Pain sucks and it sucks even more when there seems to be no end in sight.

As your massage therapist I want to see improvements. As a deep tissue massage specialist I want to see them quickly! 

You may have heard me say on occasion that "no matter what is going on there is always a trigger point making it worse" but quite often trigger point pain and discomfort can become chronic issues.

You get your regular massage or other therapy to reduce pain by addressing spasms and trigger points but there is an ongoing undercurrent that is undermining your efforts to live comfortably and it is.... your life. The massages are good, they are helping you stay at a certain level but I'm hearing the same complaints every week, or month, for a year.


Day to day, hour to hour and week to week life. How you work, play, stand, sit, dress, eat, breath can be, and probably are contributing and perpetuating your pain. These are "Perpetuating Factors" These are the daily, unnoticeable factors that can be changed or managed to further reduce pain and discomfort in your life. Let's say your 1 hour bi-weekly massage reduces pain for a week when you're back to see me at the plateau we've reached. It's time to start investigating the smaller culprits that are perpetuating symptoms. The following is a list of such perpetuating factors as found in the book by Devin Starlanyl and Mary Ellen Copeland "Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain". A worthy read. I organized the factors into 4 categories and it's a bit more than 12 in total. 

Number one : Improper Breathing :

This factor affects us all. Short chest breathing hinders major muscle groups, our nervous system and pain perception. This military style breathing is shallow chest breathing that hardly engages our abdomen and diaphragm which open the lower lung. This style of breathing also activates our stress response, or enhances an already initiated state of anxiety. 
Taking the time to learn to breath with the abdomen will help relax the pattern of holding tension in our chest, neck and head which are major contributing factors perpetuating your pain. It will also have a big impact on your experience of stress and anxiety, thus releasing even more tension.
Not to mention that a restricted diaphragm will cause hinderances with your esophagus, causing acid reflux.

Two: Environmental Factors: 

Allergies: high histamine levels can internally set off trigger points. Finding ways to control your allergies will also improve body pain.

Seasonal: cold and damp weather affects our pain level as well as barometric pressure. Good to have at home therapies to combat this including heat packs and a stretching regimen. Check ahead for the weather to be prepared mentally as well as practically.
Make sure your feet stay dry in winter.

Furniture: Every piece of furniture you own may be working against you; chairs, desks, sinks, cabinets, car as well as public accommodations (airplanes, restaurants, public transport etc...) 

Addressing these issues means taking time to see if certain pieces of furniture leave you stiff or in pain. This may mean replacing certain pieces and investing in better supportive seating, lumbar supports to modify your furniture, step stools and make sure you are taking frequent stretch breaks when at work or traveling. It may benefit you to set up a 10 minute massage at a nail salon when you reach your destination after long travel. 

Number 3: Just stuff we do

Prolonged Sitting: The best or worst furniture wont make a difference if you are sitting for too long intervals. Often we get focused on our work that you don't notice the discomfort in your arms, shoulders or jaw. That's why you need to make the habit of getting up and out of the position entirely every 20 to 30 minutes. Take at least 10 seconds to walk a few feet, roll your shoulders and head then start again in a new totally new position (you have to stand up and get out of your chair! Set an alarm if you have to! I just did this 5 minutes ago...)

Long Fingernails on the Keyboard: never thought about this right, but it puts strain on the wrist, arms shoulder and face. 

Improper Lighting: causes strain. You may have to supplement with some sort of clip light.

Flat Reading Material: I'm doing this one right now but because I don't write on the computer that often I do not have a proper solution to set the notebook I'm typing from in a good position besides my lap. Is this a poor excuse. Yes.

Crossing Your Legs: I'm also doing this one right now, balancing my notebook on thigh that's crossing over the other one. I need one of those like music stands. Correct the crossing of legs by resting your feet on a large binder on the floor with the heels on the high end, toes down. Hmmm this actually works! 

Wrong Shoes: find the right shoes. 

Heavy Bags/Suitcase: Ladies, you can downsize. Believe me, you can. Also wheels. If you haven't yet,,, wheels. 

Tight Collar/Necktie: also bras, belts, socks, tight clothing, obesity. 

Not Pacing Yourself.

There you go; a dozen or so little ways to improve your life. Even a small modification of any of these factors will benefit you.
When it comes to certain work attire there might not be too much we can do but you can remove what you can, when you can as soon as you can (in the car, at home, bathroom on train)

You might not be able to afford all new seating at home or work but see how much a pillow on your lower back helps.

Number 4: Co-existing Conditions

Now that I have gone over the perpetuating factors of pain and discomfort in your life that is prolonging and agitating the effects of trigger points and stress in your life let me quickly address another perpetuating factor that may help clarify a situation when the all else has been addressed and that's co-existing conditions. These are physical conditions that act has perpetuating factors. While there may be a limit on what you can do to manage the impact of these symptoms I'm here to tell you that often just knowing it is half the hassle. It can make a difference mentally and emotionally to at least know and understand where some of your discomfort comes from. Here are some co-existing conditions:::

Arthritis, ADD, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue, Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Depression, Esophageal Reflux, HIV, Hypermobility Syndrome, Thyroid Disorders, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Lupus, Lymes Disease, Migraine Headaches, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Multiple Sclerosis, PTSD, Seasonal Affected Disorder, Tempromandibular Dysfunction, Yeast Infection

These are the most common, certainly not the only perpetuating conditions. 

Do you have any of these sneaky perpetuating factors in your life that haven't been addressed that can now be brought to light? Do any surprise you? (the long fingernails on the keyboard was unexpected) I hope this list helps you uncover many little ways to improve your LIFE day to day, hour to hour and week to week! 



   

Hello everyone! I'm sure many of you have wondered to yourself 'what makes a massage Swedish?' A simple answer would be that it is a massage style developed in Sweden, by a Swede, but you'd be totally wrong!! How did this happen!!?? No one really knows. Here are the facts in What Is Swedish Part 1 :

There was a Swede named Peter Ling who developed the "Swedish Gymnastic Movements" around 1813 and it had nothing to do with getting or giving a massage, though the gymnasts may have gotten a massage at some point. Somehow the name "Swedish Movement" became a reference to a system of massage developed by a DUTCH guy named Johan Georg Mezgor after 1850.
What is sometimes known as classical massage, but more often as Swedish Massage (for no real reason apparently) is a treatment integrating specific strokes with fancy FRENCH names. The therapy is designed to relax the body and reduce pain using specific strokes on the muscle while other massage techniques focus on acupressure points (Shiatsu) the feet and hands (reflexology) the fascia (myofascial release) and so on.
Swedish is a very body based modality as opposed to others that are neurological or balance based. Stay tuned to learn more about what these Swedish French strokes are, what they do and why Deep Tissue is basically deep Swedish, otherwise known as a massage!


Here's the next part of the series: What is Swedish 2: Different Strokes.

Now that we have established that Swedish massage has nothing to do with Sweden or being Swedish but is a therapeutic system of massage using specific strokes, some with French names. The first two are effleurage and petrissage.
Effleurage in French means to "skim"or "touch lightly" and it is one of the first techniques used in a session. Effleurage uses long, light to firm strokes up the limbs and down the back and other areas . It is used to spread oil, warm up tissue, increase circulation, soothe muscle and nerves and is very relaxing. Mostly the palms of the hands are used but the heal or side of hand, fingers, thumbs and forearms are utilized. There are endless ways of integrating effleurage into a session.
Petrissage means "to knead" and is a wringing "pick up and squeeze" technique meant to 'milk' the muscle and is best used on bigger muscles in the thighs, calves and upper arms. Petrissage grips deeper muscles and squeezes to stimulate skin and lymph. This is a firm to medium pressure technique done after effleurage has warmed the body.
There are 3 more stroke styles that make a massage Swedish!

I bet you're ready for Part 3 of What Is Swedish?

In part one you find out that Sweden has pretty much nothing to do with Swedish massage and that no one knows why! Part 2 showed us the first 2 of 5 strokes that are used in what we call Swedish Massage. The first 2 are the only ones with fancy French names, the rest are pretty self explanatory. Today we introduce Compression!
And it's basically what it sounds like; using compressive movement with the flat or heel of hand on the muscle. It's one of my favorites actually; it affects a larger surface area, can be rhythmic and relaxing or static, and I like to add a circular motion that gently rocks the entire body.
This massage technique concentrates on one area to warm it up and really get the blood moving to the muscles. It can have a very deep effect on the body sometimes producing a "big" sensation in the client as a bigger space of locked up tissue refers sensation throughout the body. The areas I use compression the most are glutes, low back, between shoulder blades, upper thighs, hamstrings, feet, pecs and in one of my most famous moves called 'cat paws' where I alternate compression downward on the shoulders.
In Part 1 of What is Swedish I explain that deep tissue is really just Deep Swedish and compression is really the first indicator of that; it sinks in deeper than the top most layers!
We have 2 more to go so stay tuned for parts 4 and 5 of What is Swedish: Different Strokes!

Hello and welcome to part 4 of a 5 part series on Swedish Massage: what it is, what it does and where does it come from reaally? To answer that I've been profiling each of the specific strokes that make a massage Swedish (even though it has nothing to do with Sweden: see part 1)

Today we talk about Tapotement which is the 'fun' technique!! This is also referred to as the 'movie massage' because of the chopping, striking and thumping action usually seen in movies! These techniques stimulate and tone muscles, work the trigger points in the glutes and upper back and also keep the session interesting by changing up the pace.
Other forms of tapotement are jostling and shaking muscle groups. This is stimulating yet relaxing as the nerves get their own mini massage while the tissues swivel around them! Jostling is good for joints, tendons, and pressure points. In fact the effects of jostling techniques can be so profound that there are entire disciplines and modalities based on them such as Kinesthetic Awareness Through Movement (KAM) and Continuum!
There are many ways to use tapotement movements such as lifting limbs, the head and abdomen or rigorously shaking feet and hands to jostling isolated muscle and karate chopping the legs. This is a very fun part of Swedish Massage!
Stay tunes for our final, most intense stroke that shows how Swedish is as deep as any technique on the menu!!!

​And now the conclusion of my 5 part series on Swedish Massage: what is it?

I've been breaking down the specific techniques that apply to Swedish, or, as we learn in part one,
Classic Massage or::: massage. Swedish strokes work the muscles and tissues in specific ways to relax the body and reduce pain. Today we introduce the stroke used in what we call deep tissue and why Deep Tissue is really just Deep Swedish... or deep massage
Deep friction is direct finger pressure on an area of the muscle or fascia that feels textured, like there is a palpable trigger point or an adhesion. Focused pressure is used to break down the tissue and bring blood back into the area. THe pressure can be static, circular or with back and forth movement. When the muscle feels rocky or crystalized to the touch then it is likely not receiving adequate blood flow. The deep friction is actually creating a tiny injury to bring blood to the area: basically causing a healing reaction. This technique is part of 2 separate modalities: trigger point therapy and neuromuscular therapy. Trigger points deserve their very own 5 part series.... coming soon!
Deep friction is also called cross fiber friction as it can go across the striations in the muscle to increase blood flow and healing! Deep friction is my personal specialty and I am highly proficient in the palpation and treatment of trigger points. I spend a good amount of time performing this stroke in my sessions.
And this brings us to the end of my 5 part series on What Is Swedish?? Hope you enjoyed it and feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Hope to see you soon!

As a massage therapist, as medicine I'm part of the answer to your problems. Massage is like a small part of your week or month that makes a massive impact on your mind, body and even the way you go about making changes in your life including, yes, your New Years Resolutions... in March.

So it's March 2020 and the gym parking lot has resumed its regular half empty status; it is no longer packed full like it was at the start of the New Year. The negotiation for a place to park is over and order is restored for 2020. I see this every single year. (my office is located next to Premier Athletic Club for those who may not know) The New Year New Me glamour has officially lost its luster.

It always starts out so strong. From Jan 2nd till about now that parking lot is packed to such capacity I have trouble finding my own spot. While there are some who are gonna stick with it and have taken up permanent residency at the club most are already out of the running. I'm pretty sure I know why, at least partially...there are a few things vital to successfully prevailing in the long haul toward your actual living goals. They are simple but multifaceted, so let me start with 'managing your approach'.

People don't generally wake up one day a completely changed and adjusted person with a new routine, habit structure and constant renewed source of motivation,,, not even on New Years Day despite the fireworks, celebration, declaration, jazz hands and a globefull of people cheering you on,,, it's just not the way it works yet we act as if this is exactly how it works. Tomorrow I'm going to be a whole new person,,, because it's a different year now. Managing your approach means realizing that you are attempting to be a whole new person!
This, as you may imagine, takes some time and a lot of support. You are trying to create and embed new habits into your life, body, schedule, routine and mind. It doesn't happen over night but over time with regularity, rigor and determination until your new habits are strongly situated in your routine and lifestyle and this means in your body and nervous system! When you start anything new you DO NOT have the neural networks to support your new habit or skill (think of what it was like when you first drove a car. now apply that to the first time you tried driving to the gym before or after work. It's not going to come naturally) The actual muscular and neural networks must be created and strengthened, just like a workout!

You may have heard that it takes 3 weeks to 3 months to create a new habit and this is why!!! You have to literally build the new neural patterns of behavior and it takes time! This is why the New Year New Me equations, as lovely as it seems, is not an instant, glamorous manifestation makeover of the New Year but a steady, managed and well planned approach to commitment and change!

The next part of this is to realize that you have challenges and one of them is your absolute weakness and vulnerability. Yes. Think about it; you are going in totally raw, without any internal support and at the weakest and unhealthiest you are going to be in this whole process. And you need to be able to STAY IN THE GAME until those supports are established and your New Me attributes begin to emerge... in 3 weeks to 3 months. You are going it alone.
NOT TO MENTION that the cruel joke of New Years is that it's dead winter: cold, we're broke from Christmas, it's dark, we have seasonal depressive disorder and on and on... you are going up against that as well! We just want to go home and get on the couch. Is it a total excuse? Yes! But you still have to push through it for, again... 3 weeks to 3 months.

So my friends we now come to main adversary in your way. This is the one that's going to really make the difference. Can you find away to keep yourself pumped for the long run? YEAH. Do you have some mp3 that can cut through the dark of winter and light your way to the gym, or to the special foods store, or the cooking class? Yes yes yes! Did you have a difficult day at work and you just want to go home? Um... yeaaahh. Can you just not even? Can you not even put on your amazing, unstoppable mp3? Are you too... stressed? Yes.
I suggest, at this point, reviewing my blogposts on the anatomy of stress.

We all deal with some level of stress and this is totally shown in the way we need to 'unwind' from our workday. Some levels of this stress are healthy and keep us animated but for many of us these stress levels border on anxiety, prolonged and chronic stress and even to panic disorders. In either case stress drains your energy, keeps you focused on your comfort zone and makes it way too easy to disrupt and cancel our commitment to the 3 weeks/3 months period of building new habits. Yes these activities can and will combat stress on their own, but in the beginning, while your muscles and nerves are weak and like a baby the challenge itself may feel... stressful. I,,,, my friends,,, can help. You must know where I'm going with this...

Para... Sympa... Thetic...Nervous... System.
This is the rest and digest portion of your nervous system and it is never truly engaged... not like the fight or flight portion called the sympathetic nervous system.
The PNS and SNS are in constant flux throughout the day with SNS always winning out.
PNS is really like a total EMP on your stress when it is activated... but it needs to be activated. Ever get a massage? Massage is a LITERAL SWITCH on your nervous system activity! That peaceful feeling you get is PNS activation! It is shown that a 15 minute massage can manage stress for up to 3 days!!! A one hour massage up to 2 weeks! Massage is an excellent way to manage your stress while you give your nervous system and muscles the chance to create new patterns and networks, build new habits and routines that will serve you for a lifetime!!!

A 15 minute massage every week, a half hour every other week, an hour every month... each of these are a good approach. When it comes to using massage as stress management, or pain management, more truly is more::: if you could get a massage everyday then, well, wow good for you! But this guideline is helpful for.. you know... reality.

Spring is on the way and there's no shame in re-energizing your New Year pursuits... but this time with the refreshing Spring and some massage appointments!!! The massage is great because it's not only a means but an end of itself... it's a reward and a tool! Come in, lay down and let me do the work!!! Happy New Year!

EVOLVING WITH OUR TECHNOLOGY

We are not adapting to our technology; the speed of it, the pace and the physical maneuvering of it, the unending exposure to the world and the worlds incessant access to us. We are not processing the insane amounts of information properly and yet we are completely addicted to the consumption of it.

As a massage therapist I am not here to heal this addiction but I can help manage what it is doing to you, to me and to us.

Our species is just simply not prepared, evolved or just plain ready for the technologies we are living with. Our nervous systems were operating on a primitive system of fight or flight BEFORE the new world of devices, information, sharing, communication and exposure took hold, and now it has a hold on us... and we are still operating from Fight or Flight. 

A thousand things fight for our attention every second; from advertising on social media, rapid fire scrolling consumption of images, messages, facts, feelings, politics... which can re-order our mood and mental firings in as quick succession as we can scroll. There is no escape from business and branding; your every move has audience potential. This doesn't even cover ghastly physical damage to our  postures, necks, backs, eyes, diaphragms etc......... great. 

The world we live in is non stop pressure and stress, and stress underlines every problem and illness in your life. Now some levels of stress animate and motivate us but we don't even have a reference for what healthy levels of stress feel like because, as a species, we have never experienced life without it.

 A life always motivated by stress feels generally symptomatic or can reach anxiety, pain and terror! A solution based outlook is possible. I explain why this is, what it does and that the eventual outcome is of untreated or out of control stress in my first 2 parts of this series... GO.... READ THEM NOW.

Ok... welcome back. Cray yes? Cray

So, to review you are basically totally compromised in every way as everything around you keeps you in a holding pattern of stress and we call it normal. And now I'm telling you that you are trapped in the emergence of an unrelenting, addicting simulation run by technology that physically weakens us? Yes. I am.

But what few realize is that it's NOT THE TECHNOLOGY or the world or what happens to us but how we manage ourselves and negotiate a world that advances everyday. Technology IS moving fast and we have not moved at all. We have to adapt, change, evolve and we can no longer afford the primitive brain. We need the parasympathetic response integrated into our lives, priorities, minds and we need it now! The search for PNS will require that you put down the phone, step away from the desk, maybe even pull the car over once in awhile and learn how to plan our days and weeks to make time for the therapies that balance our nervous system. These breaks and appointments are investments in maintenance and quality of life and longevity!

You have many tools in your aresenal and I'm happy to educate you on how to use them whether it be quick fixes and adjustments to use throughout the day or long term adjustments to your time and schedule. I can help!

Ideally you want to access PNS once a day; this can be done with breathing and accupressure or even a quick body work session. The effects of a 15 minute massage can last up 72 hours... even after the feeling seems to dissipate! The benefits of an hour massage can last up to 2 weeks!!! 
The effects are also cumulative; the more you receive the stronger the impact and the longer the effect. 
I recommend a half hour massage once a week: easy, bite sized and highly effective!

The benefits of physical and mental health are worth it! 

Do you receive my weekly newsletter in your email?
Have I mentioned how much I love summer?
Yes Jen, every week.
Well there's so much summer left and I'm happy as a chipmunk on a slice of watermelon... a songbird in a bird bath or... even... a mosquito on a fleshy arm...

Yeah. Mosquitos.
An integral part of the food chain. Also a plague.
A. Moses. Level. Plague.
ugh

Nothing like a lovely summer evening with a pleasant summer breeze to be chased indoors by these nasty, deft, cunning bloodsuckers. You would think by now I would have this all figured out but I don't; that I would be the master of mosquito solutions but I'm not. I'm trying.

Sprays: they work. I PERSONALLY don't appreciate  the chemical exchange on an everyday, hour to hour basis. Even sprayed on clothes.
Repellent items: bracelets and stuff like that. They work too. I recently discovered cute stickers you can wear! Also full of chemicals and I would use if at an event outdoors; again sparingly and not a solution to my day to day mosquito problems.

Citronella candles and torches: work well, to an extent. Also::: chemicals. Billows and billows of fumes will be experienced if you use enough candles to actually be effective. So these really need to be strategically placed about in a way that is inoffensive and therefore handling about 15% of my problems.
BTW if candles are YOUR go to I have to tell you... Big Lots brand of citronella candles work like a BOSS for some reason... it must be the chemicals! They sell out pretty quick for the season... for a reason. They work.

so... what do?

Well now I'm on a personal journey, the quest, to find a solution that is effective and perfect. A bit of internet research has yielded these things::::

Plants:
yes... potted or garden plants. These have been listed as effective for warding off mosquitos.
Citronella (duh) marigold, mint, basil, catnip, lemon balm, pennyroyal, sage.
Sooo do I have to construct a throne of herbs and annuals every year for plants to work on an, at least, 60 - 70% effectiveness? idk
To be continued...

Essential Oils:
yes... these are chemicals. Harsh, abrasive but natural and even medicinal chemicals! These are chemicals I can deal with. When diluted properly can be safely applied to skin or burned in a diffuser. Dilutions are best, usually one ounce of carrier (olive oil, cream etc) to 2 drops essential oil. Or one drop to a small diffuser of water.
They are:::: Lavendar!!! (husband hates it) Tea Tree (ew) Peppermint (oooh) Citronella (this again) Lemon Eucalyptus (very nice, careful on skin) Sweet basil, Catnip Clary Sage

I'm interested in a mix of peppermint and lemon euc as an ointment. I'll try this one day and let you know. One day...

Misc:
Garlic. Yes garlic oil. Yes garlic plants but really... one. clove. of. garlic. eaten. raw. so. that. the. chemical. compounds. of. your. blood. are. altered. for. the. entire. evening.
Please for the sake of goodness warn your loved ones.

Bug zapper. I love our bug zapper. It's got a name; sparky. It does the job of ... hmmm maybe 30%. An ally. Helpful.

Standing water. Make roaming your grounds looking for those little pools of water in shovels, empty planters, chairs and all the many crevices on your property a part of your walking meditation! Boom, done.

Screens. Just, screens.

And burning sage. The smoke of burning bits of dried sage is antimicrobrial and also, apparently a good mosquito repellent. Also my husband hates this more than lavender.

And one day I will get the recipe right. I imagine there will be a couple of candles like over there, sparky, a nice refreshing lemony peppermint cream, lots of little plants still in their, plastic pots from the market and maybe a hint of garlic. I will submit my report,,, one of these days.

In my last post I introduced you to you, or rather, parts of you to you. These are the SNS and PNS and are two major parts of your nervous system that regulate stress and relaxation. Introductions were made, hands were shaken, notes were taken. The next step is to take a look at what's going on IN you when everything AROUND you is getting TO you! I really recommend going back and reading part 1 before proceeding......


Okay...


So before I get to some gory details let me give you some gory perspective; so a grizzly bear, a manhunting dinosaur and a dental appointment walk into a bar. Which one do you find the most unpleasant to think about? Well, your SNS doesn't know the difference to any degree, it just registers that you're experiencing stress. That's really nuts! I mean, that's crazy! If you get pulled over by a cop or receive a final cancellation notice in the mail, that cold stress sensation that comes over you is not unlike finding a bear in your backseat! Those stress sensations are your body kicking in to fight or flight!!! Yikes! You've heard this term used over and over but do you have any idea what it means??

Yes there are degrees of stress ranging from discomfort to shock to full panic but it's all the same to the SNS. No matter what the scenario is your SNS is going to be 'stimulated', it's going to switch on and it's going to do these things, all the time, everyday, unless you SHUT IT OFF.

Circulation: 

Heart rate increases dramatically so that baby can pump that blood and oxygen to the parts of the body that need it the most: the muscles!! This is so that you can fight to the death or run away! The lungs and parts of the brain are next on the blood list so your breath can continue to oxygenate your body. Blood is directed AWAY from systems that are not really useful for dropkicking a predator and this includes digestion. Your digestive system gets seriously ripped off in this ordeal.

Brain: 

Okay so blood is directed to parts of the brain that are important for acting really fast but activity in the the forebrain is suppressed. To quote a New York Times article what is suppressed is "activity in areas at the front of the brain concerned with short-term memory, concentration, inhibition, and rational thought". Ha! That's why you feel like a blubbering fool in stressful social contexts in which you have to speak or during an unpleasant verbal conflict! 

Here's another neat quote, from Pub Med, concerning your brain on stress. It cites a study done on social phobias and the brain. It explains..

"that cortical evaluative processes were taxed by public performance. In contrast, the social phobia symptom profile was associated with increased subcortical activity. Thus, the functional neuroanatomy of social phobia involves the activation of a phylogenetically older danger-recognition system."

This means your relating to other humans via your reptilian "danger" archives.

Digestion:

So to expand upon the whole blood diverted away from your guts thing I mentioned earlier here's a quote from Harvard Health Publications:

During stress "digestion slows or even stops so that the body can divert all its internal energy to facing a perceived threat. In response to less severe stress, such as public speaking, the digestive process may slow or be temporarily disrupted, causing abdominal pain and other symptoms of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Of course, it can work the other way as well: persistent gastrointestinal problems can heighten anxiety and stress."

IBS? Ulcers? Chrohns disease? Acid reflux? An entire nation of gastrointestinal problems? Does this seem okay?

Note: "less severe stress" causes abdominal pain... 

Immune system: 

This one is insane to me. Your immune system is basically suppressed during stress except for the parts that fight infection. It's brilliant. It's miraculous. It's terrifying. This type of long term suppression can be linked to auto immune diseases to many allergies and even cancer. Why?

The constant dysregulation of the immune system day in and day out. Your immune system is comprised of so many different kinds of cells and during stress they are given rank. This will cause dysfunction eventually. This will cause your immune system to attack your body or will cause the dysregulated release of hormones and in the case of cancer stress will reduce the amount of natural killer cells in your immune system that are known to attack and eat cancer cells. So your immune system cannot properly fight cancer because it's being f**king supressed! The effect of stress on natural killer cells is a fascinating study and one that deserves the wheel.

I implore you to check out the New York Times link below to read the section on the immune system fully. 

Miscellaneous:

You get tunnel vision. Your mouth goes dry and your throat tight. Your skin tightens. Bodily tension puts physical stress on your muscles, tissues and organs risking injury and contributing to ischemia (loss of blood flow). 

Is this starting to sound like a panic attack yet? 




Now. 
Like I said, there are degrees.
There are those serious and acute episodes; serious accidents, emergencies and other frightening events. This is acute stress. It's hot, pulsating stress. It's different than daily stress.
Daily stress is what I'm talking about. The kind that hums just beneath the surface.


Ever go through an acutely stressful event and feel that warm feeling wash over you when it's all over with? That's PNS. PNS takes over when the catastrophe has run its course.


It isn't activated when you're dealing with the daily grind or those "less severe" instances. You have to activate yourself. And know what's nice? You can!


What happens when this SNS system is running low grade day after day? Illness. Of all kinds. Mental, emotional, physical... stress is a part of every illness you experience.

Long term stress will start to act like acute stress. This now becomes a disorder. What happens when your body goes through a stress response meant to rip an automobile off a small child while you're,,,, just,,, sorta,,, standing there? Probably a panic attack. What happens when you go through this everyday? You probably end up on medication being told you have a mental illness. The symptoms of anxiety are totally insane and can bring you to your knees. 

There is only one way out. You have to switch if off. There is only one way to do this, you must turn on PNS.


PNS will regulate all of this mayhem. PNS activation regulates blood flow and digestion, heart rate and even has a profound impact on your immune system! Many studies show that activating PNS through massage or a forest walk or deep breathing increases natural killer cell count! WOW! The euphoria felt during PNS activation is linked to homeostasis of dopamine and serotonin! Pain is decreased, tension reduces. That kind of research confirms everything I'm saying.... our daily stress is killing us and we have to take control... and we can. The first step is to know how this works, which is what I'm trying to do.


This is why relaxation techniques have such a major effect on anxiety disorders, because you'r retraining your nervous system to not react with stress. You're ensuring yourself that you are not under bear attack,,,, right now.


PNS response is also called the 'rest and digest' response. This is because you start to digest food again! Ever notice that moment during a massage when your stomach just starts gurgling for no reason? Well, there you go! PNS has begun! 


Well I'm glad you're here, at the end of this entry. I'm glad you read it! This is only still a part of the story... we're not done here! These are the facts with a bit of perspective but in the future I would like to offer some philosophy on how we're living and how we need to evolve. We need evolution to take us past this hellish deathtrap of stress and to start to run in harmony with our technology and ourselves. Below are links to the articles I quoted. This is real. This is why, I think, people with healthy lifestyles get cancer or other diseases. I also want to show you the way out. I can help you,,, in 5 minutes I can switch you to PNS, but you can do it too. 

http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/stress-and-anxiety/the-body%27s-response.html



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11481154

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/stress-and-the-sensitive-gut


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880

Hello and Happy New Year! I have so so so much to say about what stress is and what it does and how healing modalities affect it. Whatever your 'New Year New Me' plans may be they will most likely be affected by stress. If you have an illness, of ANY kind, it is affected by stress. If your problem is mental, existential, physical, or emotional it is affected by stress. And you have power over stress therefore you have power over every little damned problem in your life. Every one.

It's a new year for me too and there is so much blog in my heart, really, and I want to tell you more about what I mean but there is some groundwork to lay first. There are a few physiological realities that must be made clear. Everything else makes so much more sense when you have a basic understanding of the 'Anatomy of Stress'. What I'm about to put forth here is purely biological; it's real and documented and known to the medical industry but not to every one of you. 

First a little about me. Foremost I am, as a massage therapist, medicine. That's what I am. You come see me, you lay down and I administer medicine with my friggin medicine hands! You don't have to do anything and by the time you leave, whether in 15 minutes or 90, healing has occurred; things have changed. But what does that even mean? You can tell that it is so but what is it?

A billion little physiological things probably, of which I know a few.

But really it means 2 things... I have reduced pain and I have lowered stress.

These 2 things deserve and demand their very own volumes and are both extremely important to health and what we call 'well being'. Now when it comes to stress and it's impact on health it's totally insane that we're not taught the basics of what stress is and what it does. These basics should be common knowledge and knowledge is power. This knowledge is the groundwork for everything I do. I have established that I am medicine but I also strive to be a stress educator. From anxiety disorders to cancer stress matters. Here's why...

I'll start with an excerpt from my lecture "mind, body spirt... now what" called? "predator in the face"


~Do you realize that you have 2 different nervous systems in your body that are responsible for either causing stress or relaxation???
One induces stress, the other invokes relaxation.
This is the absolute truth. I'm not making this up.

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) causes the "stress" response and was adapted to help us deal in real life threatening situations in which we needed to run or fight to the death. The stress response prepares our bodies for dropkicking a predator in the face, for lifting a car off someone, for making quick decisive action when a deer gets up in our grill or for screaming off into the night::::::: it's not good for dealing with debt collectors, people buying lotto in front of us, deadlines, for hashing out some dilemma with a peer or for partaking in any retail encounter whatsoever.... unless of course you're about to dropkicked in the face. Life can feel like that yes? 

We have not evolved past this prehistoric state of being. Stress is not the natural way of going through life. Sometimes it can help get through a period of intensity but mostly it floods the system with adrenaline causing adrenaline fatigue, suppresses our immune systems, makes us nervous, jumpy, short of breath, unbalanced, tense, brainless, sloppy ogre people with bad digestion. Stress drains blood from the ORGANS AND FOREBRAIN and puts it in the muscles and mid-brain to help us act like wild reptiles that survive. This is why you get befuddled, confused and crazy when you're overly stressed and angry;:::: you never say the right thing when there's a prehistoric beast in your face. Blood leaves the forebrain and you cannot properly digest food when you're like this, which is every day. 

Now, there is the OTHER nervous system the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). This one activates the REST AND DIGEST response. We are in one or the other. We are either in stress or in rest and digest and, believe me, there is no mistaking the rest and digest state. You definitely know when you're there. We are usually never there. Even when watching T.V. or chillin out we're still using the sympathetic nervous system. If you're not in the relaxation response you are still in stress. The idea is to achieve the relaxation response as often as possible::: once a day to start with would be good. We literally need to retrain ourselves out of constant stress. This constant stress is the cause of so many chronic illnesses and disorders, from being overweight to mental illness to whatever ails you.

There are many ways to achieve the relaxation response through stimulation of the "parasympathetic nervous system".  Massage is a good way to achieve this because the client is passive and doesn't have to do anything. The client will always achieve deep relaxation at the conclusion of a massage.~

Okay, so that is really basic but it should also be very compelling to you; we are operating on outdated modes of behavior! We are no longer hunted day and night yet we still run on the part of the nervous system that helped us survive the primitive centuries! We are safe now, we can chillax! But we haven't yet! This system (the SNS) is very destructive to the immune system! How? Well that's just one of the many many things I need to tell you about! But I needed to leave this here first and lay the ground work. Now you know what SNS and PNS are. That's good. That's reallly good. You enter the massage in SNS and leave in PNS and you can tell the difference.

 We have not evolved. But we can evolve. Being in a state of PNS calm is something we need to learn to do, then cultivate then maintain with every inch of our being. We need to hold on to it and make it ours. We need to take control and realize that day to day stress is not natural or okay or all around you,,, it's actually a choice. It's a choice that you need training in order to learn to make it and I'm here for you, it's what I do. I'm a switchboard operator dialing in PNS. I am medicine... this is what healing means.

P.s. Join me on Facebook and I 'll tell you exactly what SNS does to your immune system!

 
 A whole lot of FRIGGIN money is about to be literaly DUMPED, by you and me, right into the economy! But whos economy?

So this is a call, a challenge... buy local this holiday season. This is a very direct way to build a strong local economy, to empower your community and flex your purchasing power! I challenge you to buy 25% local or 50% local or ... more.


Yes. I know. Things ARE more expensive on a local level. This is part of your investment. It's part of your contribution. You may find  your self yielding to quality over quanity. This then becomes a very sound and environmentally good choice.

When you really look around, there are a ton of exciting ways to give from the heart! A popular trend is to give the gift of experience. This includes restaurants, performances, art, dance or karate classes, boat rides, wine tours... just about any bucket list item has a gift certificate for sale. Get them a makeover, a horse riding adventure...

Check out local hardware stores for bigger items. Bergers Appliance of Hawthorne is a local business. 

I've seen so many wonderful local boutiques tank. They lose so much holiday revenue to big box stores. Get out and support these wonderful shops while getting something truly unique! Compile a list of boutiques and just go to them! The only ones I can think of around here are Trinkets in Croton or Ruthenys, also in Croton. I always used to buy jewelery from SWAK in Montrose and my recepients squealed, no really, squealed with delight. They sadly had to close.

Get to your local craft fairs!!! You will always find something unique and wonderful. No one, and mean not one of us, can own enough hand made scarves. Seriously. 

If a small business is not in your local area per say it's still shopping local. Now's a good time to check out etsy.com for hundreds of independant sellers of handmade or vintage goods inlcuding jewelery, art, or just about anything you can think of.  

Explore pintrest for a millions ways to MAKE an awesome gift!

Also consider local bakers, florists, book and record shops, yoga studios, spas...

Every year I enjoy going to Feed the Birds in Croton and getting bird feeders and outdoor seed ornaments.

Like I said, 25%, 50%, 75%. These are good percentages if we all challenged ourselves with one of them. All of us are going to buy big box items this year. It's unavoidable. It's okay. But we can make a major impact by looking around and challenging ourselves to a percentage. 

What are some of your favorite local holiday hot spots? Plug away! Show us where to go! 
Your community thanks you!

Here I am. I am your massage therapist and I'm ready to blog for you.

Peace is an abstract concept; at least I think it's better to think of it that way until you finally acheive it. There can be little or no reference to what peace is or feels like until you have felt it's exact opposite. 

Stress is something we're generally used to. I don't mean the pressure of a stressful, nerve wracking event or a bad day. I'm talking about a low level stress that's always there. It's there when you unwind from the day or even when we do the things that give us pleasure. We aren't aware of it. This kind of stress is also an abstract concept, until you experience the opposite. 

This is exactly what happens on the massage table. You get the concept; sometimes you get it the second your head hits the table. I'm pretty sure every person who gets on the table leaves with a reference for peace. Once you get familiar with the concept of peace you begin to recognize your stress. When you leave the office you are out of stress, at least the kind of stress that we carry day to day.

What makes the table unique is that deep relaxation and a senes of peace and well being happens immediately without any effort. To maintain that peace you must practice by finding meditation or a yoga teacher, but massage can and will open the door. It is a silver bullet. Whatever you bring to the table your massage will improve it. 

I've enjoyed a simple visualization in my work. I imagine that the treatment is a drop of water that hits the surface of your stress, rippling it out, smoothing it over. There is at least a drop of peace with you, effecting the ocean of your being. And now when you leave the office you are a drop of peace rippling out into the ocean of the world. If it lasts five seconds then it has done some good but it can last all day.

There are biological names for these abstract concepts of stress and peace and there are many physiological things that take place between the two but I will talk about that another time. For now it's enough that you know peace and stress cannot exists together and that you can choose on or the other. It takes practice to learn to choose and massage can help.