Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Massage with Tuning Forks?!

I had a massage recently by a very good therapist, Sheila Fox, who incorporated Acutonics into the treatment. Acutonics is the use of vibration, rather than needles, applied to acupuncture points of the body's energy meridians. The web site makes it sound a lot more woo-woo than I am comfortable with, but the experience was pleasant enough that I can forgive their hype. I have had quite a bit of energy work in my time. My mother was always a little out there and us kids were often along for the ride. I became quite the connoisseur of woo-woo, picking out the "good stuff" from the "yeah, sure, whatever."

Acutonics definitely falls into the Good Stuff category. I had similar sensations, though much gentler, when the forks were applied to various points along my body as when I received Acupuncture. The vibrating forks were generally pleasant and soothing, something I didn't quite expect. Not only because of my experience with acupuncture being stressful yet extremely beneficial, but I also don't care for vibratory sensations.

She had an array of different sized tuning forks but only ever used 2 at any one time. She would strike the forks on a pad type thing to get them vibrating and then held the tips to various points on my body. This was not as loud as you might think, or annoying having a thump-thump precede each application point. I got used to the sound as it became a rhythm. Once she just held them close to my ears so I could hear and feel them. That was most interesting of all because I felt muscles loosen and shift even though the fork were not touching me physically. She also did some brutal myofascial work on my legs so the gentleness of the forks was greatly appreciated.

Overall, it was a good session. I have not had more than mild improvement of my complaints, but it was very relaxing and enjoyable, so the small amount of change is acceptable to me. I will definitely work with Sheila again. If you would like to experience this treatment, email me and I will gladly give you Sheila's contact information.

No comments: