Mylinh Nguyen and Daniel Chiang, the husband-and-wife team behind the Inspired Life Health Centre, are celebrating the new expansion of their facilities this weekend with free massage therapy, workshops, snacks, samples and holiday gift ideas.

Nguyen has a doctorate of Natural Medicine from the Canadian Centre of Naturopathy and is a Reiki Master too. Chiang is a certified Meridian Stress Assessment (MSA) technician. The two complement each other well.

At a sneak preview of their new facilities this afternoon, I get to sample some of the treatments they offer. MSA helps you learn what's happening inside your body, how your organ systems are performing, and what foods you're sensitive to, says Chiang.

To get my reading done, I hold a brass connector in one hand while the other gets tapped with a small device attached to a small silver box and a laptop computer. It makes cool '80s video game sounds as it generates results based on my body's response to electromagnetic current.

Invented by a German in the 1950s, it's become a nifty tool that will help assess what foods you're either sensitive to, allergic to or cannot tolerate.I learnt that I've got issues with butter, cheddar cheese, caffeine, red wine and MSG. although I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my all my vices just yet....

Chiang leads me into another one of the several rooms on the second floor of the facility that used to house a Shiatsu clinic. I'm introduced to Bob Guy, who gets me up on a massage table and shows me the benefits of Muscle Activation Technique. It uses simple palpation and resistance to help decrease pain and increasing performance -- an increasingly helpful modality for athletes and performing artists.

If that's not your thing, perhaps you'd enjoy an attentive massage therapy session by Jessica Trayanoff, followed by a half-hour session in their relaxing infrared sauna. It's just as hot but without the steam and hot rocks. It'll leave you sweating out all those toxins you've built up over the year. Be sure to bring extra towels so you don't slip and slide on the Plexiglas seat or floor of the otherwise beautiful wooden sauna.

You can drop by any time this Saturday between 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the celebrations, which include healthy snacks and beverages, cooking demonstrations, food sampling and draws for gift baskets from neighbouring retailers in the Carrot Common area.

There will be a Q&A with naturopaths, homeopaths, massage therapists, holistic nutritionists, counsellors and sports therapy specialists.

You can get a 10-minute chair massage or a 30-minute relaxation class with a registered massage therapist. Or learn stress reduction techniques to help get you through the hectic holiday season.
If that's not enough, there's also acupuncture demonstrations and Meridian Stress Assessment testing demonstrations.

This in opportunity to learn what's happening inside your body, how your organ systems are performing, and what foods you're sensitive to. If you're among the first 50 to arrive either Saturday or Sunday, you'll get a little gift bag with samples and offers from Inspired Life and neighbouring stores.

The Inspired Life Heath Centre is at 320 Danforth Avenue (at Chester subway) and can be reached at 416-461-8688.

Photos by Roger Cullman.