March 13, 2016

Polarity Facial

Recently a client said, “I can’t decide whether I want a facial or a polarity session”. So, we made lemonade and thus the polarity facial was born at Munjoyous…Your Neighborhood Oasis.

Polarity therapy is a subtle type of energy work done fully clothed. It involves some light massage and lots of powerful energy clearing. By touching different parts of your body with energetic intention, the therapist clears and aligns your subtle energy pathways. Some of the work is done off the body, using crystals and sound. Clients frequently report that they feel greater ease, that life just seems to flow more smoothly, that negative patterns in their life seem to have less pull.
For a longer description of polarity, check out this link.

My Polarity Facial has all the benefits of a facial which includes a deep cleanse, a peel, a face massage with a therapeutic serum and a customized mask. Before the first hot towel, I perform a series of opening polarity moves that include some light neck and scalp massage. After the cleanse, while you are under the steam with your peel, I will test and align your energy pathways starting on your feet and working up to your head. The face massage will include particular attention to acupressure points that help to stimulate skin rejuvenation and radiance. Finally, while you relax with your customized mask, I will do a full energetic clearing with crystals. After your mask I will do some very subtle cranial polarity moves that will leave you deeply relaxed.

I’m really excited to integrate polarity and a facial. So often my clients are intrigued with polarity and would like to try it, but don’t want to give up the benefits of a facial. I also believe that polarity is a wonderful way to find your true radiant beauty from within. It’s like a “very” deep cleanse. Come try the Polarity Facial at Munjoyous.. Your Neighborhood Oasis. I’d love your feedback.

January 6, 2016

Tough Research

As some of you may know, John and I have taken a few weeks off from Munjoyous and are traveling around the country. We decided to incorporate some business research into our travels and our first project started today at Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Hot Springs got it’s name from the many deep springs of mineral rich hot water beneath the earth there. In Hot Springs there are a row of turn-of-the-century bath houses. We toured one which was part of the Hot Springs National Park and we actually “took in the waters” at the Buckstaff Bath House.
It was a really interesting experience. They have kept the same routine with the same tubs, sitz baths and steam cabinets for all these years. I felt like a character in Downton Abbey. We were separated by gender and then ushered into the undressing rooms. After undressing, I was wrapped in a sheet (yes, Roman style) and delivered to a huge bathtub room where I sat and luxuriated in the hot, mineral rich, spring water for about a half hour. After that I lay on a table and received hot packs on my shoulders and hips and a cool pack on my forehead. Then I climbed into the steam cabinet for a few minutes. Lastly, I sat in a sitz bath for another few minutes. It all ended with a “needle shower”. Although it seems like a lot of hoops to jump through, it was definitely worth it. I felt great at the end and my aches and pains were greatly reduced.
It got me thinking about similar spa treatments that we could do at Munjoyous. I tend to forget how valuable heat is for softening the muscles and easing the joints out of their frozen stiffness. And the mineral rich water had a greater effect by relieving pain. According to “Live Strong.com”, the calcium and sodium bicarbonate absorbed in hot spring waters increases your hydrostatic pressure and ultimately adds oxygen to your circulatory system. Hot spring waters reduce stress and promote sleep naturally. Being submerged in hot water reduces pain not only through the mineral absorption, but also through the support our joints get through the buoyancy of the water. Finally, the mineral rich waters soften the skin.
Although the research was exhausting and I don’t know how I managed to do it, I’m excited to bring a little bit of this part of my vacation back to Munjoyous…Your Neighborhood Oasis.

May 25, 2015

Want a lift?

face muscles

 

I like micro current.
I like it because it’s a facial treatment that’s packed with good, healthy stuff that’s high benefit and low risk.

What is it? 
It’s a mild electrical current that simulates the body’s natural cellular current. It’s measured in micro amps which are one millionth of an amp. No pain…all gain!
This energy triggers cellular activity and restores normal frequencies within damaged cells. And new cell growth is what skin care is all about. But also, it feels good. After a micro current session, my face feels vital, rejuvenated, alive!
What is it good for? 
There are four major benefits to a micro current session. 
1. It stimulates the muscles in the skin. The face is the only place on the body where the muscles are attached to the skin. The micro current stimulation tightens those muscles. I usually notice that tightness on my forehead and around my eyes. No, it’s not “like wow, a major transformation”, but it’s noticeable and it has other benefits, too.
2. Micro current aids in product penetration. Iontophoresis is the professional term, but basically it pushes the product you use deeper into the skin because positive repels positive (only in electricity, thank God). If your product is water-based with positive ions, those ions repel the charge of the micro current and voila, penetration! I like to use a vitamin C serum or a hyaluronic acid serum in my treatment. And there’s more…
3. It increases circulation in the skin. Circulation brings blood to the face, which snags the toxins and waste products in our face and takes it away. This same wonderful blood is also delivering yummy nutrients to your skin. Yay! Yep…still more.
4. Micro current triggers ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is a molecule produced in the mitochondria of the cell. It is required for all cellular reactions in our bodies. After a micro current session, I can see better tone in my skin. I can also feel the warmth and glow from all that activity going on under the surface. So there it is again… new cell growth. 
Next time you want to give your face a workout, check us out at munjoyous.com/services.
*Special thanks to Rachel Vicknair at NuFace and ASCP Skincare for educating me.
 
May 19, 2015

Wonderful Product

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Oh products! When I started practicing aesthetics, I was bombarded with products.  The first aesthetics show I went to was saturated with hundreds of different products, all promising to perform miracles. I was seduced a few times by expensive products, but I remembered what one of my favorite teachers told me. She said that half of the expense for some of the popular products we see is spent on all the promotional rigging that gets it out there and sells it. I asked her about a particular popular product I had seen at the malls.  She said, “You know, what you’re really paying for is all those displays you see!” This got me thinking about packaging.
Then I started selling products and I saw my clients sink a little when they learned the price of a product I recommended to them. I get it. It’s hard when you’ve finally made the decision to take care of your skin and you’re ready to invest in your face, but the cost is so prohibitive that it is discouraging. Going home with an ounce of moisturizer that cost you $75 is a tough way to start your new relationship with your face.

I’ve also had some insights about products too. I knew that artificial scents and additives are a no-no and I’m growing to understand words like peptide, stem cell, botanical and antioxidant. Although, I still call my sister the chemist to explain them to me.
When we started “Munjoyous…Your Neighborhood Oasis” in our little Portland neighborhood in Maine, I wanted to find a product that wasn’t crazy expensive, but had quality ingredients and good science behind it.
So I’m really excited about our new product. Prima Fleur is the name of the company that makes it and they have a wonderful philosophy and history. They have been around for 20 years and they are sincerely concerned about the environment. All of their products are naturally scented with essential oils and hydrosols. I love the Calendula Hydro Boost moisturizer that we now carry and the ever so gentle exfoliating Combava Scrub is delightful. I can keep the price down by packaging it myself too. So you aren’t paying for the package, just the product.
Check out their great website (http://www.primafleur.com/about.php) and see if their philosophy resonates with yours. It did with mine…and the prices did too.
March 17, 2019

Thai Massage

One of the hardships of being a massage therapist and receiving massages is the difficulty of finding a great therapist. There is a big difference between intentional touch and “just being rubbed”, as one of my massage friends likes to say.

I’m constantly trying to improve my touch awareness. And trying to feel how the muscle, the body and the energy responds to touch.

Practicing intentional touch in my own work, makes me acutely aware of how it feels to have someone not adjust pressure or just endlessly bump over a knot in a muscle.

I’ve received a good share of “being rubbed” in Asia, and in the US. Since Thai massage is very common, (there were literally rows of massage studios on every street we visited) it was not unusual to see a therapist giving a massage while chatting on her phone or talking to another therapist. When deciding on where to go, my trick is usually to selfishly send John first and get a review from him.

After receiving an awesome Thai massage (on John’s recommendation) from Sae at Friends Massage, in Chiang Mai, we decided to take a three day class. We did our research and found a reputable, well reviewed school called, Sabai De Ka.

Our teacher, Na, was delightful and abundant with both humor and knowledge about her craft. The first thing she did was apologize for her English, which I assured her was 99.9% better than my Thai.

Thai massage is performed over loose clothing and involves a lot more stretches and compressions rather than the long strokes of the Swedish technique. It has been used for centuries and was originally taught in the temples. There is no oil used other than the occasional salve for a tight muscle.

The course covered all the techniques for a full Thai Massage, but adapted for a table, since traditionally it is done on a mat on the floor. We wanted to be able to integrate it with our other types of massage, so we opted for the table course.

I really like how Thai massage encourages the therapist to use her whole body to improve stretches. It’s not unusual to use a foot for better leverage for a stretch. Since it uses a lot of stretches, a therapist needs to listen to the body and the client to make sure the stretch is just right. The wonderful massage I received from Sae, at Friends Massage, used experienced intuitive touch to not overstretch my wonky shoulders. Even with a huge language barrier, she was able to feel when a stretch was a little too intense and she easily adapted.

Our teacher, Na, also had to be intuitive about our techniques, constantly helping us to adapt and change for our clients.  A phrase that I heard regularly was, “You no flexible. You go like this” and then she would teach us some adaptation to the technique.

Thai massage involves lots of repetition, so we were taught to use 10-30 repetitions of a particular move. Of course, we had limited time, so sometimes, when we worked on each other, we would shorten the repetitions considerably, which was typically accompanied with my favorite line of all time, “Mr. JOHN, your wife have great body, you no cheat her!” I can assure you that John will be hearing that phrase for a long time to come!

All together, we learned enough techniques to give a 4 hour Thai massage. We obviously have many hours of practice ahead to master these new techniques, but we are both excited about integrating lots of these techniques into our practice and offering our most authentic Thai Massage when we return home.

Keep an eye out at our website for this new offering. We hope to be ready to offer full Thai Massage sessions soon.

April 23, 2018

Got Lymph? Detoxify.

Tired of puffiness? Wondering what is going on when some days you wake up and your face is dull and puffy and other days you look great?

Lymph is what is going on. Our bodies use lymph to remove waste. Waste products are carried away from the tissues and back to the heart where they are then sent to the kidneys and liver for detoxification.

Lymph doesn’t move by itself. It depends on the movement and contractions of muscles to circulate through the body. That’s why the lymphatic drainage massage in the detoxifying Munjoyous facial is such a rich part of the treatment. This gentle pressure moves lymph toward the lymph nodes so that it can be balanced.

The Detoxifying Munjoyous Facial includes:

  • A deep cleanse that includes a facial steam with detoxifying herbs including ginger root, rosemary, allspice, eucalyptus and cloves.
  • A gentle enzyme peel.
  • A lymphatic neck, shoulder and face massage using a lymphatic detoxifying seaweed gel.
  • An acupressure point facial massage using detoxifying ayurvedic oils
  • Finally a rich purified clay mask is applied while you receive a mini-reflexology foot massage.

This healing treatment will leave you glowing both inside and out!

BOOK NOW!  Or get more details. . [email protected]