Opinion – The Snow Monkey Spa

Jojoba Oil

February 10, 2023 admin Leave a comment Opinion

Jojoba Oil

“Few beauty products are as straightforward as an oil: Slather a drop or two onto your problem areas—whether it be that dry patch on your skin or on the split ends of your hair—and get back to your regularly scheduled programming. But choosing one out of the dozens of oils out there to add to your routine? Not so easy to figure out.

There’s coconut, rosehip, argan, and grapeseed oil, to name a handful—all of which contain unique properties that can benefit your skin and hair in impressive ways. But another oil that deserves a humble brag? Jojoba oil (and not just because its name is fun to say).

Here’s why dermatologists believe this uber-versatile skincare oil deserves a spot in your medicine cabinet.”

The article on Prevention.com goes on to explain how jojoba oil fights acne, aging and cold sores. It soothes dry skin, improves the skin barrier, removes makeup, conditions hair, fights dandruff, promotes hair growth, and might even delay the onset of gray hair.

Jojoba oil contains copper and Vitamins C and E which may potentially combat grey hairs. Studies are being done to determine if copper deficiency causes greying.

Jojoba Oil is cold-pressed from the seeds of the Simmondsia chinensis shrub, native to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, Northern Mexico and arid California. Cold-pressing saves the nutritional values of the product.

Although referred to as an oil, Jojoba is actually a liquid plant wax with remarkably similar properties to our skin’s own sebum – the oily secretions our skin produces to protect itself. With its bright golden color and a mild odor, Jojoba Oil has shelf life and molecular stability considerably higher than most other oils (20+ years).

Rich in beauty-boosting vitamins A, E and D, plus antioxidants and fatty acids, Jojoba Oil is able to penetrate deeply, reaching below the top layer of skin for maximum nourishment. As Jojoba Oil is so closely matched to the skin’s natural oil, it is quickly absorbed, helps to hold moisture in the skin without leaving a greasy residue.

Reported Benefits and Uses

Jojoba Oil has wonderful nourishing, regenerative and moisturizing properties. It helps to soothe sensitive and inflamed skin and is a good treatment for dry and mature skin.

Its natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties are perfect for healing acne-prone skin as well as other bacterial skin conditions.

Jojoba Oil is also high in Vitamin E which supports skin elasticity and helps to reduce the appearance of aging. Jojoba Oil is one of the most popular carrier oils, commonly used in creams, lotions, ointments, butters and balms, as well as soaps, bath oils and massage oils. Being a light and easy oil to work with makes it very suitable as a base for body and facial oils.

Because Jojoba Oil absorbs deep into the skin, it works well as a scalp and hair moisturizer, hydrating hair follicles from the inside out. Its natural emollient properties help seal moisture into dry, split-ends and also works well for treating dry scalp and dandruff.

The Messiah

July 13, 2021 admin Leave a comment Opinion

Messiah - The Massaged One

What The Anointed One means

Today, “messiah” means “savior”.

It comes from the Hebrew word “mashiach” which meant “the anointed one, or the one rubbed with oil”.

“Mashach” was the word for “to anoint, or to rub with oil”.

Christ also means “The anointed one”. It comes from the Greek word “Christos” which also meant “the one rubbed with oil”.

Before the 1840s, the English language didn’t have the word “massage.” When reading literature written before the 1840s, the words often used in lieu of ‘massage’ were:

Friction

Rub

Anoint

Less often: “shampoo”, “unction”, and “anatripsis”

After reading dozens of historical medical books as well as religious texts that use the word “anoint” in describing massage techniques, I am convinced that there are many more instances of stories that involve massage, but we mis-translate as a mere sprinkling of water or oil.

Getting a foot massage or, especially, a scalp/head massage can certainly feel like a religious experience.

After receiving a good massage, a person generally feels calmer, wiser, more patient, and even prophetic. It makes sense to me that Jesus held onto all the traits of someone who had just received a great massage, but was unique in that he acted like it even if he hadn’t recently been massaged. Or people loved him so much that he got many massages, and therefore always had that patient and loving state of mind that comes after a massage.

I used the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the Library of Congress, Google Books, and Google Scholar to find most of the historical texts I’m basing this conjecture on.

The book below was found in The U.S. National Library of Medicine:

The Poor Man’s Physician, or the Receipts of the Famous John Moncrief of Tippermalloch: being a choice collection of simple and easy remedies for most distempers. Published in 1716, but likely written in the late 1600s.

The excerpt below comes from:

The Institution of Christian Religion, Wrytten in Latine by Maister Ihon Caluin, and Translated Into Englysh According to the Authors Last Edition by T. N., I.e. Thomas Norton. B.L. By Jean Calvin, Thomas NORTON (Barrister-at-Law) · 1574.

Digitized in 2016 thanks to the British Library.

The excerpt below comes from:

A Booke of Notes and Common places, with their expositions, collected and gathered out of the workes of divers singular Writers, and brought alphabetically into order … By J. M. B.L. Few MS. notes

By John MARBECKE · 1581

Upon reading more and more of these examples, you’ll start to see a pattern. In both religious contexts and medical advice, the focus of the ‘anointing’, or rubbing of the body with an oil or ointment, is on the material being applied, and not on the rubbing itself. There are stories of priests anointing a sick person for days on end, until at last the “holy oil” cured the person and they could walk again.

So as the stories continued to focus on the oil, the oil gained its own rituals while the rubbing faded over time until we are left with sprinkles of holy oil that involve no touch at all.

Georgia Massage Therapy Laws

February 8, 2021 admin Leave a comment Opinion

To be a massage therapist in Georgia, you must be 18, graduated high school, graduated a certified massage school with at least 500 hours of course and clinical work, provide fingerprints, pass a criminal background check, have insurance, and pass a national exam related to massage and bodywork. Every two years, therapists must report 24 hours of continuing education – 12 hours must be hands-on, in-person training.

Every county within Georgia then has different requirements for massage businesses. The laws surrounding massage therapy businesses are very complicated, obscure, and stringent because in the 1970s, “massage parlors” were popping up everywhere as fronts for prostitution. The Deuce, an HBO show with James Franco, makes an excellent portrayal of that time period. As lawmakers fought prostitution, they found themselves also fighting “massage therapy”, so here we are today with very confusing laws that are ultimately just trying to make clear that massage therapy is not sex work.

As a massage therapist, I have no tolerance for jokes about massage as sex work. It is a huge headache to deal with as a massage therapist, from the legal issues, the licensing issues, and, of course, the clients. Massage therapy is not sex work. Massage therapy is appropriate for children, family members, animals, invalids, the stressed, the injured, the hopeless, the ugly, the beautiful – it’s for everyone and anyone can provide nurturing touch to anyone who needs it. And not that there is anything wrong with sex, but that is a whole other can of worms and I’m not dealing with that in my scope of practice. If you want me to pour a can of worms on you, though, we can talk.

If you’re curious to learn more about state requirements, click here.

Pediatric Massage

February 8, 2021 admin Leave a comment Opinion

Massage therapy is appropriate for people of all ages. If you think your child could benefit from the relaxation, reduced anxiety, and improved sleep that massage can provide, bring him or her in. Children sessions are 30 minutes long and the first session is mostly spent building rapport and asking the child if they’re okay with the therapist touching their hands.

Puppets are available to aide in the child’s comfort with accepting touch.

In a way, I view all my clients as children. I understand some of us may never grow out of certain shynesses or anxieties, or we develop them along the way. If you think you could benefit from massage, but feel shy or anxious about it, reach out. We can do a pediatric massage for you, in which our first session involves discussing what massage therapy is, and receiving a hand massage if you are comfortable with that. You will not be pressured to undress or lie down if you aren’t ready to.