Massage Envy DFW

Stress management is essential for anyone striving to achieve a healthy lifestyle. While stress may be an accepted part of normal life, unmanaged stress can lead to health problems. Stress can weaken the immune system, cause tension headaches and increase the risk of heart disease, among other things. Stress awareness is vital to healthy living and Massage Envy Dallas/Fort Worth is here to offer some helpful tips on how to take time out from a hectic life to refresh body and mind and keep stress in check.

It is possible to reduce stress and learn to relax by using the five senses. Many holistic health practitioners agree that what people smell, taste, touch, hear and see can influence how they feel – and maybe even bring them serenity. Try listening to soothing music during a massage or lighting a candle and taking a bath.

Another good way to reduce stress is to participate in an enjoyable, relaxing activity such as drawing, painting or dancing. Whether you want to draw in a sketchbook or just doodle in the margins of a newspaper, let the mind go and the imagination take over. Take a dance class in a local studio or crank up the music in your house and just dance. Studies have also suggested that viewing art, as well as creating it, can reduce stress and anxiety. Enjoy the works of art by others by visiting a museum exhibit, or just take some time to appreciate the earth’s natural beauty.

For thousands of years, people have been meditating as a way to improve well-being. The simplest form is called concentrative meditation, which centers on slow, rhythmic breathing while the mind is cleared of all thoughts. Mindfulness meditation, on the other hand, involves focusing the mind on the thoughts and actions one is experiencing. Just be in the moment.

Don’t worry; getting started with meditation is very simple. Just choose a quiet spot, pick a comfortable posture, focus on breathing or the repetition of a word or phrase, and be positive.

Last but not least, massage therapy has been proven to be one of the most effective methods for achieving stress relief. Research studies show massage therapy boosts the body’s immune system, helps lower blood pressure and heart rate and relaxes muscles.

All types of massages help decrease stress, but the Swedish massage, reflexology and hot stone therapy are particularly good stress busters. The Swedish massage relaxes the whole body by rubbing the muscles with long, gliding strokes in the direction of the blood returning to the heart. This technique increases the level of oxygen in the blood, decreases muscle toxins and improves circulation and flexibility while easing tension in the body and decreasing one’s overall stress. Reflexology massage focuses solely on the hands and feet; specific points on the extremities are targeted to send signals to the brain and balance the nervous system. Endorphins are released throughout the body, which reduces stress and returns the body to equilibrium. Hot stone therapy melts away tension and stress by placing smooth, water-heated stones at key points on the body to allow for deeper relaxation of the muscles. Hot stone therapy is becoming very popular, because it provides deeper muscle and tissue relaxation, which releases more toxins and improves circulation.

With the fast pace of today’s world and the hectic schedules people are forced to keep, everyone can benefit from these simple and easy stress-management techniques and tools. Visit one of the 27 Dallas/Fort Worth Massage Envy locations to learn more about how massage therapy helps people relax and de-stress.

At Massage Envy, an introductory one-hour massage session (a 50-minute massage and time for consultation and dressing) is just $49. Memberships are available for $59 per month and include a one-hour massage session. Members can enjoy unlimited additional one-hour massage sessions at the $39 member rate.

Massage Envy in Texas and throughout the country has helped popularize massage. Americans visit massage therapists approximately 140 million times a year. The percentage of Americans using massage therapists has more than doubled since 1997.

Log on to www.massageenvy.com to find the nearest Massage Envy center. All centers are open seven days a week.

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Having the right touch is important to a massage therapist. The same could also be said of the Rowlett Crossing Massage Envy Center in Rowlett, Texas. Certified massage therapist Nina Almandarez has been named Regional Therapist of the Year for 2010. She is the second consecutive staff member to be so honored – Lead Therapist Jason Michaels was Regional Therapist of the Year for 2009.

What many of Nina’s clients don’t immediately realize is that she is legally blind. Nina has been with Massage Envy Rowlett for over a year, is married and has two young children. Co-owner Dr. Richard Klics notes that Nina is one of the centers “highest producing and most successful therapists.”

“She has a great attitude, and most people do not even realize she is sight impaired unless she tells them or they get to know her a little. She is looking forward to going to Phoenix with us in May to get her award,” says Dr. Klics.

This is the fourth year for the Regional Therapist of the Year award. Dallas/Fort Worth, with 27 centers, makes up one region. Each center employs between 25 and 45 therapists. Massage Envy Corporate selects a winner from each region. Regional winners are flown to Phoenix to receive their awards at the Gala and Awards Banquet in early May.

“Winning this award last year was a terrific surprise and we were so proud of Jason and our entire staff. But to win it again this year was just unbelievable! We are so happy and so proud of Nina,” say co-owners Dr. Rick and April Klics.

Clinic Manager Morgan Tucker states that “Nobody deserves this award more than Nina. She is so sweet and compassionate to all of her clients, and such a pleasure to be around,” while 2009 award recipient Jason Michaels adds, “When I asked the other therapists for suggestions on who we should nominate, it was almost unanimous, NINA!”

“This is such a great honor,” Nina shares. “We have so many great and hard working therapists at our clinic, and I think a part of this award goes to each one of them.”

Almandarez became a massage therapist in 2002. “I wanted to find a good career where my loss of sight would not hold me back, and where I could feel like I was making a difference. I love doing massage and helping people, and I am glad that I work for Massage Envy. The people here have been great and are always so positive and so helpful. And the clients are great too. I enjoy coming to work, and I think Massage Envy is a great career choice. I also hope that maybe others with a disability might see me and think that maybe they can do it too! You can’t be scared or let things stop you. You just have to reach for your dreams and believe in yourself.”

At Massage Envy, an introductory one-hour massage session (a 50-minute massage and time for consultation and dressing) is just $49. Memberships are available for $59 per month and include a one-hour massage session. Members can enjoy unlimited additional one-hour massage sessions at the $39 member rate.

Log on to www.massageenvy.com to find the nearest Massage Envy center. All centers are open seven days a week.

Follow Massage Envy DFW on Facebook – www.facebook.com/MassageDFW and Twitter – www.twitter.com/MassageEnvyDFW.