Sanctuary Massage

Winter Newsletter 2014

Nourish

Your Body

Stuff You will Love

Snow Days = Winter Blizzard Sale

That’s right! For the rest of Winter check your

email or the Facebook page for details about a 24

hour sale every time it snows. Each Sale will be

different and can be booked any date in advance.

New Products

Starting in February the Albany location will have

some amazing herbal and massage related prod-

ucts from my new line Sacred Brew Apothecary.

Make sure you check them out at your next ap-

pointment.

The Perfect time to fall in Love with

yourself! The beauty of the holiday season

is that we focus most of our time and energy

on the people we love instead of ourselves.

The new year however; brings our attention

back to ourselves as we decide on resolutions

and what we want to manifest in 2014. It is

also an important time to re-fill our wells,

renew our spirits, and treat our body and

souls with some well deserved tender loving

care. Now is the time to take that candle lit

bath, curl up with hot cocoa and your favor-

ite book, or simply give yourself permission

to sleep in a bit. Whatever it is your body

needs to replenish from the hectic holiday

season should be forefront in your mind and

Sanctuary Massage cannot wait to help.

Don’t forget like our facebook page for tips,

tricks and inspirations to help you fall in love

with yourself all over again.

Valentine’s Day might be all about romantic

love and cupid’s arrows but it is also a really

great time to remember to love ourselves. Many

of my clients are unbelievably selfless, giving of

themselves to family, friends, coworkers, and

even dedicating their lives to helping our furry

loved ones. A topic that often comes up is about

refilling our own wells, so that we don’t run

ourselves down and burn out. Treating our bod-

ies with love and respect is of vital importance!

So here is one of my favorite sacred “Love My

Body” Rituals that is simple and will leave you

feeling amazing!

The healing waters of an herbal bath is a great

way to calm body and soul! Easing muscle

aches and slowing down worry and stress. The

first step is making sure your bathroom is clean,

the last thing you want is to ruin your “me

time” by noticing all that hair left in the drain.

Add candles, low lighting, and find some soft

music. Pandora Radio has a great spa channel.

Pull out your good towels and even roll them up

for a more spa like feel. Get ready to prepare

your herbal bath. To get the most out of your

herbs you are NOT going to

steep them in the tub with you. Instead you are

going to brew a really strong tea. You do this by

simply adding your herbs to a pot of boiling

water on the stove and letting it simmer for 5-

10 minutes. Run your bathwater and when your

brew is ready strain and pour into the tub full

of water. Next add two cups of Epsom Salts and

one cup of Sea Salt, or specialty salt like pink

Himalayan. Climb in! Once in the tub, lie back

and breath deeply, focus on your breath and

breathe deep into your abdomen watching your

belly rise and fall. When you are ready focus in

on your toes. Wiggle them around, notice how

they feel, how they look, & Love them! Now

move up to your ankles and then your knees,

thighs,& hips, doing the exact same thing. No-

tice, without judgment how every part of your

body feels from the very tips of your toes to the

top of your head, sending love the whole time.

With your favorite body wash or bar of soap

imagine all the negative thoughts you have

about your body scrubbing off you and watch

them spin down the drain. Use your favorite oil

(I recommend coconut oil) to massage all of the

positive and loving energy you can muster and

know that you are beautiful, you are special,

you are enough, and you are LOVE!

“You yourself, as much as

anybody in the entire

universe, deserve your

love and affection.”

Buddha

Herbal Bath Brew Choose one or use any combination of the fol-

lowing. Can be purchased at local health food

stores or from SANCTUARY MASSAGE directly

1 Handful of Rose

1 Handful of Hawthorn (leaves, flowers

or berries)

1 Handful Blue Vervain

1 Handful Evergreens

Add essential oil of your choice

**Continued on page 5

Herbal Love Your Body Ritual:

Couples Massage Lesson $100.00

Love Massage? Want to learn how to practice it a home with your

loved one? This is the perfect choice for you! Lean simple massage

techniques that will help relieve the symptoms of Stress, Head-

aches, low back pain, insomnia and more. While we do work on

the the massage table you will also learn how to use your body

and bring home techniques to massage on the couch, or even a

mat o the floor. What a great way to connect with each other and

remember how much love and care can be given with just your

hands! Each session is customized to the couple so that you get

the most out of our hour and half together! This 90 Minute lesson

is a great way to connect and a fun way to celebrate Valentines Love Your Body Massage $125.00

Relax into your session with an herbal heat

wrap beneath your neck and a cool green tea

treatment for your eyes. Breathing deeply the

sweet scent of rose and sage will permeate the

room as we light the herbs to smudge or clear

the area and body from all negativity. Your 90

Minute Massage begins with the opening of

your heart and sacral chakras through gentle

energy work. We then treat your entire body

from head to toe, blending together traditional

Swedish with the long soothing strokes in-

spired by the sacred Hawaiian Lomi Lomi tech-

niques meant to balance and harmonize both

body and soul. Your session will finish with the

application of a decedent coconut chocolate

body whip to leave your mind relaxed, your

skin hydrated and silky smooth and with you:

totally in love with your body!

At the end of your session you will get to take

home your herbal heat wrap to recreate that

muscles soothing effect at home.

Valentine’s Day Couples Massage $225.00

This Exclusive Package is available only on the following dates: Wednesday February 12 , Friday February 14, and Saturday February 15. Karen and Stephanie will be transforming the Albany Studio into a romantic candlelit getaway. This 90 minute session for 2 offers you each two specialty massage services. While Karen uses hot stones, deep Swedish and healing acupressure points to help you unwind your partner will enjoy an herbal heat wrap beneath their neck while Stephanie offers her popu-lar and ultra relaxing Head, Hands, and Feet Massage. Finish-ing up with a decedent chocolate coconut body whip, both therapists will leave you each to enjoy some delicious gour-met chocolate, sparkling cider and some time with your loved one in the comfort of your private room. Upon return your ther-apists will swap places so that you will each have the unique advantage of experiences the complementing but very differ-ent styles and energies of your massage therapists. This package will leave you feeling more connected, in total bliss and is the perfect way to celebrate or get ready for your Val-entine’s Day Adventure. Please visit the website for more details about the specifics of this very special package. Please contact Stephanie right away to book your space as we have limited availability for this exclusive offer.

“It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sit-ting right here right now... with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly

what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive.”

Pema Chodron

Muscle Spotlight: Sub Occipitals:

Located on the base of you skull just above the

top of your spine is a group of muscles called the

Sub Occipitals. From the picture above you can

see that some attach vertically and some attach

diagonally, their job is to turn and tilt your head

from side to side. Although these muscles may

seem tiny they are often the cause of some very

intense pain. Tight, knotted, and restricted Sub O’s

are often the culprit in headaches, neck pain and

more. Releasing these muscles can also be an ex-

cellent way to relax and tend to be an area I ad-

dress in every massage. An easy way to address

this muscle at home is to lie down with two tennis

balls placed beneath your head in the spot high-

lighted above. If you have a partner, gentle puls-

ing pressure with their fingers in this same area

may be just what you need to calm that awful

headache.

Stretch of the Season: Hip and

Buttocks Stretch

So often I see that lower back and hip

pain can be eased just by doing some sim-

ple exercises to stretch out the tight mus-

cles in that area. Aside from the tradition-

al Hamstring stretch, this super simple

stretch not only opens up the hip and

buttocks area but feels great and can be

extremely relaxing. Start in a seated posi-

tion with your legs crossed in front of

you. Take a deep breath and on the ex-

hale lean your body forward with your

hands outstretched in front of you. Glide

down easy and only as far as feels com-

fortable. Hold for a count of 8. Take an-

other deep breath rising back to the seat-

ed position as you inhale and again lean

into the stretch as you exhale. This is a

great way to start your morning media-

tion, prayers, or just a moment to collect

your thoughts to begin your day.

Are available and easier to

purchase and receive than ever

before.

Simply visit the website for details

Sanctuary Massage Stephanie Cavoli, LMT

518-952-1161

www.SanctuaryMassages.com

info@sanctuarymassages.com

Love your Body Continued

Should you combine herbs use no more than 2

handfuls of dried plant material

Rose: My favorite loving herb, among many medicinal

properties, spiritually rose is all about unconditional

love. As is Mother Nature herself is reaching out from

the earth to wrap you in her arms.

Hawthorn: Said to be Magical and a favorite of fairies,

Hawthorn is a healer of the heart both medicinally and

spiritually. Huge thorns show off the protective energy of

this amazing tree and so do they protect and soothe your

heart.

Blue Vervain: A nervine which works directly with

your nervous system to calm and quiet anxiety and

stress. In its gentle way Blue Vervain helps to mollify all

emotional and physical suffering.

Evergreens: Hold an Ancient Grandma Spirit. Strong

protective support that helps us to feel stable, secure and

able to tap into our inner wisdom.

***Although this recipe calls for you to create a

Tea; it is for external use only.

In with the New:

It’s a fresh new start at Sanctuary Massage

and your feedback is always important and

taken into consideration. One of the chal-

lenges of 2013 was being able to deliver

the kind of customer service you deserve

when you are not in the studio for a ses-

sion. While Email is still the best way to

get in touch with me, I have hired some

new employees to answer the phones

24/7. While you will still need to book

online, there will always be someone to

answer your simple questions and let me

know you need assistance. From now on I

will be available on Tuesdays from 1:30 to

6pm for non-massage office hours to an-

swer your questions, return your calls and

speak with you over the phone.

As far as in the massage room: I, and many

of my clients, have fallen in love with some

new modalities including the OH SOO

SACRED and SOOTHING Strokes of Temple

Style Hawaiian Lomi Lomi! You will be

getting a lot more of this ultra relaxing style

infused with the traditional Swedish you

are used to.