Clinical Herbalism is a synthesis of the ancient art and traditional wisdom of plant based remedies with the science and in vivo clinical (not in petri dishes but humans demonstrating efficacious results) research of modern times.  Appropriate botanicals are based upon a client's constitution, health concerns and emotions, coupled with a health history, and the diagnostic tools of tongue and pulse. Herbal formulas are tailored to the specific needs of each person. Jen blends Alaskan plants with botanicals from around the world. She is happy to communicate with your medical doctors and other healthcare providers to ensure that the therapies you receive are safe and understood by all professionals concerned with your health.

Asian Bodywork Therapy includes acupressure and traditional massage techniques whose focus goes beyond relaxation to tonification and invigoration of the body’s organ systems, and increased flexibility. This style of bodywork begins by addressing the skin and surface of the body but then moves deeper to improve the flow of Qi (life sustaining energy) through the muscles, bones, tendons, joints, and vital organs. Acupressure is a healing technique developed in Asia more than 5,000 years ago. It uses gentle but firm finger pressure on specific points of the body to stimulate the body’s capacity to heal.

Asian Bodywork Therapy can feel similar to massage, but often has a different focus. Asian Bodywork Therapy is based on Chinese Medical principles for assessing and evaluating the energetic system. It uses traditional Asian techniques and treatment strategies to restore balance to the body, mind, emotions or spirit.  Asian bodywork predominantly uses rhythmic pressure, stretching, and stimulation of meridians and acu-points versus massage therapy which typically uses rubbing and kneading of the skin, muscles, and connective tissue.  Jen’s style tends to be a blend of Thai and Ashiatu stretching and meridian work.  Sessions vary according to the needs of the client, from passive stretching to the deep calm Jin Shin style of holding acupressure points. Jen may also use external applications of medicinal plants, heat or cold, nutrition, exercise suggestions and other Asian-based techniques or practices.

The combination of herbal remedies with Asian Bodywork can provide a comprehensive approach to healing. Acupressure is an invitation to relax, while your body receives deeper healing messages via acupressure points and meridians. While it may take several sessions to fully implement the necessary changes, your body has already started upon its healing path. Herbal remedies tend to work more slowly and over a longer period of time, so the two modalities together create a long term strategy for improving and maintaining health. Jen sees her role as assistant and educator, providing inspiration and tools for each client to cultivate vitality and healing.

On a personal level, the strength that Jen brings to her practice is her connection to the natural world and appreciation of experiencing periods of deeper calm than modern living typically affords. Jen loves to spend time in the bush, where the unrelenting pressures and stress of fast paced living, constant accessibility and busyness fall away. In Alaska’s remote places time slows down, the breath becomes deeper, and the waters within one’s heart can become a calm pool for reflection and insight. The stress of daily life give way to the more immediate realizations of one’s place in the scale of things (and the food chain). Acupressure is the gift that allows Jen to transfer these calm waters into her client’s day to day lives, even if it is for the fleeting moments of a session. The effect is a similar re-centering and calm.

“Yesterday, today, the day before… The world is still the same, it will be the same tomorrow.
I am happy, deep inside.  Not the mind-tiredness of too much thought, of thoughts that pursue each other endlessly in that forest of nerves, anxiety, and fear. But a stretching kind of tiredness, the ease and satisfaction of time well spent,and of the deep self renewed.”

  by Alaskan author, John Haines,
“Three Days”, The Stars, The Snow, The Fire

For more information on Asian Bodywork Therapy go to: www.aobta.org  or  www.nccaom.org

Jen Landry,
Dipl. ABT (NCCAOM)
Clinical Herbalist,
Asian Bodywork Therapist