Thai Yoga Massage – The dance of health

Introduction
This is a great massage for increasing flexibly, uplifting the spirits and increasing the body’s general defenses. It is an ancient massage and is traditionally part of Thai medicine. A mixture of massage moves, acupressure and yoga stretches; it works along energy lines in the body called sen lines and has an extremely beneficial effect on the body. A typical session lasts for 1.5 hours up to 2 hours long.
Thai Yoga Massage is carried out on a Thai mat or futon and the receiver remains fully clothed in loose clothing.
Origins
The massage begins traditionally with a prayer to the founder of Thai medicine and asks for a blessing and to ensure that no harm comes to the receiver. Nowadays this prayer can sometimes be said internally by the giver prior to the massage with the hands in the prayer position.
Styles
There are different styles of Thai massage such as Bangkok style, Royal Thai Massage and Northern Style Massage. The latter is the most suitable for Westerners and concentrates a lot of work on the legs. This focus is developed by the fact that in Northern Thailand most food production takes place such as the growing of rice. Therefore people would be standing and working in the fields for long hours. Not surprisingly the legs would tire and so the massage is focussed to relief and rejuvenate the legs more than other parts of the body.
Beneficial Effects
Thai massage is extremely beneficial. There is a definite feeling of euphoria after a massage. You can feel energised but relaxed, Thai massage is a great mood up-lifter! Working the sen lines which are all related to helping with certain conditions, helps the body move towards optimum health. The stretches increase flexibility and movement which in turn creates better posture. Mentally Thai massage reconnects the mind with the body and gives you that bite to get ahead and progress in whatever you do. Through Thai massage you also begin to understand your body and its abilities which brings about improvement through making better health choices. A few receivers have reported that when they receive regular Thai massages they are more inclined to eat better and exercise more!
How often should one receive a Thai Massage?
Thai massage is good for you therefore the minimum frequency to ensure a good benefit would be once /month. It is better to receive Thai massage more frequently when you first start then move to maintenance at once /month.
Contraindications
o Thai massage is unsuitable for anyone with a serious heart condition or high blood pressure that is not under “control”.
o Thai massage is unsuitable for those with osteoporosis or very brittle bones.
o Thai massage is unsuitable for those who have had spinal fusions or an artificial joint such as a hip or knee replacement.
o Thai massage is unsuitable for those with lymphatic cancer.
o Thai massage is unsuitable for those with hemophilia or phlebitis.
Good for Sports
Thai massage is excellent for sports enthusiasts for it prevents injury through tight muscles and stiff joints.
Mentally Thai massage gives you the mental power and direction to win at competitive games and sports. Great for those who practice martial arts, for example in Thailand itself it is common that Thai boxers will often receive a massage prior to a big fight!
Is it painful?
Thai massage should not be painful; there should definitely not be any sharp pains or burning sensations when receiving a Thai massage. If you ever feel this then you should let your practitioner know as soon as possible. Thai massage is a strong massage and you should feel that you are being taken near to your limit in terms of stretches, thumbing the lines can also be felt by some body types more than others, again it’s important to say whether it feels too strong or too soft. There are parts of the massage which are so relaxing you can sometimes feel yourself drift off, this is entirely natural for some people.

You can only really find out if Thai massage is for you if you take the plunge and just try it and see!
Regular Thai massage reaps great benefits and feels great bringing greater flexibility, better mental health, minimises injury risk in sports and promotes a powerful immune system!
One last word-
In the West as we age we too readily accept stiff joints and poor flexibility. It’s important to think about your health at all times but as we get older we require more focus to keep in a healthy state. Thai yoga massage is a great way to keep healthier, not only is it a pleasant experience the receiver has time to think about his /her body and to learn to pay attention to what the body is trying to tell them. This often results in changes in lifestyle where old habits are reduced or given up in favor of health enhancing ones. To be in charge of one’s health one has the responsibility to make good choices! It’s your call make the choice, take the plunge and book a Thai yoga massage at Five Human as a first step to better health!
Namaste.

Changing Lives at Five Human

Stress builds up in all of us but if your life is difficult in that it requires you to need support and therefore rely on others, then if your not careful you can see your stress levels going through the roof. This is especially true if you have additional learning needs. Often you receive help from a committed team of carers whose joint task is to enable you to live an ordinary but valued life as others do in the community. It’s not easy, it’s not easy for them and it certainly isn’t easy for you. Tensions can build as some things invariably go wrong but this is life, change is our only constant is it not?
A little bit of history now about our previous careers and how this affects our work.
In our former careers we worked with people with learning disabilities. We understand a lot of the tensions for the supported person and the workers who enable them. We also understand that it is important to keep stress levels down or at the very least at an acceptable level so that we don’t have a situation where there is “the straw that broke the camels back”. This can often result in an explosion of rage leading to damaged relationships, poorer reputations and misjudgements about a person who is normally incredibly tolerant and well mannered.
We can offer de -stressing and relaxing massages to people with learning disabilities in an environment where they are valued, listened to and appreciated. For us it’s a way of staying connected to a field of work which we will always love and feel passionate about.
If you are part of their support team then its equally important for you to be more relaxed which maximises your ability to communicate effectively and manage difficult situations with a clear and focussed mind. Think about regular massage as a way of avoiding burn out, after all you chose this line of work because of your natural empathy and understanding which is something we can forget through pressure and exhaustion. It needn’t be like that if you think about your own needs sometimes too!
We welcome individuals and organisations to talk to us and see if we can offer something useful which regard to stress management. This can either be trying out our therapies at our premises or on site visits should that be more preferable. We have often found that it is the person who had little or zero interest in receiving a massage turns out to be the person that absolutely loved the experience! Remember we live in a culture where touch is avoided and yet paradoxically touch is something we cant live without. Massage promotes well being both physically, mentally and spiritually bringing a sense of calm and relaxation into our busy lives.
We look forward to hearing from you,
Positive Regards
Marjie and Ben
www.fivehuman.co.uk  www.fivehumanspiritual.co.uk

END OF WINTER

Winter has finally come to an end and as we look towards the warm days and long evenings we realise that if we could somehow keep the summer feeling going strong we would feel great all through the year.

How we do this really depends on ourselves however one sure way is to take care of our mental and physical health.

It is said that it is ‘your mind that creates this world’ –this holds true so keeping yourself in a positive frame of mind helps one realise that we have a lot to be grateful for.

Stress is one of the most common causes of illness, fatigue, apathy and depressive moods. It is blight on all of us living today but it can be combated quite successfully and yet it is never prioritised until we reach a level where we are almost beyond help!

 People need energy to change their lives, to be able to make changes for themselves, get them back on track and feel good about themselves, their lives and their abilities.

To get that energy back you have to first relax, get to know yourself again and make the necessary changes (sometimes tiny changes) that lead to a more rewarding fulfilling and healthy lifestyle.

We can offer s therapies which will help reduce your stress levels. For example, tension builds up on the muscles and  in particular on the back, neck and shoulders. If left untreated this feeling can be exhausting and can often reduce our ability to cope with everyday situations which we usually find easy to get through. As this stress stays or indeed grows with us our immunity is compromised leaving us open to common illnesses and infections and in the worst scenario some can be very serious and detrimental to our health!

It cannot be stressed enough (pun intended!) that making to commitment to yourself to have regular treatments can be one of the best proactive ways to ensure that you take care of your whole health.  This incorporates the physical, mental and also spiritual aspects, which are supported and maintained leading to a valued and happy life!  

A journey of 1000 steps begins with the first step; make the effort to help yourself because you are your own best friend!

Namaste!

 http://www.fivehuman.co.uk/services.php

Recession and the Mind

We have just come through one of the worst recessions ever and some say we are not quite out of it yet.  Not everything that tastes bad is bad for you and a recession can help us all to be more discerning about how we spend our money and helps us refocus our life’s priorities. We start to appreciate the simpler (and less costly) things in life, we cut back and cut back and make sacrifices to ensure we have a feeling of security in uncertain times. Companies struggling to survive, extract their pound of flesh from the workforces expecting everyone to do more for less.

We may not notice it but most of us will be building stress and many of us will ignore ourselves in this respect until ultimately the body fights back –we become ill, we become exhausted and we can become irritable, and the sparkle and appreciation of our daily living dulls and this is not good, it’s not good at all.
The scales seemed to have tipped, once weighted in the frivolous and consumer lifestyle it seems to have gone the other way. Going from one extreme to the other is not good for anyone and the secret of life’s scales is to create a balance. This little word balance is something that would help all of us in every aspect of our lives. Eat well but do not over eat or go hungry, exercise but in moderation, sleep enough no more no less, do not be idle nor work yourself into the ground. Just employ the word” balance” in everything you think or do and you will feel the benefit for it.
Five Human is in the business of stress reduction, we offer a lot of different therapies which help individuals to relax become more centered and more able to appreciate life’s jewels which surround us every day. A beautiful sky; a stranger’s smile; a child’s laughter or an engaging conversation while waiting for that elusive bus to arrive, It’s all there for us and more we just have to pay attention to it. When we are de-stressed we are often in the present moment and feel alive and engaged with the world around us. We cultivate an observant mind that helps us realise that our life is important and we should make every minute count!
The essence of this little story is don’t cut back on the things that are important, think about your own needs, watch your stress levels through your moods and your general everyday behaviour. If you think you are getting stressed then take positive steps to reduce it. That can be whatever it is that helps you and if it’s a heavenly and relaxing massage then remember Five Human is here for you and only a phone call away.

Washing the Hot Stone Massage Stones

Here at Five Human we do a range of therapies, we run courses, we go out to organisations and offer talks and/ or taster sessions of our therapies and we sell products too.  We are busy, busy people; one has to remain focussed to make a business a success!

One of our therapies is Hot Stone Massage.  This is a favourite massage for customers, it’s very popular.  It involves using heated basalt stones to massage instead of the therapists hands.  They say it can get deeper than a normal massage due to the power of the warmth from the stones.  It’s effective in treating muscular problems but it’s also extremely relaxing and luxurious to experience. Essential oils are used too, a blend is made up to suit the needs of the person and this applied onto the skin of the receiver, this helps the smooth stones effortlessly glide over the body.

 After each session the stones must be thoroughly washed.  The stones are beautiful to touch and when washing them you sometimes go back to your childhood remembering when you threw stones across a lake to try to get them to do as many skips as they could. It makes you smile. 

Washing the stones however requires a concentrated effort, the trick is to remain in the present moment and not let the mind wander to escape the mundane task.  When you wash the stones you just wash the stones. 

Have you ever been lost in a task and when you finish it you just can’t believe the time that has passed.  This is because you were lost in the present moment your mind only thinking about the here and now.  This in actual fact is a form of meditation because you are concentrating on one thing and not letting the mind wander.  One can do this with any task but the more mundane the task the better it will be.  The classic example is washing the dishes, when you wash the dish you wash it carefully and you take care about what you are doing.  You wash each dish carefully back and front, you rinse the plate and consciously place it in the rack to dry.  A first attempt to focus the mind like this usually lasts for one or two plates.  Compare meditation on the breath, even experienced meditators when counting the breath during meditation never get passed 4 or 5 breaths before losing concentration  and restart at 1.

So there you have it simplicity is a gift to be cherished, your mind can transform your life but remember you are more than mind, you are more than body.  It is ourselves who choose the mundane and the interesting but we can appreciate both.

Be Happy!

http://www.fivehumanspiritual.co.uk/categories/Training/Hot-Stone-Massage/

Do you believe in Angels?

Do you believe in angels?  Many people do believe in them and we think that is a wonderful thing in itself.  Angels are gods messengers they represent the divine and everything that is good in us.  Simply by believing in them makes you consider your own actions so that you minimise the hurt that you can cause in this world and maximise the good for all and everything.  It has a striking resemblance to Karma which is simply the result of our own actions.
Here is a little story for you, it’s about circumstances and how they occur.
When we first opened Five Human things just came along at the right time and place to help us.  Completely new to running a business there was a lot of work to get it off the ground from its initial concept.  We had to find the right place and when we did find it there was a lot of building work to be done to change it into the little shop we have now.  We were rookies and we just went out and bought things for the shop without measuring it up.  Strangely the shelving system we picked fitted exactly in to the space available.  The couch bed had to turn and swivel into a room –we didn’t check the measurements but its makes it by just an inch. Our little red sofa also fits exactly!  It really felt that someone or something was watching over us so much could have gone wrong but it didn’t.  Not long after we had opened some customers asked us to look out for white feathers as our shop had “good energy” “White feathers? Yeah right!”  Not long after that little white feathers kept appearing in the shop.  We would have a good laugh at it but our eyes weren’t laughing when the other wasn’t looking.  We said nothing we didn’t have to we didn’t dare!
Our shop progressed to include Wicca products as well as the angel themed products like guiding spirits statues and angel boxes etc.   Wicca is a gentle religion that respects the earth and grounds the soul.  We had no problem with it or indeed other religions for we respect them all.  God’s house has many mansions.  Our feathers still kept on coming though this time some feathers had acquired a little dark tinge!
Finally though there was the Archangel Michael thing.  We had a customer that came in to the shop who had a healing centre called yes you’ve guessed it,  The Archangel Michael Healing Centre.  During his visit I felt myself getting very hot, I felt as though I was burning up.  “I think I might be coming down with flu”, I said, but there was no flu. In the next two days we were both browsing catalogues for stock and several times I would pick something out just by a quick glance saying I liked it, however each time it turned out to be something to do with this Archangel Michael guy.  I had already picked out in our shop a Nemesis Now Archangel Michael statue that appealed to me not knowing that was who it was!  I told the therapist that worked with us about my odd experiences, a well educated woman who is completely grounded in reason and logic.  We were told by her that the presence of Archangel Michael is accompanied by an all over heat!!  Having never really believed in angels you can imagine my expression, I was totally shocked.  It’s made me rethink everything.
There are some things in life that remain mystical and unexplained and this makes our life’s journey so much more meaningful so much more important than gaining power, fame, and prestige and all the other materialistic banners we seek with the view that somehow they will make us happy. Do we believe in angels?  We’d like to think so for it makes us feel safe and secure knowing that there could be one watching over us.  We hope it’s true and we hope it’s true for everyone else as well.
Five Human –protected by angels! (Smile)

http://www.fivehumanspiritual.co.uk/categories/Angels/

It’s Crystal clear or so we like to think!

Five Human gift shop has been around now for 5 years and we can remember with humour how in the early days we knew absolutely nothing about crystals!  “Why does everybody keep asking us if we stock them?”  So therefore on our first visit to a trade fair we stopped by a stand that sold them. They were beautiful, interesting too, so many different kinds and so many different forms.  There was two huge amethyst cathedrals (that’s a big tower by the way) about 5 feet tall filled with deep purple facets, they looked stunning we couldn’t take our eyes off them.  There were carvings of different types of crystals in the shape of animals, angels, Buddhas and fairies to mention just a few. There were crystals in the shape of points, some were polished into perfect spheres, some were flat beds of faceted jewels to gaze upon and get lost in their intricacy.  We were smitten!   The woman who was running the stall explained to us that crystals have different qualities and people choose them for this as a main reason.  Indeed they say that the crystal chooses you and that you don’t really choose the crystal, it draws you to it!  Many stones are used in healing work and also some can be used to promote deep states of meditation.  Different stones can affect different parts of the body and different mind states, some even encourage plants to grow if placed beside them!  The list is endless and if you purchase a crystal book each crystal is described along with its main qualities.
The sceptics would say that there is a crystal for everything and it’s simply nonsense to believe that they can have so much effect on us!  Reading a few pages about different crystals one can quickly come to that conclusion and dismiss the whole thing as complete ”gobildy gook! “.  And yet ….and yet! … Let’s think about this.  We have pieces of rock which we know are radioactive for example uranium.  This is a stone that emits something completely invisible to the eye but we know this to be a totally true fact! We use silicon chips and we have quartz watches and clocks …mmm something not quite adding up here?  Why then should we not believe that different crystals may impart different qualities for us?
The jury is still out and really whatever you choose to believe you cannot take away their beauty and attractiveness, after all they have been worn as jewellery for thousands of years and also as protective talismans.
Talking about talismans, last year at the trade fair on our return journey we had to fly back from Birmingham and obviously go through the security checks at the airport.  As we each went through a bleep summoned the officers to ask as to empty our pockets only to find four or five different crystals!  We don’t like flying!
Bon voyage for now! 

http://www.fivehumanspiritual.co.uk/categories/Crystals/Tumble/

The Importance of Creating a Spiritual Space in your Home

What is a spiritual space ? Well like it or not we all have spiritual needs some of us find it in religion, others may simply find it by escaping the urban nightmare and heading to the hills for freedom, peace and tranquility.  Spirituality is something that as humans we need to survive and grow, we need to  nurture our lives into a meaningful existence!  “Man cannot live by bread alone”, other animals can but we as human beings with our highly developed brains need something more!  Long before the earliest  civilisations  we would draw our spirituality on the walls of caves, on pebbles, and on trees  giving the animals and plants that we depended on a soul and a respect for giving up their lives in order for us to survive.  

Today we have lost much of this but we have not lost the need for it in our lives.  This is why we should create a spiritual space or ambience in our homes.  After all our home is our haven and our retreat, it’s somewhere we feel secure and happy, it’s somewhere we must return to in order to relax and de-stress.  Usually today homes are filled to the brim with technologies which if we are honest can sometime drive us crazy.  However if there is a little room or place within your home which encourages a quiet and reflective mind or meditative state then this is surely a great thing to have to balance up all that loud technology!  So how do we go about it ?  Did you know that religious icons such as angels, buddhas and saints imbue their own calming and positive energy in the room in which they are placed.  This is one of the reasons  why churches and temples are such loving peaceful places. Equally if you are turned off by such things, a favoured plant or flower, picture, etc.  will create the same effect.  Smell too is important and here we can use incense, scented candles, and essential oil burners to create the right ambience.  Isn’t it so so easy to create ? 

I can assure you that once you have created this space it will reap in rewards for you.  You will be calmer, more positive about life, and far more aware of your own actions and thoughts.  As Buddha says ” its our minds that create our world “.  Dont just read this start creating….. good luck !