Suffering is Optional – Pain Relief is Possible! You’ve heard that you that you spend one-third of your life in bed, so you should make it a comfortable one . . . well you spend 24/7 living in your body, shouldn’t it be comfortable too?  Aches and pains happen.  We all experience occasional discomfort from over-exertion, repetitive use or bad posture.  Chronic pain, however, including headaches, neck pain, backaches, hip pain, sciatica are some for the most common and aggravating health problems we experience. Costing billions of dollars in healthcare and lost productivity, chronic pain disrupts sleep and can lead to depression and other long-term health problems. Sara was in such pain at age 19 she often found herself in tears.  “This was before the age of today’s anti- inflammatories,” she explains, “so the doctor prescribed up to 25 aspirin a day.”  Good thing she has a strong stomach!  For the next 20 years, she went from doctor to doctor, and was prescribed every new anti-inflammatory Rx that came along from Ibuprofen to Vioxx.  Her frustration lead to depression as the chronic pain accompanied her on her quest for relief.  Today, she is 51 years old and describes herself as “relatively pain- free, just some occasional morning stiffness,” and she rarely takes any form of medication. “Yoga and massage have given me my life back.”  Her personal prescription for pain relief includes yoga therapy (yoga postures, breath work, deep relaxation,) regular massage (including Positional Release Therapy and Thai Massage), and a healthy vegetarian diet.  This combination has resulted in a profound shift in the way she feels.  Her outlook on life has brightened, her weight has stabilized at a healthy level and she rarely has any difficulty sleeping. Pain-Free Pain Relief:  Positional Release Therapy (PRT) The pain is there and then it is gone.  Positional Release Therapy is an unusual form of therapy; people say it feels like magic.  Developed by an osteopathic physician named Lawrence Jones, this therapy, called “strain/counter-strain” provides a gentle, pain-free way to relieve pain and regain function.  Combined with PNF stretching and a form of slow myofacial release, PRT continues to amaze me with the results people achieve as they free themselves from pain and regain range-of- motion.   Yoga Therapy Yoga therapy is more effective than general yoga practice as a safe way to treat specific conditions, and is becoming increasingly accepted as a part of the treatment program for many musculoskeletal conditions.  Professional Yoga Therapists take into account medical conditions and tailor a program to meet individual needs.  Yoga Therapy can be utilized in conjunction with massage therapy and other medical treatments.  No prior yoga experience is necessary. Whether chronic pain comes from a traumatic injury, post surgical adhesions, or chronic posture deficiencies, the result is painful posture of imbalanced and weakened muscles.  PRT and Yoga Therapy work together to release painful restrictions, free up stiff, achy joints and bring your body and your life back into balance.

“Yoga and massage have given me my life back.”