Health and wellness starts with you! The benefits of massage therapy are amplified when used alongside other practices of self-care. In between massage sessions with me, you’re welcome to take advantage of these resources you can use at home for your own wellness routine!
The following resources are in no way to be used as a substitution for medical care or professional guidance and are at the discretion of the viewer to utilize. Olandra Lickter Massage Therapy LLC takes no liability for any injuries incurred as a result of the following resources.
Do what makes you happy!
Joy, gratitude and creative expression are all good for you. Maybe you like taking walks; calling a friend; joining a singing, art or dance class; volunteering for a cause that helps you feel a sense of purpose; or cozying up with a good book. Self-care is about checking in with yourself; doing what feels meaningful, rejuvenating, restful, or nurturing; and taking care of your whole self.
Yoga
My favorite place to practice yoga is through www.doyogawithme.com. Most of the classes are free and it’s possible to search by class length, level, style, topic, and teacher. My favorite teachers are Ron Stewart, Rachel Scott, Josh Chen, Melissa Krieger and David Procyshyn. I have by no means tried them all, and it’s always fun to try out new classes and teachers!
Find a local yoga instructor to work with for individual feedback or take community classes!
Physical Therapy
I always recommend going to a trained Physical Therapist and working with them in person for injury rehab. I also like to self educate and nerd out on YouTube with Bob and Brad Physical Therapists. It’s a free and fun way to learn more about how bodies work and common presentations of unease in the body. Another website I like to visit is Fitness Pain Free.
For pelvic floor physical therapy, I recommend Lauren Shepley at (443)801-8072. She also does visceral manipulation and approaches the body very holistically. I also love the team at Nola Pelvic Health.
CranioSacral Therapy
I go to Judy Bolton for this light-touch, holistic healing modality. She’s great for long covid as well!
Tai Chi and Qigong
I like the Energy Arts Website for learning about these ancient self healing practices. You can sign up for the newsletter for some free resources or order Bruce’s book, “Opening the Energy Gates of the Body” for a nice introduction.
Local, in-person classes are also a great way to practice. Let me know if you find a school or teacher you love and I’ll list it here.
Acupuncture
For sliding-scale, community acupuncture, visit www.pcacnola.com. For Nada Ear Acupuncture, go to 3401 St Claude Ave every Thursday 6:30-8:30 (free). Message me for other recommendations.
Meditation
Meditation is one of my favorite ways to connect to myself and experience peace. There are many different forms of meditation and its helpful to find what’s a good fit for you. A lot of people like the Headspace app. I think the Spirit Rock Website (free) does a wonderful job of introducing people to insight meditation, and it includes a wealth of audio and video resources for deepening their practice and hearing from a long list of different instructors. I recommend finding meditation teachers to work with directly for the things that may come up for you in meditation or to experience group meditation or a retreat at some point. It can be a valuable experience to share meditation experiences alongside others.
Sometimes I do Chakra-based meditations with an awareness of the different energy centers as outlined in the book “Eastern Body, Western Mind” by Anodea Judith.
There are specific playlists of guided meditations for different subjects. For example, Belleruth Naparstek made a meditation playlist for anxiety and panic attacks that I think is very well done. You can google what type of guided meditation you’re looking for on YouTube or Spotify and all types of links will pop up.
Nutrition
Cooking delicious and nutritious food for yourself is always a great way to integrate self-care in your life. Some of my favorite healthy cooking recipe books are:
“Salt Fat Acid Heat” ~ If you’re new to cooking, I recommend this book as a guide of developing your own relationship to making delicious food and freeing yourself from the need to always follow recipes or get take-out. Watch the Netflix series by the same name for some added inspiration (I also like “Chef’s Table”)! While this isn’t specifically a health food book, you’ll be eating healthier when cooking at home and making your own choices about what ingredients you want to highlight!
“Zaitoun: recipes and stories from the Palestinian kitchen” ~ I find these recipes fairly simple to make and incredibly delicious. The author’s writing is an added plus!
“The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” by Deborah Madison ~ a huge index of how to cook vegetarian meals.
“The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook” by Kate O’Donnell has delicious recipes made specifically for optimizing health and digestion. Ayurveda is the health system developed in India that is thousands of years old. You may need to purchase a spice grinder for some of the recipes in this book.
Mental Health
If you’re looking for a therapist, you can browse the Psychology Today website or reach out for referrals. I’ve heard the app Sanvello is quite helpful for stress, anxiety, and depression.
If you’re looking for sliding scale or free counseling in New Orleans, look at Holy Cross or click this link. If you need a medicaid accepting provider, shoot me an email and I’ll do my best to send you some referrals.
Call centers are a great way to get immediate support during a panic attack, suicidal ideation, intimate partner violence, or a challenging time. You can google search for mental health crisis lines in your area.
Sexual Wellness
“Come as You Are” by Emily Nagoski is a fantastic book about how sexuality and our bodies work. While it’s audience is mostly referred to as cis women, I think most of her research and chapters could be similarly useful for queer, trans, and male readers as well.
Survivors of sexual trauma may find the book “The Sexual Healing Journey” by Wendy Maltz a life changing approach to healing and developing healthy sexual relationships. Trigger warning that this book includes many stories of sexual assault, and some readers may appreciate beginning their healing with the support of a trained therapist.
If the person you love has experienced sexual assault, you may find the book “Allies in Healing” by Laura David useful in understanding how to best be there for them in their healing.
“Urban Tantra” is a great book for learning practices to cultivate and enjoy your life force/sexual energy. Practices can be used alone or with a partner.
Posture & Alignment
I can’t speak highly enough of the book “8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back” by Esther Gokhale. You can also join her newsletter by visiting the The Gokhale Method Website for free webinars and extra information. You can find teachers to work with through her website. She takes an anthropological look at back pain with photographs and field study in places where people don’t report back or neck pain. I like her direct and relatively simple approach based on body awareness and smart positioning. She has some exercises included as needed.
Some people like to get chiropractic adjustments to help their alignment or visit with someone trained in Alexander Technique or the Franklin Method. These approaches, along with the Mckenzie Technique all have books you can order online.