Find alternative self-care, mental health options locally

BY AJ STASH CASTILLO @comicsconverse

Self-care can be accomplished according to the individual. Whether it’s going to get a favorite meal or taking a nice relaxing bubble bath, self-care is infinite. There are some places in Tucson that cater to certain parts of self-care, like massages.

Massages

Tucson Massage Company offers different kinds of services catering to what people are looking for. Founders Donald Lockwood and Ari Whiting have catered to the local community with the company since 2017. “We create opportunities for people to experience deep states of relaxation, primarily through contact body work. The way that it facilitates self- care for people is, obviously it helps to address physical issues that people might be having with stored tension in the muscles and soft tissue. But on a deeper level, it allows people the opportunity to experience their parasympathetic nervous system,” Whiting said.

Tucson Massage is located at 1222 E. Broadway Blvd. and open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. by appointment. There, they focus on corrective bodywork. The practitioners have advanced training to address conditions from frozen shoulder to forward head syndrome.

The infrared sauna is a popular service that has been offered for the last year and a half at Tucson Massage. The infrared light benefits the heart and body as it helps one to

“sweat it out.”

“I feel like getting a massage is becoming a really popular and common way for people to care for their bodies and minds. There’s a holistic approach there within massage therapy that treats both body and mind,” Whiting said.

Besides massage, the act of exercise can also be a form of self-care, whether it’s a walk around the block or even yoga.

Yoga

YogaOasis is one of the local yoga studios in Tucson that offers different types of classes, such as Yoga Hour. The business is owned by the studio director of YogaOasis, Darren Rhodes.

“The most important way of self-care for me is community. Having people for us to count on to work through things, and

I have the privilege of having a therapist, which really helps,” Rhodes said.

To Rhodes, the mission of YogaOasis is self-care through stretching and strengthening the body. The poses in the classes are expressive and the forms help with self-awareness. The act of yoga is a way to neutrality from Rhodes’ perspective.

YogaOasis offers different kinds of classes depending on what a person is looking for. Yoga Hour is one of the classes that is an alignment driven flow. It’s a slower class than the usual Vinyasa yoga class. There are other classes that offer eight to 15 poses in a one hour class.

“Doctors will often say ‘Oh, you should do yoga, that’ll help you.’ That is either true or it is not […] That’s where specifically at YogaOasis we have high regard for biomechanical alignment. Through the alignment, we’re minimizing risk — which these poses come with plenty of — and maximizing reward, which this practice can offer much of. That means stabilizing joints, strengthening muscles that stretch so that self-care is a practice and it’s not something that’s easy to obtain. Which is why I practice and offer these practices through instruction,” Rhodes said.

YogaOasis’s central location is at 2631 N. Campbell Ave. and open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Outside of yoga there is also holistic self-care through alternative remedies.

Spirituality

Yolia Botánica is an online shop owned and operated by Guadalupe Tineo that offers botanical bath salts, smoke cleansing floral bundles and more.

To Tineo, self-care involves a series of stages. Firstly, she said, people must take care of any immediate needs that can help them rejuvenate their joy, peace and tranquility levels.

“In order to achieve these things we need to take care of ourselves in the most basic ways,” Tineo said. “Then we go into the next facet of self-care, when people don’t feel like basic necessities are enough anymore […]. I think when we get to this phase we start to question our humanity, we start to ask, ‘What else is there to me, outside of me?’ […]. This is what I call the ‘humanity tank,’ taking care of yourself and prioritizing your self-care involves taking care of others.”

Tineo started her business while reconnecting with her own journey. Her products allow protection over one’s self. They also reflect her own Mexican ancestry as they help get rid of the bad energy that one may bring in after a long day.

She recently created creosote oil out of the creosote plant, known for the rain smell. She said she doesn’t work with white sage or palo santo in her floral bundles out of respect for Indigenous communities.

Through her products, she said, she intends to help the people of the Tucson community reconnect with their identities as they take their own journeys in life.

“It feels unreal,” Tineo said. “Sometimes I’m taken aback by how much impact I can have over people that I don’t realize until I’m at my markets or I get emails from people asking specific questions. I start to connect with people and I realize how many people feel very similar to me, disconnected and asking ‘where do I belong?’ It’s beautiful to know that I can have a positive impact on people and be some kind of guidance of how to go about their reconnection with themselves and their spiritual bodies.”