81 Holistic Massage Science And The Story of A Healer with Amelia Comolli and Ashley James on the Learn True Health Podcast

Amelia Comolli is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki practitioner who is passionate in all aspects of alternative healing.

She received her associate degree in Holistic Massage Science at Nashua Community College.

After receiving her license, Amelia immediately began working alongside Doctors of Chiropractic to treat all sorts of structural issues inside the body.

She now practices out of three offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Amelia also enjoys using her intuitive sense and trained Reiki abilities to give advice on furthering an individual's health journey after treatment.

"I enjoy talking about how massage therapy can help minor and major issues that a lot of people would normally go see their primary care for.

I deal with a lot of similar muscle and structural issues that people are usually told by western medicine to take some sort of NSAID or anti-inflammatory to ease the pain.

If the pain is really bad (or sometimes even minor!) allopathic doctors will prescribe some sort of narcotic. In my opinion, none of these are solutions and pain medications can often lead to addiction and other bodily issues.

I like to get to the root of the issue and fix the issues from the inside, instead of mask them. I have had patients come to see me who were in so much pain they couldn't walk.

Sometimes it takes a few sessions to get them back to feeling good enough to function normally, but I've had some patients so relieved of pain from one session that they walk out looking like a completely different person.

I like to talk about how bad the drug epidemic is and how I think a lot of it is coming from the push on doctors from our pharmaceutical companies.

I once had a friend who was prescribed Vicodin for a sinus infection! My own personal frustration dealing with western medicine is how I got to where I am today."

"When I was growing up I had some behavioral issues. My mom was a single mother and we had financial struggles for many years.

I was picked on a lot in school for living in not so optimal living conditions... and eventually, I became fed up and started to misbehave.

After years of struggling emotionally and having little interest in school... I was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Concerta around the age of 14. I didn't like the way it made me feel... so I didn't take it.

It made me feel irritable and not myself. It took away my imagination, sense of wonder and adventure. I continued to struggle through high school with my grades... but always had an interest in unusual topics and wondered about things we weren't learning in school.

Fast forward to my first year of college. I was scared, nervous and I wanted to succeed. I decided to try a new ADHD drug called Vyvanse prescribed by my new doctor in the new city I had moved to.

I was living with my cousin at the time and we were all seeing the same doctor. He had prescribed ALL of us the SAME medication for ADHD. I was 18 years old, very much into having fun and partying and now I was taking medication that kept me awake for days on end.

Sounds pretty fun, right?

The first thing I noticed about this new medication, besides not being able to sleep, is that I had no appetite when I was taking it. I started to lose weight really fast and I started drinking meal replacement shakes because I was getting headaches and feeling shaky from my low food intake.

I remember being so upset when I went home to visit my mom because she had made my favorite traditional family dish (salmon pie!) and I couldn't even stomach it. In high school I weighed a healthy 120 pounds, not too long after starting the medication I weighed about 90 pounds.

Every time I had a doctors appointment, my doctor would up my dosage of medication. I stopped feeling the "high" of the medication (awake, alert, happy, focused) and we decided that I needed to adjust my dose.

I started off at around 15mg of Vyvanse and by the time I stopped taking it I was taking THREE 70mg capsules a day!

At this point, I barely ate, barely slept and started to become extremely paranoid. One week I didn't sleep for three days in a row and I started to hallucinate. I was sick. I was malnourished. I was a mess.

My bones were sticking out and my skin was in bad condition. I took a step back and I said to myself... I need help. I decided to confess to my doctor that I felt that I was severely addicted to the Vyvanse and I wanted to come off of it.

I didn't feel healthy or well and if I went a day without taking it, I had no energy and stayed in bed all day depressed and crying. I was looking forward to coming up with some sort of treatment plan on how to get me off of the medication... but when I asked my doctor to help, he simply wrote me another prescription, looked me in the eyes and said: "you need it".

I was so upset. I figured that I had no choice but to do this on my own. I asked my boyfriend and best friend at the time if they would support me as I was coming off of this medication and although they didn't really understand what that mean, they obliged. A few weeks later I went completely cold turkey. It was the worst thing I have ever experienced and I don't wish anyone to go through what I went.

I could no longer go out in public because my anxiety was through the roof. I was having panic attacks and I was sure that I was becoming schizophrenic. I would occasionally feel like the room was caving in on me and I was having extreme hot flashes that made me feel like I was going to pass out. Several times I ended up in the ER from panic attacks.

The feeling of dread and want to go back to the medication lasted for several months. I thought about taking Vyvanse every day for at least a year after I quit. I finally got back to a normal state and started to feel the anger towards my "medical team" for taking advantage of a young and influential girl like myself.

I learned that the doctors were making money from the pharmaceutical companies for prescribing drugs, especially new ones like Vyvanse. After that, I began to hear stories that were similar to mine and even watched my mother struggle with addiction to narcotics after a failed back surgery.

She turned into someone I felt I didn't even know and eventually ended up in the hospital to have a FOOT of her intestines cut out because she was so backed up from the medication. I felt failed by our doctors.

These people who I felt were such elite and trustworthy beings now had a dark cloud over them. That is when I decided to start working with herbs and supplements on myself and began going to school for Holistic Health and Massage Therapy.

I now enjoy working with people with chronic pain (like my mama!) and figuring out treatment plans and specified massages to help people alleviate their pain."

Three Pieces of Advice From A Massage Therapist:

1. Epsom salt baths to heal sore muscles- Epsom Salt contains magnesium which is extremely relaxing for the body. It seeps through your skin during a nice hot bath and relaxes sore muscles. It is also a great detox for the body.

2. Problems massage can help with that you might not know of- Plantar Fasciitis, headaches, TMJ or pain in your jaw from grinding or clenching your teeth, sinus problems, detoxification, anxiety, depression, and trauma to name a few :)

3. The importance of touch- Hug your friends, massage your friends, get massages... Don't be afraid to give loving and safe touch to others! Back when orphanages were overflowing with children, around the great depression, infant children were having all of their normal necessities met (food, diaper changes, mildly comfortable crib) but were not surviving. At the time, they had no idea what was going on. Later they found that nurturing touch is essential for growing infants and that without it their lives are at risk. Many were experiencing organ failure and other ailments that often lead to death. If touch was so important for us as infants... think of the benefits we can still receive from touch in our adult lives. Touch is healing.

Recommended Reading:
Touched by The Goddess by Deane Juhan: http://amzn.to/2gi00N3

"This book is about the how necessary touch is for human life! Such an inspiring and beautiful book... I cried the whole time."

Connect with and follow Amelia Comolli:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaComolliLMT/
Blog: http://kavamelia.blogspot.com/

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Ashley James
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