One of my favorite components of my practice is cupping therapy. It provides a lot of benefits, allows me to hit more areas in less time, and allow for my clients to feel better for longer after their session.
But what if you want to learn to manage your pain on your own between sessions or if something suddenly starts hurting and you need immediate help. In this case the "Cupping for Self-Care" course is for you!
Benefits of Cupping Therapy
1) Relaxing the Muscles
Cupping therapy uses a negative pressure to lift the tissue up instead of pushing it down. You can use this pressure differently depending on your goals.
From a neurological perspective if there is stimulus to the muscle, in this case pressure, the fibers will initially facilitate and be strong, but if the stimulus is prolonged the body instinctively inhibites (relaxes) to protect itself. This is why leaving cups in one location for a longer period of time can facilitate the tissue to release.
2) Release Fascia and Fascial Layers
The body has many layers beneath the skin including fat, water, fascia and more down to the muscles and bones. In healthy tissue these layers should have some movement between them allowing structures to glide without issue. However, due to things like trauma, overuse, dehydration and other stressors these layers can become stuck together or kinked.
While traditional massage compresses these layers and then glides, cupping therapy actively creates a lift and decompresses these layers. This allows for more flow between the layers, increased range of motion, and decreased pain.
Check out this amazing youtube video regarding the study of fascia and cupping:
3) Work on Fibrous Tissue
When damage is done to the soft tissue structures of the body like ligaments, tendons and muscles, the body creates a patch of scar tissue to help strengthen the affected area. However, this scar tissue is often layered in a patch shape without a proper direction and can restrict range of motion and cause pain. Cupping therapy allows us to deeply engage this tissue and help work towards realigning it.
4) Improve Blood-Flow
Proper blood flow into areas can bring in nutrients to help the body's structures and accelerate the healing of soft-tissue. This makes it very important in the recovery process. Cupping therapy will dilate the veins and arteries which is allow a higher volume of blood to flow in and out of the affected area.
5) Stimulate Lymphatic System
When using cupping therapy for self-care it can pull stagnation to the surface. Here it hits the lymphatic layer allowing for more toxins to be circulated out. Just like the cardiovascular system it will also dilate these ducts allowing for increased efficiency.
6) Bring Stagnant Blood to the Surface
Often when people think of cupping therapy one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is the "marks or discolorations", this is not to be confused with bruising. When an area of the body has had trauma, poor circulation or other issues then stagnation can occur. This stagnation is a combination of any kind of sticky fluids that can get trapped in the tissue, often blood that hasn't properly circulated out but can also be things like chemicals, toxins, and more.
Cupping takes this stagnation and pulls it to the surface where it comes into contact with the lymphatic layer allowing it to properly flow out of the body. This is different than a bruise, as a bruise is when we cause direct damage to the blood vessels/veins causing internal bleeding.
7) Deeply Engage the Parasympathetic Nervous System
While cupping therapy does do a great job doing treatment work it also deeply engages the parasympathetic nervous system even more than a traditional massage. This because the gentle lift can often be easier on the body. If you have a large number of cups on statically it will slowly release the area allowing for even more inhibition of the muscles.
What You Can Expect During the Class
This self-care cupping therapy course in Seattle, WA will focus on teaching you all the skills and knowledge you need to work on yourself safely.
We will spend the first hour going over: different types of cups, when and where to use them, benefits, contraindications, sites of caution and more.
The remaining 3 hours will be dedicated to working on ourselves from head to toe. We will use a variety of cups on the same regions so you can get the best idea of what works best for you. This means you will also be received 3 whole hours of bodywork.
Who is the Class Open to?
This class is open to the general public meaning anyone can take it. If you're a healthcare practitioner that requires continuing education this will count 4 CE hours towards your credits.
Learn about the Cupping for Self-Care Class: Class Page
Sign Up for class: Class Signup Page
Continuing Education Schedule: CE Schedule Page