow down. But if that’s not your thing, no worries. There are plenty of other ways to slow down, reset, and recharge your body and nervous system.

Here are a few ideas:

• Some natural bath products like Epsom salt
• Journaling
• Gardening
• A heartfelt talk with a friend (who is a good listener)
• Listening to your favorite music, playing music — or singing
• Hiking somewhere beautiful,
• Or even taking time to prepare a special meal, if you like to cook

We can slow down just about anything we do so we are doing it more mindfully, with deliberate focus. This is also referred to as awareness.

Explore Simple Ways to Incorporate Mindfulness and a Sense of Ease Into Your Day 

By practicing awareness when we are not stressed, we become better at detecting when stress arrives. When we acknowledge what is happening in our body, we can stop those stress hormones sooner. Movement, exercise, and plenty of water are critical when we are stressed. Shake it off, literally. Shift the state in your body by interrupting the stress pattern so the chemicals stop being produced. Find a way to stop thinking about the stressful event. One helpful way to manage stress is with massage and bodywork. Bodywork supports our body’s natural ability to recover from the stress of being human, and there are so many benefits! In addition to relieving stress, bodywork helps manage headaches and reduce muscle tension.

Checking in to Wellness 

Some people are good at treating their body like a temple, but most of us need practice. We only receive one body in this lifetime, and we don’t need to wait until we are stressed or in pain to take care of it. Instead, we can learn to check in with, rather than check out of, our bodies. Increase the body’s awareness by slowing down, moving, exercising, and including bodywork in your health-care plan. Cheers to wellness!

The post How Paying Attention Can Reduce Stress appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.

Swedish Massage

The most common type of massage therapy, Swedish massage uses long strokes and rhythmic tapping with the fingers and palms, to work the top layer of skin and muscles. It helps blood circulation and stimulates the nerves. The pressure level can vary, depending on your personal preference, but it’s still fairly gentle when compared with other types of massage.

Swedish massage covers the entire body, and is most commonly used to relax and relieve tension. However, it can also be used to treat pain and injury, to some degree. If there’s one particular area that’s giving you trouble, you can ask your massage therapist to focus more on that particular area.

Deep Tissue Massage

While Swedish massage encompasses the entire body, deep tissue massage is designed to focus on specific areas that are causing problems. It can be used as a full body, relaxation massage, like Swedish, but more often it’s used to treat a particular injury or ailment.

Deep tissue massage a less rhythmic, more vigorous massage, which puts pressure on your muscles and tissues that run deeper than the top, surface layer. In addition to fingers and palms, your massage therapist may also use their forearms and elbows, to apply greater pressure than a traditional Swedish massage.

According to Sports Medicine Services deep tissue massage is great for treating sports injuries, which makes it particularly popular with athletes, this along with Sports Medicine Injury Therapy will help anyone with severe injuries.

Communication is Key

Because of the wide range of uses for deep tissue massage, and its targeted nature, you should talk to your massage therapist beforehand about what, exactly, you expect to get out of the process. Do you have a particular injury? What type of pain are you experiencing, and where?

You should also communicate with your therapist during the massage, to let them know if they’re using too much pressure or causing you discomfort. The more open you are with them, the better they’ll be able to give you what you need and avoid any problems.

When it comes to massage, communication is important no matter what. Let your massage therapist know what benefits you’re looking to glean from your experience, and they can help you determine which type of massage is right for you and how best to administer it.  Whether it’s a nice, relaxing, Swedish massage, a vigorous deep tissue massage to treat an injury, or a combination of both, a good massage therapist will work with you to help you get the best possible experience.

The post The Difference Between Swedish and Deep Tissue Massage appeared first on Lighthouse Healing.