Yue Ma Massage

About Us

 

Yue Ma - Massage Therapy

Born and raised in Beijing China, Yue Ma has been practicing therapeutic massage for over 15 years.  She is a Missouri licensed massage therapist whose techniques include Chinese Acupressure, Deep Tissue, Hot Stone, Japanese Shiatsu, Swedish Relaxation, and Reflexology.  She often applies multiple methods helping people improve their various health conditions.

Chinese Accupressure

Acupressure is an ancient Chinese healing method that involves applying pressure to certain meridian points on the body to relieve pain. The human body has fourteen "meridians" that carry energy throughout the body. These meridians start at the fingertips, connect to the brain, and then connect to the organ associated with the specific meridian.

Acupuncture and Acupressure use the same points, but acupuncture uses needles, while Acupressure uses the gentle but firm pressure of hands. There is a massive amount of scientific data that demonstrates why and how acupuncture is effective.

Acupressure is the most effective method for self-treatment of tension-related ailments by using the power and sensitivity of the human hand. Acupressure deals with all the aspects of a person as a whole: body, emotions, mind, and spirit as one, not as separate parts. It relaxes muscular tension and balances the vital life forces of the body. 

Common Benefits:
• Relieve stress and tension 
• Relax mind and body 
• Increase blood circulation 
• Aid in the removal of toxic wastes 
• Provide relief from head, neck and shoulder aches 
• Promote the healing of injuries 
• Increase energy levels 
• Increase overall feeling of well-being 
• Decreasing labor pains

Acupressure uses the fingers to press key points on the surface of the skin to stimulate the body's natural self-curative abilities. When these points are pressed, they release muscular tension and promote the circulation of blood and the body's life force to aid healing. 

Acupressure can be effective in helping relieve headaches, eyestrain, sinus problems, neck pain, backaches, arthritis, muscle aches, and tension due to stress. There are also great advantages to using Acupressure as a way to balance the body and maintain good health. The healing touch of acupressure reduces tension, increases circulation, and enables the body to relax deeply. By relieving stress, acupressure strengthens resistance to disease and promotes wellness.

Acupressure focuses on relieving pain and discomfort as well as on responding to tension before it develops into a "disease," that is, before the constrictions and imbalances can do further damage. By using a combination of self-help methods, you can improve your condition as well as feel more alive, healthy, and in harmony with your life. 

This treatment involves stimulating the vital-energy points along the meridians on our body to effect maximum energy flow. 

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are over 800 vital energy points along the meridians that run from the head down to the heels, especially along either side of the spinal column. (The meridians connect the interior and exterior of the body). Every point has specific therapeutic effects on the related organ. By massaging these points, the corresponding body area receives specific therapeutic treatment. It can be used to treat internal organ diseases, relieve internal discomfort, and relax yourself; or to promote overall well-being of the body. 

Western scientists have shown that many of these points are located at key crossways of the autonomic nervous system. This may explain in part why they can affect pain that the patient experiences in a part of the body far from where the pressure is applied. 

Deep Tissue Massage

When there is chronic muscle tension or injury, there are usually adhesions (bands of painful, rigid tissue) in muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Adhesions can block circulation and cause pain, limited movement, and inflammation.

Deep tissue massage works by physically breaking down these adhesions to relieve pain and restore normal movement. To do this, the massage therapist often uses direct deep pressure or friction applied across the grain of the muscles.

 

Japanese Shiatsu

The technique of "finger pressure" (shiatsu ・指圧) originated with Tokujiro Namikoshi in the early 1900's, who at the age of seven began developing the massage technique by trial and error through the attempted treatment of his arthritic mother. As the name implies, the basics of Shiatsu are squarely concerned with the use of the fingers and palm, though Shiatsu would eventually come to embrace employment of the masseur's legs, arms, and bodyweight as tools of treatment. Through Tokujiro's efforts Shiatsu was established in 1940 at his own school, the Japan Shiatsu College, and in 1957 Shiatsu was recognized by the Japanese government as a distinct form of therapy.

The basic mechanics of Shiatsu are deceptively straightforward: in place of complex hand movements common to Western massage techniques Tokujiro's method calls for simply placing a hand, knee, etc. on a certain area of the patient's body and applying little or much of one's body weight as the occasion calls for. The subtler aspects of the practice, or at least the underlying philosophy, however, are decidedly more difficult for the outsider to grasp. As is common across Eastern medical traditions the concept of ki (the Japanese term for the Chinese chi) remains paramount: the idea of a life-breath, a spirit, in each of us that may be damaged and healed and damage and heal the body in turn dictates philosophies of attuning the entire self to a healthy state as well as an ongoing communication between the ki of the masseur and massaged person. A damaged spirit will manifest itself as a physical ailment, and vice-versa, calling for the Shiatsu practitioner to massage with the goal of realigning the flow of ki throughout the body as well as assauging what physical ailments s/he may. Of equal importance is the verbal and non-verbal communication of the Shiatsu masseur and the patient, which is considered a vital part of the healing and supporting process in both parties. Shiatsu is regarded by its adherents as less of a medical treatment then as a two-way holistic treatment of mind and body.

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