FLO massage and wellness studio

10/15/2025

The wait is over! I’m back on Monday!

Thank you all for your patience while I recovered from surgery.

Online booking is now open 😀

12/26/2023

08/15/2022

Curious about cupping!?

The red marks are a result of the blood being pulled into that area. The darker the mark, the more stagnant fluids (toxins, blood and lymph) were dredged up during treatment. The marks last anywhere from a few hours to several days. The more often you receive cupping for the same issue, the lighter the marks will be.

07/20/2022

🔈THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a disorder characterized by pain and paresthesias in a hand, the neck, a shoulder, or an arm.
Pathogenesis often involves compression of the lower trunk of the brachial plexus (and perhaps the subclavian vessels) as these structures traverse the thoracic outlet below the scalene muscles and over the 1st rib, before they enter the axilla.

Compression may be caused by:
• A cervical rib
• An abnormal 1st thoracic rib
• Abnormal insertion or position of the scalene muscles
• A malunited clavicle fracture
• Thoracic outlet syndromes are more common among women and usually develop between age 35 and 55.

Symptoms and Signs of TOS
Pain and paresthesias usually begin in the neck or shoulder and extend to the medial aspect of the arm and hand and sometimes to the adjacent anterior chest wall. Many patients have mild to moderate sensory impairment in the C8 to T1 distribution on the painful side; a few have prominent vascular-autonomic changes in the hand (e.g., cyanosis, swelling). In even fewer, the entire affected hand is weak.

Rare complications of thoracic outlet compression syndromes include Raynaud syndrome localized to the affected arm and distal gangrene.

Exercise:
• Pectoralis stretch: Stand in a doorway or corner with both arms on the wall slightly above your head. Slowly lean forward until you feel a stretch in the front of your shoulders. Hold 15 to 30 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

• Thoracic extension: While sitting in a chair, clasp both arms behind your head. Gently arch backward and look up toward the ceiling. Repeat 10 times. Do this several times per day.

• Arm slide on wall: Sit or stand with your back against a wall and your elbows and wrists against the wall. Slowly slide your arms upward as high as you can while keeping your elbows and wrists against the wall. Do 3 sets of 10.

• Rowing exercise: Tie a piece of elastic tubing around an immovable object and grasp the ends in each hand. Keep your forearms vertical and your elbows at shoulder level and bent to 90 degrees. Pull backward on the band and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Repeat 10 times. Do 3 sets.

07/11/2022

🔈 WHY ARE THE PSOAS MUSCLES CONSTANTLY CONTRACTED DURING PROLONGED PERIODS OF STRESS?

Whether you run, bike, dance, practice yoga, or just hang out on your couch, your psoas muscles are involved. That’s because your psoas muscles are the primary connectors between your torso and your legs. They affect your posture and help to stabilise your spine.

The psoas muscles are made of both slow and fast twitching muscles. Because they are major flexors, weak psoas muscles can cause many of the surrounding muscles to compensate and become overused. That is why a tight or overstretched psoas muscle could be the cause of many or your aches and pains, including low back and pelvic pain.

👩‍🔬 ANATOMY

Structurally, your psoas muscles are the deepest muscles in your core. They attach from your 12th thoracic vertebrae to your 5 lumbar vertebrae, through your pelvis and then finally attach to your femurs. In fact, they are the only muscles that connect your spine to your legs.

Your psoas muscles allow you to bend your hips and legs towards your chest, for example when you are going up stairs. They also help to move your leg forward when you walk or run.

Your psoas muscles are the muscles that flex your trunk forward when bend over to pick up something from the floor. They also stabilize your trunk and spine during movement and sitting.

👩‍🔬 THE PSOAS AND FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE

The psoas muscles support your internal organs and work like hydraulic pumps allowing blood and lymph to be pushed in and out of your cells.

Your psoas muscles are vital not only to your structural well-being, but also to your psychological well-being because of their connection to your breath.

Here’s why: there are two tendons for the diaphragm (called the crura) that extend down and connect to the spine alongside where the psoas muscles attach. One of the ligaments (the medial arcuate) wraps around the top of each psoas. Also, the diaphragm and the psoas muscles are connected through fascia that also connects the other hip muscles.

These connections between the psoas muscle and the diaphragm literally connect your ability to walk and breathe, and also how you respond to fear and excitement. That’s because, when you are startled or under stress, your psoas contracts.

In other words, your psoas has a direct influence on your fight or flight response!

During prolonged periods of stress, your psoas is constantly contracted. The same contraction occurs when you:

➡️ sit for long periods of time
➡️ engage in excessive running or walking
➡️ sleep in the fetal position
➡️ do a lot of sit-ups

💡 Here are some tips for getting your psoas back in balance:

✔️ Avoid sitting for extended periods
✔️ Add support to your car seat
✔️ Try Resistance Flexibility exercises
✔️ Get a professional massage
✔️ Release stress and past traumas
✔️ Stretch

💡 HOW TO STRETCH

Roller Psoas Stretch
Use a foam roller for this passive, relaxing stretch that lengthens your psoas, one of your deep hip flexors.

1. Place the roller perpendicular to your spine and lie with your sacrum (the back of your pelvis) — not your spine — on the roller.
2. Pull your left knee toward your chest, keeping your right heel on the ground. You should feel a stretch on the front of your right hip.
3. To increase the stretch, reach your right arm over your head and open your left knee slightly out to the left.
Hold for 30 seconds, then switch legs. Repeat as needed.

11/06/2021

This!!! 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Mobility is not the same as flexibility. Nor is it the same as stability. But for true mobility, you need both a certain amount of stability and flexibility of the muscles around the joint.

Heck, you even need a certain amount of distal stability and mobility in order to have proximal mobility.

HUH?

What that even means is not only do you need to work on your HIP JOINT and the muscles that move it if you want hip mobility but you have to make sure that the other joints that can really influence movement at the hip are also mobile and stable.

For instance, especially with hip mobility, core stability and ankle mobility issues can be incredibly important to address and may be the reason why your hip seems to lack mobility when there is actually no restrictions at the hip.

Our body often limits our mobility because it is PROTECTING itself from doing something that it feels could result in further injury.

Of course, all too often we still continue to push through…

BUT if we listen and take a full-body approach to our pain, realizing that where it hurts isn’t always the problem, we can help restore proper functioning!

These 15 moves are a great way to address not only common tight muscles, mobility issues and stability issues at your hip but also the common restrictions elsewhere in your kinetic chain that can result in what seems to be limited hip mobility.

LEARN MORE: https://redefiningstrength.com/15-moves-to-improve-your-hip-mobility?sl=facebookpost

09/28/2021

Big thank you to all of you who make my job so enjoyable ❤️

03/29/2021

⚠️PSA: PLEASE READ ⚠️

A great big THANK YOU is in order to my new and existing clients for trusting me during such uncertain times to ensure your health and wellness needs are taken care of SAFELY!!!

As it stands the new SHA restrictions in place have tightened up on some businesses within Regina.

Massage Therapy is still essential and able to operate and for good reason!! Fortunately it has been a very busy year as the benefits have been serving our mental health, as well as the physical stress the body has been feeling while we have been making adjustments to our new at home office spaces that have some of us cramped up at the kitchen table!

Your safety is my number 1 priority!! And I can assure you all of the proper measures are in place to ensure you have a safe experience.

I look forward to continue to see you all.

03/02/2021

Who’s booking in for their first cupping treatment!? And go!!

09/19/2020

🔈 MASSAGE THERAPY FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS)

Benefits - Pain, Stress Reduction

Multiple sclerosis is a condition where there is inflammation of the myelin tissue covering the nerves. This inflammation varies; it may worsen and then gradually subside. After the inflammatory response, there is formation of scar tissue, which hinders the neurological function of the patient. The spinal cord, brain stem and cranial nerves are commonly affected.

Massage therapy is very beneficial in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. Massage therapy helps in reducing stress and alleviates the symptoms of MS such as pain and loss of function.

The massage therapy done in MS patients depends upon the intensity of the disease and its stage. Massage therapy should be avoided in the acute stage where there is exacerbation of the MS, as it aggravates the pain and discomfort.

Deep tissue massage does wonders in relaxing the tense and knotted muscles and helps in decreasing the pain.

Trigger point therapy is also beneficial in MS.
Swedish massage therapy comprises of gentle massage and is advised in the initial or acute stage, as even slight pressure causes pain to the patient.

The biggest problem which the patients suffering from MS face is muscle and joint stiffness. This greatly restricts their functionality and mobility. Massage therapy helps by stimulating the blood flow to these body parts which in turn speeds up the healing process and increases flexibility.

Massage therapy also helps in arresting the onslaught of the disease and improves the prognosis. In serious cases, weakness of the muscles can also cause atrophy which further leads to deterioration in the patient’s condition. In such a case, massage therapy helps in increasing the blood flow and oxygenation to affected muscles and also helps in regaining health and energy.

07/18/2020

Anyone get pain or burning in between their shoulder blades that you can’t seem to really pin point???

Welcome to Rhomboid Strain.

Possible Causes of Rhomboid Muscle Strain:

* Sitting on chair for long time with poor posture especially from prolonged use of computer
* Sitting in a car for long time can strain your rhomboid muscles causing inflammation of the rhomboid muscle.

Signs & Symptoms of Rhomboid Muscle Pain

* Patient experiences pain and loss of movement. This is called as shoulder blade pain or rhomboid pain.
* Patient will also have swelling as the body is healing from rhomboid muscle pain. This will result in more discomfort.
* In some patients, there is compression of a nerve leading to acute shooting pain resulting in painful and difficult movements.

Massage Therapy can be extremely beneficial in releasing the muscles from compressing on nerves, which cause the arm to tingle and shoulder to burn and become painful. Also increase blood flow and allow ROM (range of motion) back.