MONTAGUE — Through his business called Wellness Within Reach, holistic health practitioner Peter Seymour Howe is now offering “FLOWpresso” sessions to help those looking to release stress.
While the practice is specifically designed for people with lymphedema (a build-up of fluid in soft body tissues when the lymphatic system is damaged or blocked), Howe said FLOWpresso can benefit just about any aspect of an individual’s wellness.
Structurally, the machine can be compared to a full-body blood pressure cuff, using a system of heat and computerized air that rhythmically inflates and deflates to massage the entire body. Two settings, a “sport” mode and a “relax” mode, grant the apparatus versatility in its intensity.
Howe, a certified neuromuscular therapist who first tried using a FLOWpresso after he was diagnosed with Lyme disease, said using the machine can not only be a pleasurable experience, but a life-changing one.
“I drove all the way to Pennsylvania to try it out,” Howe said, “and it was love at first experience.”
Howe and his fiancée, retired nutritionist and neuromuscular therapist Janice Frey, invested in their own machine after meeting with Pennsylvania-based bio-regulatory medicinal practitioner and FLOWpresso advocate Kelly Kennedy. Howe believes the unit he keeps in his workspace at 10 Old Sunderland Road in Montague is the first and only FLOWpresso machine in Franklin County.
The treatment, Howe believes, could be universally beneficial for locals dealing with not only glaring health issues, but even just the baggage of everyday life.
“The idea is that stress is not our friend in most cases,” Howe said. “This unplugs you from the stress mode that everybody seems to be in here.”
“It’s kind of a meditative experience,” Frey said.
The stress-relieving properties behind the practice extend to both physical and mental realms, with the two being inextricably linked to one another, the couple explained.
“The thing about stress or anxiety is that it tightens muscles,” Frey said.
With help from stretching, consistent movement, deep tissue work and a clean diet, Howe said one can change their body’s entire trajectory.
“If we can break a cycle within the body, it can allow a releasing in the body,” he said.
Howe described how lymphatic drainage can help with muscle fatigue, headaches, weight gain, poor posture, digestive issues, skin flaws, and mental stress. He said the FLOWpresso procedure helps to “balance sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems” as a way of achieving these benefits.
To skeptics of FLOWpresso’s holistic benefits, Howe has one response.
“You’ve got to see it to see what’s up. The issues are in the tissue, am I right?”
Those interested in trying a FLOWpresso treatment can schedule a session with Howe from Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., for $100 per session, $90 per session in a package of three, and $80 per session in a package of six. Howe can be reached at (508) 838-1100 or info@peterhowehealer.com.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.