Massage therapy has been practiced for thousands of years and offers numerous benefits that contribute to overall health and well-being. Here are some of the many advantages of receiving regular massage treatments: 1. Stress Reduction : One of the most immediate and notable benefits of massage is relaxation. Physical touch and the art of massage work in unison to relax muscles, soothe the nervous system, and promote a sense of well-being. Regular treatments can significantly lower stress levels and reduce anxiety, aiding in the management of emotional stress. 2. Enhanced Circulation : Massage promotes better blood flow and improved circulation throughout the body. This increased circulation aids in the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscles and tissues while also facilitating the removal of waste products. Improved circulation can expedite recovery from injury and enhance muscle function. 3. Pain Relief : For those suffering from chronic pain conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, or lower back pain, massage can offer relief by reducing muscle tension and promoting better movement. It can also temporarily decrease pain intensity by blocking pain signals sent to the brain. This can result in improved mobility and quality of life. 4. Improved Flexibility and Range of Motion : The therapeutic manipulation of muscles and joints in massage therapy can enhance flexibility and increase range of motion. Regular treatments keep the body limber, preventing muscle stiffness and improving physical performance for athletes and non-athletes alike. This improvement can also help to prevent injuries. 5. Boosted Immunity : Studies suggest that regular massage therapy can strengthen the immune system by increasing the activity of the body's natural killer cells, which fight off bacteria and viruses. Improved circulation also plays a role here, supporting the optimum functioning of the immune system. 6. Better Sleep : Many people who receive regular massages report improvements in their sleep patterns. Massage encourages relaxation and stimulates the production of serotonin, which is a precursor to melatonin, the hormone responsible for sleep. Over time, this can lead to more restful and restorative sleep cycles. 7. Alleviation of Headaches : Tension headaches can be effectively managed or even eliminated through regular massage therapy. By relieving tension in the shoulders, neck, and head muscles, massage can decrease the frequency and intensity of headaches. 8. Mental Clarity and Increased Focus : The relaxation and stress-relief benefits of massage extend beyond physical wellness. Improved circulation and reduced stress enhance mental clarity and cognitive function. Many people find themselves more focused and better able to handle daily tasks after a massage session. 9. Support for Mood Disorders : While not a replacement for professional mental health treatment, massage can aid in alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety. The soothing nature of touch combined with the body’s natural production of endorphins during a massage can lead to improved mood and a greater sense of emotional balance. Incorporating regular massage into your wellness routine can provide tremendous benefits for mind, body, and spirit. Whether you seek to manage a specific health condition, improve athletic performance, or simply find a way to relax and decompress, massage therapy can be an invaluable tool in your self-care arsenal. As with any healthcare decision, it’s important to consult with a qualified healthcare provider to ensure that massage therapy is suitable for your specific needs and conditions.

Dear Friends, The holidays are fast approaching and I hope that despite the miserable weather you manage to enjoy the pre-holiday season. I would like to let you know that we will be closed from Saturday, 23rd December until Wednesday, 3rd January. Also, I’d like to remind you that we are still running a promotion that we have set up to celebrate our new home. This means that you may still book your sessions with a 10% discount until the end of December. Starting next week through to the 1st January, our booking software will change. This means that you will have a better control over your accounts, buy and use packages online, get your loved ones gift cards and have a better and more varied selection of sessions to book. Naturally, you may still get in touch with us either by email or phone, if you have questions or need more information. Once the new booking software is linked to our website, we will send another newsletter to make sure you are aware of the change. Please get back to us if you need any more information or have any questions.

We hope you all had a fun and restful time over the festive season. We also hope that 2024 will be a great year for all of us. The way you book your appointments is changing. As of today, you will see a new booking interface on the Make a Booking page of our website. Fresha becomes our main booking platform. It is more flexible and gives our clients greater control of their accounts. With Fresha, you can book your sessions, buy and manage massage packages or even buy gift vouchers for your loved ones online at your leisure without having to get in touch with us. Needless to say, we will always be on the other side of the phone or email if that is the way you prefer to make a booking. If you have a booking with us already, there is no need to change or amend it. Many of you already know that as of December our team has a wonderful Osteopath. Ed da Silva is a skilled and knowledgeable practitioner of osteopathy with a background in fitness, sports therapy and personal training. Ed is currently working towards a Masters Degree in Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation and is a wonderful addition to our team. The thing that I personally love the most about Osteopathy is BODY MOT. Most injuries leave a trace we have to live with for the rest of our lives. That is why it is so important to get yourself checked every 2-3 months even if you feel no aches or pains and everything seems to be alright. BODY MOT will help you to detect and treat any possible problems early thus ensuring they do not become something big and start affecting your life. Please book Osteopathy Initial Assessment and use a code BDYMOT1 to get a 10% discount on your first booking. We would also like to remind you that we have moved into a new premises. Our new address is Westway Sports and Fitness Centre, 1 Crowthorne Road, London W10 6RP. The new clinic is located inside a spacious and beautiful sports centre that offers a great variety of activities that greatly complement body therapies in their endeavour to improve our physical and mental health. It is about a 10min walk away from our old location in Portobello. The closest Tube Stations are Latimer Road and White City. On 1st January our fees slightly changed for the first time in 15 months. Our base rate has gone up to £65 for a 60min session. We are committed to be fairly priced and stay affordable in this challenging time. Please get in touch, if you would like to discuss this email or require more information. We are looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you in our beautiful new clinic. In the meantime, we hope that you have a wonderful beginning of 2024.

The recent pandemic has changed a lot of things in our lives. More of us started working from home using dinner or coffee tables as their work stations. Some of my clients work from their beds or while lying on the sofa. In addition, working from home somehow extended the hours we spend in front of the computer. None of that improves the posture or makes our necks feel better. Unfortunately, many of us make their health their last priority until they are in severe pain or their normal lifestyle is severely impeded by persistent aches and stiffness in the muscles and the joints. And this is exactly the concern that wellness, health and fitness providers tend to share. Once the problem exists, it will take time, effort and consistency to eliminate it. It is way easier and ultimately cheaper to prevent it from happening. As a Massage Therapist, I dedicated my career to prevention and prophylaxis. I am always glad when my clients show up to their appointments at a regular frequency sufficient to assist them in coping with the demands of their careers or domestic lives. Just like gym sessions, yoga or pilates, massage is fully effective when done regularly. There is not a definitive answer to how often you should have a massage. Needless to say, we need to factor in a few variables. For example, how active you are. Do you have a sedentary lifestyle? Do you live with aches and pain? Your economic situation and time availability. What do you expect to achieve by attending your massage appointment? You can discuss any of these questions with your therapist to establish the way forward for you personally. In my personal opinion, weekly or fortnightly massages are the best way to maintain your physical health and essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. They allow you to quickly recover from the consequences of stress or physical fatigue thus minimising any potential injury or development of pains. Having said that, a massage every three to four weeks can also work wonders and considerably improve your quality of life. So, please choose your plan of massages, stay active, eat healthy, sleep and make sure to maintain your good health at all times.

When we look at our lives these days, we often find ourselves living on a knife’s edge, whether we are pushed to it by pressure at work, family life, relationships, physical appearance, health or whatever else we want to achieve or a combination of some of all of these factors. The impact on our physical and mental health can be quite damaging. Ever since the global pandemic, the number of patients we cater for has increased dramatically forcing us to re-think massage as a therapy so we can better help people that come to see us. In my work, I very often have to deal with consequences brought about by a combination of emotional pressures like deadlines at work or working long hours from home and long hours spent sitting at a desk. I must admit when I tried to deal with this particular challenge using only the knowledge I received at massage school, I was not always successful. My clients were very kind and they usually came back for more treatments, which allowed me to interview them further and understand what I could do better. I spent some time reading and researching, all the while trying to discuss this issue with my fellow massage therapists. Unexpectedly, the solution came with the new trends. In this particular instance, it was the advent of the Cannabidiol (CBD) revolution. Strangely enough, I never found CBD drops working that well for me when I took them orally. However, I found that the efficacy of my work increases every time I use CBD products designed for massage like oils and muscle balms. I combined their use with emphasis of massage work on the neck and the face spending a good part of each session concentrating on those areas alone. Warming up the neck and temporomandibular (TMJ) area prior to deep tissue and soft tissue release techniques using CBD products has proved to be a game changer. It is one of the examples of how a tiny deviation from a more common approach can change the perception of the treatment as experienced by a patient. The normally painful spots become a point of relaxation and improved mobility. Needless to say, once the CBD filters through the skin and into the bloodstream, it combines its positive effects with endorphins that are released during the massage, which strengthens the effect of the feel-good factor. This is how CBD Massage appeared on the list of treatments offered at YK Wellness. I often recommend it to my clients who live with aches and pains but also those who find it hard to get good quality sleep. The applications of this treatment is indeed varied with a high level of efficacy.

Dear Friends, I am delighted to inform you that as of today YK Wellness has a new home. After a six months preparation, we have finally moved into a beautiful space in the heart of West London between Notting Hill, Ladbroke Grove and Holland Park. It is just about 10 minute walk from our previous premises in Portobello Road. YK Wellness Westway Sports and Fitness Club 1 Crowthorne Road, London W10 6RP It is going to take a few days for our address to change on all the platforms. In the meantime, we will get in touch with you prior to your appointment with a reminder about the change of address. Please consider following us on Instagram @ykwellness to be constantly updated with all our news. We are looking forward to seeing you all in our beautiful new home. YK WELLNESS

Dear friends, Finally there is good news regarding the ongoing pandemic! The numbers of people with the virus is falling and the government is ready to relax the regulations. As you might have heard, England has returned to Plan A, which means there is no longer any legal requirement to wear a face mask inside our premises. We are also allowed to adjust the treatment sessions and gaps between them. Having said that, the pandemic is not over yet. Therefore we have decided that our best course of action is to remain cautious and continue to do our best to protect our ourselves and our clients. The gaps between the sessions will remain sufficiently long for us to disinfect the surfaces. Whilst you are not obliged to wear a face mask any more, we would like to ask you to consider wearing one while you are preparing for a treatment. Once you are in a prone position (face down), please remember to take the mask of to ensure your breathing is not obstructed. Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions. Always yours, YK Massages

Dear friends, Thanks to all of you who have done a google review for YK Massages. We really appreciate you taking the time to rate us. Online reviews help tremendously especially in these uncertain times. I would also like to extend a big congratulations to Harsha P who has won the raffle of a free 60min massage session with us redeemable until the end of February 2022. Our schedule has remained unchanged, with me covering Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; and Gracie working on Tuesday and Friday. As some of you may already know, I will be away from the 21 January and back seeing patients on Sunday, 30th January. Please be sure to make your bookings accordingly and I apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require further information or assistance. Allow me to end this newsletter with a heartfelt wish for you all to be safe, healthy, happy and prosperous in 2022. I sincerely hope that the worst of the uncertainty and dark times are behind us. We hope to see you all very soon. YK MASSAGES

Dear friends, I hope that you all are well and that you are coping with the colder weather. To help you plan the festive season, I would like to inform you that we will be closed from Friday, 24th December with our first day back from holidays on Wednesday, 5th January. Please make your bookings as early as possible to ensure that you get your favourite slot. There has been some confusion regarding the new pricing structure. To avoid it in the future, we have decided to introduce one set of fees that will reflect the median hourly rate. It will come into effect on the 1st January 2022. The fees will be as follows 60min session will be £58; 90min session - £81; 120min session - £102. Blocks of 10 sessions will remain £520; £720 and £880 respectively. I hope this will bring more clarity and avoid any confusion in the future. The specialised treatments like Anti-Cellulite Massage and CBD Massage will remain unchanged at £70 an hour. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that we at YK MASSAGES are still continuing to take every measure to ensure our premises are Covid safe. This includes disinfecting the surfaces and airing the room between clients. We are constantly updated by the Federation of Holistic Therapists and health authorities in regarding to COVID-19 and modify our practices in accordance with their advice. Like all of you, we hope that this pandemic will be over soon. In the meantime, we will continue to ensure your safety whenever you are having your treatments with us. Please feel free to contact us, if you have any questions or require further information. In the meantime, enjoy your preparations for the festive season. See you soon, YK MASSAGES