If you live or are visiting St. Catharines Ontario, how would you go about finding a registered massage therapist?Where would you even begin?

Of course, you could open up the Yellow Pages and take a look at a few nice looking ads and then take your chances. But does anyone actually keep those big awkward books around anymore? I suppose if you don’t have an internet connection, it would be a good idea… A better option or perhaps the best option would be to get a recommendation from a friend. Word of mouth is a great way to find a good massage therapy clinic. But what if none of your friends have a therapist or if they don’t really like the one that they have used?

The internet is a great resource for this. You can go to the RMT Find website. RMT Find is a database of all the Registered Massage Therapists working in Ontario and organized by city maintained by the RMTAO (Registered Massage Therapists Association of Ontario). These are all qualified massage therapists who can issue receipts and claims through your insurance company so you don’t have to pay for your massage.

Lastly, you could simply use Google. You can search for “massage st. catharines” and see what you get. While not ideal, you may just get lucky like I did. This is how I found my massage therapist, and I have been quite satisfied with my results. It might be helpful to check for reviews by customers online as well. Yelp is a good site for reading customer reviews of products and businesses. They can rate the service they received on a 5 star system and they can also write a short review about their experience as well.

All in all, it may take some time to find a massage therapist for the first time. Friends are a great asset to have in order to simplify the search! In Ontario, unlike some other provinces, RMT’s are massage therapists that have had formal schooling. From the RMTAO:

They must complete an educational program at an educational institution recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.  Upon graduation, the individual must become registered with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO), the regulatory body for the profession.

So don’t be shy! Get out there and start out on your journey to better health and well being today!

Often times stress will manifest when we carry over yesterday’s concerns into our present day concerns. An accumulation will almost always end up in a high stress level. Therefore, we must be able to “dump” all of our concerns from the previous day or days and concentrate wholly on our today.

If you are unable to get to a massage therapist in St. Catharines, you might want to give these 3 great stress busting tips a try!

Stress Busting Tip #1

Resolve right now to release every thought from yesterday and be only mindful of the now…. this thought only…this breath…this moment. Take in three very deep breaths and slowly release each one.

At the same time feel each and every concern, each and every problem, and each and every unresolved moment, begin to dissolve. You can deal with them at a later time. For now, you are only to be in this very moment.

Now go to your inner quiet place. Go deep inside to a place where you feel that you are at peace and then just relax and breathe in deeply and enjoy the feeling of being at one and at peace within yourself.

Use this special time and place to be calm. Free your mind and body of all worry, all regret, all disappointment, all anger and grief.

Stress Busting Tip #2

Next, think of one particular act, such as rocking your baby, taking a quick stroll, raking the leaves, and do that one simple thing. All the while, your mind is quiet and calm and you are in your own special place within.

Practice this act of quiet and calm each day and you will see that you will accomplish so much more. At the first sign of being stressed, go back to this mindful, quiet place and start all over again until you have reached your inner place of calm.

Stress Busting Tip #3

The very best thing that you can do for yourself is to eat, drink and rest – to your health!

Stress is easily brought on by not eating and drinking properly. When you don’t get the number of hours of sleep that you need each night, you are only setting yourself up for additional stress.

Limit the amount of salt, sugar, caffeine and alcohol in your diet. Drink plenty of clean, pure water each day and do at least moderate exercise each day. This will breathe new life into your skin, hair and will nourish all of your vital organs.

Take time to breathe properly! Take deep belly breathes to send pure oxygen to all of your body. Laugh and then laugh some more. It is food for the soul! Spend time doing the things that please you most. Engage in healthy and fulfilling relationships and work on problems that would erode the closeness that you have with someone special.

When we are content and living a balanced life everyday stresses seem to pale in comparison. We are better equipped to deal with the unexpected.

You can take control today! Isolate only one particular stressor in your life and then work on it until you regain control. At the very least, have some new hope! This should help you get through a rough time until you can visit your massage therapist.

Yes, it’s true…

The end of 2011 is almost here. It’s hard to imagine, I know.

December usually ends up being a busy time of year for most of us in St. Catharines and Niagara so thinking about massages is probably not at the top of the list. However, it may help be very economical for you to book now…

Many people living and working in Niagara have health plans either through your employer or through a private company. These plans often allow you to have a certain number of massages per year (or a certain dollar amount claimable).

Did you know that if the unused massages and/or dollar amounts will expire?

That’s right! Your unused portion of massages as part of your plan will expire December 31st! These benefits are yours, so put them to good use! Don’t you think the insurance companies make enough money?? You should use what you have coming to you!

You can make a booking today with most RMT’s in St. Catharines for December, when you will really need some stress relief ! Just make sure they can process your insurance benefits like, for example the massage therapists at Back In Motion.

There are only 8 weeks left until 2012! Don’t delay…