Scented and soothing: The most commonly used massage oils

Oils are an essential part of any spa or massage therapy. The scent, the texture, and the feel all contribute to the massage’s overall quality. These oils, which vary in grades and calming effects, can address almost every type of wellness need. Essential oils and massage drive a healthy circulatory system, facilitate detoxification, and improve lymphatic drainage, among other benefits. Below are four of the most commonly used oils in well-established massage centers:

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1. Sweet almond oil. Not only is it the most ubiquitous, essential oil in spa clinics but sweet almond oil is also among the friendliest on the skin. It is rich in vitamins A, B, and E, which are excellent for skin health. In fact, most skin care and cosmetic products have these vitamins mixed in them.

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2. Apricot kernel oil. Unlike most oils that leave greasy residue on the surface of the skin, apricot kernel oil is easily absorbed, offering optimum comfort for the user. Its moisturizing effects are particularly sought after by customers with sensitive skin.

3. Fractionated coconut oil. Considered as the healthiest of all oils, coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides, which make it very chemically stable and sustain long shelf life. Often, coconut oil is used as a carrier oil, which is mixed with other oils to produce a high-quality therapeutic substance.

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4. Sunflower oil. This oil contains significant amounts of essential fatty acids and vitamin E. Its relative affordability also makes it ideal as the base oil for other essential oils.  

MassageEnvy Spa uses only premium-quality essential oils to provide its clients with absolute comfort and wellness. Locate the nearest center from your home or office website. Tags: massage, massage oil, spa, Sweet Almond Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil, Jojoba Oil, Fractionated Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil

The smell of cure: How aromatherapy soothes your senses

Aromatherapy is built around the idea that scents can strongly influence thoughts, actions, and behavior through the olfactory potency of essential oils. Essential oils from the flowers, stems, barks, leaves, and roots of plants are extracted and distilled into its purest for use as a stress reliever, mood booster, odor remediation, and antiseptic. As a natural medicine, essential oils promote mind and body wellness when inhaled, applied topically, diffused, or combined with lotion and other essential oils during a massage. The health benefits of aromatherapy are endless, as there are many different types of aromatics that have healing properties. Some of these are:

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• Lavender – Provides relief from headache, insomnia, nervous tension, and stress
• Lemon - Contains antibacterial properties and helps relieve sore throat and colds
• Chamomile - Reduces inflammation, relieves restlessness, and heals rashes, wounds, and burns
• Oregano – Good for people with carpal tunnel syndrome, fungal infection, weak immune system, intestinal parasites, and muscle pain
• Rose oil – Contains aphrodisiac, antidepressant, anti-phlogistic, anti-spasmodic, and anti-viral properties.

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The strongest of the senses, smell, bears a powerful connection to people’s emotions and plays a vital role in a host of physiological functions. Studies show that odor receptors are not just found in the nose but also throughout the body, particularly in skin cells where it’s said to induce healing and cell regeneration when exposed to a certain type of odorant. Scientists suggest that chemical stimuli like odorants alight with the matching receptor to set off a chain of biochemical reactions that help to inhibit mechanisms that can lead to health problems. This insight underlines the importance of olfactory receptors in the essential aspect of biochemical processes at the cellular level. It’s in this function that aromatherapy can support a person’s physical and emotional well-being and provide additional supplementation as a natural medicine to specific types of conventional treatment options.
  

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Aromatherapy is an expertise of Massage Envy Spa, a recognized leader in affordable wellness services with over 1,000 branches nationwide. Click here to learn how you can benefit from a personalized aromatherapy massage offered by the spa service.

Choosing the right massage for you: Types and techniques

Going for a massage is an easy decision for most people, but this may not be true for others, who may have difficulty choosing the type of massage that will best suit their needs. With a vast list of services available in spas and an array of unfamiliar (sometimes foreign) massage techniques, it's perfectly understandable for customers to be slightly confused. Below is a list of the most common massage types and techniques for first-time spa visitors.

 

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Swedish massage

When people think of massages, the first that comes to mind is Swedish massage. This massage is characterized by long, sweeping strokes (effleurage), kneading and rolling (petrissage), and rhythmic tapping, which aims to relax the entire body. Aside from relaxation, Swedish massage also helps improve blood circulation and muscle flexibility.

Deep tissue massage

This type of massage is very similar to the Swedish massage. The difference between the two is that the deep tissue massage requires more pressure in order to focus on the deepest layers of muscle tissues, tendons, and fascia. This massage is beneficial for people suffering from chronic muscle tension.

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Trigger point therapy

Trigger point therapy targets tight areas in the muscle tissue that cause pain in other parts of the body (also called referral pain). The massage is designed to ease the pain through localized pressure and release at certain trigger points.

Hot stone massage

Hot stone therapy utilizes warmed basalt stone and hot oils to release tension, alleviate tightness in muscles and improve circulation and metabolism. It is considered as one of the most relaxing massages because of the combined heat and pressure from the stones.

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Find more articles on massage therapy techniques and other related discussions by following this Massage Envy Spa blog.

Pampering at Massage Envy Spa May Just Be the Perfect Gift

If you are looking for a gift for that hard-to-shop-for person, you'll be happy to know that Massage Envy Spa is here to help with the perfect solution – a gift card!

Give a gift card and treat someone special to a relaxing massage. Massage not only feels great, but it has many health benefits. It can relieve headaches and improve posture, blood pressure, circulation, flexibility, and range of motion. Studies show it can even strengthen the immune system and speed post-operative healing time and healing time after injury. Clients can choose from deep tissue, Swedish, prenatal, geriatric, reflexology, cranial sacral therapy, or a sports massage. Massage Envy Spa massage therapists can also provide deep muscle therapy, which uses warming and cooling thermal treatments, and hot stone sessions, which involves smooth, heated stones placed on the body, followed by a massage customized to the client.

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But Massage Envy Spa offers much more than just massage. The spa offers several different options so that your loved one can be pampered in style. Clients can also opt for a facial or a sugar foot scrub, enhanced therapy that soothes and refreshes foot muscles as well as smoothing, hydrating, and protecting feet. Massage Envy Spa also offers aroma therapy, which is the use of essential oils from fruits, flowers, and herbs to naturally improve well-being.

Everyone enjoys being pampered, and so sometimes just one massage won't do. If you want to make sure your loved one can really relax, Massage Envy Spa also offers gift memberships that are good for 3 or 6 months or a year. And, there are over 1,000 Massage Envy Spas across the country, so there is sure to be one in a location that is convenient.

Massage Envy Spa not only helps to bring some much-needed and much-deserved relaxation into clients' lives — they can also help you find the perfect gift!

Massage Envy Spa Will Help You Feel Better Regardless of Where You Live

Let us assume that your muscles ache or your neck is hurting or you need your feet massaged. If you live in a state like California, Colorado or New Mexico, it is relatively easy to find a certified masseuse to treat you. There are many alternative therapy practitioners in those states. Some use their homes for treatment locations, while others have their own centers. In these cases, it is easy to feel uncomfortable in these settings because you can feel like you are intruding on a home or the location can seem unkempt or unsanitary. If you live in these states and especially if you live elsewhere, you will want to receive your massage by a certified practitioner in a location that was specifically created for this type of treatment. Fortunately, there is the Massage Envy Spa.


With more than 1,000 locations in the US, Massage Envy Spa was created as a destination for people who want a professional massage in an environment that is specifically managed for that one purpose. If you do the math, there are an average of 20 locations in each state so you are bound to find one of the spas near you.

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One of the nice aspects of visiting a Massage Envy Spa is that you know that your masseuse will be state licensed and professionally trained. In addition, the treatment can be tailored to your needs. For example, you might visit explaining that you overdid it playing basketball. Or, that you are having headaches. Or that you have a chronically tight muscle. Spa practitioners will provide the therapies best suited for treating your condition. These might range from Swedish technique, to Trigger Point to Deep Tissue massage.

Regardless of the reason for your visit, you will leave feeling much better. If the treatment did not completely resolve your problem, it will bring resolution much closer.

Massage Envy Spa Offers Non-Invasive Health Remedies

Medical research has demonstrated the physical hazards of stress. The direct impact includes heart disease, high blood pressure, autoimmune illness, stroke and mental health problems. Indirect impacts include poor health decisions such as eating unhealthy foods and engaging in sedentary activities. People who do not address their stress in a timely or effective manner will have to cope with the medical impact, which can be painful to their bodies and their pocketbooks. Invasive remedies can result in unintended consequences such as infection, time off work and complications from surgery. There are a number of non-invasive methods for handling stress that are less risky and lower cost. These include massage, acupuncture, exercise and meditation.




Massage is a proven method for loosening muscles and joints and improving blood and lymph flow. Massage Envy Spa provides massage therapists with expertise in Swedish, deep tissue and reflexology massage. These modalities enable the therapists at Massage Envy Spa to release stress in your body and help you feel better after one session. Regular visits to Massage Envy Spa will help you counteract problems from stress.

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Acupuncture is also useful to relieve stress. Some medical plans will pay for treatments. A practitioner can diagnose the impact of stress on your body and insert painless needles into specific locations associated with Chinese medicinal pathways on your body. These needles relieve energy blockages that would have resulted in disease processes.

Exercise is another non-invasive method to relieve stress. In particular, 20-30 minutes of activity that makes your heart beat at around 60-70% of its capacity is helpful. Not only will it maintain the health of the heart and blood vessels, but it will release some of the body’s own chemicals that reduce stress.
Finally, daily meditation is proven to reduce stress. While the science behind meditation is unclear, it appears that people who meditate feel calmer in the face of stress. So, stress-inducing situations do not result in problems for them.

Visit Massage Envy's website to know more about its services.

Massage Envy Spa is the Number One Franchise

One way of owning your own business is to buy into a franchise. For people who have management experience but not a unique product or service idea, a franchise is a good way to be your own boss, while selling a product or service that has shown some success. If you decide to go the franchising route, you have many options. You can decide to enter an industry in which you already have some experience or knowledge such as fast food, printing, hair salons or maintenance services. You can also select an industry in which you have some interest but no specific experience. Within both of these realms, you will want to choose a company that is experiencing high growth and success. Into this category would fit Massage Envy Spa.

Recently, Forbes magazine rated Massage Envy Spa as the number one franchise in the US. Franchise rankings can depend on a number of criteria, including growth rate and number of overall locations. In addition, franchises tend to be segmented by entry costs. Massage Envy Spa was number one in the over $500,000 entry category. The company has over 1000 locations across the country and is growing fast.

Prospective franchisees will be interested in the following information:

• An ideal candidate has a minimum of $500,000 net worth and $150,000 in liquid assets.

• There are several fees associated with owning a location. For example, there is a $45,000 charge for the first site and $35,000 for additional ones.

• Depending on the real estate costs, initial investment ranges from $330,000 to $825,000.

• Sites average $1.3M per year in revenue.

• The company provides a high degree of support to its franchisees.

Because of the general interest in stress reduction and health, a massage franchise could be a good source of income for you over the next several years.

5 Reasons to Take a Massage Break with Massage Envy

Think you don’t have time for a massage break?  Here are five reasons to make time for a soothing massage.

1. Massage helps to manage pain.  If you suffer from a chronic condition like arthritis, or if you are prone to migraines you would be well advised to get regular massage treatments.  Not only does massage physically help to alleviate muscular and skeletal pain, it releases chemicals in the brain that help to enhance mood.

2.  Massage helps to improve sleep.  Even if you don’t have the time to get the recommended nightly 8-hours, massage can help deepen the sleep you do allow yourself.  Even if you are only able to sleep 5 or 6 hours, the quality of that sleep can be greatly enhanced.

3.  Massage helps improve immunity.  Studies have shown that regular massage can help to facilitate the production of white blood cells, which help to fight disease. 

4.  Massage helps to improve productivity at work/school.  When you suffer from significant stress, you are prone to illness, emotional disorders and fitful sleep.  By alleviating stress and helping improve the quality of your sleep, you could find that your concentration is significantly improved, which can help your job performance and your ability to retain information.

5.  Massage helps to reduce the symptoms of PMS.  Regular massage can help mitigate the bloating, sluggishness and mood swings often associated with PMS.

Massage Envy, a pioneering massage therapy and spa service, helps clients achieve relaxation and personal wellness by offering membership programs that can suit nearly every budget, as well as a wide variety of professional massage techniques that address nearly every physical and even emotional condition.  Additionally, Massage Envy Spa provides facial treatments and skin care services.

If you are interested in learning more about what Massage Envy clinics have to offer, you can visit their website for more information.

Relieving Stress with Soothing Massage

Stress is unavoidable; work, school, family and personal obligations can all lead to feelings of anxiety and emotional strain.  However, rather than merely being an inconvenience that has to be endured, it can actually lead to major physical issues that can contribute to a diminished quality of life.

Heart disease, stroke, disturbed sleep, type 2 diabetes and depression can all result from high levels of stress.  Not only can our physical health be compromised by the after-effects of stress, very often we find that we are unable to concentrate at school or work, thereby causing reduced efficiency and performance.  Also, we might be short-tempered with those we love, which can cause further emotional distress. 

In order to protect ourselves from the physical and emotional ravages of excess anxiety, we can actually engage in simple activities that can significantly help to alleviate stress and its symptoms.  Massage therapy is one of the most effective stress-management tools there is, and thanks to resources like  Massage Envy, not prohibitively expensive, either!

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Massage Envy Spa is a groundbreaking business model that allows clients to sign up for highly affordable membership packages, so that they can partake in relaxing massage breaks on a regular basis.  Massage Envy Spa offers a wide variety of massage and spa services, including deep tissue massage, Swedish massage, prenatal massage, reflexology and sports massage, as well as skin treatments and facials.  By taking the necessary time for personal wellness and healing, clients can reduce and even eliminate the ravages of stress and anxiety in a relaxing and professional environment.

If you are feeling over-tired, anxious, or pressured by your personal and professional obligations, you would do well to give yourself the proper tools for effective healing.  If you are interested in booking a soothing massage from one of  Massage Envy’s many conveniently-located clinics, please visit their website for additional information.