What to expect
What to expect in a session
- Comprehensive review of your personal health history and current health care needs
- Abdominal massage focused on releasing restrictions in regenerative and digestive organs
- Evaluation of nerves along the sacrum, lumbar and thoracic spine
- Reduction of tension and holding patterns
- Instruction in Arvigo Self Care Techniques for you to use as a life-long tool
- Love, encouragement and compassion for your journey
- Recommendation of complementary modalities:
- Herbal remedies
- Castor oil packs
- Faja (organ support wrap)
- Bajos (traditional vaginal steam bath of the Mayas - pronounced ba-hos)
- Nutritional and or lifestyle education and adaptations
Appointments are generally two hours long. Initial appointments include an intake that can involve 10-20 minutes before hands on therapy. This intake gives me your history and an understanding of why you have come for the massage, so the intention can be set. Once on the table, a thorough exploration of the abdomen is performed which includes reduction of tensions and identification of restrictions, using Chi Nei Tsang and Visceral Manipulation. This information is passed on to you at the time or at the end of the session.
I then perform the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy (ATMAT), teaching and preparing you to learn these self-care techniques for you to perform at home. You will be given detailed instructions that are typed so you can refer to them as needed. I encourage everyone to do their self-care every day for 30 days, then on an as-needed basis. This is a life-long healing tool that you will always have in your possession and can be used for a variety of concerns.
As time permits, cranial work and sacral work are performed. The last ten minutes are used to give you suggestions to help you with your journey.
Follow up sessions include a brief discussion to catch up on what has transpired since the previous session(s) and to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have. It also helps to set the intention for the session. The hands on part is expanded and usually there is time for full body work, concentrating on what is needed. The last 10 minutes are used to report findings and to offer more suggestions if needed. During the initial visit and during follow-ups, appropriate bodywork and other healing modalities will be offered in a private, supportive environment.
Aside from fertility challenges in which I encourage a monthly visit for 3 months, follow ups are generally left up to you. You will continue to feel changes for 2-3 weeks, and it is best to give your body the opportunity to move at its own pace.
The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy (ATMAT) specifically addresses the position and health of the pelvic and abdominal organs and is done on the exposed abdomen while the rest of the body is fully covered with sheets. It also includes work on the sacrum and back and is a wonderfully relaxing massage as well as therapuetic.
Chi Nei Tsang can be performed while you are fully clothed, but it is preferable to remove most clothing so you can relax and receive a more therapeutic massage. Visceral manipulation is sometimes best performed while sitting up or side-lying. For this, I can provide exercise shorts or a gown if needed.
Although the studio has many windows, you are surrounded only by nature so you have complete privacy to undress and relax onto the massage table, covering yourself with a clean sheet and a blanket as needed. You will be properly draped at all times during the treatment to keep you warm and comfortable.
Please do not eat or eat lightly 2 hours before appointment.
You have a choice on the intake form. You can fill out the comprehensive intake form which enables me to understand your present concerns and your history, and has the added benefit of helping you to focus on your specific concerns and how they relate to your history and present lifestyle. Or, you can fill out an abbreviated form that includes your name, address and phone number, your surgical history, medications you are now on and any that you have been on for 6 months or longer in the past, your menstraul history if you are a female, and the reason for your visit and what you would like to be different in 6 months. Both of these can be found under contact heading.
List any allergies you might have to oils, and any other pertinent information that you feel I need to know. If you are applying any topical hormone treatment, please refrain from applying until after the therapy.
Herbal remedies to cleanse the uterus and male reproductive system, enhance digestion, and soothe stress and insomnia are available.
"There is more to us than we know. If we can be made to see it, perhaps for the rest of our lives we will be unwilling to settle for less." Kurt Hahn