Mermaid Life

I just love me a bubble bath. Slipping into hot scented bubbles turning down the lights and turning on some mellow tunes, is the life I'm all about. The Mermaid Life,
 I like to call it. My life is busy. I'm a parent, a business owner, a daughter, sister, and  a friend. Often my own self care gets pushed to the way side. This is an issue I am always trying to remedy. Of all of the activities that fill my work and personal calendar, I am always sure to keep one appointment on the books. My Sunday night bubble bath. It's become my ritual. I love rituals they fill my life with whimsy, balance and a little bit of magic.

I don't just soak in a bubble bath to pamper myself, although if I'm being honest that is reason enough. I take bubble baths because they are good for you.

Bubble baths can:

Soften your skin
Induce relaxation
Provide relief for sore muscles
Increase blood flow
Help to induce a peaceful nights sleep.

I add a little bit of everything to my bath. From essential oils, sea salts, and also homemade bath teas. I like to think of my appointment with myself as bubble bath extravaganza.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes.

Mommy Needs Some Beauty Sleep Bath -
has it been a long day, week, month? maybe this time change has you wrecked? This is the bath for you.

a handful of dried lavendar or chamomile flowers
10 drops of lavendar essential oil
10 drops of rose essential oil
5 drops of peru balsam essential oil

Achy Breaky Body Bath -
too many downward dogs, one too many miles on the track, or your feet are killing you from power shopping... soak this up.

 2 handfuls of epsom salts
 10 drops of camphor essential oil
 10 drops of geranium essential oil
 5 drops of ginger essential oil

* this bath is very effective after a  work out or after you receive body work. when you work out or get body work your muscles get toned. this toning will release lactic acid that can leave you feeling achy for a few days. i find this bath very effective in helping with the process of flushing your body free of the lactic acid. wanna step that flush up? drink a large glass of ice cold water with lemon while in the tub.

Time To Be Queen Bath
because you know you are.

5 cups of  Vitamin D milk
1/3 cup of honey
5 drops of patchouli essential oil
5 drops of sandalwood essential oil
4 drops ylang ylang

*milk baths are great to soften your skin because of the lactic acid in milk.make sure you soak and rinse. do not clean yourself with the milk as its not soap.

Bliss Tox Bath
because sometimes we go overboard on the weekend.

one handful of epsom salts
one half cup of baking soda
5 drops of peppermint essential oil
2 drops lavendar essential oil
2 drops ginger essential oil

Date Night Bubble Bath
soften and scent your skin for a good old time, a roll in the hay? well that's totally up to you.

2 teaspoons of avacado oil
5 drops clove essential oil
5 drops rose essential oil
3 drops jasmine essential oil

Serenity

I love energy work. It ups my vibration. Keeps me buzzing and open to receive the chi all around me. I find it also helps me to really tune in when I am giving to a client. Something I have been doing a little while is referring to these beautiful little magic cards I picked up. They are called The Witchlings by Paulina Cassidy. Each little witchling has a beautiful magick lesson to share. I have found these teachings to be very timely as I select one card to focus on each Tuesday. This evening I wanted to share with you my magick lesson.This week I will be focusing on serenity.

Serenity -the spirit of serenity brings calmness to the connectivity of all that is.

I find this card to be very on point for me this week. I have been under a little storm cloud. Home sick with a little guy, under a mountain of busy work I keep pushing away.  I have had some time to think and ponder the ideas that are swirling in my head. Things have been out of balance for me a few weeks and I feel I am getting to where I need to be. I consciously made a decision to make a change and now I need to focus on the impact of this change. I removed a distraction from my life that was unnecessary even before I selected this card this evening. Pulling this card to me emphasizes that I am where I should be on my path, and I am feeling at peace with it. I feel calm about it all. And being calm is a great place to be.

Finding serenity in all will be what I am focused on this week. Forgiving myself, not taking things so literally and just accepting whatever the day, each day throws at me.



 

Ritual : Full Moon Intention

Each month when the moon is full I set intentions on what I want to create in my life. I have found this to be incredibly powerful. I make a short list of what I want to manifest and bring into my world. I think its helpful to keep the list short and do-able. Writing it down is a way to bring forth my own personal energy to those intentions and helps me to harness exactly what I want to come in. I keep this list available for me to see everyday. I also write them down in my day planner on the day of the full moon. I believe deeply that the universe wants to give you what you ask for.You just need to ask for it.  I check in on my list a few times a month to see where we are. If the universe and I are syncing at the end of the month.

Sometimes  I set an intention that  has not presented itself to me just yet. That can be discouraging but I really don't let it bother me too much. Everything is a work in progress, including myself and my intentions. It will present in the time its meant to. in divine timing.

This month on this Valentines full moon I set the intention to bring in:

 Love-  because we all need more of it. More hugs from friends, more kisses from my sons. I also want to make sure I am giving more love to the people in my world. Sending a friend a text to let them know I appreciate them.

Happiness- I was feeling down in the dumps for a couple of weeks. I really checked myself recently and thought this is not the way to be. You must create happiness and choose to be happy each day. You will live with yourself your whole life. Forgive yourself if you must and just be happy. Technically, after much consideration I have nothing to forgive myself for most recently but I still want to make sure I ask for it so it showers down on me in everything I do.

Healing- Life is full of boo boos. We get knocked down by big things and by small things that we never thought would harm us. But they can and they do. Often, you need to be the person that kisses your own boo boo and give yourself permission to heal. I'm setting time aside as much as possible this month to take time out for me.Practice yoga, meditate, perform reiki on myself, chant, eat clean, journal and sleep.

Do you set intentions often? Try doing so when the universe is full and bright with the full moon energy and see what magic and change come your way.

Love You!

Happy Valentines Day to you. I wanted to take a minute and write a little love note. For everything you do. Make sure you take a moment and pat yourself on the back. Do something that makes your heart sing. Only you know the song of your life. Sing it loud and without hesitation. Do what you need to honor yourself on this day full  of love. It maybe a Hallmark holiday to some but, the intention of love is everywhere it's in the air. Breath it in. Swallow it whole and let it fill you. Let that energy flow seep out to others today. And then except that energy that flows back to you.

Namaste Valentine :)

Why I love massage

I'm often asked during sessions or when I'm out and about how I came to be a massage therapist. 

Once a long while ago I received work from a young lady. She was younger than me at the time of our meeting. I found her to be so inspiring. The way she spoke - her light, her way of being. Each time I came home from a session with her I felt very different.

 Her work rumbled something in me. It tugged at me. It massaged the idea of how this very non traditional type of work could invoke such  happiness in another person. I could only imagine how it must have made the therapist feel.

 I learned a lot about myself from my sessions.

 I enrolled in classes at the Berkeley Psychic Institute. I learned to ground myself- how to disconnect from energy paths that my spirit found harmful and how to tap into my intuition. I learned about meditation, and chanting and how these practices help to feed your spirit. Soon there after I enrolled in massage school at the National Holistic Institute and put my foot down on a path of becoming a massage therapist and health educator.  

Long before my meeting that therapist I had discovered aromatherapy . I used to practice it as a teenager carrying around a little lotion I concocted with peppermint, sage and lemon essential oils I would apply it on my temples if  I had a headache or if I was overwhelmed with the stress of high school politics. This natural healing I discovered worked for me and I very reach for an aspirin when I had an ache or pain.

The marriage of these three non traditional pathways lead me to a career and gift I am so very proud of. Massage is my passion. I love it! I could not ever see myself doing anything else. When I'm  not in the studio working I am often reading about body work. How to change a stroke up, experimenting with how to go deeper into a body and sometimes if the energy is right beyond that with energy work. Massage is not pampering, massage is medicine. One of the most ancient forms of it. In this country its very often overlooked as a luxury. I attempt to transcend that mindset when I work with clients.

Massage is a part of my everyday life. I love creating a space for people to come- relax and release. I love creating space in a persons body and in their spirit. I often hear the things that are troubling my clients. Most times they share but often it's felt in the energy that is exchanged while they are on the table. If they are sleeping well, if they are bogged down by bigger problems. Many times clients have broken down and cried over whatever issue is hurting them. I love being able to create a space and energy they can be vulnerable and feel what they need to feel in that moment of receiving... It's a powerful healing if you allow it to be.

I often hear -
Michelle, I don't even need to tell you where the tension is your hands just glide there.
Michelle, your work is so different it's a healing I receive when I'm here.
Michelle, I have been looking forward to seeing you all week.

Thank you. I do focus on intuitive work, it is healing it's not your basic cookie cutter massage. 

Thank you. I love being the high light of so many people's day. That's a blessing to receive that type of gratitude, over and over again. Not everyone can say that about their job. My work is greeted with a smile.

All of these things and more of what I hear further reinforce that I am doing what I was meant to do. Massage is my gift. Combined with the other modalities I practice . This work always fills me up. I love what I do and that in its self is its very own gift as my passion, talent and gift is what  I'm so appreciated for. Sharing my love for wellness and body work along with energy work and skin care makes me happy. I'm always pleased to greet a client and place my hands on them. Thank you for sharing yourself with me.