Americans have a new perspective on health. Rather than waiting for illness to strike, more of us are taking steps to prevent it. The holistic approach to wellness is about enabling the body to heal itself and maintain homeostasis, and nowhere has that concept been more appropriately implemented than in wellness centers. These facilities come in all shapes and sizes, from coast to coast, running the integrative health gamut from medical centers aligned with spas to resorts offering multi-modal programs.

As a survivor of torture I know how wounds of violation can live in the body and the mind. My recovery included bodywork, and so I know both its assets and liabilities in resolving shock of this magnitude. I am now both a practitioner and a teacher of somatic therapies for survivors, which has added substantially to my perspective on what it takes to rebuild one’s life from the pyres of hatred.

The nature of massage therapy means practitioners are constantly in contact with the client’s skin, the largest and heaviest organ of the body. Accounting for 16 percent of our total body weight, it is invaluable as it protects everything underneath it from disease, chemicals, bacteria, injury and the elements.

Stress may not be the result of how much you have to do so much as what you have to do. According to Donald A. Tubesing, author of Kicking Your Stress Habits, stress becomes overwhelming when the tasks consuming your time are not aligned with your values.