San Francisco FrontRunners

We bring you another Sponsor Spotlight! This time, we sit down with our newest sponsor, Body Awakening: Ancient Wellness Arts (link), to learn more their new business and their experience and vision. As sponsors to our club, they offer us an amazing 50% off of the first session and 10% off of any sessions after. For the Sponsor Spotlight, we interview the founders, Wendell Doman and Megha Varma.

Body Awakening: Ancient Wellness Arts

We are so happy to have you as a new sponsor for SF FrontRunners! Thank you for taking some time to fill us in on Body Awakening: Ancient Wellness Arts. Can you begin by giving us an overview of what Body Awakening provides for people of all abilities?

Wendell and Megha: Yes, currently, Body Awakening provides professional massage therapy to meet your lifestyle needs. We offer a range of Eastern and Western modalities, as well as our own Signature Massages; like the Acupressure, Shiatsu, and Thai Reflexology blend, “Zen Balance”. You can find more detail on our website (link). Whether you’re looking to relax, de-stress, work out some knots, restore your muscles, get ready for a big performance, Zen out, or realign postural imbalances, Body Awakening has a massage for you!

For runners and walkers, what kinds of specific sessions or services do you provide?

Wendell and Megha: For runners and walkers we provide sports specific massage to help remove metabolic waste and lingering uric acid as well as limber up and restore tissue for your next two-legged endeavor! I personally recommend asking for a Russian Sports Session. It’s a well designed modality which efficiently restores your body! Watch for our “Humble Hero” Signature Massage coming this November. It includes a combination of Russian Sports Techniques, a 30 minute spirulina wrap, and a hot/cold treatment to restore and energize the athlete’s body!

For those of us who have never had much/any massage in our lives, can you recommend a good session to begin with?

Megha and Wendell: For new-comers, I suggest the following: think of an intention that you would like to accomplish with massage. The possibilities are waiting for you. If this is too vague, you might ask for a Swedish Style massage to introduce you to the therapeutic power of touch. If you’re feeling stiff, ask for Momentum Stretching.

You are recent to the city. Can you tell us how you approached bringing Body Awakening to San Francisco and your vision with where you want to take it?

Wendell: Great question! Body Awakening started with another name while I was a student at the Arizona School of Massage Therapy: Energetic Structure.

Wendell ready for a session (above)

My goal is to encourage this as a concept of who we are as people, Energetic Structures! San Francisco is a perfect environment to foster such an approach to wellness! Since coming to SF, my vision has evolved and expanded beyond massage therapy. My partner, Megha Varma, and I find value in regularly maintaining massage therapy, yoga, meditation and qi-gong as a part of a healthy lifestyle. We strongly believe that these activities can help one achieve a balanced lifestyle. Our intention is to build a wellness center which offers all of these activities that are rooted deeply in our global culture. We feel warmly received so far and anticipate more enthusiastic growth in the near future!

For those of us who are looking at increasing our flexibility and overall fitness, can you recommend any specific sessions to consider?

Megha and Wendell: For FrontRunners, I recommend making an appointment for a Sports Massage, Russian Sports Massage, or a “Humble Hero”. You can also ask to incorporate stretches into your session! Fortunately, almost any type of massage will help you increase flexibility and overall fitness due to its direct manipulation of muscle and other tissues. Massage also increases metabolism, which means you use energy more efficiently.

In addition to sessions at your center, can you recommend stretches or exercises to do at home in-between going into sessions and also regular workouts?

Wendell and Megha: Absolutely, as runners, it is very important to stretch your legs and core. After you finish your exercise, take five to ten minutes to stretch your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, adductors, low back, abs, obliques, hip rotators and flexors! You might say, “That so many stretches!”  I’ll tell you, “You use all of them extensively and more!!” As for exercises, lunges (front, side and reverse) are great core builders. These are easily done up and down the length of a hallway. Squats (double and single-leg) are also a great way to maintain proper balance, alignment and strength for a long run. Things to keep in mind: Do exercises in a progressive fashion (stable->unstable; static->dynamic; easy->challenging). Pay attention to your body, it is telling you what you are feeling! Stretch to the point of first resistance, not beyond. Hold stretches for 20-30 seconds. For more details, you’ll have to inquire on the massage table. :)

When we experience injuries, we can face a lot of down time or long periods of physical therapy. What options/sessions can you recommend for those of us who are recovering from running-related injuries?

Megha and Wendell: First, take the time that you need to recover. Regular massage therapy will help you get back on track with less time. The most common mistake is to attempt too much before you are ready. I recommend coming in for an injury-specific massage (tailored for your injury) and easing back into your active lifestyle. A great way to compliment this is to regularly follow the R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compress, elevate) principle for injury recovery on your own. After about a week, start to alternate cold and hot treatments. Always end with cold. This and a customized massage at weekly intervals will put you on the road to a speedy recovery!

How often would you recommend going to sessions for general loosening up and stress-relief?

Wendell and Megha: Once a month. This is a good amount of time to give your body a healthy “check-in” and alleviate any accumulated tension.

Megha in the cozy, new lobby (above)

Thank you so much for offering your support to our club during this exciting time as Body Awakening starts up in San Francisco! Any parting words?

We appreciate this opportunity to work with a group of people that are committed to community and healthy lifestyle activities! Keep running and please compliment your exercise with massage, yoga, and other ancient wellness arts! Thank you, FrontRunners! Take Care of Yourself. Take Care of Others. Take Care of the Earth.

Thank you both so very much for taking the time to help us become better-acquainted with Body Awakening: Ancient Wellness Arts! Your sponsorship is greatly appreciated and with 50% off of the first visit and 10% on all after, we can't wait to check you out!

Body Awakening: Ancient Wellness Arts is located at 129 Fillmore Street. Not only can you go to their location for sessions, you can also inquire about having them come to your events or workplace for sessions and more. For full details, head to their website (link) and schedule a visit!

Stay tuned for more Sponsor Spotlights!