Are you feeling stressed, tired, or sick? A trip to your massage therapist may be the answer to your problems. I recently had the opportunity to chat with a Holistic Health Practitioner about massage therapy, including its history and benefits.

Shantelle M-B. La Brada, HHP is a Holistic Health Practitioner in San Diego, California. She comes from “bodywork parents,” with her father being a chiropractor in practice for 13 years, and her mother a clinical hypnotherapist, Reiki 2, iridologist, reflexologist, nutritionist and who is currently studying to be an Incan Shaman. Having had such wonderful influences around her all her life, it’s no wonder she decided to take this path. Shantelle graduated in December 2007 from Muller College of Holistic Studies in San Diego. Her areas of expertise include Asian Studies (acupressure), Fundamental Herbology, general aromatherapy, energy based-bodywork such as Reiki and Craniosacral, as well as your basic Swedish and deep tissue massage. She hopes to open her very own business within the following year, upon completing the National Exam.

Check out my interview with Shantelle below.

What is the biggest misconception about massage therapy?

Unfortunately, the biggest misconception about massage is that it’s the profession of “hookers,” strippers, and various individuals just looking to make a quick buck. There are many “Massage Salons” or individuals who promote massage sessions with “extras,” and the existence of these illegal businesses creates an ill view of those who study massage therapy as a health care profession.

What was the original purpose of massage therapy?

Massage therapy, for what you read in ancient manuscripts and what is taught in school, was meant for healing and dealing with illness. There are so many forms of massage, from Ayurvedic to deep tissue, Swedish, and Craniosacral, as well as Shiatsu and heated stone just to mention a few. All are meant for the same basic thing – to help your body, mind, and spirit return to a state of homeostasis.

How has it evolved into what we know now?

Many massage therapists are no longer trained in only one style of massage. Many create their own routines by combining various techniques for the ultimate benefit to their clients. You can still find those who specialize in one technique over another but they will almost always know at least one or two more techniques.

Who benefits the most from massage therapy?

Everyone benefits from massage to some degree. Studies have shown that children who can’t sleep may benefit from a lavender-scented massage to their backs and scalp as they fall asleep. Massage students that have been permitted to learn in a medical setting and who have worked on comatose patients, have seen an increase in cerebral response, even smiles, when the patients were given a gentle hand massage. [Athletes, expectant mothers, and diabetics can also greatly benefit from different types of massage.] And of course, the everyday healthy person benefits from just being able to relax from a hard day or week’s work.

How does massage therapy relate to medicine?

Not too many doctors will accept that there is any relation between medicine and massage. However, if we go back to ancient texts, such as when Hippocrates stated in his texts around the 5th century, they should work hand in hand for optimal health. There is a group of doctors called Naturopaths – these are usually M.D.-qualified individuals who have extended their studies to include a Holistic approach to health. where they can incorporate Herbology and massage with Western surgery.

For those that are extra beauty-conscious, how can massage therapy benefit them?

Massage is an all-natural skin toner – combine it with some specific therapeutic essential oils, moist heat and oa’la, natural facelift or cellulite reducer. Of course though, the whole purpose of the essential oils and moist heat is to increase the circulation to the focus area and extreme cases of cellulite due to lack of a healthy lifestyle may not be noticeably reduced. Massage is meant as a stress reliever in all cases, and stress can appear on your face as those nasty crow’s feet around your eyes or the deep creases above your mouth and on your forehead.

How is reflexology related to massage therapy?

Reflexology type massage is linked to Tomb Murals found it Saqqara, Egypt, but not much is known about its use prior to the modern introduction of it by William H. Fitzgerald in the early 1900s, and a physical therapist named Eunice D. Ingham. It is Ingham’s developments that are most widely practiced in the West. The idea was that the body was made up of energetic zones, and that within these zones there is a connection from one’s toes and fingers to the top of the head. They found that massaging a certain area of the feet and hands affected other portions of the body internally. An example would be that maintained pressure to the fingers could serve as a gentle anesthetic during dental surgery.

Have additional questions about massage therapy? Contact Shantelle M-B. La Brada at shantihai@gmail.com.

Photos courtesy of Photobucket and Shantelle M-B. La Brada, HHP