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Massage moves you towards wellness: That’s the message from APOGEE massage therapist Lauren Brandstadter, who sees clients leave her massage table closer to their health and fitness goals. Whether you want to move beyond soft tissue pain from an injury or reduce the effects of stress at work—massage will help.

Studies show that massage creates physical changes: it can lower blood pressure and boost immune cell function.  That’s why massage is often used in therapeutic settings. But it’s also useful when you’re not ill, just trying to achieve a higher level of wellness. “Massage optimizes everything you’re doing,” says Lauren.

When she first meets a client, Lauren does a visual and physical evaluation. “I look at how bright someone’s eyes and skin are, how positive their attitude is, what their gait is like, and what they look like structurally,” she says. “And I’ll ask about diet, medications, injuries, aches and pains and trauma.” She’ll also talk about stress and emotional health. “Nothing happens on a physical level that doesn’t have an emotional or spiritual root,” she says. “For example, physical injuries are aggravated by the stress someone is under.”

Then the Westchester native begins to palpate, adding information to what the client tells her. “As I work it’s like peeling an onion, each layer comes away to reveal the root of what they’re dealing with,” says Lauren, who has been a massage therapist for 20 years.

Problems at work or in relationships, struggles with diet and exercise—all can manifest physically in the body. “Massage brings everything right up to the surface—whether it’s emotional or physical—so it can be dealt with and you can move on,” says Lauren. She uses the common cold as an example: “If someone comes in with a cold, the massage will kick up the virus and maybe the next day they’ll feel worse, but the day after that, they will be 100 percent better—the duration is cut in half. I speeded up that process.”

This is why top executives and athletes have regular massages: They know that massage keeps them moving forward. Says Lauren,  “I help people evolve and get closer to what they want.”

• Until May 31, buy one massage and get a second for half-price.
• Learn more about APOGEE’s massage services.
• Related articles: How to Give a Foot Massage

Thank goodness it’s springtime! Now that the soil is loose and warming, plants and seeds can grow. But don’t just make your garden ready for growth and change. By loosening your body’s muscles and joints, it will be easier for you to be receptive to new movements, new ideas and new possibilities in your life.  The MELT Method is one way to do just that.

MELT is therapy for your connective tissue. Every muscle, joint and organ in your body is surrounded by a web of fibrous connective tissue called myofascia. “Fluids and energy flow through the fascia like a river through your body,” says APOGEE MELT instructor Marisa Duffy. “Due to stress or trauma or just daily postural habits—like sitting at a computer—the connective tissue becomes stiff and dehydrated and acts like a dam.” A year ago, Marisa became certified to teach the MELT Method (MELT stands for Myofascial Energetic Lengthening Technique), which releases and lengthens the fascia. Marisa is teaching MELT at APOGEE Bedford Hills on Mondays at 8:30 a.m..

Using foam rollers and balls, Marisa leads members through a series of movements that release the fascia. Immediately, the connective tissue rehydrates and becomes more pliable. “People feel better right away,” says Marisa. Fluid begins to flow freely around joints. “MELT enhances the flow to connective tissue which energizes the whole body and aligns you.”

Marisa starts the class by having members lie on the ground and feel how their body comes into contact with the floor. Hardly anyone lies evenly: One hip may be higher,  one shoulder may be off the floor, one leg may feel heavier.  Marisa shows clients how to lean into the rollers and balls to release the fascia. Small movements can have big effects, she says. Working on the feet can help energize and align the entire leg and hip, for example. “The exercises bring you back into proper alignment, “ Marisa says. “Alignment keeps us healthier and keeps us from getting pain.”

Marisa teaches MELT with the hope that clients will practice at home, too. “These are simple techniques that anyone can learn to do for themselves,” Marisa says. “They can make such a difference in the way you feel.”

Try MELT for free on Wednesday, March 31, during the APOGEE Bedford Hills Open House. All classes are free all day; see the entire schedule here.

One the most fabulous gifts you can give—or receive—is to touch or be touched.  Hugs, handshakes, taking someone’s arm—simple touches like these have been proven to lower blood pressure and the stress hormone cortisol and even boost the immune system.

Massage is one way of systematically touching someone and, with practice, it can release muscle tension as well. APOGEE’s massage therapist Orlando Ocasio recommends sharing a foot massage. It’s nice to give your partner a foot rub; try it with your children as well. Here is Orlando’s recipe for a 20-minute foot massage that anyone can master.

1. Choose a place where your partner can sit or lie down and be warm, relaxed and comfortable. Warm some lotion or massage oil to skin temperature; test the temperature on the inside of your wrist. Put the lotion or oil on your hands so they will glide on your partner’s skin.
2. Begin by holding one of your partner’s feet in your hands; cover the other foot with a blanket or towel. Using long gliding strokes that barely touch the skin, stroke the top of the foot from the ankle toward the toes for about a minute. Then, with the same light touch, stroke the bottom of the foot, from the heel to the toe for another minute.
3. Repeat the same strokes, but apply 10 percent more pressure. After a minute, apply 10 percent more pressure, then increase the pressure a third time.  Each time you begin to apply more pressure, ask permission. You can say something such as, “Is this OK? Does this feel good?” By the third round, you should be pressing beyond the skin layer.
4. Using this deepest pressure, put one thumb on top of the other and press into the ball of the foot, using short upward and downward movements. Move to the arch, using both thumbs to stroke toward the toes.
5. With the palm of your hand, cup your partner’s heel and wave your hand, pressing into the heel with a back and forth motion.
6. With the soft part of your thumb, press the bottom of each toe. Then, with your thumb and forefinger, gently grasp each toe.
7. End with the same long, light strokes that you began with, stroking from ankle to toes, on the top and bottom of the foot.
8. Cover or wrap this foot and then massage the other foot in the same way.