Zen Canyon Massage by Shannon Helquist LMT

01/01/2026

Ooh.....perfect description! When I'm working on YOU, my hands are literally scanning your tissues and listening to what it is YOU need. I'm literally tuning into your body and waiting for feedback. I'm holding space and reminding your body and your nervous system that it is safe to let go. It has been such an honor working with my local Parowan, Paragonah, Cedar City, Brian Head, Enoch, Duck Creek, and Beaver, UT clients.
As most of you know, I am moving soon to Washington state. Thank you so much for allowing me to work with you and get to know you. Many of you are like family to me and I will miss you terribly! When I come back to Utah periodically, I'll let y'all know and I will throw out my schedule of availability for anyone who might like to schedule an appt with me while I'm in the hood. If any of you are ever in the Pacific Northwest area and want to schedule, please reach out! My cell number will remain the same (435) 262-0545
Happy New Year to each and every one of you!!!
💜🥳💜🎉💜

Lately, the word somatic seems to be everywhere. It’s being used in captions, course titles, and conversations so often that it can feel like just another passing trend in the wellness world. But somatic work is not new, and it is certainly not a buzzword. For me, it is a remembering. Long before it had a name, the body already knew how to communicate through sensation, rhythm, and response. Somatic work brings us back to that language, inviting us to listen beneath the noise and honor the intelligence that has always lived within the body itself.

So, if you will indulge me with a few moments of your precious time, I would love to share the meaning behind this word.

Somatic work is the art of listening with the hands. It is an invitation for the body to speak in its own language, one that lives beneath words and stories. Rather than asking the body to perform or correct itself, somatic work creates a space where sensation becomes the guide and awareness becomes the medicine. We slow down enough to feel the subtle tides beneath the skin, the places where the body learned to brace, adapt, or go quiet in order to survive.

In this work, nothing is forced. The nervous system is met with patience, curiosity, and respect. As safety is reintroduced, tissues soften, breath deepens, and the body begins to remember its own rhythm. Movement returns not because it was demanded, but because it was invited.

Somatic work honors the body as an intelligent, living landscape. Every sensation is information. Every pause is meaningful. Healing unfolds not by fixing what is broken, but by restoring relationships, helping the body feel seen, heard, and safe enough to release what it has been holding.

Somatic awareness is what transforms technique into art. When we weave somatic principles into bodywork, our hands stop leading and begin listening. Each stroke, hold, and pause becomes a conversation with the nervous system, guided by breath, sensation, and subtle shifts rather than force or expectation. It is where skill meets presence, where science meets intuition, and where the body is given the space it needs to reorganize, release, and remember its own capacity for healing.

12/31/2025

Been there, done that. Got sciatic nerve pain? You probably need some hip/glute and psoas work. Don't suffer in silence, come see me. I gotchu!

(435) 262-0545
71 North Main
Parowan, UT

12/26/2025

Ooh....such a great article to help us better understand brain fog.

🧠 “What If Your Brain Fog Isn’t in Your Head—But in Your Neck?”

How Lymphatic Blockages Around the Neck and Clavicle Can Choke Your Cognitive Function

Introduction

Brain fog. That hazy, disconnected feeling like you’re wading through cotton wool. It’s one of the most frustrating and misunderstood symptoms people experience. Often dismissed as stress, hormonal, or “just in your head”—many don’t realize the real problem might lie in your neck.

Specifically: your lymphatic drainage system.

Let’s connect the dots between neck congestion, clavicular lymphatic bottlenecks, and your brain’s ability to detox and think clearly.

🔬 1. Your Brain Has a Lymphatic System—The Glymphatic System

For decades, scientists believed the brain was an “immune-privileged” organ with no lymphatic drainage. That changed with the discovery of the glymphatic system (Iliff et al., 2012), a network of channels that clears:
• Cellular waste
• Neurotoxins (like beta-amyloid)
• Inflammatory byproducts

This cleansing system is most active during deep sleep, relying on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and healthy venous + lymphatic outflow—which exits primarily via the neck.

🦠 2. The Neck: The Drainpipe for Your Brain

Lymphatic drainage from the brain moves through:
• Perivascular glymphatic pathways
• The meningeal lymphatics
• The deep cervical lymph nodes
• The thoracic duct and right lymphatic duct, which both drain into the subclavian veins beneath your collarbones

If these regions are stagnant, compressed, or congested, the brain’s waste cannot exit efficiently.

The result?
• Brain fog
• Head pressure
• Sleep disturbances
• Visual processing issues
• Emotional flatness or mood swings

⛔ 3. What Blocks the Brain’s Drainage Pathways?

Several physical and emotional factors can choke your neck’s lymphatic outflow:

🧍 Poor Posture:
• Forward head posture (“tech neck”)
• Rounded shoulders compressing the thoracic outlet
• Clavicular pressure reducing flow through the subclavian vein and lymphatic duct

🧘‍♀️ Shallow Breathing:
• Diaphragmatic stagnation = less thoracic duct movement
• Less “pumping” pressure on the deep cervical and thoracic lymphatics

😔 Unprocessed Emotional Trauma:
• Somatic memory and fascial tension held in the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and scalenes
• Protective “hunch” posture following emotional injury
• Vagus nerve restriction, which impacts brain-gut-lymph communication

🧬 Chronic Illness or Autoimmunity:
• Inflammatory debris buildup in brain and lymph
• Hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s slowing detox
• Sinus congestion backing up drainage from the cribriform plate and facial lymph

🧠 4. Why Lymphatic Drainage Clears Brain Fog

When you manually or pneumatically stimulate:
• Deep cervical nodes
• The thoracic inlet (under the collarbone)
• The jugular chain
• The diaphragm + cisterna chyli

You open the gates for glymphatic clearance to occur.
Clients often report:
• Clearer thoughts
• Brighter vision
• Deeper sleep
• Emotional breakthroughs

Sometimes, they cry unexpectedly—not because they’re sad, but because their nervous system is finally exhaling.

📉 5. Signs That Your Brain Fog Is Neck-Related
• You feel “cloudy” despite eating clean or balancing hormones
• You have sinus pressure, ear fullness, or tightness under your jaw
• Your collarbone or neck feels puffy, tight, or sore to touch
• You clench your jaw or carry stress in your upper shoulders
• You experience relief after neck massage or cranial work

✅ What You Can Do
• 🖐️ Lymphatic drainage therapy focusing on the clavicle, SCM, jawline, and thoracic inlet
• 🌬️ Vagus nerve exercises + diaphragmatic breathing
• 💧 Stay hydrated to support CSF and lymph flow
• 🧂 Use trace minerals to maintain osmotic balance in the brain
• 🧘‍♀️ Gua sha or lymphatic facial massage 2–3x per week
• 🚫 Avoid prolonged neck compression (phones, tight bras, poor pillows)

🔄 The Bottom Line

Your brain fog might not be in your mind—it might be in your neck.

Clear the pathways.
Open the drain.
Let your brain breathe again.

📚 References
• Iliff, J. J., et al. (2012). A paravascular pathway facilitates CSF flow through the brain parenchyma and the clearance of interstitial solutes. Science Translational Medicine, 4(147), 147ra111. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.3003748
• Louveau, A., et al. (2015). Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels. Nature, 523(7560), 337–341. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14432
• Nedergaard, M., & Goldman, S. A. (2020). Glymphatic failure as a final common pathway to dementia. Science, 370(6512), 50–56. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb8739
• Plog, B. A., & Nedergaard, M. (2018). The glymphatic system in central nervous system health and disease: past, present, and future. Annual Review of Pathology, 13, 379–394.

©️

12/12/2025

This is why we tell you to drink plenty of water after a massage. We move around a lot of fluid, metabolic and cellular debri that your body wants to flush out. Your body wants to heal and repair.
To book please text: (435) 262-0545
71 North Main Parowan, UT

💚🔥 Inflammation vs Lymph Stagnation: Understanding the Difference

By Bianca Botha, CLT | RLD | MLDT & CDS – Lymphatica

Most women feel swelling, heaviness, puffiness, tightness or discomfort and assume it is “inflammation.” But inflammation and lymph stagnation are not the same thing — although they love to appear together and confuse the entire picture.

Understanding the difference is one of the most powerful steps you can take toward real, lasting healing. Because when you know what your body is doing, you finally know how to support it.

Let’s gently unpack this in a way that feels empowering, not overwhelming.

🔥 What Is Inflammation?

Inflammation is your body’s built-in protection system. It is an immune response that activates when something needs to be repaired, defended or cleared.

Acute inflammation can show up as:
• warmth
• redness
• pain
• heat
• swelling

Chronic inflammation is quieter and looks like:
• fatigue
• joint stiffness
• brain fog
• hormonal imbalance
• gut irritation
• headaches
• autoimmune flares

Inflammation says:
“Something here needs attention.”

But inflammation is not the problem —
the inability to clear it is.

💧 What Is Lymph Stagnation?

Your lymphatic system is responsible for clearing inflammation, toxins, cellular debris, excess fluid and immune byproducts from your tissues.

When lymph stagnates, your body struggles to remove this waste — creating a feeling of heaviness, swelling and fullness.

Lymph stagnation looks like:
• puffy face and eyes
• swollen hands or feet
• heaviness in legs
• bloating
• fluid retention
• tight rings
• cellulite or dimpling
• a “thick” or congested feeling

Lymph stagnation says:
“I can’t drain what you’re asking me to clear.”

🌿 Inflammation and Lymph Stagnation Are Partners

They are deeply connected.
One triggers the other.
One worsens the other.
One calms when the other flows.

Here’s how:

🔥 Inflammation without lymph flow

causes fluid buildup, pain, swelling and chronic symptoms because the waste isn’t being removed.

💧 Lymph stagnation without inflammation

creates congestion, puffiness, heaviness and toxicity — which then leads to inflammation.

It’s a cycle.
Not a mistake.
Not your body failing you.

A cycle asking for softer support.

🧘‍♀️ How to Tell the Difference

Here is a simple way to recognise what your body is experiencing:

💧 Lymph Stagnation (fluid-driven)

• Swelling improves with movement
• Massaging the area feels relieving
• Warm showers help
• Puffiness fluctuates during the day
• Morning swelling is common
• Clothes feel tight but not painful

This is fluid that isn’t draining.

🔥 Inflammation (immune-driven)

• Area feels warm or hot
• Pain or sensitivity is present
• Symptoms worsen with pressure
• Rest helps more than movement
• Pain lasts even when swelling goes down
• May accompany fatigue or joint pain

This is your immune system actively working.

Your body often shows both at the same time — and that is where the magic happens, because lymphatic work becomes transformative.

💚 So What Does Your Body Actually Need?

Support looks different depending on the message.

For Lymph Stagnation:

• warm foods
• movement
• hydration
• gentle lymph drainage
• deep breathing
• diaphragm activation
• magnesium
• open neck and collarbone pathways

Your body wants movement and flow.

For Inflammation:

• lowering inflammatory load
• calming the gut
• supporting the liver
• reducing stress
• anti-inflammatory foods
• nervous system regulation
• rest

Your body wants calm and stability.

When you combine both?
Your whole system opens.
Healing accelerates.
Symptoms soften.
You feel lighter.

🌼 A Beautiful Truth

You are not “too sensitive.”
You are not “inflamed for no reason.”
You are not “swelling randomly.”

Your body is speaking.

Inflammation is the message.
Lymph stagnation is the traffic jam.
Healing is restoring flow.

When you support your lymphatic system, inflammation finally has a way out.
When you calm inflammation, your lymphatic system can do its job again.

Your body is not working against you.
It is fighting FOR you.
Let’s give it the flow it needs. 🌿💛

Medical Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, lifestyle or health regimen.

12/08/2025

Gift certificates are available for the holiday season! 🎄🎅

$80 ~ 1 hour
$120 ~ 90 min
$160 ~ 2 hour
$20 ~ hot stone add on
$10 Cupping add on

Please text me at:
(435) 262-0545
71 North Main
Parowan, UT

12/05/2025

This is incredibly well written and explains a lot about our physiology when experiencing grief.

The Quiet Weight of Grief

Today I am attending a family funeral for someone very dear to us, and it has brought grief to the forefront of my heart. When loss touches our lives, it reshapes everything within us in ways words rarely capture. It felt right to share a few thoughts on grief, on how it moves through us, and on how we as bodyworkers can hold space for those navigating its weight.

Grief is not just an emotion. It is a full-body experience that reshapes physiology, breath, muscle tone, and the quiet rhythms of the nervous system. When loss enters a life, the body becomes its instrument. The chest tightens. The throat narrows. The diaphragm forgets how to descend. Sleep becomes shallow—appetite shifts. The immune system falters. Heart rate variability collapses as the vagus nerve withdraws from its soothing role. Even the heart itself can suffer. Researchers have identified “stress cardiomyopathy,” a condition so intense it can mimic a heart attack. The body does not simply witness grief. It participates in it.

Fascia responds to grief like a shoreline under heavy weather. The front line of the body contracts, especially around the sternum, ribs, scalenes, and sternocleidomastoid. Breath grows sharp and high. The back line becomes overworked as it tries to hold the person upright when the emotional weight would rather fold them inward. The neurochemical signature of grief, rich in cortisol and inflammatory cytokines, ripples through connective tissue, giving it a denser, almost waterlogged feel. Clients often describe themselves as heavy, fogged, brittle, or braced from the inside out.

For bodyworkers, grief is one of the most delicate landscapes we are invited into. We are not here to fix what is unfixable. We are here to support the body as it learns to breathe around the unchangeable. Our hands become a place where grief can soften its edges, even for a moment.

Work begins with breath. Guiding a client into a slow 4-7-8 pattern invites the diaphragm to move again and cues the vagus nerve toward a sense of safety. Breathe in, hold, exhale. The nervous system follows the pace we create. When breath steadies, the emotional tide has somewhere to settle rather than surge.

One of the most effective points for grief sits roughly at the level of the first intercostal space, slightly below the clavicle and lateral to the midline of the chest, known in Chinese medicine as the middle palace. Gentle pressure here helps the chest release its invisible armor. Many clients feel emotion rise, not because we create it, but because the body finally relaxes enough to let it move. When combined with slow myofascial work along the ribs, sternum, diaphragm, and anterior neck, the body begins to reclaim the space grief has collapsed.

Lymphatic support can also be profound. Grief thickens the fluid systems. Encouraging drainage through the clavicles, jawline, and anterior neck often brings a sense of clarity and lightness. Craniosacral holds, especially at the occiput and sacrum, offer a quiet invitation for the nervous system to reorganize. Sometimes this work creates soft tears. Sometimes it creates silence. Both are healing.

Essential oils can also support this landscape. A blend of rose, bergamot, and frankincense offers emotional steadiness and a sense of being held. Rose speaks directly to the heart. Bergamot lifts the weight from the lungs. Frankincense grounds the mind and supports deeper breathing. When used with intention, scent becomes another form of touch.

Grief asks us for patience, presence, and reverence. It cannot be hurried. It cannot be reasoned with. But it can be supported. As bodyworkers, we offer the body a place to rest while the heart learns how to live inside its new shape. We hold space for what is tender, overwhelmed, or wordless. And in these quiet sessions, grief becomes less of a burden and more of a companion the body knows how to carry.

If you are moving through grief right now, please know this: nothing about your ache makes you broken. You are not meant to rush this, silence it, or make yourself smaller to carry it. Grief is love trying to find its way in a world that suddenly feels unfamiliar, and your body is doing the best it can to hold what your heart cannot yet name. Breathe gently. Let softness come where it can. Allow others to steady you when your own strength trembles. And remember that you don’t have to walk through this alone. Your healing will not be hurried, but it will come, one tender moment at a time.

11/26/2025

Good morning Parowan! (said in Robin Williams voice) If you're around, come join in the festivities!
I have 2 last minute openings for today (Wednesday) and a few spots available Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Hit me up if you'd like to book a massage. (435) 262-0545
I am conveniently located at:

71 North Main
Parowan, UT

If you call and I don't answer, it's because I'm in a massage session. Please text me, I'll get back to you asap.

11/26/2025

Today I played/worked on the mountain at the beautiful Celestial Being Spa in Brian Head, UT. The season just started up there. If you love to ski or snowboard or just chill at 10,000ft elevation and you need a massage, come see us! We have an amazing team of practitioners and a really great spa menu. We'll make you tea and soothe your soul. We do facials!
Located on the 2nd floor inside the Cedar Breaks Lodge.
To book please visit: www.celestialbeing.love

11/25/2025

I discovered this really great page that does an awesome job of explaining our incredibly important and often overlooked lymph system. It caught my attention because I've been trying to heal my lymph system ever since I had my youngest child 16.5 years ago. My left foot still swells up often and sometimes my right foot with fluid retention from my lymph system not draining properly, it gets backed up for whatever reason. Sometimes those reasons are injury, stress, inactivity, or even illness. If I'm traveling it gets even worse. I noticed, the more clean foods I eat, the more water and electrolytes I consume, the less water retention I have. I also try to stay active because the lymph system circultes and stimulates when we move our muscles. Ever notice your fingers or hands can get a little swollen after a brisk walk or workout? That's your lymph system. You know what else stimulates lymph movement and drainage??? Drum roll 🥁........massage!!! However, if you're specifically wanting to work your lymph system, I highly recommend a specific and very light technique called lymph massage. If you want to know more about the lymphatic system and how to support it, follow this page they have a lot of really great articles. If you want to book a massage, text me: (435) 262-0545

🌿💖 Why Your Lymphatic System Should Be Your First Priority

- Bianca Botha, CLT, RLD, MLDT

In a world rushing after heart rates, sugar levels, and body fat percentages,
there lies a silent river inside you...
whispering, flowing, healing — always at work. 🌊✨

It’s called your lymphatic system,
and it deserves to be seen, cherished, and protected. 🌸

🌼 A Soft Poem to Your Silent Healer:

Beneath your skin, a river runs,
🌊 A quiet stream kissed by the sun.
It carries hope, it sweeps away,
The broken pieces of your day. 🌞

It bathes each cell, it guards each door,
It cleans the wounds you never saw. 🌿🩹
It fights for you when you are weak,
It whispers strength you do not seek. 🌟

Without its flow, the fields grow dry,
The heart grows tired, the bones ask why. 🥀
But when it dances, pure and bright,
The body sings, the soul feels light. 🎶

So honor it — this silver thread,
This healing song beneath the bed. 💖
Drink deep, breathe slow, move free, stay kind —
And let your rivers clear your mind. 🦋

✨ Why Your Lymphatic System Matters:

🌿 It removes waste:
Every cell in your body creates waste — your lymphatic system takes out the trash.

🌿 It supports your immunity:
Your lymph nodes are battle stations, sending out armies of immune cells to protect you.

🌿 It balances your fluids:
It prevents swelling, puffiness, and fluid retention, keeping your tissues light and vibrant.

🌿 It detoxifies naturally:
Forget harsh cleanses — your lymph is the original, daily detox system.

🌿 It nurtures healing:
Every wound you heal, every infection you fight, every toxin you clear — your lymph is behind it.

🌿 It lifts inflammation:
By clearing stagnant fluid, it reduces chronic inflammation, the root of so many modern illnesses.

🌿 It connects your body and soul:
When your lymph flows, you feel it — lighter, clearer, calmer... more you. 🌸🦋

🌟 How to Honor Your Rivers:

💧 Drink pure water.
🚶‍♀️ Move your body with love — walking, stretching, bouncing.
🧘‍♀️ Breathe deep into your belly.
💆‍♀️ Enjoy gentle lymphatic massage or dry brushing.
🌸 Rest in gratitude for the silent work happening within you.

Because when your lymph flows,
life flows. 🌿✨

💖 In Closing:

🌸 Your lymphatic system isn’t just a “nice-to-have” —
It’s the very foundation of your healing, your vitality, and your freedom.

To honor your lymph is to honor the hidden miracles inside you.
Today, choose to flow. Choose to heal. Choose to glow. 🌿💫

Disclaimer:
This article is for informational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting any new health practices.

©️

11/20/2025

Big announcement:
I am moving to the forest! Well, to Vancouver, WA anyway. I'll be working in a beautiful space called Flourish, sharing a studio with an amazing acupuncturist and working along side a few other amazing healing arts practitioners. I'll be starting a masters program to continue my education in the mental health field. It's going to be an amazing year full of change, growth, beauty, learning and healing in the Pacific Northwest.
Ima go run with the wolves!
Iykyk 😄🐺🧛‍♀️🧛‍♂️ 🌲🌲🌲
To my regulars, I will be back! I do have a space to continue working here in Utah and will keep my Utah state license and business license current so I can see y'all when I'm in the hood visiting friends and family. If you want to be on my list for dates I'll be in town and taking appts, please DM me.
I will also post available dates here. 🙂
In the meantime, I'm still available for bookings for the next month. As usual, please text me.
(435) 262-0545
71 North Main
Parowan, UT.

11/18/2025

Luckily in my line of work, the dimension I'm working from makes perfect sense.
Back pain? Neck pain? Sciatic nerve pain? Headaches? Recovering from hip or knee surgery? Need to relax and escape for 90 mins while I realign your energy systems?
I gotchu.
I'm grateful and honored to be part of the healing arts community.
$80 per hour
Add hot stones to any treatment for $20
Gift certificates are always available
To book with me call or preferably text:
(435) 262-0545
71 North Main
Parowan, UT

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween! 🎃