Massage Archives - Renu Massage, Energy & Bodywork in Madison

Want a Resort Spa Experience? We Got You!

At Renu, we love therapeutic massage to relieve chronic pain and keep everyone in good working order - that is our passion.

But sometimes you want to feel pampered and have a spa experience. We’ve got you there too!

Book a spa experience with Reneé and you’ll get hot stones, aromatherapy and a hot compress. And it’s heavenly.

A friend of mine just saw Reneé for her birthday and had an absolutely fabulous experience. She hasn’t done regular massage before, but now she wants to. Regular massage is one of the best things you can do for yourself to maintain your health and improve your overall wellness. Why not do something good for you that also feels great?

I had a spa experience for my birthday, and it was absolutely amazing! I love a good spa getaway, but things have gotten so very expensive - we feel it too as a small business. Here in town, you can splurge on some extras without coming anywhere close to the cost of going to the Dells or to Kohler.

Any day is the perfect day to take care of yourself. Massage helps your mental health, your physical health, and your emotional and spiritual health.

Enjoy some extras too - you are worth it!

February 26, 2025/by Heidi

Healthy Living, Massage, Natural Remedies

Here’s How to Be Healthier This Year Without Tons of Effort

How’s that resolution going?

We tend to think big when making resolutions, when the most effective way to see tangible results is by making small changes that are doable. So think small. If you haven’t yet read Darren Hardy’s The Compound Effect, it’s a great short read about how small changes add up over time - whether they be positive or negative. I have seen that demonstrated in my life time and time again.

What one or two small things can you change that will add up over time? Here are some ideas:

Add dark leafy greens

From a Washington Post article:

“Eating more dark green leafy vegetables is one of the best changes you can make because ‘they are the healthiest food on the planet,’ says Tracye McQuirter, public health nutritionist, author of “Ageless Vegan” and founder of the 10 Million Black Vegan Women movement.

Dark green leafy vegetables are packed with nutrients that fight cancer and promote the health of our hearts, eyes, bones, digestive systems, brains and skin, which is why, she says, ‘the glow is in the greens.’”¹Plus - fiber! Most of us could use a little more fiber.

Sound tough to do? It doesn’t have to be. Add some chopped greens to a stir fry, an omelet, your smoothie (you won’t ruin it!), or sauces and soups. Just a little bit as a habit will really make a big difference.

Eat Less Red Meat

That means less, not zero, if you’re a meat lover. Between the health of your body and the health of our planet, it’s a really great thing to decrease consumption of, significantly if possible, and just a little bit if not. Even if once a week you choose an alternative (those Beyond or Impossible Burgers are pretty great!), you’re still helping things. I’ve been cooking up Beyond Burgers in my air fryer for quite some time, and I just love them.

Try More Easy Meals at Home

So many times we order food because the thought of cooking at the end of the day seems too daunting. We see delivery cars all over the place too.

Restaurants do still need our support most service businesses are still recovering from the pandemic, ours included.

But let’s be purposeful about when we order from restaurants (especially fast or fried foods). Let’s stick to our home-cooked resolve - even just one more day than we are tempted to cave to start with. Choose a couple easy, healthy recipes that become a go-to on your tired nights. Trader Joe’s has some great things for easy meals - try a few new things on each shopping trip to see what you enjoy. Choose things whose labels don’t look overly daunting with their ingredients of mispronounce-able things.

The Whole 30 has some great tasting recipes that are very healthy. The tuna boats, protein salad and salmon cakes are among my favorites - salmon cakes take a bit of prep, but you can make a double batch that will last awhile. The tuna boats can be done with or without the endive boats (and the tuna mix is delicious!), and the protein salad is super easy once you do it a couple times. There are also some great sauces for seafood that aren’t very difficult to make, and they go with pretty much any white fish. I often chop up a little cabbage to add to the tuna mix and it’s much faster than spooning the mix into the endive leaves.

Reduce Alcohol Consumption

’Tis the season to abstain - Dry January has become quite popular! Can you keep it going? It’s really, really good to give your body a break from alcohol. Cutting back even a little bit on your weekly intake will make a big difference on your health; alcohol calories really add up, and excessive consumption can lead to other health concerns over the long-term. The Surgeon General recently recommended a warning label on alcohol because it’s been discovered that there really is no safe amount of alcohol; it’s just toxic. You can minimize your risk by reducing consumption. Your body and your sleep will thank you!

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve seen that I feel so much better with little or no alcohol. I do very much enjoy it, so saving it for special occasions just makes it more special.

There are lots of good-tasting non-alcoholic beverages available these days. A few of my favorites include:

Ghia - my favorite of them all! Aperitifs that are fantastic.
Casamara Club Italian sodas - they’re all fabulous, but my favorites are Onda & Alta
Kin Euphorics - their Actual Sunshine reminds me of a mimosa, and Lightwave is lovely to sip as your last beverage of the day. Everything I’ve tried from Kin has been great.
Lyre products - I have yet to be disappointed in them
Pentire - gin, margaritas, and palomas. Palomas are my favorite.
Seedlip - great for mixers.
Monday Gin
Proteau botanical beverages a substitute for wine

There are hop waters out there too with zero calories, and lots of other things to try. Have fun with experimenting!

Give Your Mind a Break

Another great way to be healthier is to take care of your nervous system but giving your parasympathetic nervous system a break. Meditation is great for this, but a lot of people struggle with it. Walks in nature are also fantastic. You know what else does this? Massage! If you allow your body to relax (and don’t chit chat through the session), your mind, body and spirit will all be rejuvenated while also feeling great.

We wish you a healthy 2025!

¹https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/01/03/how-make-smart-new-year-resolutions/

February 10, 2025/by Heidi

Healthy Living, Massage, Natural Remedies, Pain Relief

Need to focus on self care?

Massage therapist providing massage to shoulder of client

This year is a great year to start: partner with your bodywork therapist to achieve results.

Do you need to focus on self care more this year? Most of us do.

I meet a fair amount of people who think of massage and bodywork as a luxury, something to treat oneself to on special occasions. While it is certainly true that massage feels wonderful and is a great way to celebrate, it seems these people are missing out on a huge opportunity to improve their overall daily health. When people like this come into our practice, we can usually see lots of benefits to regular bodywork that they would experience if they allowed themselves to take care of their bodies. And even if they agree it’s a good idea to do it more regularly, we often won’t see them again for months.

Self-care is important — it is not a luxury at all! We all know to put on our own oxygen mask first in the very unlikely event that our airplane loses cabin pressure, but not all of us know how to take care of our own body, mind and soul. Massage and bodywork address all three of those, and it feels good too! Granted, sometimes bodywork doesn’t feel great if we have super tight or knotted areas, or areas that have been causing pain in the body for some time. Sometimes it does need to feel worse before it feels better. But that doesn’t mean that when massage feels wonderful that it has no benefits; it absolutely does.

We depend on and expect our bodies to carry us from one activity to the next, and we often have such expectations without giving it the appropriate care. It’s no wonder so many people have aches and pains, since bodies are contracting during exercise and fast-paced living, yet not very often getting stretched, soothed, or returned to their elongated state filled with wonderful oxygen. So even an average person who has no complaints can absolutely benefit from massage. How many things in life do we only realize how much we need after we experience it? That seems to be the human condition.

Some physical issues can be resolved quickly and efficiently with bodywork, but others are more complex and deeper within. Those in this category often know they need bodywork to address an issue, and they expect if they just keep showing up to regular massage appointments then their issues will magically be resolved without any effort on their part. While massage or other bodywork is a great and appropriate thing to do for a great many chronic conditions, it is only part of the equation and only goes so far.

The massage recipient bears the responsibility to fill that gap and to partner with the therapist to really see some fantastic results. Filling the gap can be done with emotional or spiritual healing in addition to bodywork, or even by changing some regular habits that are creating the very pattern we are trying to change. The bodyworker gets an hour with someone every few weeks, and those habits get a significant more amount of time.

Personally, I have found that true healing is multilayered. Pain in the body can be as simple as surface level, but chronic issues usually have an emotional, energetic and spiritual component. Each person on the journey of healing needs to seek healing on all these layers. And very importantly, to communicate with the therapist before, during and after sessions about what is working and not working, what is being felt and experienced, or anything else that feels relevant.

Your therapist wants your feedback! Many people feel too shy to say that something isn’t working, but this is the exact type of thing we need to know to do our job properly. A therapist can often read signals the body gives, but a therapist can never know what a client is thinking, feeling or wanting without being told. The more input a therapist receives, the more efficient your therapy session will be.

Whether you are looking to massage and bodywork for relaxation, to heal an old injury or provide relief from chronic pain that affects your daily activities, it is vital that you see your relationship with your therapist as a partnership. Your therapist needs your input to get to the core of the issues that you want to resolve. Together, you can journey through the path of healing to the other side.

Will 2025 be the year you focus on self care and take better care of yourself? We certainly hope so, and that you’ll make massage part of that journey.

January 20, 2025/by Heidi

Healthy Living, Massage, Natural Remedies

Massage Therapy for Mental Health

Tis the Season… to take care of your mental health. Many of us feel more stress, anxiety and/or depression around the holidays. You are not alone if you are feeling any of these things.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25% worldwide in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys conducted in 2020 and 2021 also found higher than normal levels of stress and insomnia.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women experience one trauma in their lifetime. Additionally, 7 to 8 percent of adults will have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime.

With all the chaos we’ve been experiencing collectively the past decade or so, we really need to focus on self care. 2025 is great year to do that - what small things can you do to make your wellbeing better as we embark on a new year? Massage and reiki are among the best choices of things to add to your regular wellness routine.

Pain, fatigue, muscle tension and sleep disruptions can result from mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and PTSD. There is an abundance of research suggesting that massage therapy can and does help with many chronic health conditions.

Some questions to ask yourself:

Do you have difficulty attending to every day activities?
Do you feel depressed or hopeless?
Have you noticed a drastic increase or decrease in energy?
Have you noticed a change in appetite or weight?
Are you sleeping too little or too much?

You can also take the full assessment for depression online to receive a score. Please consult a mental health professional if you are experiencing the above, and you don’t have other contributing factors. Your primary care physician is a great place to start if you don’t have your own mental health professional.

Massage therapy and reiki can definitely help, but they are no substitute for a thorough medical evaluation. Massage therapy and energy work can bring relief as you manage your medical journey.

Learn more about how myofascial release can help with anxiety, depression, and exhaustion from John Barnes, PT, LMT. Myofascial release is one of the many techniques utilized in therapeutic massage here at Renu.

We encourage you to do what you need to do to make 2025 work for you. You can still thrive internally even when there’s chaos globally.

December 26, 2024/by Heidi

Healthy Living, Massage, Pain Relief, Renu's History

Renu Was Awarded Best Massage Therapist in Middleton!

We’re so thrilled to announce that Renu was a winner of the 2024 Quality Business Awards! With a quality rating over 95% over the previous 12 months, Renu was chosen over all the many other massage studios in Middleton.

The criteria includes:

The business must have outstanding customer reviews and reputation from more than 3 different platforms. Businesses that respond to customers questions and concerns with continued regularity will also be highly viewed upon. Businesses with exceptional records spanning over multiple years with zero to very low amount of complaints will score highly.

Businesses that conduct their day to day efforts with the highest integrity and have shown a continuous trend of giving back to their local community and reducing their carbon footprint will be rewarded with a Quality Business Award. Each year we start the process from scratch and re-evaluate each business in the USA.

Every massage therapist and energy worker at Renu cares deeply about their craft and their clients. It shows in the loyalty we’ve seen from our clientele over the years.

Our industry still has a shortage of staffing, so we’re smaller than we’ve been in a long time, but we still value all these tenets and choose any new massage therapist carefully to ensure that they fit our culture as we enter our 14th year in business.

Come visit us and see what sets us apart.

December 6, 2024/by Heidi

Healthy Living, Massage, Natural Remedies, Reiki

Massage for grief

Are you grieving anything right now? Grief is a part of life, and the ultimate cost of love.

I find that the average person who does not work in bodywork associates massage with a range of things from treating oneself for a special occasion, to working on a chronic pain problem to achieve results, to providing therapeutic maintenance to the muscles we use daily for years and years. Many of you have probably experienced massage in one or more of these capacities, but not all of you might know the benefits of massage during grief.

Grief is broader than dealing with loss from death; it can be experienced from any significant change in which you are losing something that has been a part of you or your life, even it if is moving onward and forward to something that is “better” in your mind. This can be a change of jobs, change of residence, shifting relationships as people grow and change, move, or have children and become less available. Grief can arise from losing the hope of something you had thought was going to be part of your life. It can also occur from giving up certain foods once you find your body doesn’t respond well to them. We humans do get attached. And of course, the most painful of all forms of grief is losing a loved one due to death.

All of us experience grief as a natural process of life; it is vitally important that we acknowledge and feel our grief, in all its painful and shameless glory, to fully let go, heal, and move forward. Pent up grief manifests itself in many ways in the body, mind and spirit, and often gets expressed with anger when bottled up for too long. Grief demands that we let it have its say one way or another; best to let it have its due as you are experiencing your loss. This will not be easy, it will definitely not be linear, nor will it be pleasant, but it is necessary for your overall health and well being.

Now that we are experiencing grief, what next? Many people have trouble balancing life responsibilities while allowing grief to take its course. Sometimes it’s small outbursts of emotions when you can sneak them in during your own private moments - crying in the car is a great emotional outlet; I’ve used this many times after significant losses, and didn’t mind so much when I had a long commute. Allowing the tears to flow during a grou9p fitness class like Jazzercise when everyone is looking at the instructor is also a very cathartic experience. Allowing yourself these expressions of emotions whenever you can will help you fully feel, experience, and ultimately move through your grief.

Massage is one of those outlets too, particularly when grief or trauma is fresh. Massage teams are often in place as part of emergency response after a tragedy such as a plane crash. After the Oklahoma City bombing, the state medical examiner observed that the massage therapists were “accomplishing more in 15 minutes than psychologists could in an hour or two” (Life, Aug. 8, 1997). Wow! That is amazing. How can that be? The need for touch is powerful, and it is often the most immediate need that we have after tragedy or loss. It allows us to take a break from life’s responsibilities and just feel for however long we are in session. We might even cry on the table or massage chair, and that’s not only okay, it’s good; it’s healing. The space of massage is always a safe place. You can be who you are, wherever your emotional state might be that day, that hour, that minute.

If you feel you need a deeper level of healing, that’s where energy work such as reiki comes in. You’ll be healing the parts of you that you can’t touch with your five senses. Combining the physical touch of massage with the powerful benefits of reiki will be a truly healing and comforting journey.

Massage and reiki are still beneficial when grief is not as fresh. As you have no doubt experienced, grief takes a long time to finally be on its way, waving goodbye to you from afar and wishing you well. Grief can feel like a long winter that just doesn’t want to let go, but Spring does eventually come. As you move through grief in all its stages that seem like forever, massage is always that safe space for you to just feel and be whoever and wherever you are at the moment. It helps you feel supported so that you can continue to move forward and survive. It answers that vital need for support through touch, while at the same time allowing you to be with your emotions, your mind, and your body.

Heidi Aschenbrenner is the owner of Renu Massage, Energy & Bodywork Heidi’s team of bodywork therapists and a Reiki master all strive to achieve balance in each session through the use of energy work incorporated into their bodywork therapies

For more information or to contact Heidi, please visit renumadison.com.

References:

http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/302/Touching-Grief
http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/2074/Grief-Loss

November 8, 2024/by Heidi

Body Treatments, Healthy Living, Massage, Natural Remedies

Unlocking the Mystery of Essential Oils

We’ve all heard the term “aromatherapy,” which utilizes essential oils during massage or as an addition to a bath or lotion, but many of us aren’t exactly certain what those terms actually mean. What exactly are essential oils? How are they helpful?

Essential oils are extracted from a given plant (using all of its parts from root to flower). The extraction is generally done using a steam distillation process to release the oils, and then the oil is extracted from the steam as the mixture cools. With distillation, any pesticides or other chemicals that may have been in the plant should be removed. Cold pressing may also be utilized for certain citrus oils. The health benefits from the original plant are then concentrated in the oil extraction. Essential oils can be used to remedy a wide range of ailments, just as plants have been used to heal for centuries.

Massage oil and hot stones for therapeutic massage Quality does matter - it does seem to be true that you get what you pay for with essential oils. It usually takes thousands of a particular plant to produce just a few milliliters of essential oil! The term “therapeutic grade” is used by several companies, and though that term is not a regulated one, it is generally the industry standard that signifies that the oils are pure and contain no fillers or artificial ingredients. But as with any unregulated term, ask questions! Find out what the extraction process is - there should never be oily feel to a pure essential oil (which you can test on a sheet of white paper). Some sources of good quality oils include Rocky Mountain Oils, Swiss Aromatics, and Native American Nutritionals. Young Living and doTERRA are both great quality too, but they are also part of the multi-level marketing industry.

There are several essential oils I can’t live without anymore: lavender, peppermint, lemon, and frankincense.

Lavender is simply the most versatile oil out there; it can be used to relax muscles, to soothe irritated skin (and is disinfecting), and is very calming and great for a bath or a massage. It can:

spruce up a stagnant closet
freshen up a room, linens, really anything!
it can help keep winter dryness away when added to your moisturizer (fractionated coconut oil is best to mix it with).

lavender-massage-oil Peppermint is wonderful for both digestive troubles and also for any sinus congestion or headaches. It helps relax muscles too, so it’s a great blend with lavender if you’ve got a knot in your back. Peppermint has soothed my tummy many a time after eating something that didn’t agree with me. You can double-bag your peppermint tea or add a few drops of the essential oil to receive its soothing effects on your digestive system or to eliminate headaches without taking a pill. Rubbing it directly on your belly works for digestive troubles too. When diffused in a room, not only do you get its great benefits for your sinuses, you’ll also be encouraging your 6 and 8 legged uninvited guests to vacate the premises - insects and arachnids don’t like peppermint, an added bonus!

Lemon is such a wonderful immune-boosting oil. Just a few drops to your favorite herbal tea will help detoxify your liver and give you an energy boost. Mixing lemon and peppermint in your morning glass of water will give you a refreshing, energy boosting treat. Lemon can also get the stink out of forgotten wet laundry and help with hard water deposits when cleaning.

Ah, frankincense… My new favorite oil. It’s calming to both your physical and emotional states. Just taking a few deep breathes of frankincense can change your whole perspective and turn your day around. It’s also good for skin conditions and is a diuretic, and it works very well with peppermint to relieve headaches. Frankincense boosts your immune system and supports your body’s healthy production of white blood cells, and it makes you feel great while it’s doing all that.

Who can benefit from essential oils? Everyone! They are particularly great for pregnant people who want more natural remedies for headaches, nausea, morning sickness, congestion, swollen ankles, or low-back pain. Essential oils are a wonderful complement to any massage, and can be a great addition to any home.

October 5, 2024/by Heidi

Massage

How Massage Relieves Chronic Pain

manual medical massage - releasing the fascia

Chronic pain seems to be so prevalent these days. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, about 80 percent of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lives. Sometimes the pain goes away on its own, other times it lingers and becomes a chronic condition (defined as persisting for 12 weeks or longer), and many people have to deal with chronic pain for years (myself included!).

While there are many potential causes of the initial pain, it often can become a chronic condition because of the fascial restrictions that result from an injury. What is fascia? Fascia is the connective tissue in your body beneath the skin that attaches and stabilizes muscles and internal organs. There are several layers of fascia, which include your muscular and visceral tissues. It looks like a spider’s web or a sweater, and it is a continuous structure throughout your body, so everything is connected!

Restrictions can occur in fascia from every day activities and the regular stressors we all experience, which usually are easily worked out with exercise, stretching, yoga and regular bodywork. All of these provide a very healthy maintenance system for your musculoskeletal system, and we all probably need to take better care of our bodies.

Restrictions will absolutely occur after any kind of trauma or injury, and these are the kinds of protections that your fascial system tends to hold on to in an effort to guard against repeated injury. This is especially common with low back pain — there could be nothing structurally wrong in a low back, but tightness in the surrounding muscles or fascia will result in chronic pain anyway. Massage is a great way to alleviate that pain. How?

It takes time to retrain the fascial system to not behave defensively and let the body return to its normal activities; it’s as if your fascia has a memory of the injuring trauma and goes into protective mode. Then it likes to stay in that mode. Protective mode tends to mean tightness and being “on guard,” which then promotes more adhesions or other restrictions in the tissue, which limits blood flow and oxygen, which results in pain. Massage retrains that system over time, because our muscles and most of our fascia are retrainable, which is great news!

For chronic pain, it is important to work through the muscles and other fascia to release the adhesions and retrain those tissues. Exercises and stretching can be very helpful too, if you consult with a physical therapist or a personal trainer with experience in the issues you are experiencing. And of course if anything structural is a problem, then a chiropractor visit would be in order.

But before seeing all kinds of specialists, often it’s enough to just get some regular massage and bodywork from a licensed massage or bodyworker therapist. This can be enough to alleviate the restrictions and let the muscles both get to know and also embrace a new normal. Sometimes the fascial restrictions can also contribute to a structural misalignment because the muscles are so used to being in an incorrect position, and they prefer to stay how they are.

Your massage therapist is also able to detect when massage alone isn’t doing the job and will recommend other avenues to explore. So before you see that chiropractor, do your body a favor and get a massage first!

September 3, 2024/by Heidi

Body Treatments, Cupping Therapy, Healthy Living, Massage, Natural Remedies, Pain Relief

Back Pain from Gardening? Cupping Can Help!

Tis the season to be out in the yard. And it is oh so hard on our backs. For those of us with chronic joint issues like EDS, it can also destabilize the pelvis which then results in all kinds of other pain from hip to knee to feet.

If you experience chronic pain, you probably have an assortment of caregivers who help manage it all, from chiropractors to acupuncturists and/or physical therapists. Massage and cupping therapy should definitely be part of that mix if it’s not already. You’re missing the opportunity to nip a pattern in the bud before it sets in, between your other care visits.

Massage will definitely help, but cupping therapy will provide the most relief the fastest, and is more effective at preventing those patterns from setting in and requiring more effort (and visits) to correct.

I speak from experience, and cupping therapy has been a game changer yet again for me while I wait for my PT appointment later this month.

Haven’t tried it yet? Now is the perfect time and season to give it a go! All our therapists are trained in it.

June 3, 2024/by Heidi

Healthy Living, Massage, Natural Remedies

Invigorate Yourself This Spring

Massage therapy is relaxing, but a lot of bodywork can also be invigorating. Even if you prefer the most relaxing session you can possibly achieve, you’ll be investing that restorative time into your wellbeing which will serve you at a later time. Let yourself enjoy those quiet moments so we can fully engage as things gear up with Spring and Summer weather.

How do you best de-stress?

Introverts need quiet time. Extroverts need time with others. What fuels you beyond those basics? Music? Watching the birds, bunnies, and other animals doing their thing in nature? Staring out at the lake? Playing with your own companion animlas? Be sure to take time for what fuels you. Regularly.

Massage is an integral part of caring for your body, mind, and spirit. Many of us with chronic pain need it for regular maintenance to be able to do the things we want to do, and many more people would benefit from regular massage than usually realize it.

If you only get a massage a couple times per year, you would definitely improve your overall health with monthly sessions. We’ve got wellness programs designed to incentivize your commitment to your own health and well-being. Whether Reiki, massage, cupping, or a combination of the three, you will be glad you made the effort to take care of yourself first so you can better care for others.

April 22, 2024/by Heidi