Health center in North Brunswick
offers a wide range of wellness services
CHRISTINE SPARTA

Home News Tribune
September 18, 2008


By CHRISTINE SPARTA
STAFF WRITER

Years ago, the old Calgon television commercial commanded, "Calgon, take me away!" as a woman luxuriated in a bath. That feeling, minus the bath, can be experienced at The Natural Health Center of Central New Jersey in North Brunswick.

The establishment is actually two wellness services businesses run under one roof - massage therapy and CranioSacral Therapy.

"We have a very eclectic clientele. They're very well-informed about their bodies. They know if something is not right," said Colleen Murray-Seig, who performs massage treatments at the center.

She works with Rosina Valvo-Tola, a CranioSacral practitioner and fellow South Brunswick resident. Both are certified by the American Massage Therapy Association.

The two worked together at the Gentle Healing Wellness Spa in Cranbury in the late 90s and would often refer clients to one another. Eventually, they decided to combine strengths and offer services in one space.

The center is located in an area with a small cluster of businesses including a herb store and an antique shop.

The antique shop has a painted mural of sunflowers on it that often acts as a landmark for folks to find the center.

One type of treatment Murray-Seig offers is the LaStone massage. The procedure involves warm basalt stones and cool marble stones applied to the body during a session. The two act as a balance. The warm stones increase circulation and the cooler ones remove toxins from the body.

"We're about ten years behind chiropractics. The people who know can speak about the benefits," said Murray-Seig.

Valvo-Tola, 43, said that CranioSacral Therapy is a hands-on treatment that relies on a soft touch to help clients improve the functioning of the central nervous system. It is used to treat migraine headaches and back pain, among other ailments.

"I work with the nervous system and the balancing of the nervous system. Everything goes back to a state of working better. It feels like the person on the table is receiving a Reiki session," said Valvo-Tola, about another hands-on treatment that might be more commonly known than CST.

She received her training from The Upledger Institute in Florida from John E. Upledger, an osteopathic physician who developed CST.

Valvo-Tola often works with children who have attention deficit disorder, sleep problems or colic.

Children often have a distraction such as puzzles so the practitioner can do her work.

Murray-Seig, who handles the massage end of the business, has been known to give clients homework such as specific, easy to do movements that will expand on the treatment they receive in a session with her.

She describes the decor of the center as Asian rustic.

Murray-Seig favors Craftsman furniture with its clean lines and minimalist design. Her own home is filled with it.

Valvo-Tola is a fan of all things Japanese and has effects like a tissue box that she bought while visiting the country.

"We had to mesh styles, Murray-Seig said.

Besides massage and CranioSacral Therapy, the wellness center offers other services like ear candling, a process that cleans the ears by inserting waxed linen tubes that are lit at one end into the ears, that starts at $30. Massages generally go up to $120 for a 90-minute therapeutic massage.

The health center also offers some unusual programs like a CPR class for canine first aid course.

Murray-Seig said she encourages her clients to come once a month as a tune up.

"They've done studies that show that women who take time out to get massages are less stressed and better able to take care of everyone else," said Murray-Seig.

Article Courtesy of: Home News Tribue & NewBank.com