All body function is governed by our nervous system, from our emotion and stress level to our movement, muscle tone, heart rate and breath. The nervous system has 2 parts: the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and the peripheral nervous system (cranial, spinal and peripheral nerves). The peripheral nervous system acts as a multi-tiered messenger, sending sensory, motor, and autonomic (involuntary) information between the brain/spinal cord and the body. The autonomic function of the peripheral nervous system works automatically in response to our environment, effecting things like muscle contraction, heart rate, and breath outside of our voluntary control. This autonomic function has 2 divisions: the sympathetic branch and the parasympathetic branch.

The sympathetic branch is responsible for our body’s stress response, kicking in when the brain senses danger or demands action. It prepares us for “fight or flight” with effects such as increasing heart rate, breath rate, static energy, blood flow and tension to muscle tissue. In opposing function, the parasympathetic branch promotes a relaxed state, helping to lower heart rate, reduce blood pressure, release muscle tension and encourage the body to recover, rest and return to balance.

When we expose our body to stressors, experience anxiety, or perform under consistent demand without a break, it can trigger a chronic sympathetic state of “fight or flight”. This can not only affect cognition and sleep, depress our immune system and how we feel, but the resulting full body tension/tightness can also effect our voice, restricting range of motion posture, breath, phonation, resonance and articulation.

Performed on a heated table, the goal of our Nervous System Rest And Reset is to interrupt the “fight or flight” stress cycle and restore balance by stimulating a parasympathetic shift from “fight or flight” to “rest and relax”. This treatment allows your tightness to surrender, your heart rate to slow, breathing to deepen, and your chronic tension to release, helping to melt away constriction and bring you back to a state of relaxed calm. This massage integrates your preferences of music, aromatherapy and pressure with slow-flowing Swedish and deep tissue techniques, deeply relaxing hot towels and gentle fascial stretches. Leave feeling like a new person.