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Hi, I’m Samantha, the Holistic Licensed Esthetician here at Stony Point Massage! I specialize in holistic facials that help you slow down and solve skin concerns from their root cause. I want to thank you for taking the time to learn more about the facials I offer and how they may benefit you or someone you know. Skin health is often overlooked, and I’m here to help you learn about why it’s important.

Q: What is a Holistic Esthetician and how is it different from a regular Esthetician?

A: Being a Holistic Esthetician means I look at your skin as a part of a bigger picture. We don’t just work to treat the surface, but also to understand what’s going on inside. This includes factors like stress, sleep, diet, and emotions. It’s a more intentional approach that helps us get to the root cause of things rather than covering them up or using aggressive devices and products to solve them.

Q: Why do I need a facial?

A: My facials are best curated for anyone who feels like their skin is out of balance- whether that looks like fine lines, wrinkles, excessive oiliness, acne, dark spots, or sensitivity. If you are ready to understand your skin health and make changes to achieve the healthy skin you’ve been wanting, I’m the Esthetician for you.

Q: Do I have to have a skin problem to get a facial?

A: Not at all. Some people get facials as a way to escape the stress of the world. Still, facials are also an effective way to prevent future problems, such as premature aging, sun damage, and an unhealthy skin barrier, caused by the use of products not intended for you. 

Q: What is a Holistic Facial Experience like?

A: Our Holistic Facial is a relaxing experience that is also result-driven. It’s a space for you to slow down and connect with your skin. We will start with a brief discussion to understand your skin goals, then proceed to a customized treatment tailored to your skin’s needs for that day. This includes a mix of double cleanse with massage, warm towels, exfoliation, a cooling mask, light neck and shoulder massage, nourishing products, and the option to add on additional steps your skin may need.

You’re always welcome to reach out with questions or book a session! I’m ready to guide you through the skin healing journey every step of the way.

-Samantha

Are you ready for Holistic Skin Care Journey?

We are now offering Holistic Facials and sugaring, a natural hair removal service, at 30% off this summer!

Purchase Now

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I want to share some tips for releasing muscle pain and tension. The most important thing for healing is to educate you about your issues. It’s your body, and you must be in charge of your health. Muscle issues are easy to handle. The pain can be released using trigger point therapy; you don’t need painkillers or anti-inflammatory meds.

Treatment of muscles is somewhat tricky because muscles refer pain to other parts of your body, so where you feel pain may not be the source of pain. For example, when you’re feeling a headache, it could be the referral pain from neck muscles.

When trigger points are present, the surrounding area is dense, and you can find a nodule when you pinch or compress the area. How do you know if you are working on the trigger point? Because it usually hurts when you push it. Then you can hold down trigger points until the pain starts to decrease. You can use tools like tennis balls to compress so your fingers don’t have to work. Do this 3-5 times a day until your pain goes away.

As I said, finding Trigger Point is tricky because trigger points refer to pain quite far from it. Trigger points don’t hurt until you compress them, but they send pain somewhere else. You can get more information about Trigger Point to find which trigger points are causing the pain through Google, Amazon, or YouTube and start working on it. Or you can find skilled massage therapists who are trained and knowledgeable. Our skilled therapists help you with this process! Book your appointment today!

One of the most frequent questions we receive when people call us to book appointments is whether their insurance will cover our services. While some massage therapists hope that more insurance companies will start offering coverage for these services, I personally do not want insurance companies involved in my business. In my experience as a client, insurance companies seem more interested in making money for themselves than in helping me receive the care I need.

Before I started my massage business, I injured my right shoulder and developed a severe frozen shoulder. Luckily, I met a massage therapist who helped me recover. Although I don’t usually ask massage therapists if I can use insurance, I decided to ask her and she accepted my insurance. I was thrilled that I only had to pay $45, which was less than half of her usual fee, and I thought she was getting paid by my insurance company. However, after a few months, she informed me that she would no longer accept insurance because the insurance company wasn’t paying her anything while she was already giving a 55% discount on her price. When I asked her about the benefits of working with this insurance company, she said that they sometimes bring in new clients. However, in my case, I didn’t find her through the insurance company, so she had to take a 55% pay cut on her service just because she was participating in their network. I felt terrible that she was doing such a good job to help me get better, and yet I was paying her so little. This is an extreme case, but it’s true that most insurance companies don’t pay massage therapists well, which is why you hardly see any massage therapists who accept insurance.

I would like to emphasize that massage therapy is a physically demanding job. If you book a 60-minute session, you are receiving a full hour of hands-on work. Moreover, massage therapists have to complete over 1,000 hours of schooling and practice before passing the board exam. It takes a lot of skill to help improve your condition, and finding a good massage therapist is like finding a diamond. As an employer, I find it extremely challenging to come across such skilled professionals, and when I do, I need to invest time and resources to retain them. Therefore, please do not take our service for granted when you find it valuable. Good massage therapists are rare, and it is worth paying for quality services. I understand that everything is expensive these days, and you might want to save money on massages, but if you want to keep getting good results, you need to take excellent care of the therapists who provide you with those services. After all, if you want to keep producing eggs, you need to take good care of your chickens.

Insurance companies dictate what we do, and they make our practice less effective; that’s why people have low expectations of their performance because whether you like it or not, you have to go to them because they are in the network. If you get paid regardless of your performance and are not awarded for your good work, people lose motivation. I want to work most effectively, not dictated by the insurance company.

If you still want insurance to cover your massage, look for them. They exist. But I want to remind you why you want to get a massage. Is it to save money, or is it to improve your health?

Today, I want to share some tips for relieving muscle pain and tension. I believe the most crucial aspect of healing is educating yourself about your issues. Even if you have a good therapist, it’s your body, and you should be in charge of it. Muscle issues are relatively easy to handle. The pain caused by muscle tension can be quickly relieved by applying trigger point therapy, and you don’t need to use painkillers or anti-inflammatory medication.

Treating muscles can be tricky because they can refer pain to other parts of your body. This means that the area where you feel pain may not be the source of the pain. For example, when you have a headache, it could be due to referral pain from your neck muscles.

When trigger points are present, the muscles in the surrounding area become dense, and you can find a nodule when you pinch or compress the area. That nodule is the trigger point. You can tell if you’re compressing the trigger point because it usually hurts when you do. However, the pain starts to decrease as you continue to apply pressure for 10-30 seconds. You can use tools like a tennis ball to compress the trigger point so your fingers don’t get tired. Repeat this 3-5 times per day until your pain subsides.

As I mentioned earlier, finding the trigger point can be tricky because trigger points can refer pain quite a distance from their location. There are two choices: one. You can get a book about trigger points to find which trigger points are causing the pain and work on them yourself, or two: you can find skilled massage therapists who are trained and knowledgeable. They can find and work on your trigger points, and you can continue to work on them after the session.

After going through many clients, I got to know people’s biggest problems with muscle pain. Most people have neck, shoulder, or back issues and want pain relief. I always tell them, “It’s not like somebody came to your bed in the middle of the night and beat you up.”  Then they laugh. So at least they know it’s not anybody else’s fault, but what they did cause the pain.

The problem is the stiffness in your joints, especially the spine

The problem is the stiffness in your joints, especially the spine. If you have neck pain, it is the tip of the iceberg because the neck is sitting on top of the shoulders, and the shoulders are sitting on top of your torso. And if you look at your spine, there are many bones, and they create joints. The spine is createdto move – twisting and bending in all directions, but how many of us use our spine that way?

These days, most people spend a few hours to several hours sitting in front of the computer every day (That’s what I’m doing now, too), which means the spine is utilizedto keep your body upright with no movement.

And keeping the same positions over an extended time makes your body and spine stiff. So whether you are active or not active, if you are feeling stiffness, muscle pains, or tension, you need to loosen up your joints, especially your spine.

In the following posts, I will explain some simple exercises to help you do that. It’ll just take a few minutes to 10 minutes, depending on your schedule and how much you want to do, but the important thing is to do it every day.

It’s been a whole two years since I wrote my last blog! I’m so overdue and planning to be more consistent.  To begin, I want to share my recent experience with Covid.

At the end of October, I had the honor to get my first covid. It started with cold symptoms – sore throat, headache, and fatigue. I was sick for three days and the rest of the week wasn’t bad.

I made a lot of ginger tea with fresh ginger root and had it twice a day, ate roasted garlic, drank a lot of water, and rested a lot.

Meanwhile, I listened to audiobooks, studied random things I’m interested in on YouTube, and thought about the plan for the future of my business.

After all, I was grateful for having this opportunity to have a week off. My gratitudes are

1. I took the rest I needed and took good care of myself.
2. I was able to work on nourishing my mind.
3. I experienced Covid without getting very sick, and I now feel I fully participated in the pandemic together with the rest of the world.
4. I’m thankful for the people who worked so hard to save people during the pandemic.
5. I understood the importance of taking time off.

I had a similar experience during the lockdown when I had to close my office for three months. And I will make this one week off my annual event.

This picture was taken a few years ago. Besides the fact that I look a little younger, I’m so amazed to see the beautiful nature. And this is where I live! I’m so lucky to be here, and I’m so lucky to be alive!

Eastern Medicine as the foundation

I’m from Japan, so massage means acupressure, and when I started to go to massage school, I was shocked to find out that we had to learn Swedish massage where clients undress, and therapists give massage with oil. I almost fainted and thought I would quit.  And I practiced qigong, yoga, and energy work for ten years. I was planning to open my yoga center before I shifted my direction to become a massage therapist.  

Trigger Point Therapy

Then I got rotator cuff tear injury during the first year working as a massage therapist. I couldn’t dress or undress without excruciating pain and went through sleepless nights for a couple of months. I basically couldn’t do anything with my right shoulder. As I searched the way to restore my shoulder, I found that trigger point therapy was effective and started to work on myself. Long story short, that’s how I recovered within one year. So when I went back to work, I mostly practiced clinical type of massage applying trigger point therapy to help people with muscle injuries. My experience with shoulder injury helped me understand what clients go through, and that enabled me to connect with my clients better. 

Integration of clinical Massage with a holistic approach

As I went through many clients, I saw how their mind and emotions affect their bodies. People get tension and stress from their way of thinking, negative emotions, and their habits. So I went back to a more holistic approach to see their mind, emotions, habits together with the physical issues.  
So I combine clinical massage with Eastern medicine. Most massage therapists are on the dot with time and do whatever they can do in the time allocated. In the spa, the tendency is therapists fill the time with their service, not the other way around. I focus on the work, not the time, so I often go over time, because I can’t finish until I’m satisfied with the job.  

Communication is everything

Communication with clients is essential.  Without knowing how the issue came about, and without making a connection with the clients, how can I help them?  I don’t mean chatting, but I need to know about them.  Even asking about their hobbies, children, and jobs give me clues. Some people are used to have total silence during the session, and that doesn’t work with me.  As I get to know them, I can have less conversation with them.  I hardly say anything when I’m working on my husband.  Something happens when I connect with my clients.  My session becomes more fluid, and the healing starts to take place. That’s how important it is to have an internal connection.   

What is the most frustrating thing?  When I can’t find the cause of the issues.  That’s so frustrating and upsetting. As long as I can find out what is causing the pain or restriction, I can help.  Then, the rest is up to the clients whether they want to come back for more or not.