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Helena Melissa McGill On Aromatherapy For Dancers By Sandra Kluge
More and more dancers discover the potential of alternative approaches when it comes to mental health, physical health, and injury prevention. One particularly fascinating approach is aromatherapy, which is a form of herbalism, and part of the umbrella term of plant healing. Dance Writer talked to Helena Melissa McGill, certified aromatherapist and founder of the Brooklyn based aromatherapy company Morphologically about how dancers can use aromatherapy to enhance their wellness and their performance. Helena, who has been in business as an aromatherapist for 20 years, is not unfamiliar with the dance world. She started doing modern dance and contact improvisation in Vancouver, and later moved to NYC to pursue modern dance. Dance for her is an expression of joy, and allows her to feel as connected as in her daily meditation practice. “I have always found solace in both vigorous movement and stillness”, she states. Growing up in a tiny town in British Columbia, with parents of Hungarian background who grew their own food, and a mother who swore by the healing properties of plants, Helena witnessed the power of herbalism from a young age.
Helena Melissa McGill On Aromatherapy For Dancers By Sandra Kluge While Helena was in school to become a registered holistic nutritionist, which is unique to Canada, she was fascinated by the fact that “the language of aromatherapy has no boundaries”, and how one plant is known by so many different cultures for its healing properties. Working at an aromatherapy shop while in school rekindled her old joy for plant healing. When she finished school, she was able to work as a holistic nutritionist and aromatherapist, as these are deemed “valid forms of healing” in Canada. This work really made her focus on organic chemistry, “the seen and unseen vibrational frequencies in aromatherapy”. (For further reading about the vibrational frequencies of essential oils, I recommend this booklet from the Sound Healing Center). Shortly after, Helena got officially certified as an aromatherapist. When moving from Vancouver to NYC, Helena learned that opportunities to work as a certified aromatherapist on the East Coast were much more difficult to come around, since the concept of a certified aromatherapist only existed in the UK and Canada. So she worked in fashion for eleven years, and then four years ago started her brand Morphologically. Helena feels that in founding Morphologically, all her educations came together “like puzzle pieces”. That said, she recommends young adults who are internally and externally pressured about their education and career, to “ask for time”. She is the perfect example that life in your twenties can look very different than life in your thirties or forties, and even if you make dramatic career changes, all your experiences inform each other.
HEALTH
By Haydee Ferguson
Safe Stretching for Dancers Increasing range is not just about stretching muscles. There are other anatomical structures that can be restricting your range.
PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) Advantage – effective in producing long-term flexibility over time Disadvantage – needs professional guidance to avoid risk of injury Overstretching: Taking any joint past its natural physiological range Advantage – None – there are safer and more effective ways of achieving extraordinary range Disadvantage – stretches the ligaments and capsule that would normally help support the joint
Increasing range is not just about stretching muscles. There are other anatomical structures that can be restricting your range. Have you ever tried to stretch your hamstrings lying on your back but you only feel the “stretch” in your calf? Do you feel a widespread sensation throughout the back of your leg or do you feel a pinch in the front your hip? In these scenarios, the hamstring is not the limiting structure—something else is stopping you from achieving greater range. What you need to do is analyse what is actually limiting your range and release that structure off. So, what else is there that could be stopping you from increasing your flexibility? Lets look at the different things you might feel when stretching your hamstring and what might be causing it:
HEALTH
By Haydee Ferguson
Safe Stretching for Dancers Increasing range is not just about stretching muscles. There are other anatomical structures that can be restricting your range.
You will likely find that you won’t be able to progress with your flexibility until you have cleared the nerve restriction. Dancers should experiment carefully under the direction of experienced teachers or health care professionals to find the optimal stretching technique for their physique. It is also important to remember that achieving extreme flexibility is not much good to someone who is missing the other crucial pieces of the performance puzzle such as strength, intelligence, artistry, technique and emotion. There are also choreographers and company directors, particularly in classical ballet, that find the oversplit line in leaps, arabesques, etc. inappropriate for the aesthetics of the art form and It is important to listen to what your body dislike seeing these is telling you and to take note of what acrobatic/contortion skills slip into the sensations you are feeling. For example if choreography. While removing you are feeling your hamstring stretch in limitations in range of motion can free your calf you are going to be pulling on the body for expression, it is essential your nerves and not stretching your to show restraint and mindfulness in hamstring muscle. displaying this kind of freedom.
Widespread feeling throughout the back of your leg – Fascia Straight line sensation, could be in a different area to the muscle you are trying to stretch e.g. in your calf – Nerve Sensation deep in the hip joint – Joint capsule Pinching in the front of the hip – ligaments, tendons or capsule being pinched Blocked feeling that you can’t go any further – Joint, bony restriction A pulling feeling in the middle of your hamstring – Muscle