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Touchstone Bodyworks
Massage & Family Wellness Studio
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Mid-Summer Greetings!
With the arrival of summer has come the season of newness and abundance - a time to manifest the changes we wish to make to accomplish and create the lives we want. At Touchstone Bodyworks, we have set out to accomplish making it easier for you to do business with us! Effective July 1st, we have extended our hours to Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and every Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We are also now open for walk-in business. Perhaps one of the most exciting new changes is being able to schedule your appointments online! On the home page of our web site you will find a new "Book Now!" button at the top of the left hand menu. Click and schedule your appointments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
In addition to our new scheduling changes, we have brought in some amazing new bodyworkers for you. We would like to welcome our two new licensed massage therapists,Rachael Bridgham and Pamela Land. We also welcome Meg Huskey, who practices the art of
ortho-bionomy, a very gentle modality that works with the body to relieve chronic stress patterns. Last, but certainly not least, we welcome Lisa Schumacher, who offers reflexology and is a certified nail technician. Each of our new practitioners brings positive energy and a mastery of skill to our studio, and are wonderful additions to our existing practice. We are grateful to have them!
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We have some great classes and events being offered this summer. Join Peggy Tuesday evenings this month for Instructional or Guided Meditation classes, where you will have an opportunity to explore various methods of the practice of meditation. Peggy also continues to offer her weekly Saturday morning Meditation at a new time - 7:45-8:45 a.m. It is a wonderful way to clear your mind of the clutter of the work week and to set the tone for a relaxing weekend! Later in the month be sure to check out the Stress Management and Energy Healing classes.
Monday, July 28th was the first the first meeting of “Overcoming Inertia - Nutrition & Weight Loss Support” group. We plan meet twice a month to share our successes and nutritional stumbling blocks, to look at our relationship with food, and to discuss strategies for staying on a healthy track for safe weight loss, as well as to share recipes for a well-balanced diet. There is no cost to participate, so we hope to see you there!
We invite you to join us Fridays from 11-1 this summer for Fabulously FREE Fridays. Each week will be offering FREE SERVICES such as chair massage, foot soaks, neck and shoulder massage, ortho-bionomy and more - FREE of charge! Come in and meet some of our new practitioners, and learn about all that we have to offer. Remember to enter our “Revitalizing Wellness Package” drawing when you’re here!
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For those of you that haven't been in to see us recently, we have expanded our apothecary. You can now bring home or give as gifts the salts and herbal soak products we use in our therapeutic treatments at the studio! We also introduce to you “Bug-Off,” our all-natural insect repellant. Tested here in Maine at the height of black fly and mosquito season, it is extremely effective without exposing your body to harmful chemicals. For young children ages 2 months to 7 years, we offer "Baby Bug-Off." Come in and check it out!
Due to an increased number of "no-shows" for appointments, it has become necessary to enforce our "Missed Appointment Fee" policy. Going forward, the fee for missing a one hour session without 24 hour notice will be $40; the fee for missing an half hour session will be $25. Without sufficient (24 hour) notice of cancellation, we have no opportunity to fill the opening in our schedule. We do hope to not have to resort to requiring credit card information upon the scheduling of an appointment and at this time, have elected not to do so. Thank you for your understanding!
Wishing you abundant, sunny days, and cool, peaceful nights …
All of us at Touchstone Bodyworks
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The Book Corner
by Susan Shaw
This edition’s book is "Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield.
Understanding the Control Dramas ~
There are four Control Dramas and each one is completely different from the other. They are: ‘Intimidator, Interrogator, Aloof and Poor Me/Victim’. Which Control Drama best describes you? In this edition of Holistic Health we will explore the Aloof.
Aloof people get caught up in their own internal world of unresolved struggles, fears and self-doubt. Unconsciously they believe that if they appear mysterious or detached, others will come draw them out. Aloof people are often lonely, keeping their distance for fear of others imposing their will on them or questioning their decisions. They often think they have to do everything on their own, so they don’t ask for help.
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As children, Aloofs were not often allowed to satisfy their need for independence or even acknowledged for their own identity. This taught them not to recognize that their own aloofness may be the cause of their not having what they want, (money, love, self-esteem) or for their feelings of stagnation or confusion. Often they see the main problem as a lack of something. Example: “I won’t ever make enough money because I didn’t get an education.”
Aloof behavior ranges from disinterested, unavailable, uncooperative, to condescending, rejecting, contrary, and sneaky. They are skilled at detachment as a defense because they tend to cut off their own energy with phrases like, “I’m different from others,” “No one really understands me or what I am trying to do,” “I don’t want to play their game.”
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Opportunities slip away while they overanalyze everything. They don’t like confrontation or conflict so at the first sign of any, they become vague and can literally disappear.
When a person is in the Control Drama Aloof playing hard-to-get or avoiding situations, you can say to them, “I feel like you are withdrawing and being distant.” “How are you feeling?” Stay centered in your own energy. Remember to focus on what is happening to them. Don’t judge and allow them to engage and connect in their comfort zone. Fear of being known is what they are most afraid of. If you become the Interrogator asking too many questions, then you have lost your Aloof.
Next edition: Poor Me/Victim
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Food for Thought
by Tammy McGrath
Nutrition & Wellness
It has, quite literally, come to my attention in recent months how much nutrition plays a part in our overall wellness. When I revisited my journey as a recovering carboholic in early June of this year, I recognized that my physical and emotional selves had fallen into serious states of disrepair. And while this is not the first time I’ve had to climb back on the healthy food wagon, enough years had gone by that the way I was feeling overall was compounded by age—but not that much age.
Not only had I gained about 30 extra pounds over the last 10 years (15 of which arrived over the previous 12 months), but my body hurt—ached—all day, every day. I was exhausted. I couldn’t get through the day without a nap. At the relatively young age of 42, this didn’t seem appropriate, nor was it acceptable.
Frustrated by the fact that I no longer could muster the stamina to get through a day and further hindered by serious lower back pain, I scheduled a long overdue appointment with a chiropractor friend. After being adjusted, I could finally stand upright again, and my
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friend, being the good doctor that he is, gave me exercises to do to strengthen the areas that needed it to maintain good physical alignment. Being a good patient (and not wanting to appear a hypocrite in the eyes of my own clients), I diligently set to work over the next couple of weeks incorporating the exercises into my day, in an attempt to bring myself out of the cycle of pain I was in.
What does this have to do with nutrition, you ask? Well, it became very obvious to me after two short weeks of trying to continue with the exercises and finding myself incapacitated by increased exhaustion that I needed to take a much harder look at all the pieces of my life and how they were affecting me...which ultimately brought me to my diet.
Close inspection showed me that I was using comfort foods to alleviate stress and anxiety—a great example of one of the many ways we “use” food outside of its intended utilitarian purpose of nutrition. Bringing my attention to what I was eating, how much I was eating,
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and when I was eating was a real eye-opener. While it is not always easy to extricate our emotional needs from our physical nutritional needs, often it is necessary to regain balanced health and wellness.
Since this leg of my journey has begun, I have lost half of the weight I’d gained in a relatively short amount of time (2 months) and have re-established a healthy relationship with food. I have recovered my stamina and no longer nap every day. My increased energy allows me to do my strengthening exercises, leaving me without any significant back discomfort and, upon identifying and eliminating some bad eating habits and very real toxins from my diet, I now am 90% free of the aches and pains I’d been experiencing. My quality of life has improved significantly now that I have adjusted my diet.
There are many components to a healthy lifestyle, but good nutrition is the essential building block.
Tammy McGrath is the facilitator for the “Overcoming Inertia—Nutrition and Weight Loss Support” group that meets the 2nd and 4th Monday 7-8 p.m. at Touchstone Bodyworks in Gray. FMI or for private wellness consultation, contact Tammy at 657-4747.
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A Special Message of Support
from Touchstone Bodyworks
Choosing Your Experience
In speaking with clients, family and friends, we’ve become acutely aware of the great stress that today's economy is creating. The common thread of uncertainty and fear of the unknown is evident in almost every conversation.
For most, it is our natural tendency to struggle against "what is.” However, as humans, we have been endowed with the ability to employ higher thinking, which allows us to not be enslaved to thought processes that do not serve our highest and greatest good. Instead, we have a choice—we can choose to recognize that with all things, there is a natural balance, that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction—and that our economy is no exception
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to the Laws of Physics.
Over the previous decade, we have been blessed with an extended period of abundance. Today, we are entering into a time where we are to experience the "equal and opposite reaction" to that action. As the pendulum swings the other way to bring us back into balance, we can again choose to know that while times may be tough for a while and we will have to be resourceful to get through, this will not last forever. Eventually we will see the pendulum swinging back toward more abundant, easier times again.
Often, the most difficult challenges in life bring us to a place of necessary change - typically, a change for the better. We will be forced to become more careful with our natural resources
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and to learn to use them in new ways. In the meantime, we need to rally together and look out for one another. In the end, together, we will be okay.
Should you, or someone you know, need support during this time, please contact us. If we aren’t able to help you directly, we will make every attempt to help find a resource that can. Sometimes just the very act of reaching out and connecting creates the momentum needed to begin movement in a more positive, abundant direction.
Tammy McGrath, Owner
Touchstone Bodyworks
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An Invitation
by Peggy stinson
This is an Invitation to women of all ages, beliefs and walks of life ...
Coming together as a community has been the journey of women for centuries. Women often take on the ideas of society with good intention and live up to these expectations no matter the cost to themselves. Through time we have forgotten the celebration of life in that we are rushing and being pulled in so many directions. Whether it is succeeding at school and a career, creating a home for our families, or caring for our parents and facing our aging process, our time can be filled with demands. When we rest, when we stop for a moment, sometimes we can hear or feel that desire for something more. There feels like a questioning of what is and an examining of what we have become, and there may be a desire for a deeper understanding.
This is the world of women and the way of the feminine. If we look at Archetypes there are many. The Good Mother, the Empress, the Samaritan and the Wise Woman, to name a few, make up the aspects of the feminine. In mythology, there are stories of great feminine warriors who were also the bringers of life. In India we hear of Cali, the creator and destroyer of life, who commands great respect.
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respect. If we look to the Native American tradition, we see a rich heritage of feminine symbolism.
Women have a long relationship with the moon, where the cycles revolve around a fullness and an emptiness that brings light and darkness, and Mother Earth, who represents the life force, the nurturer, and the stability that flies through space at an unbelievable speed.
It is the Earth where we understand the power of greeting death in full glory and spectacular color, the fall foliage, and then, to take the time to rejuvenate before birthing the beauty of spring.
This cycle provides the stability for us as we enter this time of change. Growth, transition, movement, and change are all words that require a giving up, or letting go, in order for a new way to come alive. This is the wisdom that is carried deep in the being of the feminine.
Today, more than ever, our society needs the wisdom of women, in that society is in transition. It is the transition between the ways we have come to believe, which reflects the superiority and inferiority of energies, and living in a sustainable way, or the balance and harmony of energies.
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Wise women understand that opposites are always present, so abundance and peace are just around the corner. Do we have the eyes to see? Are we ready to listen? Will we be able to open with awareness to life?
Change is real. Shifts are creating limitations, this is true. We can wait it out living as we always have, or we can embrace the invitation, the opportunity, to open to a new way of life. Let go of the old patterns that are so familiar and, with awareness, open to new patterns. This is the way of women. It is the way of understanding that the cure grows with the disease. That fullness and emptiness are necessary parts of the cycle. That creation requires destruction, and birth and death are one. When women come together in community these are the ideas that are preserved in fellowship and support. The dreams of our wise ones are that we can and will carry forth the ways of wisdom, hope, and compassion, as wise women have for centuries.
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9 Ways to Make Bodywork Affordable
from Touchstone Bodyworks
When it’s time to do a bit of "belt-tightening," self-care tends to fall to the bottom of the list of financial priorities. Yet it remains one of the most important means of keeping yourself healthy. At Touchstone Bodyworks we offer a number of ways to make sessions easier to afford, keeping you on track for your optimal health and wellness.
1. Take Advantage of Our Introductory Offer ~ If you've never received massage with us, come in and receive your first bodywork session for only $35!
2. Refer Someone to Us for Massage ~ Receive a $5 gift certificate good toward the Touchstone Bodyworks service of your choice for each person you refer to us that receives a TBW bodywork session. Better yet, refer someone who has never been to us and you both save!
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3. Submit a Testimonial ~ If you haven't already, submit a testimonial about your experience with Touchstone Bodyworks - and receive a $5 gift certificate good toward the Touchstone Bodyworks service of your choice.
4. Come More Frequently for Sessions ~ We reduce your session rate when you come 2+ times per month for bodywork as part of our "Massage for Life" program, so schedule your next session!
5. Have Immediate Family Members Come for Sessions ~ Similar to the money saving hint above, if immediate family members (living in the same household) come for one or more sessions in the same month that you do, you both receive the "Massage for Life" rate discount!
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6. Become a Curves Member ~ Curves (Gray) members receive a 10% discount off all of our regular rates.
7. Prepay for 3 or More Services ~ When you prepay for 3 or more services, you can receive 10% off the total price!
8. Take Advantage of our Specials ~ Each month we feature services at a discount to save you money!
9. Become a Birthday Club Member ~ Join our Birthday Club and receive a one hour massage for only $35 during the month of your birthday!
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Web site, Newsletter and All Other Original Contents Copyright © 2008
Tammy McGrath
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