Lighten Up Wellness Center

11/10/2025

🛑 Chronic Pain is real, and it demands specialized care.
If chronic discomfort has shrunk your world- stealing your energy and your joy- we want you to know this: You Are NOT Stuck.
At Lighten Up Massage & Bodywork, our team of advanced therapists (Jessie, Racheal, Bailey & Worth) specializes in helping you find the deep, resilient relief you deserve. This is more than relaxation; it’s about making a profound change.
We help you go from survival mode to healing mode. Link for website to book your session now is in first comment 👇🏻

11/06/2025

How long have you been running on fumes?

You wake up already thinking about everything that needs to get done. Meetings. Deadlines. Dinner. Laundry. Repeat. You push through the headaches, the tight shoulders, the ache in your lower back, because who else is going to do it?

But your body’s been trying to tell you something.

That tension you feel in your neck? It’s the weight of everything you’ve been carrying.

That deep ache between your shoulder blades? It’s the stress you’ve been trying to hold inside.

That exhaustion you can’t shake? It’s your body begging you to slow down.

At Lighten Up Massage, we don’t just help you relax.

We help you let go.

Racheal knows what it’s like to live in a body that hurts, as a mom of two and a survivor of a traumatic car accident, she’s felt that same constant, invisible pressure. Her sessions melt away years of held tension, replacing pain with peace and presence.

Jessie blends her background in dance and movement with massage that helps you reconnect with your body, not as something that’s breaking down, but as something capable, powerful, and deserving of care.

Bailey understands how important it is to feel seen, heard, and safe. She provides a warm, nurturing touch and presence in each massage session to those who need to rest their mind and body.

Worth has over 40 years of experience in the medical field as an RN and massage therapist, in addition to being a breast cancer survivor. She brings deep compassion and skilled knowledge to each lymphatic session, helping her clients find deeper peace and relief.

Here, every session is customized to you.

We find the stress hiding in your muscles.

We help you breathe deeper.

We help you come back to yourself.

Imagine walking out of your session and realizing your shoulders have dropped, your jaw has unclenched, and your head is quiet for the first time all week.

That’s what we do.

That’s what’s waiting for you.

Book your session today, because you don’t have to keep carrying it all. Link to website in first comment.

10/29/2025

What if chronic stress could literally turn your body's lubricant into glue? 😬🕸️

Between fascial layers, there's hyaluronic acid (HA) - the same substance in face creams and joint injections.

In its healthy state, it's a super-lubricant with long molecular chains that bind tons of water, allowing fascial layers to glide smoothly over each other.

But when you're stressed, dehydrated, or inflamed, hyaluronic acid changes its molecular structure.

Those long, slippery chains break down into shorter fragments that stick together rather than lubricate. This creates what researchers call "densification" - the fascial layers essentially lose their glide and stick together.

Here's where it gets painful: nerve fibers run through these fascial layers.

When the layers can't slide properly, those nerves get trapped and stretched during normal movement.

This mechanical stress on nerve fibers can create pain signals - even when nothing is actually injured.

The fasci(a)nating part? This process is reversible. 🎉

Movement stimulates hyaluronic acid production and turnover.

Manual therapy creates pressure changes that help to reorganize the sticky HA fragments.

Proper hydration supports HA's water-binding capacity that keeps things flowing.

It's like having natural oil that turns into cement when you're stuck in stress.

The good news: you can transform it back through movement, bodywork, self-care and lifestyle changes.

This is why rest isn't always the answer for pain. Sometimes what feels "stuck" literally is stuck - and needs movement to unstick it.

10/22/2025

📣 URGENT CALL TO ACTION, NCLMBTs! 📣
Lighten Up Massage and Bodywork is looking for a professional, licensed therapist to help us out!
We need a reliable NC Licensed Massage Therapist (NCLMBT) to cover one 90-minute session this week. Excellent compensation for a quick, impactful gig.
If you are licensed, available, and interested in a fill-in opportunity, please DM us immediately or email anna@lightenupmassages.com with your availability!

10/07/2025

Special Offer: 20% Off Lymphatic Sessions in October!!
To support your health and wellness goals, especially breast health, we are offering 20% off all LET and MLD sessions for the entire month of October!

October is widely recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time dedicated to education, early detection, and supporting vital research. While the focus rightly centers on essential measures like regular screenings,...

08/24/2025

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08/12/2025

Scientists have discovered that simply massaging the face and neck could help the brain clear out waste, potentially reducing problems linked to aging and diseases like Alzheimer’s. In a new study, researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology found a network of tiny lymphatic vessels just under the skin on the face and neck of mice and monkeys. These vessels help drain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the liquid that bathes the brain and clears away harmful proteins like beta-amyloid, which builds up in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Until now, scientists thought these drainage vessels were buried deep in the neck, making them hard to reach. But using a special dye and a different type of anesthesia, researchers spotted them much closer to the surface. Curious to see if they could boost this natural brain-cleaning process, they built a small device that gently stroked mice’s faces and necks. Just one minute of this massage sped up CSF flow by about three times, and older mice ended up with brain fluid movement similar to young mice. Early tests in monkeys show the same promise.

While it’s too soon to know if this simple technique can truly slow down brain aging or prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s, the team plans more studies, including in mice that model Alzheimer’s. They’ve also found similar vessels under the skin in human cadavers, raising hope that this gentle method might someday help people keep their brains healthier for longer.

Research Paper 📄
PMID: 40468071
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09052-5

08/08/2025

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