Dixie Stewart Therapeutic Massage LLC

12/31/2025

May 2026 bring you health, happiness, love, and prosperity blessings to one and all✨️🎉

12/21/2025

When a reiki practitioner lays hands, they are not using their own power; they are serving as a vessel, allowing healing, peace, and clarity to pass from the Most High into the person in need. Usui taught that the hands carry universal energy, and when asked to be used as a conduit they can calm turmoil, break heaviness, and call the soul back into balance.

This practice is firmly Bible-based:

“They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”— Mark 16:18,
laying hands is done with humility, discernment, and consent—always seeking healing, protection, and restoration, never control.

12/21/2025

Having unexplained pains, and can’t figure out why? Test say everything is normal, but you know it's not. This may help. If you keep hearing “Everything looks normal.”

Intercostal neuralgia.

This is irritation of the intercostal nerves the nerves that run between the ribs and come out of the thoracic spine, wrapping around the chest and upper abdominal area.

This gets missed all the time because it doesn’t always show on imaging and it can mimic other issues, so the root cause never gets addressed.

What causes this pain?

Nerve irritation or compression along the rib cage
Tight or spasmed muscles pulling on the nerves
Thoracic spine or rib misalignment
Old injuries, sports impact, falls, or posture issues
Inflammation irritating the nerve pathways.

What it can feel like.

Sharp, stabbing, burning pain
Pain wrapping around the ribs, chest, or back
Pain with breathing, laughing, twisting, or movement
Tingling, numbness, sensitivity to touch
Pain that comes and goes without explanation

How therapeutic massage can help calm it.

Reducing inflammation
Releasing tension around the rib cage
Gentle movement and posture correction
Supporting circulation and nerve healing.

Just because something doesn’t show on a scan doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

If you’ve been told “nothing is wrong” but you know something is off, trust that. The body doesn’t lie.

Disclaimer
This post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult with a licensed healthcare provider for medical concerns.

12/13/2025

There is a lot going on in your neck, and this is why you don't let just anyone dig into your neck. Training teaches a massage therapist how to address the muscle pain and discomfort in a safe way.

12/13/2025

PSOAS, "THE MUSCLE OF THE SOUL"
The iliopsoas is a powerful hip flexor and external rotator of the femur, it is the deepest and stabilizing muscle of the human body, which affects our structural balance, range of motion, joint mobility and functioning of the abdominal organs.

It is the only muscle that connects the spine (the 5 lumbar vertebrae) to the legs, responsible for keeping us standing and the one that allows us to lift our legs to walk.
A healthy psoas stabilizes the spine and provides support across the trunk, also forming a good shelf for the abdominal organs.

The psoas is also a "ORGAN OF PERCEPTION" with a great emotional component, composed of bio-intelligent tissue, which literally embodies our deepest desire to survive and to thrive.
That is, it is the PRIMARY MESSENGER of the central nervous system, so it is also considered as a spokesperson of emotions. This is because the psoas is connected to the diaphragm through the connective tissue or fascia, so it is affected both in breathing and in fear reflex.

A fast-paced lifestyle and stress generate adrenaline that chronically STENS the psoas, preparing it to run, jump into action or shrink to protect us.
If we constantly keep the psoas in tension due to stress, eventually it begins to SHORTEN and HARDEN.
This will hinder our posture and the functions of the organs residing in the abdomen, leading to back pain, sciatica, disc problems, hip degeneration, painful menstruation or digestive problems.
Shortening of the psoas causes tension of the downward vertebrae, causing discal pressure and lumbar hyperlordosis.
Occasions back pain, sprains, tension in the iliacs and thigh.
Students, Clerks, Drivers, ... everyone is affected, sedentary people suffer a shortening, as well as cycling athletes, spinning, triathlon, footballers... due to the constant flexing.

On the other hand, a tense psoas sends tension signals to the nervous system, interferes with the movement of fluids and affects diaphragmatic breathing.
In fact, the psoas is so intensely involved in basic physical and emotional reactions that when it is chronically tensed, it is sending the body continuous signals of DANGER, so it can affect the exhaustion of the adrenal glands and the immune system.
This situation is aggravated by the way we sit or the postures of our daily habits, which reduce our natural movements and further constrain the muscle.

A released psoas allows to lengthen the front of the thighs much more and allows the legs and pelvis to move with greater fluidity and independence.
Improves the position of the spine and the entire torso, consequently repercussing on improving the functions of the abdominal organs, respiration and heart.

When we cultivate the health of our psoas our vital energies are recharged and we reconnect with our CREATIVE POTENTIAL.
In some Eastern philosophies the psoas is known as the "MUSCLE OF THE SOUL", a main energy center of the body.
Simple relaxation of the psoas and diaphragm through stretching can dramatically reduce pain and posture symptoms.
The more flexible and strong the psoas is, the more our vital energy can flow through bones, muscles and joints.

The psoas would be like a conduit organ of energy, a core that connects us to the earth, allowing us to create a firm and balanced support from the center of our pelvis.
Thus, the spine extends and through it, all our vitality can flow.

12/11/2025

Usui's Traditional Training.

Each level builds upon the last, deepening a practitioner's connection to the energy and expanding the scope of their practice.

The Four Levels of Reiki

Reiki Level I (Shoden): This foundational level is primarily for self-healing and for friends and family. The focus is on opening the energy channels in the body and becoming aware of the flow of universal life force energy. The practitioner learns basic hand positions for treatments and typically receives four initial attunements.

Reiki Level II (Okuden): This level deepens the practitioner's skills and allows them to work on a more emotional and mental level. Key to Level II is the introduction of sacred symbols, which help to focus and increase the energy flow, provide mental/emotional healing, and enable distance healing (sending Reiki across space and time with no physical contact). This is often considered the professional practitioner level in some lineages.

Reiki Level III (Shinpiden/Master Practitioner): Also known as the Master Practitioner level, this involves a significant increase in energy flow and personal growth. Students learn the Master Symbol, which has the highest vibrational frequency and aids in spiritual growth. This level further develops the practitioner's intuitive and healing abilities, preparing them for professional practice.

Reiki Master Teacher: This final level empowers the practitioner to teach Reiki to others and to pass on the attunements (initiations) that enable new students to channel Reiki energy. A high degree of commitment is required for this level, as the master is responsible for the training and ethical development of future practitioners.

12/07/2025

This is why I do what I do 😊

12/04/2025

Looking for last minute Christmas gifts?
Give the gift of health.
Https://dixielmt.abmp.com

12/01/2025

11/25/2025

11/24/2025

How many of you incorporate Eastern and Western theories and techniques into your bodywork? An integration of two worlds.

There are many ways to understand the human body, and none of them tells the whole story on its own. We inherit different languages of healing from various cultures, sciences, and traditions, each one describing the same living terrain from its own unique perspective. Some people become stuck believing there is only one correct map. But the body has never lived by a single map. It is a crossroads of systems, histories, pathways, chemistry, memory, and electricity. It takes a multilingual healer to truly see it.

In Western anatomy, fascia is the continuous fabric that surrounds, suspends, and connects all structures. Researchers such as Stecco, Langevin, and Schleip have demonstrated that fascia is richly innervated, mechanically responsive, and deeply intertwined with proprioception, interoception, and autonomic function. In Eastern medicine, the same connective web is understood through meridians, which are considered rivers of communication that run through tissue planes, muscular seams, and fascial corridors. These are two different words from two different cultures, yet they speak about the same underlying structure.

The lymphatic system, described in physiology as a fluid network for immunity and detoxification, feels like a tide that moves or stalls in response to our inner state. Myofascial adhesions are described mechanically as restrictions; however, in somatic and energetic traditions, they are experienced as blockages, stagnations, and areas where the body has held unresolved tension. Both perspectives recognize the same truth: the body needs flow, and stagnation comes with consequences.

Emotions also have multiple lenses. Neurobiology speaks of vagal tone, interoceptive signaling, stress chemistry, and autonomic shifts. Traditional Chinese Medicine associates emotional patterns with specific organ systems, describing grief as a lung condition, anger as a liver issue, and fear as a kidney concern. Ayurveda describes these tendencies through the doshas and elemental imbalances. Trauma science describes them as somatic imprints and unfinished survival responses that take shape in muscle tone and breath patterns. All of these perspectives describe how the body holds experiences and reflects what we have lived through.

Even the chakras, often dismissed as symbolic, align closely with anatomical hubs in the body. These regions correspond with nerve plexuses, glands, fascial membranes, vasculature, and the interoceptive pathways that inform emotion and meaning. When someone feels tightness in the chest, a knot in the gut, or a lump in the throat, they are not speaking figuratively. They are describing true embodied sensation shaped by physiology and emotion.

Bodyworkers live in the space where these worlds meet. We feel fascia shift under slow, patient pressure. We feel lymphatic rivers begin to move again with gentle redirection. We believe that organ mobility returns as breath and presence create space. We feel the nervous system settle from a state of vigilance into one of safety. We feel emotions rise and soften in tissue that has held them far too long. None of this is mysticism. This is what happens when touch meets anatomy and anatomy meets the story of a human life.

The issue is not that there are too many frameworks. The issue is believing that only one can be correct. Healing thrives in the integrative space where research meets intuition, where tradition meets science, where fascia meets meridian, where lymph meets energy, and where the nervous system meets the stories woven into our tissues. Bodyworkers blend these perspectives every day with remarkable outcomes, because we are not limited to a single language for understanding the human body.

We are translators of the body’s many dialects. We listen to the places where systems intersect and stories converge. We honor all the ways healing can speak.

11/23/2025

I love doing Somatic Emotional Release Therapy, and this explains it so well.

The body remembers everything it survives. Every tightening, every holding, every moment when an emotion was too much to feel fully is woven into the tissues in ways that are subtle but unmistakable under a practitioner’s hands. Once we understand the three autonomic states, we begin to see how they manifest within the fascia, posture, organ tone, and movement. The body becomes a map of the nervous system’s history.

In sympathetic activation, the fascia behaves differently. It pulls upward and inward, becoming denser, warmer, and more reactive to touch. You can feel it in the diaphragm that won’t descend, the psoas that refuses to soften, the jaw that stays rigid no matter how gently you cradle the head. The organs tighten as well. The stomach feels guarded, the liver feels congested, and the intestines lose their rhythm. These are not random patterns. They are the body preparing to move, fight, or flee. Over time, this creates postures that resemble bracing, characterized by lifted ribs, a forward head, gripping hips, or a chest that fails to open fully. The emotional patterns are equally clear. Clients often report irritability, restlessness, heightened sensitivity, or a feeling of being constantly “on alert.” The tissue mirrors the story.

In dorsal vagal shutdown, the patterns shift in an entirely different way. Fascia becomes cool, heavy, and slow to respond. It loses its elastic quality and begins to feel more like clay than silk. The organs can feel sluggish or almost silent. The breath moves minimally. The body may sink into the table as if gravity suddenly intensified. These are survival patterns, too. They emerge when the body has endured more than it can process. Posturally, this state creates collapse—rounded shoulders, a folded chest, a withdrawn abdomen, or a neck that tucks inward. The emotional presentation often includes numbness, exhaustion, disconnection, or a sense of being far away from oneself. Again, the tissue mirrors the story.

And then there is ventral vagal engagement, the state where healing begins. In this state, fascia becomes supple and responsive, gliding under your hands instead of resisting or collapsing. The organs start to move with the breath. The diaphragm opens. The ribcage expands—the tissue warms. The face brightens. Clients often describe a sense of clarity, groundedness, or a feeling of coming home to themselves. The posture reflects it, too. Shoulders ease back into their natural alignment. The spine lengthens. The pelvis finds neutral. The whole system becomes more coherent, more alive, more available for emotional integration.

When we understand how these states shape fascia, posture, organ tone, and emotional expression, the work becomes clearer. You begin to sense when a client is guarding emotionally because their physical tissue is guarding. You notice when a dorsal body is not ready for deep work because the system is still protecting itself. You learn to wait, soften, and co-regulate until ventral safety rises. Emotional release stops being a surprise. It becomes a physiological shift you recognize as soon as it begins.

This is the heart of somatic work. The nervous system writes its memories into the body, and with the right touch, pacing, and presence, those memories begin to unravel. Fascia melts. Breath returns. Organs move. Tears rise. Tremors release. The body prioritizes safety over survival.