Regular Recharge
Massage Envy member Maryam Webster extols the benefits of
massage
When your cell phone runs down, the only way to get it working
is to recharge its battery. The same goes for people. That's why
Maryam Webster makes time for massage and yoga.
She practices yoga for an hour each morning and throughout the
day as needed. She's also found that standard hour-long massages
just aren't enough. One and a half to two hours each week at the
Redwood City (Calif.) Massage Envy clinic is her minimum; two to
three times per week is more typical. "No matter how stressed I am,
they always have me melting into the table by the end of a
session," she says.
For Webster, massage isn't a luxury; it's a tool for maintaining
health and well-being. "It's nourishment for the body and soul,"
she explains. "If you don't stretch your muscle fibers, they
'rust.' Stretching helps muscles operate optimally. Both yoga and
massage increase the flow of lymph fluids that take away toxins and
decrease lactic acid, which causes aches and cramps."
If it sounds like Webster knows more than usual about relaxation
and overall health, you're right. She's a psychologist, energy
coach and author of Everyday Bliss for Busy Women
(New Harbinger, 2008).
Webster teaches clients how to have the healthiest lifestyle
possible by maximizing what she considers the world's most
underutilized source of renewable energy: the energy inside our own
bodies. She developed the energy therapies and techniques she
teaches while recovering from a car accident that left her
paralyzed for three years.
"Doctors told me I'd never walk again," she recalls. "Now I
dance and hike. Nobody has any business telling you what you are
capable of. We are all truly unlimited beings." -By
Rebecca Douglas