New Class Schedule 2010

Monday
10:15-11:30 a.m. Hatha Yoga (All levels) Paula
6-7:15 p.m. Vinyasa Flow (All levels) Jim

Tuesday
7:00-8:00 p.m. Tai Chi (Classic Form) Charles (begins 2/9)

Wednesday
10:15-11:30 a.m. Hatha Yoga Paula
6:30-7:30 p.m. Qigong Debi
6:30-8:00 p.m. Fundamental Yoga (All levels) Carolyn (begins 2/10)

Thursday
9:00-10:00 a.m. Tai Chi Charles (begins 2/25)
6-7:15 p.m. Vinyasa Flow Laura
7:15-8:15 p.m. Gentle Yoga Laura

Friday
10:15-10:45 a.m. Hatha Yoga Paula
6:30-8:00 p.m. Community Yoga Carolyn (begins 2/12)

Saturday
8:00-9:30 a.m. Kundalini Yoga Carolyn (begins 2/13)
9-10:15 a.m. Vinyasa Flow Jim
10:15-11:30 a.m. Yin Yoga Jim

Top ten reasons to practice yoga....

1. STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression,fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga
asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.

3. BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.

5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body,they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular
benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving
oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware
and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination,reaction time and memory.

10. INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more
spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.

Yoga Classes....

We have been slowly building our yoga classes here at Gateway Bodyworks, thanks to our generous and patient yogi's staff! I am pleased to announce that we will be adding two Saturday Yoga classes. They are as follows:

Yin Yoga from 9-10 a.m.
Vinyasa Yoga from 10-11:15 a.m.

Please visit our website for a more in depth description of all of our classes. Also, for those who want to venture out into the wide world of Tai Chi....The amazing Debi Dunn will begin Tai Chi classes in January on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. See you in the new year!

Merry Christmas!

We have gift certificates available for your loved ones this holiday season! We are offering discounts on sets of two, five, and ten gift certificates good towards any modality! Call us or drop in! And remember to treat yourself to a therapeutic massage or attend one of our yoga classes or our Qigong class!

Give the gift of health and healing this holiday season!

December Specials at Gateway Bodyworks:

Buy 2 gift certificates: get $20 off

Buy 5 gift certificates: get the sixth one free

Buy 10 gift certificates: get three free

Show your loved ones how much you care this holiday season and let us take care of them!

Practice the art of giving thanks!

December can be a stressful month, so we are saying thanks to all of our clients by taking $10 off massage! The offer is good through the month of December, so thank your body, treat yourself to massage!
Thank your loved ones, treat him/her to massage by giving the gift of health this holiday season.
Purchase two gift certificates, get $25 off. Buy 5 and get the 6th for free!
Happy Holidays!

Qigong Classes starting November 4!

Qigong classes are starting Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. The instructor is Debi Dunn, who has 20 years of experience in the art of Qigong. Classes are $12 or you may purchase a 10 class card for $100, which equals $10 per class! You may call to register or just show up! For more information on Qigong or Debi Dunn, please go to our website.

Tired of fall allergies and sinus issues?

Gateway Bodyworks suggests the use of a Neti Pot to help combat mucus, congestion, and seasonal allergies. During bouts of excess mucus production, it is suggested to use a neti pot once a week, or daily depending on the level of congestion.

Ear candling may also help to cease excess mucus production, as well as ear wax, relieving allergy symptoms. Gateway Bodyworks offers ear candling sessions for $35/session. Each session lasts for about 30 minutes. It is suggested to ear candle seasonally.

Bach Flowers may help to calm allergy symptoms. Your Bach Flower practitioner can help to personalize a remedy that is suited to your needs. Sessions are $35, which includes your first custom remedy. Refills, thereafter, are $10 per bottle.

Acupuncture can help sooth allergy and sinus troubles by unblocking areas of the body that may be stuck in a holding pattern. Gateway Bodyworks is running a special on all acupuncture treatments through the end of November. You will receive $10 off each appointment booked.

CranioSacral Therapy has been found to free up allergy and sinus symptoms by utilizing the release of the cranial bones, which can free up any blockages within the sinus cavities and bodily systems.

Book your appointment today and say goodbye to troublesome seasonal issues. Schedule online at: www.gatewaybodyworks.com
"your gateway to health and healing"

Yoga is here!

Yoga classes begin on Monday October 19 at 6 p.m. The schedule is as follows:

Monday 6 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.

Wednesday 10 a.m - 11:30 a.m.

Thursday 6 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.

We teach Hatha Yoga concentrating on Pranayama and Asana. All levels of practice are welcome to join! See you there!

Namaste.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Fall in love with Acupuncture

Gateway Bodyworks is announcing the fall time savings program for new acupuncture clients. Book an appointment with either of our amazing acupuncturists and receive $10 off your session. Then receive $10 off each session thereafter. The program will extend through the end of November. Tell us you saw it on our blog!

Phoenixville First and Last Friday

Gateway Bodyworks will be on Bridge Street in downtown Phoenixville, under our brave little tent this Friday October 2, 2009 from 6pm until it is obscenely too dark to see. Lisa Firey and Mara McMullen and Ron Nedilinger will be providing chair massage. Margaret Welsh will be providing Reflexology and Kelly Boggs, our acupuncturist, will be providing tongue and pulse diagnosises. All services are complementary. Please stop by our booth and introduce yourselves! We are so proud to be apart of the Phoenixville community and it is our honor to bring health, healing, and wellness to the area.

New folks at Gateway Bodyworks!

So, a lot has been happening at Gateway Bodyworks. We have hired 3 new amazing therapists! The first is Margaret Welsh, who specializes in Reiki, Reflexology, and Shiatsu...she is such a kind soul and we are so proud to add her to our healing family. The second is the beautiful and knowledgeable, Kelly Boggs. Kelly is an acupuncturist and very skilled in Chinese medicine and herbs, as well. She is a native Pennsylvania, who just recently moved back to the area to raise her family and introduce her husband to the PA lifestyle. We are so grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to add these folks to our staff! I can't wait to personally introduce everyone to our staff...stay tuned for the open house...love to all!

Summer is...OVER?

We are having a back to school special....moms, dads, kids...take advantage. Mention that you saw this on our blog and receive $10 off any modality during the month of September. Call us to set up your appointment 610-933-5459 or schedule online at www.gatewaybodyworks.com. See you soon.

Yay Blue Marble Winery!

We got some great news just within the past couple of days....we have received the preliminary nod from the PLCB (Pennsylvania liquor control board) for the winery aspect of our business! They are ecstatic about the idea of a winery and wellness center under one roof! As are we, whilst we wipe the proverbial sweat off our brows...
In other good news, we were finally able to obtain the name Blue Marble Wines! Yay! After a waiting period of 8 months...Harrisburg handed down the verdict as a "hell yes!"
Now we are beginning the grueling process of hooking all of the equipment up, so yet another wonderful government agency can give us another nod....keepin our fingers crossed.

Wine and Wellness?

Well, this past weekend proved to be fruitful in the workings of the winery portion of our little venture! We (finally) moved all of the equipment in...the back warehouse is starting to look like a winery! Now comes the fun part; locating the hook ups.... which hose goes to which tank, which fitting goes to what....ah, the joys of the tedious work!
But if it wasn't worth it...we wouldn't do it! The harder one works, the harder one can....play? Or is it, hard work results in ...working hard....anyways I forget the cliche, but no matter the effort, the fun and anticipation never stop growing!
Thanks to our good friends, once again, for helping us this weekend....we would be nothing without your "efforts" and "hard work!" You guys rock on many levels!

The Work is why we do it!

I just came back from Columbus, Ohio, where I attended a Craniosacral Conference. It was nothing short of amazing! I met so many awesome therapists and soon to be therapists alike. The whole conference boosted my energy levels right off the charts! And since coming home, I have been more and more excited to work on my clients. The long weekend put me in touch with the reason as to why we do this stuff for a living...its not only because it is rewarding to see improvement in any and each individual, but it is the work itself as well. This stuff came from the ancients, and has been developed throughout the years. Here we are, still able to apply those teachings and whisperings that have passed down the line via many generations...today. How lucky are we? Therapist and client alike? This work is powerful and I am grateful to be apart of it!

Gateway Bodyworks and Wellness Center

Today is our first busy day since opening the doors Friday of last week and closing them for the extended holiday weekend....this is a good thing! The energy is just amazing in the center and each and every client that has stepped foot in here have added to it! The space is beautiful too! Not perfect, but who needs perfection? One might even say that imperfection is a whole lot more interesting than perfection! And we are quite interesting!

Independence Day

It is quite ironic that we are celebrating Independence Day just as I am also celebrating an Independence! The center is up and running, with just a few more tweaks, it is nearly close to perfect and ready to move on to Phase two. The reception has been very nice thus far. Thanks goes out to all my clients who have come to visit our new location. Your energies have made the warehouse more inviting.
I look forward to sharing the space with many talented therapists and clients alike.....boy is this going to be fun! With fun in mind, Happy 4th to all!

Out with the old....

Let the healing begin! Today we moved the offices from King of Prussia to Phoenixville. Immediately after I moved the last of the last, the rains came. And, boy, did it rain! I could not help but wonder if this was natures way of cleansing the past, providing new growth for the future.
It seems a little easier to breathe, think, and just be....

Phase 1

We have 2 days before opening to the public and Phase 1 construction is nearly complete...we really are towing the line! We finally finished all of the painting. Next are the floors. Then we get to do the fun part, decorate! So many loose ends to tie up, but someone once told me, "if it ain't hard, it ain't worth it!"
If it wasn't for our good friends, we would have never been able to do this on our own. We have spent many sleepless nights going over and over the plans, executing them, and doing it all over again the next day! I owe so much gratitude (and treatment) to everyone! I love you guys!
The support from the community has been overwhelming! We have met all of the neighbors and they have been so genuine and inviting...exactly the energy you want surrounding a Wellness Center! We are just so excited to put this into gear!
Phase 2 should be complete by September, which includes the two yoga studio's.
Phase 3 is focusing on the winery, though we will start digging drains asap, then install the equipment. Which simply involves getting it out of storage. The hard part is waiting for the feds approval.
Someone called me an entrepreneur the other day, I kind of liked that!
So it goes, love to all!

CRUNCH TIME

We are a week away from our proposed opening! Everything is going the way it should, I suppose. The universe will never give you more than you can handle...even if, at times, it feels like enough.

Every day is a new day

With all the manic energy surrounding this amazing project, we have still been able to stay connected to the ground! It is rather like living double lives at the moment, but the blessings that have sustained us are:
Food, really good organic veggies from our friends at Door to Door Organics ( and they deliver). Friends, we have the most amazing friends in the world. Many whom have put their lives on hold to help us with ours. And they work for food (and beer:)
Fun, having 8000 square feet to play around in and dream in has been so much fun! I think everyone who has stepped foot in the building has done a cartwheel when nobody is looking. This just increases the energy in the place.
Breath, we take breaks with deep breathing. It helps us through the many snafu's we have faced, grounds us, and allows us to work in harmony and gratitude. This also allows us to not run away with thoughts of the future, like Ram Das says: BE HERE NOW.
Future, of course, one can not help thinking of future!
For all who have supported us in this adventure, thank you! We are forever grateful and our love runs deep!

Go time

its nearly go time...july 1 opening and we are working as hard as ever! Between meetings, painting, construction of walls, fixing mistakes, laying flooring, fixing mistakes, painting, spending money, and fixing mistakes we barley have time to live in the here and now. Though, it is all worth while and the giddiness of it all has sustained any pressure or promises.

Today is a step further towards a new tomorrow! See you all in tomorrow!

What the heck is fascia?

Fascia Background Fascia has both generalized and specialized functions in the human organism. As such, it is the subject of a wide range of scientific research with many specializations of focus and emphasis. Similarly, fascia and its properties are of central importance to clinicians practicing in various conventional therapies and in the wide range of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities. Recent scientific research in the field of the human fasciae has resulted in several significant findings. Combined, the results from the worldwide research activities constitute a body of significant and important data. It is our shared vision that it is time to gather together all the latest and best scientific information about the body’s connective tissue matrix. Future conferences will continue to provide collegial settings for the mutual benefit and collaboration of basic scientists, academicians, and professionals engaged in the many clinical practices where fascia is an important consideration. About Fascia Fascia is the soft tissue component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body. It forms a whole-body continuous three-dimensional matrix of structural support. Fascia interpenetrates and surrounds all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibers, creating a unique environment for body systems functioning. The scope of our definition of and interest in fascia extends to all fibrous connective tissues, including aponeuroses, ligaments, tendons, retinaculae, joint capsules, organ and vessel tunics, the epineurium, the meninges, the periostea, and all the endomysial and intermuscular fibers of the myofasciae. There is a substantial body of research on connective tissue generally focused on specialized genetic and molecular aspects of the extracellular matrix. However, the study of fascia and its function as an organ of support has been largely neglected and overlooked for many years. Since fascia serves both global, generalized functions and local, specialized functions, it is a substrate that crosses several scientific, medical, and therapeutic disciplines, both in conventional and complementary/alternative modalities. Among the different kinds of tissues that are involved in musculoskeletal dynamics, fascia has received comparatively little scientific attention. Fascia, or dense fibrous connective tissues, nevertheless potentially plays a major and still poorly understood role in joint stability, in general movement coordination, as well as in back pain and many other pathologies. One reason why fascia has not received adequate scientific attention in the past decades is that this tissue is so pervasive and interconnected that it easily frustrates the common ambition of researchers to divide it into a discrete number of subunits which can be classified and separately described. In anatomic displays the fascia is generally removed, so the viewer can see the organs nerves and vessels but fails to appreciate the fascia which connects, and separates, these structures. Clinician Perspective on Fascia There is increasing interest in certain therapeutic communities in the role that fascia plays in musculoskeletal strain disorders such as low-back instability and postural strain patterns of all types, fibromyalgia, pelvic pain, and respiratory dysfunction, chronic stress injures, as well as in wound healing, trauma recovery and repair. The Fascia Research Congress seeks to present recent findings that advance knowledge of biomechanical and adaptive properties of fascia that may account for clinical observations in health and dysfunction. The expanding worldwide scientific research on the human fascial tissues forms a body of knowledge pertinent to a wide range of professionals engaged in conventional and CAM modalities who serve individuals afflicted with specific pathologies or injuries of fascial tissue. The latest research will further the mechanistic understanding of many manual therapies and CAM modalities which contact, mechanically manipulate, penetrate, or otherwise involve fascial tissues. (provided by the fascial congress, www.fasciacongress.org)

Phoenixville Wellness Center is in full swing! We have signed a lease and the ball is rolling. 333 Morgan Street is our new home and we can't wait to open for biz! I welcome everyone to come and enjoy all that we will have to offer or just stop by for a visit! We look forward to the coming months and can't wait to share our little dream with everyone!