Medical Chi Kung practitioner Stephanie Johnson

Credit: Rachel Greene

Livin’ Greene - September 24

What are we talking about? Medical Chi Kung

Where and who? Stephanie Johnson, Victoria Healing Centre, 1030 North Park. 250-472-2832 www.victoriahealing.com

Can ya dig it? Medical Chi Kung is a painless practice that can be traced back more than 3,000 years and incorporates Eastern approaches to medical healing along with Western principles of anatomy and physiology. It focuses on the body’s circulatory and nervous systems and uses a variety of techniques including massage, energy work, herbal medicine and acupressure; I would say it’s essentially acupressure massage using some interesting methods such as the “percussion method” (like the old-style karate-chop massage), which is great for releasing tension in the shoulders.

Would I do it again? The treatment I had was absolute bliss. Not only does Stephanie have strong and capable hands, she is fantastic at locating trouble spots and working through them to a point of release, instead of just mildly treating the surface and moving along; my session was about 90 minutes—an ideal length for this kind of release work. It’s definitely the most functional massage I’ve had in some time; very relaxing yet with a noticeable therapeutic outcome. I’ll be seeing her again, hopefully in the near future and possibly to spend time at the Victoria Healing Centre to take part in a Buddhist psychology class.

Got a holistic product or mind/body/spirit system for Rachel to try? Drop us a note and she’ll give it a Greene go in a future column.