Heidi Dhivya Berthoud

Description of Treatment:

"Peace and joy is our goal. Whatever we do, we are doing it for that. Not everyone believes in a God. But the real God, the absolute God, the cosmic god who is being searched for by one and all, is that peace and joy."                  -H.H. Sri Swami Satchidananda#read

My work draws from a variety of approaches to assisting the body, mind, spirit in its ongoing process of integration and return to wholeness. Bodywork is not just a luxury. I consider it to be an essential part of our maintenance plans - to take the time to recharge our overworked beings and truly allow ourselves to be on the receiving end. The 'relaxation response' is definitely something learned, and the more practice we get - the more easily we are able to access our innate healing abilities. When we are relaxed, we are more resilient and better able to cope with what life hands us. What better health insurance!  

Therapeutic Massage involves manipulation of the soft tissues of the body to relieve stress and help alleviate and prevent pain, discomfort and muscle spasm. As an adjunct to medical treatment, massage may help alleviate the pain and symptoms of a wide variety of ailments and medical conditions including: arthritis, asthma and bronchitis to accident injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, cancer related malaise, circulatory problems, depression, digestive disorders, headache, insomnia, myofascial pain, sinusitis, sports injuries, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD), whiplash, and on.

Structural Yoga TherapyT  (SYT) can assist you to help yourself better align body, mind and soul. We make way for Spirit when body and mind are healthy, comfortable and well aligned. Specific benefits of a regular yoga practice are similar to the above list for massage - and more. General benefits are mental and emotional health and well-being and a greater awareness of self and others. 

Structural Yoga TherapyT can help you:

• Personalize your yoga practice

• Adapt to your specific needs

• Determine and improve strength and range of motion

• Develop discernment as to what feels right, safe, health. Apply this discernment in practical, everyday ways.

• Increase your ability to focus; mindfulness

• Release tension and stress through a more efficient and easeful approach

• Prepare for deeper contemplation and meditation.  
  

Perhaps you're in need of simple relaxation and rejuvenation and/or want to address specific areas of imbalance, tension or injury. For more detailed descriptions of options to choose from, please click on: .

Swedish Massage
Deep Tissue Massage & 
Trigger Point Therapy
Myofascial Release
Traeger
Moist heat therapy
Reflexology
Natural Facials
Polarity Therapy
Chelation
Structural Yoga Therapy

Click photo to see 
larger picture.

 
Click photo to see 
larger picture.

Qualifications:

I am a Virginia Certified Massage Therapist, a member of the AMTA (American Massage Therapy Association), and have been in practice since 1987. In 2005 I received a Structural YogaT Teacher's Certificate and in 2006, a Structural Yoga TherapyT Certificate, both from Mukunda Stiles. I am a member of IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapy). In 1987 I received the Integral Yoga Hatha Teacher Certification and have taken advanced courses since then. I was UVA's first yoga teacher. I have a B.S. in Dental Hygiene and have been in practice since 1974.

Courses I have taken that influence my life and work include Basic Shiatsu, Massage Therapy, Sports Massage, Polarity Therapy, TraegerT, FeldencraisT, Aikido, Tai Chi, Reflexology, Facial Rejuvenation, Reiki, Mari-El, Jen Shen Do, Touch for Health, Bio-Sonic Cranio-Sacral Therapy, Upledger's Cranial Sacral Therapy, Neuro Muscular Therapy (with Judith Walker Delany's four-part series, Paul St. John), Rev. Rosalyn Bruyere's many healing intensives, Myofascial Meridians with Tom Myers.

Read what clients have said.

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Personal Notes:

I teach forms of folk and country-dance including Appalachian clogging and French Canadian step dance to the Yogaville school children and adults.

Activities I love include, (but are not limited to) gardening, dancing, hiking, body surfing, kayaking, biking, musicing, arting, reading, sadhanaing, hammocking. We've got four sweet cats in the yard (outdoor kitties for those allergic to felines). Life used to be sooo hard. Now everything is ez cuz of You. Sweet Surrender to You! Om Om Namaste...

Schedule an appointment?

Contact me directly to coordinate a time. Feel free to call at anytime for an appointment, but availability may be limited. We will discuss the session length and fees when we speak.

To contact me, call my home at (434)969-1977 or the Charlottesville office at (434)979-9732. You can also email me at heidi1008@gmail.com

If you are staying at Yogaville, please check special scheduling instructions by clicking on the Yogaville Guests link.

Scheduling Notes:

I share a bodywork office in Charlottesville with my husband, Réjean Rishi Dion. My days in Charlottesville are Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Fridays. (I keep my hands ¨wet¨ with dental hygiene private practice on some Fridays).

We work out of our home, which I built before we were married, a mile down the road from Satchidananda Ashram, overlooking the James River with beautiful vistas to the west.

My wonderful husband, Réjean Rishi Dion, is a Thai Yoga Massage practitioner and teacher. So, if you are in the Yogaville area and have a friend wanting a Thai Yoga Massage at the same time as you're receiving from me - well, it could be arranged - with due notice!

Testimonials:

"I am part of the Silent Retreat (at Yogaville). Even though I could not verbally communicate to Dhivya, she read me perfectly. In my mind I asked for pressure more deeply, or less, as was needed, and she responded in sync. I would gladly recommend her to others. She was so firmly gentle.
                -- Joseph L. Martin, Builder, Palmyra, Va

"I have had regular massages from Dhivya and can wholeheartedly say they are good for whatever ails you. From a soothing relaxing session to a deeper massage targeting specific areas, Dhivya is always professional, competent, loving and gentle... Plus her facility is clean, comforting and beautiful, which is an added plus.....Highly recommended." Om
                                            --Satya Greenstone,  
                                              Teacher Training
                                              Coordinator - Yogaville
                                                

"Dhivya's treatment exceeded my expectations. Though it was simply a facial, she made it a very deep experience for me!"   
                     -- Judy Liebman, Teacher, Tuscon, Az


"I have had low back pain for years.  Two herniated discs were discovered, and I tried various types of physical therapy, accupuncture, and traditional yoga classes.  I was not getting much relief, in fact I was getting worse!! 
I was told by one doctor, that without surgery I would be disabled for life.  I did not believe invasive approaches to be my only option. Heidi and her Yoga Therapy has done more for me than ANY other approach.  After my first session, I felt better than I had in years.  Prior to seeing Heidi, I was struggling with leg numbness, sciatica and debilitating back pain.  It immobilized me.  The yoga therapy has allowed me to get off the high dose pain medications and anti-inflammatories I had been taking.  I can now take a proactive approach to my back pain.  My mind-body awareness has increased and the exercises are great at relieving existing pain.  Heidi's expertise in locating one's "weak" spots and strengthening them is simply amazing.  I have never met anyone like her!  I recommend her to anyone struggling with chronic pain, who believes in a more natural approach than pills and surgery."
                                        -- Kim, Orange, Virginia

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Exploring the Terms

Swedish massage usually means a full body session that can be light, medium, or deep in pressure. It involves use of natural oils to facilitate effleurage (long, flushing strokes), petrissage (kneading), tapotement (patting or tapping), palming, and accupressure (finger pressure). This facilitates flushing of the circulatory and lymph systems, and tones the nervous system; all of which promotes deep relaxation, and a boost to the immune system.

Deep tissue or trigger-point release can be applied to specific areas in need of more focused attention. Trigger-points are hyperirritable, palpable nodules in a taut band of skeletal muscle. Treatment can involve maintaining tolerable pressure on a tender spot for 8-12 seconds at a time until a release of discomfort is felt. During treatment, often referred sensations to other body parts are felt such as pain, heat, tingling, cold, numbness, itching, etc. Good communication during the therapy will assist you in understanding your body, allowing you to become actively involved with releasing tension and your healing process. You may be asked if you want to more actively pursue a stubborn knot by engaging the muscle while I meet your resistance and also apply pressure to the trigger point. This approach can be very effective at releasing tension and awakening awareness as to what action that muscle does, and therefore, how to relieve it.

Traeger involves a gentle rocking motion to awaken and soothe specific areas while generating a larger release and calm.

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Myofascial Release involves a slow paced light to deep pressure, moving at or below 'tissue melting'. There's no forcing of the tissue - as it releases, the pressure follows. Client movement may be asked for to make the myofascial work more effective by increasing bodily awareness of what needs to move. Overworked and undernourished muscles showing trigger-point pain and weakness or reduced function can be resolved through manipulation or movement. The slow stretches, with awareness, of Yoga are self-applied myofascial release.

Hydroculator packs or moist heat therapy can be placed on the back and shoulder area to enhance local and general relaxation. During this time, I work on the legs and feet so that when I get to the upper body, it is more relaxed and receptive. There is no extra charge for these services. Cold packs are also available for inflamed tissues, promoting a flushing, analgesic action.

Reflexology involves massage of the hands and feet and is based on the Hermetic principle of correspondence, "As above, so below". There are reflex areas in the hands and feet that relate to the glands, organs and body parts. So, for example, when the base of the big toe or the thumb is being massaged - the thyroid gland specifically benefits. There are similar correspondences throughout the body - the ears, the eyes (iridology), the tongue, the cranium, etc. This is an example of the universal oneness manifesting in the diversity.

Facial Rejuvenation - Treat yourself to a nourishing, deeply relaxing facial rejuvenation. Inner and outer beauty are intimately related. The more we nurture ourselves, the more radiant we become physically and expressively. The materials used for the facial are all natural ingredients, chosen according to your skin type. I will do a facial massage, followed by herbal compresses, a face pack or mask, toners and moisturizers. A one hour appointment will include massage for the head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and feet. I recommend scheduling 1 ½ or 2 hour appointments, to receive more thorough massage and - just because!

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Polarity Therapy is a modern adaptation of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of healing. Traditional Eastern cultures understand that subtle relations and vital energy flows (prana, chi or ki) underly both physical and mental forces manifest in the world. Physical and mental imbalances start in this subtler level. For life to evolve there must be movement. A polarity manifests as movement between, for example, areas of higher and lower tension. The objective is to assist in the releasing of energy blocks and balance the flow so that the mind/body can heal itself.

On the physical level polarity therapy involves gentle rocking, stretching, stimulating and/or holding various points. One can experience a general introductory session. With a more detailed history, more specific sessions can be done. For example, if you've been feeling scattered, impatient, a lot of mind chatter, running from one project to the next, dry skin (Vata imbalance): then an Air session could help you to slow down. Or are you feeling lazy, stuck, unable to move; lower back, neck or knee problems; feeling possessive and insecure (Kapha imbalance)? An Earth session would apply here. It's always amazing how just by assisted focus for one hour of your life on resolving difficulties and allowing new possibilities to arise, that positive change can come to be.

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Chelation, which means clawing, is a very gentle, subtle and deeply relaxing method of moving or drawing the energy up through the body by first sending sound (with the help of my tuning fork) to awaken, balance, and soothe the existing matrix or energy patterns. Then, with intention, sending light to cleanse, brighten and open the energy pathways.

Structural Yoga TherapyT
Structural Yoga TherapyT (SYT) can assist the individual to adapt one's practices to suit personal needs, and set clear aims, and objectives. On a physical level, assessment of range of motion and strength can identify more accurately the structural needs, and therefore what asanas would be most beneficial and how to adapt them for your requirements. For example, sciatica or a chronically sore low back may require avoiding spinal twists and forward bending with a rounded back until the inflammation has cleared, so as not to stretch and further irritate inflamed nerves. Asanas can be adapted to strengthen or lengthen key supporting muscles. Adjustments can be made to posture, walking, eating, and sleeping habits, etc. SYT can assist with lifestyle changes needed for sustained improvement of health

Hatha Yoga is one of the 6 main branches of the ancient teachings of Yoga that focuses on the physical development of the individual largely through the practice of asanas (postures), pranayama (control of breath, life force), dharana (concentration). These practices have taken on many forms and names, for example: Structural Yoga, Integral Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, etc.

Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras is an early text, which is central to the teachings of Yoga on how to master the mind, achieving harmony of body/mind/emotions/spirit. Chapter 2, Sutras 46 - 48 tersely sum up what SYT is all about:

        -- Asana is a steady, comfortable posture.

        -- By reducing the natural tendency for                   
            restlessness and by meditating on the infinite,   
            posture is mastered.