Survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, François Minani, his seven children and one grandchild spent a year and a half as refugees in the neighboring country of Burundi before being offered asylum by the United States Government. Their sponsor, First Broad United Methodist Church, helped them to feel at home in Kingsport and enabled them to settle into the community. The younger children headed off to school while François and the older ones went to work and to college.

At home in Rwanda, François had obtained a master’s degree in biology from the National University of Rwanda and had worked as a high school biology teacher and later as education officer for the Mountain Gorrilas Project. Not being used to the physically demanding jobs that he took on in Kingsport, François developed very serious upper back pain due to overuse and repetitive strain. It reached the point in which he stopped working and received intensive care at a rehabilitation center for four months before returning to work. He later developed severe lower back pain. For five years, he vainly tried everything from painkiller medicines and back support belts to a chiropractor. A friend and co-worker then referred him to a chiropractor working with a massage therapist. At every session François received therapeutic massage before being seen by the chiropractor. After only two months of intensive therapy his pain was gone forever! Having experienced dramatic results from this type of care, François decided he wanted to go to massage school so that he too would be able to help others feel better in this way.

With his strong background in science, thousands of hours of hands-on experience and several years of hard work at the Durham, NC Massage Envy location, François is ready to give back to Kingsport and the Tri-Cities area as a whole. We are pleased that François has chosen to join us. He specializes in working with expectant mothers and people dealing with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and depression, as well as upper body pain and stiffness and the modality of cranial sacral therapy. He also gives wonderful Swedish, Deep Tissue, Reflexology, Sports and Hot Stones massages.

In his spare time, François enjoys walking by the river in his neighborhood, landscaping and vegetable gardening, playing with his grandchildren and spending time with his new bride, Benie.

François offers sessions at AMMA on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Reserve a session with him now before his schedule fills up! He is also offering an introductory rate for a limited time. To speak with him or to arrange an appointment, contact the Appalachian Medical Massage Associates office at 423-288-2662 or call François directly at 423-863-0390.

Southwest Virginia’s Higher Education Center’s College for Older Adults (COA) will be holding a class on Alternative Healing from 10:45am-12:15pm on Thursdays this fall. On September 15th, we will be leading a session titled “Finding Dynamic Balance Within the Human Structure: Structural Integration Theory and Applications.” Join us for an experiential workshop in which we will explore how to find ease and balance within our own structures.

Learn more about structural integration on our website.

Find out more about the College for Older Adults at http://www.swcenter.edu

by Paul Vachon

Many of you with whom we’ve worked have heard us encourage the use soft and progressively harder rubber balls for self massage of the bottom of the feet. In our culture of shoes, it is very common for our feet and lower legs to get rigid and the muscles weak. Hard soled shoes don’t allow for the natural bending and twisting of the feet which relates all the way up the body. We often forget how to spread or grip with our toes. The additional confining of our walking to only flat surfaces also takes out movements that are common and natural with uneven ground. If you’ve ever walked on cobble stone roads or a bumpy trail and found it difficult, it’s probably due to a few factors. Either you were in high heels, which I have to say are not the best functional shoes ever created. And/or your feet and lower legs were not accustomed to the constant change of surface. With more minimal shoes and flexible soles, we begin to feel the ground under us, and as a response the muscles in our feet and legs learn to quickly adjust and respond to the changing terrain.

Last year while visiting Manhattan for Amber’s strings camp, I went to the YMCA nearly every day and with those visits was able to try out several classes of which I’d never heard. I was like a kid exploring a new playground for the first time!! One of them is M.E.L.T. It is a class which utilizes foam rollers and rubber balls to work on the myofascia, to create length and increase suppleness. I liked this class so much I asked where one could get trained to teach classes. Unfortunately there are only classes in NY and CA so I’ve not made it to any of the trainings. It’s not cheap, either. If anyone would like to sponsor me to get trained, I’ll come back and teach classes!

As a member of Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals, we receive weekly updates and news articles. One of them had to do with MELT and offered $10 off the regular price for the Hand and Foot Treatment Kit. I’m planning on purchasing a set myself and know there are several of you who have voiced interest in this kit.

“Sue Hitzmann’s M.E.L.T Hand and Foot Treatment is a self-therapeutic system that can address neck and low-back pain, arthritis, bunions and carpal tunnel syndrome. It removes stress through neurofascial techniques, taking no more than 15 minutes, 3 days a week. The kit includes six M.E.L.T treatment balls, and a Bunion Reducer band as well as a one-hour instructional DVD and 24 page instruction manual. M.E.L.T. is available for $39.95 at www.meltmethod.com.

You can get $10 off the kit through Feb. 28^th, 2011, using M.E.L.T.-MBM as a coupon code.” I am not affiliated with this company, but feel our clients, friends and family could all benefit from this! If you have any questions please call or email at 288-2662 / paul at ammatn dot com.

Our office will be closed for the Christmas holidays through Wednesday, the 30th of December.

We wish you a wonderful holiday celebration with your family and friends!

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Ah, The Joy of Stats, compliments of BBC4 and YouTube!

This is a fascinating presentation to watch and a great reminder of the advances that society has made over the last two centuries. Let’s hope that our diets of processed foods and more sedentary lifestyles don’t start reversing the trend!

Marie Browning, Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Holistic Life Coach, recently sent out these helpful tips for making healthy food choices during the holiday season.  We like her suggestions so much that we’re passing them on to you word for word:

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. . . the holiday grazing has begun!  The average person will gain 3-6 pounds over the next three weeks, and most will keep the weight permanently.  Having some effective strategies for holiday eating can make it easier to avoid this and can help you feel better in the process.  Below are some tips I hope will be useful for you.

Shopping and errands

Always have a meal plan for the day. Decide ahead of time if and where to stop for lunch. Natural food grocery store cafes are great places to try new foods while enjoying salad, soup, and hot food bars. Sitting down for a real meal gives everyone a break and encourages wiser food choices.

Keep an insulated bag in the car pre-packed with crackers, nuts, nut butter packets, and water. My bag also holds small paring knife, a cloth napkin (to protect clothing), and a spoon & fork.  By grabbing cheese, fruit, or yogurt as I go out the door, I avoid getting too hungry between meals.  I take along my favorite tea in an insulated mug, too, which saves money and avoids temptation.  You know how it goes, you stop for coffee, buy a mocha latte, and the muffins smell good, and you’re tired, and … before you know it, you’ve spent $15, and a day’s allotment of calories! An hour later, you’re crashing and cranky. Or, the kids are fussy and you pull into the nearest junkfood-land joint.  Planning ahead eliminates these scenarios altogether.

Park as far away from store entrances as possible to slip extra steps into the day, and take the stairs whenever you can.  All those 1 minute jaunts can really add up.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kingsport City Schools are out today because of snow, but we’re open. . . .

See our snow policy here.

Be safe, stay warm and enjoy the season!

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Starting today, Earth Fare is giving away something every day for the next twelve days:  http://tomatotalk.earthfare.com/

If we were in Johnson City, we would definitely be taking advantage of this, so why don’t you?

What will the next 11 days bring?

- 2 free organic grapefruits

- free Burt’s Bee’s Lip Balm