December 31, 2015
The new year is often viewed as a new beginning, a clean slate and a chance to cleanse your conscience of past misfortunes as you step into the future.
As the calendar turns to 2016, allow yourself some time to consider how you can enter this next chapter of life with a more grounded and positive sense of self.
To help get your gears going on ideas, we've compiled five wellness services offered in the Philadelphia area.
The intentional practice of entering silence, calming the tumultuous ocean of everyday thoughts and feelings, and intuiting a deeper source of wisdom within is very much rooted in our collective human experience.
While mediation might sound a little hokey, or just plain unbearable if you're the type who can't sit still and be silent for more than a few minutes, practitioners laud its stress-reducing and healing benefits.
Plus, the practice is said to reverse the effects of aging, which is great, since, as we know, the clock only moves one way.
Shambhala Mediation Center of Philadelphia offers an array of weekly public sitting meditation hours, many free, with no prior meditation experience required to attend.
For more details, click here.
First, what is cupping therapy? According to WebMD, cupping therapy is a form of alternative medicine where suction cups are placed on the skin in an attempt to promote blood flow, rid the body of toxins and aid in the healing of several ailments.
Flat Rock Health offers cupping therapy appointments at several of its facilities throughout Pennsylvania, including in Philadelphia. For details, click here.
Reiki, a Japanese technique for relaxation and healing, is done by practitioners placing their hands on a client's skin to transfer energy.
According to the International Center for Reiki Training, the practice is based on the idea that "an unseen 'life force energy' flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's 'life force energy' is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy."
The Community Reiki Project is a network of associated independent Reiki practitioners in the Philadelphia area. For more details, click here.
Crystals may be pretty to look at and wear as jewelry, but these sparkling gemstones may also provide many healing benefits.
According to Live Science, practitioners believe crystals act as conduits for healing, helping positive, healing energy flow into the body as negative, disease-causing energy flows out.
Rainbows of Healing based in Langhorne, Bucks County, offers several crystal services. For details, click here.
One of two flotation tanks, dubbed 'escape pods,' located at Halcyon Floats in Fishtown. The 4-foot-tall tank contains 10 inches of dense salt water that allows patrons to effortlessly float in darkness, deprived of all sensations.
No, we don't mean sip on a root beer float or wade down the lazy river in a raft. Flotation therapy is undertaken by floating in warm salt water in a float tank (as shown above).
To get a better understanding of what goes on and what results from floating, check out our feature by PhillyVoice reporter Brandon Baker, who tried floating at Philadelphia's Halcyon Floats.
For more details, click here.
