Body Series with Jaime Rivera

Living a wellness-oriented lifestyle may not come easy for some, so Jaime shares his insight on how to release stress and gain mindfulness in your day-to-day activities. Read further for some tips and tricks on keeping your body and mind healthy, relaxed and in-tune with one another.

What is the best part about being a massage therapist?

For me, the best part of being a massage therapist is being able to effect change in real-time. I can feel myself making a difference in people’s bodies, and that’s a positive feedback loop. I think we are nothing but bags of bones that want to be on the ground, and there’s a highly coordinated effort of the nervous and muscular systems to get us up and moving around. All those daily repetitive work movements and workouts add extra stress to our bodies, and I can do my part to help diffuse that.

I’ve been having trouble with TMJ lately… Can massage help with this?

Absolutely! Not only can massage help externally loosen up the tight muscles associated with teeth grinding/clenching, but there’s also an internal option called intra-oral triggerpoint therapy; I find it quite fascinating, deep tissue done with only a fingertip. I usually don’t throw that out as an option when first meeting someone, but YouTube has some great examples you can look at if that piques your interest. I’ve gotten great feedback that says relief can last from 10 days to 3 weeks, depending on how intense of a bruxor you are.

How consistent should a person be in getting a massage?

I see people come in for massages once a year for their birthday or anniversaries, and sometimes I see them once a week. As I hinted earlier, massage therapists can diffuse the stress, but hey, stress is a daily thing, certainly coming back. Massage isn’t a panacea for all your aches and pains, but the membership program that Riviera Spa offers facilitates turning massage into a maintenance rather than an indulgence. That’s when the magic happens; think of it as a tune-up for your body.

How do you incorporate wellness into your daily life?

I’m a big fan of self-care. Whether it’s slowing down enough to enjoy a cup of loose-leaf tea, soaking in a CBD Epsom salt bath, pruning my bonsai trees or making a multi-step dessert that takes time and exacting focus, I like to do things that encourage mindfulness and being in the present. Don’t get me wrong, though, I can slob out with a video game or Netflix streaming just as well as the next person. There’s use in that, too.

Jaime’s Creations: