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Pregnancy Massage Brisbane at Vibe Natural Health

At Vibe Natural Health we offer pregnancy massage to women all over Brisbane. Our therapists are all fully qualified massage therapists, with current first aid, professional association accreditation and are registered with private health funds. Our massage therapists are trained to offer safe and professional pregnancy massage.

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We use specially designed memory foam pregnancy massage tables  which  allow you to lie face down while your belly and breasts are fully supported. If you are uncomfortable  lying this way we can massage you lying on your side supported by pillows or seated on a massage chair. About one third of our total massage clientele consists of pregnant women and all our therapists are experienced pregnancy massage therapists who have a special interest in natal massage care.

We thought we’d write a blog about the benefits of pregnancy massage and the questions we get asked by our clients before they book.

Benefits of Pregnancy Massage: Continue reading “Pregnancy Massage Brisbane at Vibe Natural Health”

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Massage in Brisbane – Vibe Natural Health ph 3366 7970

Massage has become such a popular therapy in Brisbane. At Vibe Natural Health we are passionate about tailoring your massage to suit your needs, rather than a template style “one size fits all massage.” Our massage therapists combine remedial massage techniques with relaxation elements, giving you the best of both worlds to release  tight muscles causing pain and discomfort, whilst also releasing emotional tension and stress.

As I studied to become a Naturopath, I started out working in natural medicine clinics doing massage in Brisbane. Over 8 years I worked around the country in many clinics and had the privilege  of working with Physiotherapists & Osteopaths and mentored by experienced massage therapists. I would swap a massage most weeks with some of the best therapists I could find in order to develop my massage skills. Massage is something that can be studied by anyone, but I find that a good therapist either has the touch, the “healing in their hands” or doesn’t. It’s something you can’t learn – it comes from a passion for helping people. You can often tell within the first 5 minutes of receiving a massage if the therapist has “the right touch.”

With all the massage therapists we have as part of our Vibe team, we look for people who have the right touch.  We have a diverse mix of massage therapists, some are extremely technical, with an incredible wealth of knowledge for rehabilitating injuries and tips for reducing ongoing problems. For example, Davin Vanstone is studying a Masters in Physiotherapy. Some of our therapists, such as Aline Ambauen are very intuitive, it’s baffling the way they just seem to know where all the sore/ tight/ in need of attention spots are, and they gravitate to those spots like a magnet! Continue reading “Massage in Brisbane — Vibe Natural Health ph 3366 7970”

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Benefits of Remedial Massage – Vibe Natural Health in Brisbane

Remedial Massage has become a very popular treatment over the past few years.  Our clients of our Brisbane based clinic, Vibe Natural Health,  often ask us about the ways massage can benefit their health.

 

The difference between Remedial Massage and Relaxation Massage is that Remedial Massage is aimed at reducing pain, improving range of motion of the muscles and joints and aiding and preventing injuries.  It’s a much firmer massage style, using a combination of deep techniques that release the muscles and tendons.

Remedial Massage helps to re-educate and re-align the body. After a massage you find you are much more aware of your body and your posture.  We walk around, drive around and sit for long periods of time, often without giving much thought to our posture. We may slump – putting pressure on the lower back, stick our neck out like a turkey while driving – causing neck, chest and shoulder pain or carry a heavy bag – changing the dynamics of the hips and shoulders when we walk which can lead to lower back pain. Continue reading “Benefits of Remedial Massage — Vibe Natural Health in Brisbane”

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Winter Immune Boosting Tips

It’s that time of year when everyone starts to get sick.  Kids average six to eight colds a year and adults between two and four.  Everyone has experienced the feeling of a tickle in their throat, a runny nose or the building up of mucus in their sinus cavities.  This is our bodies sending us signals to slow down and rest!  Now is the time to get plenty of sleep, eat nutritious foods and have plenty of fluids.  It is vital to our health to make smart lifestyle choices and listen to our bodies. The choices we make affect our own immune system, the immune system of our families, as well as our general health and wellbeing.

Here are some tips to help boost your immunity this autumn and prevent colds and flus:

 

Tea and water

  • Drink plenty of water however make sure to avoid cold (from fridge) drinks.
  • Black tea, white tea and green tea contain antioxidants and polyphenols which contain anti inflammatory properties.
  • Thyme tea helps sooth the throat and coughing as well as and relieving headaches. Thyme is an expectorant, which means it helps to shift the mucous build up in the chest.  Use fresh thyme sprigs for each cup of tea.
  • Hot water, lemon and manuka honey tea:  The anti-bacterial honey, the alkalising lemon and the warming hot water make this the perfect combination to nourish, hydrate and flush out the flu. Continue reading “Winter Immune Boosting Tips”
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Healthy Eating for Kids : start with the right breakfast and add a little protein throughout the day.

As you know, a growing child needs a healthy diet to ensure that they have enough daily energy and the nutritional building blocks to support them through their growing years. Starting healthy eating habits in a child’s early years will also help set the tone for their eating habits in adolescence.

Children are very responsive to foods, meaning they can be more sensitive than adults to preservatives and added sugars. As a children’s nutritionist working in Brisbane,   A common question I get asked is about the amount of fruit and fruit juice that is recommended for young children. Even though fruit is a healthy and natural food, high in vitamins and antioxidants, too much sugar (this includes too much fruit sugar) can overload a child’s body faster than they can break it down. Too much sugar can create a huge surge of sugar in their blood, resulting in  moodiness, hyperactivity and or and inability to concentrate. Following this, the body’s natural urge to normalise blood sugar, will secrete large amounts of insulin, creating sugar levels in the blood to drop below ‘normal’. This again results in inability to concentrate, moodiness, tantrums. Correct nutrition will allow your child to thrive.

The key is to includesome protein with breakfast, lunch and dinner and create good eating habits and attitudes towards healthy food. Healthy food doesn’t have to be boring, it is yummy and enjoyable too and must be seen that way by children. The best way to start with nutritious meals is with breakfast. Continue reading “Healthy Eating for Kids : start with the right breakfast and add a little protein throughout the day.”

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Wholefoods vs Fad Foods

These days life is fast, we’re working harder, for longer hours and trying to balance keeping fit, eating well and spending time with our loved ones. Show’s like Master Chef and Jamies Kitchen have become hugely popular, but I must admit even though they make me dream of all the fabulous new adventurous foods I would love to cook, the reality is that I’m so busy working as a Naturopath in Brisbane, that I don’t cook as often as I’d like to.  My answer is to have some quick, easy dinner options ready to go in the freezer that I’ve done up in a big old slow cooker.

In the 1950’s the average woman spent around 20 hours per week preparing food and cleaning up.  These days, women average 5.5 hours per week, even less for full time workers! So the dilemma is “how do I eat well when I live such a busy lifestyle?”

The modern solution we’ve all become so used to is convenience foods. Everything comes in a package these days, some foods look so different to their original state that they’re hard to recognize. Have a sneak peek into most peoples trolley’s at the super market  and everything’s in boxes, wrapped in plastic and tins. How many of the ingredients listed in the foods on the supermarket shelves these days would your Grandma have recognized when she was a girl? Food has changed from is original state and we’ve all gotten used to it without questioning it. The question we need to ask ourselves is “is this food nourishing my body?”  and “what are all these numbers and ingredients added to my food that I don’t recognize?”

Foods these days are marketed to us, appealing to us with claims such as “diet” “low fat” or “sugar free.” Take this ingredients list from a popular diet yoghurt, Yoplait forme: consider how many of these ingredients you recognize and if you think they would be easy to digest and healthy for your body: THICKENERS (1442 (FROM TAPIOCA), 440), GELATINE, SWEETENERS (950, 951), ACIDITY REGULATOR (331), FLAVOURS, NATURAL COLOURS (160b, 120), MALTODEXTRIN (FROM MAIZE), PRESERVATIVE (202), FIRMING AGENT (509), ENZYME (LACTASE)

An easy way to navigate your way through this minefield of processed, fake foods is to give them  the flick and opt for nutritious whole foods.  I opt for Jalna natural yoghurt – no nasties!

Whole foods are foods eaten as close to their original, natural state as possible. Whole foods are all about getting the maximum bang for your buck nutrition wise. They are full of vitamins and minerals, fiber and are most importantly easy for your body to process. Not sure if you’re eating whole foods?  Start reading the ingredients list on your food labels and if you don’t recognize a number or an ingredient, then don’t buy that food.

An example of a whole food breakfast cereal would be Continue reading “Wholefoods vs Fad Foods”