By DAWN REEDE

Would you like a free body massage?

Natural Elements Health Center is offering free massages (and more) during Massage and Body Awareness Week July 19-23. The catch? You have to bring in nonperishable food items for the Milaca Food Pantry.

Certified massage therapist Maria Werner was the brainchild behind the idea. Since she started working at Natural Elements two years ago, she’s been wanting to find a way to give back to the community.

The staff at Natural Elements liked the idea so much, they jumped on board.

Here’s how it’ll work. For every five items of food you bring in for donation, you’ll get 15 minutes of service.

Bring in five canned goods, you can get 15 minutes of massage. Bring in 20 items and you’ll get an hour. You simply need to make an appointment and bring in the items.

Services will include massages by Werner and Jessica Bossard, Quantum-Touch by Bev Hoeft, applied kinesiology by Dr. Christine Schlenker and Dr. Amy McNeil or craniosacral therapy by Werner.

Terms you’re not familiar with?

Quantum-Touch

Quantum-Touch is a way to tap into the innate ability to help ourselves through focus and amplifying life-force energy (also known as “chi” in Chinese). It’s a combination of various breathing and body awareness exercises.

It essentially uses the body’s own capacity to heal.

Applied Kinesiology

Applied kinesiology is the study of muscles and the relationship of muscle strength to health. It’s based on the theory that organ dysfunction is accompanied by a specific muscle weakness.

The goal of applied kinesiology is to restore normal nerve function, achieve normal endocrine, immune, digestive and other internal organ functions, intervene early in degenerative process to prevent or delay pathological conditions, and restore postural balance, correct walking impairments and improve range of motion.

Craniosacral Therapy

Craniosacral therapy is a hands-on therapy that gets to the core by releasing restrictions in the body allowing for balance and improvement of the whole body’s health and performance.

The craniosacral system consists of the membranes and fluid that surround, protect and nourish the brain and spinal cord.

The therapist uses gentle compression or distraction of the cranial bones, sacrum and fascia tissue and follows the body in releasing the restrictions and imbalances.

Interested in learning more? This is a good opportunity to help others (by donating food) and learn something for yourself as well.

There will also be seated chair massages and if you forgot food items, you can pay $15 for 15 minutes and the money will be donated to the food shelf.

You can also try out the water massage table and the chi machine.

“It’s about creating awareness and giving back to the community,” Werner said of the week of free services. “It’s making people aware, especially those who’ve never tried it.”

Teal’s Market has already donated to the event and are promoting it at the grocery store.

Natural Elements is located next to Koch’s Hardware just west of Milaca.

Appointments can be made Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling 320-983-2333.

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