When you have hands the size of baseball mitts, you are probably meant to be a massage therapist. It took me a long time getting here, but it has been interesting along the way. I’ve been rubbing people since I was a little kid. My mom always had knots in her neck and shoulders and would recruit me to rub on them when she hurt and she had no other choice but me. I also had a grandpa with diabetes and his feet always hurt and he would ask me to rub them for him. I remember being a little hesitant to rub his feet the first time I took his sock off and he’d had a toe removed. Unfortunately he ended up losing several toes before he died. As a kid, I was considered “rowdy”. Now days they would have medicated me, but in those days I just got in a lot of trouble. In fact, my 5th grade teacher said I needed either medication or counseling, so my mom put me in sports. I loved water and was always finding ways of getting soaked so my mom put me in swimming. I went from being a little fish with the minnows to swimming with the big kids pretty fast and after watching Mark Spitz win all those medals, I dreamed of swimming in the Olympics. Unfortunately it turned out I was extremely allergic to chlorine and the doctor said I had a choice; breathing or swimming. I chose swimming, but for some reason my parents disagreed and made me quit. Oh well, by that time I was also getting involved in other sports like basketball and setting records for the physical fitness program at school. I was the perfect “tomboy” and proved it by becoming the neighborhood wrestling champion which drove my mother crazy. At age13 she insisted I stop beating all the boys and start acting like a girl! In high school I played basketball, but couldn’t stay out of the water and played water polo and joined the swim team too. By this time I started my own little business of teaching private swimming lessons during the hot Fresno summers, after my life-guarding job and was learning to paying attention to how bodies worked and moved. When I got into college, I wanted to be a cartoonist for Disney or work in health sciences and was trying to decide. After meeting a freelance artist that was about 450 pounds and worked in a small room with no windows it was easy to choose health sciences so I enrolled in Anatomy, Physiology and later Kinesiology. One memorable event in Anatomy was the dissection of the cadaver of an elderly woman. At first I was horrified that there was a dead body in the room but eventually I had my face right in there my horror turned to fascination with how complex and intricate the parts were and how they worked. I had tough instructors! My physiology teacher had us draw our own blood and centrifuge it. Funny thing was that our class was after lunch and it was pretty obvious I ate a hamburger that day because of the fat layer between the plasma and platelets. Yuck! In my kinesiology class for our mid-term, we were to identify the landmarks on a box of random bones and the final was describing all the muscles involved and their movements in throwing a baseball. You would be amazed at how much is going on in your body at any given time with even the smallest movement! So at this point I thought I wanted to go into Physical Therapy, but the program was impacted and I wasn’t going to pin my hopes on getting in with a wait of two years. I had just begun swimming for Cal State Northridge, for Pete Accardy who was voted NCAA Division II coach of the year and I was so excited, but again, my body wasn’t having it and my knee blew out because I was a breast stroker and the kick was too much for my knees to handle for so many years. My parents sent me to Dr. Frank Jobe of Centinela Hospital, one of the best orthopedic doctors in the country. He was doctor for the L.A. Dodgers; he did shoulder surgery on Jim McMahon, quarterback for the Chicago Bears, and was doctor to many professional and Olympic athletes. I was hoping that he would be able to fix me and I could continue my Olympic dream. I couldn’t have had a bigger let down. He had no idea what was going on with my knee. He had theories but really wanted to open me up for exploratory surgery which in those days meant you ended up with a zipper scar and possibly not being fixed. I had had a few swimmer friends that ended up with a scar and were no better. I wasn’t willing to risk a scar to go through surgery without knowing what we were looking for or if it could be fixed. Dr. Jobe and I finally agreed that he would give me a shot of cortisone at the location of pain, put me in a cast from my ankle to my mid-thigh for a month and see what would happen. He was hoping by immobilizing the ligaments and muscles that they would heal and the inflammation would go away. Getting frustrated with the pain and lack of improvement I started researching knees and how to get them stronger with weight training. In college, I had been training with a coach at L.A. Valley College that had set me up with a strength coach and I learned a lot about what to do and how to do it safely. So the day the cast is to come off, I get up on the table, grit my teeth as the saw cuts off the cast and take my first step on the injured leg. Immediately searing pain hits my knee and I almost lost my balance because the leg buckled.. It was a complete failure! I was so emotionally destroyed by the failure of my knee healing that I dropped out of school. In the time since then, I have had a few serious injures and had to rehabilitate myself back to health and as a result I’ve learned a lot about how bodies get hurt and how they heal. As a result of my using weights, I started to feel an improvement in my knees and I was able to run and do other things without the discomfort that I had suffered before. I got so into the weight training at one point, I actually played with the idea of bodybuilding and later entered the Ms. Fitness competition, but that is another story… So skipping down the road about 4 years, I was in the middle of a divorce and had a little boy. I had an idea of becoming a massage therapist that traveled to offices and worked on people. There weren’t any good schools in Los Angeles County at that time, so I checked out a school in San Diego. I received my first massage by one of their therapists and it was a definite negative, but still wanted to pursue attending the school. However, my ex wouldn’t agree to let my son move with me to San Diego to go to massage school, so there went that idea! My son and I needed a future but I wanted to be able to have a schedule that allowed me to be a mom too, so I chose teaching. This way, I could be working when he was in school and then be home when he was home too. Well, it sounded great, in theory. So for the next 6 years I worked almost full-time and attended Cal State Long Beach full-time in order to finish as quickly as possible. Life was pretty busy and I will always give my son credit for the sacrifices he made so mom could finish school. It was very hard on both of us, but really tough on him. During this time I was training and competing in Triathlons and several types of competitions. I also skied, snowboarded and played pretty hard at anything I did. This means I ended up with a compressed spine, torn rotator cuff, damaged cervical vertebrae and other dents and dings that I rehabilitated myself. I received my B.A. in Physical Education with a minor in English, a secondary teaching degree and ended up teaching English…go figure. I taught for a couple of years but it was a full-time job and then 3-4 hours of grading papers each night, not allowing me very much “Mom” time. While in college, the second time, I had become an aerobic instructor and personal trainer and was coaching Junior Olympic and college level swimmers. I was getting a “real world” education on how bodies worked; how to prevent injuries, how to treat injuries when they happen and how to rehabilitate injured athletes. The thing I found frustrating about working with bodies was that there wasn’t much money in it and it was all about “the look” (hot bodies) instead of healthy bodies. In the fitness world, steroids, Fen phen and cocaine were pretty popular in attaining “the look” instead of focusing on health. Between the time I originally looked into to massage school and ended up finally enrolling, it was about 20 years. Oh well, some of us are a little slow in figuring things out, but without the journey of those 20 years, who knows where I’d be now and what I would have missed out on in my education. In 2009, I needed a career. I had had my own mortgage company for almost 10 years but with the economic melt down of 2008 and moving to the Central Coast, I ended up having to shut my doors. I enrolled in California Holistic Institute and within 3 months I received my certification. My previous degree and knowledge really helped me skip right through the anatomy and physiology sections. I continued my education by taking classes in Trigger Point, Craniosacral Therapy, Herbs and Reiki. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about the body but learn new things all the time. The body is a fascinating and beautiful creation. There is so much known about the workings of the body and yet it is only a drop compared to what we don’t know. I continue to work on my education and increase my own knowledge so I can keep helping my clients. Thank you for being a part of my journey and letting me assist you with your healing! Purpose...this one thing separates the happy people from the unhappy people. Living with purpose is really the point of living. Many people believe that it has to be big and showy and recognized by the crowd. This isn’t the case at all. In fact purpose, true purpose is small. There is something powerful about actually sitting down and finding what is your purpose by sorting through all the things we think are important. We all have responsibilities; bills to pay, others to answer to, things that must be done to keep life moving on, but what is it in your life that really drives you or makes you care? There are corporations built on the dreams of one person or a group of people and that have achieved great things; shoes for the shoeless in foreign countries, clean water for those without, food for the hungry, etc., and all these are amazing things, but…not everyone can do those things because there are so many needs to be fulfilled in this world that these things are only, in the big picture, a small part. I think sometimes we get overwhelmed with the idea that we don’t have much to offer and so give up on the idea that we have anything at all to give the world. Change this perspective! In fact, look for little things… Today I walked the dogs at the beach and spotted an ocean bird that was dying. It was on the sand and obviously not healthy or even able to be saved, but it was shivering and right at the water line and vulnerable to dogs and people, as it was a beautiful and busy day with tourists. I took the two leashed I was holding, attached them to the fanny pack, (poop bag) that I wear and took two poop bags (who knew they were so handy?) and put one on each hand and picked up the suffering bird and took it to a rocky ledge and placed it in a nook up high where it would be warm and safe until it could either live or die. I was amazed at how at a beach full of people, no one noticed this little bird sitting smack in the middle of the beach. What was even more interesting is when a woman with five dogs surrounding her is fumbling around with something wearing pink bags on her hands, how that didn’t attract some attention! It wasn’t a big thing, but I hope I made a difference in what was probably the last day of that bird’s life. I know I have other things to accomplish in my life, but today, that was my purpose. Sound goofy? Maybe, but take a few minutes and sit with the idea of what you think you do well that makes a difference. Maybe you are a great story teller or an amazing problem solver; maybe you have a way with kids or animals. Are you a good listener? Do you make the best pancakes or prettiest bouquet? I know a woman that has a talent for making people feel special. She always sends a card no matter what the holiday, even St. Patrick’s Day. She remembers the birthday of her manicurist! Her husband has a talent for taking care of people, especially the elderly and loves to be of service to those in their church. I know another woman who is a great writer and likes to show off her local community and tell others about how special it is. I work with a woman that is amazing at detail and really knows how to set atmosphere and make people feel special. There is someone else I know that always has something funny to tell me and make me laugh. A handyman I used to know would do incredible work and pay attention to detail; he made a simple stool one time for a client and the way he did it was beautiful. I could tell you something special about every person I know. Believe it or not, you make a difference every day and in ways you probably aren’t aware of. Sometimes you look for it and sometimes is finds you. It can be big, like saving a life but usually it will be small, like smiling at the homeless person on the curb or picking up litter on the path, but it makes a difference…to the world and to you. I am a reader. I have several favorite authors and one of them is Ken Blanchard, the best-selling author of “The One Minute Manager”. He has partnered up with Morton Shaevitz for a quick and compelling book, “Refire! Don’t Retire”. This book is written for those over 50, but I think anyone can benefit from the information and strategies shared through the story of Larry and Janice Sparks, a fictional married couple learning how to get more out of life. They are feeling like life is a little stagnant and want to make some changes but don’t know how to go about it. With some help from friends, they work on four areas of their lives; Emotion, Intellect, Physical and Spiritual. Sharing their journey with reflection points at the end of each chapter makes it into almost a work book for the reader. I found that by reading a section a day and reflecting on that area and making notes and goals for myself, I was able to see how I could make small and/or big adjustments in my life to make significant change. I will keep you posted... If you are looking at refiring your life or just a portion of it, I really suggest you check out this book! For 10+ years I had a successful mortgage business and constantly monitored the news and stock market. I read The Wall Street Journal, local newspapers, news journals and online reports. I kept up-to-date on anything that might affect housing rates and the economy. As much as I loved my work, I found I was constantly being barraged with bad news and horrific events. Some days I felt down right depressed and unhappy. I noticed on the days I was out of the office and not glued to the news, that I was happier. I began to realize that most news wasn’t real news; it was whatever the media decided to report that day. On the same day, I would find opposing reports about the market, housing and interest rates. This was frustrating because I was supposed to help people make good decisions and getting clear and correct information was difficult. I started to change the channel when the news came on. I cancelled my subscriptions to the newspapers. I would scan the online news headlines in the morning and at night and if anything looked important, I would read it. I started to find I could do my job just as well without the constant negativity and I was a lot happier more often. After I closed my mortgage company, I got rid of my TV and now, I look at the headlines once a day, if that. I don’t miss TV, in fact, when I am around one I find that most of it is senseless and boring. I would much rather read a book, listen to some music or connect with a friend. Lately I’ve been wondering how TV might relate to the happiness level of people. I have several friends that keep up with the latest news on food, terrorism, politics, catastrophes, etc. I find that the more I discuss these things, the less happy I am. “Ignorance is bliss”, is definitely true! In fact, I found a few articles, online, that talk about anxiety and depression go hand-in-hand with binge watching TV. Here are a couple of links: http://www.webmd.com/depression/news/20150129/binge-watching-tv-may-be-sign-of-depression-loneliness http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17926432 I remember once when I was a reserve firefighter, we got a call for a woman in her fifties with an elevated heart rate. In talking to her, it turns out she was watching stock market news just before and the market was not doing well that day and she had a pension that was severely affected. When her heart rate became normal, we told her husband to take her to the hospital and get checked out as a precaution since she had never experienced this before. As an experiment, try not watching the news for a week and see how you feel. If you get really brave, try not watching TV at all for 3 days and see what effect it has on you. I can say from my own experience that not having a TV has made me more productive, less anxious and a much happier person! In the last year and a half, I have been doing some deep work on myself and have been including meditation, yoga and mental exercises to help me stay in the moment and stay in a more positive mind frame. A few of the books that I have enjoyed are “Peace Is Every Step”, by Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose”, both by Eckhart Tolle. One of the most powerful and effective exercises, that really works for me is using the breath to find calm within, regardless of the chaos around me. I can immediately switch to focusing on my breath and stop whatever is overwhelming, stressful or negative. It is simple, easy and immediate. I would like to share an excerpt from Eckhart Tolle’s book, “A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose”: From page 244 -246 ‘Being aware of your breathing takes attention away from thinking and creates space. It is one way of generating consciousness. Although the fullness of consciousness is already there as the unmanifested, we are here to bring consciousness into this dimension. Be aware of your breathing. Notice the sensation of the breath. Feel the air moving in and out of your body. Notice how the chest and abdomen expand and contract slightly with the in- and outbreath. One conscious breath is enough to make some space where before there was uninterrupted succession of one thought after another. Once conscious breath (two or three would be even better), taken many times a day, is an excellent way of bringing space into your life. Even if you meditated on your breathing for two hours or more, which some people do, one breath is all you ever need to be aware of, indeed ever can be aware of. The rest is memory or anticipation, which is to say, thought. Breathing isn’t really something that you do but something that your witness as it happens. Breathing happens by itself. The intelligence within the body is doing it. All you have to do is watch it happening. There is no strain or effort involved. Also, notice the brief cessation of the breath, particularly the still point at the end of the outbreath, before you start breathing in again. Many people’s breath is unnaturally shallow. The more you are aware of the breath, the more its natural depth will reestablish itself. Because breath has no form as such, it has since ancient times been equated with spirit—the formlessness Life. “God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature.” The German word for breathing--atmen--is derived from the ancient Indian (Sanskrit) word, Atman, meaning the indwelling divine spirit of God within. The fact that breath has no form is one of the reasons why breath awareness is an extremely effective way of bringing space into your life, of generating consciousness. It is an excellent meditation object precisely because it is not an object, has no shape or form. The other reason is that breath is one of the most subtle and seemingly insignificant phenomena, the “least thing” that according to Nietzsche makes up the “best happiness.” Whether or not you practice breath awareness as an actual formal meditation is up to you. Formal meditation, however, is no substitute for bringing space consciousness into everyday life. Being aware of your breath forces you into the present moment—the key to all inner transformation. Whenever you are conscious of the breath, you are absolutely present. You may also notice that you cannot think and be aware of your breathing. Conscious breathing stops your mind. But far from being in a trance or half asleep, you are fully awake and highly alert. You are not falling below thinking, but rising above it. And if you look more closely, you will find that those two things—coming fully into the present moment and ceasing thinking without loss of consciousness—are actually one and the same: the arising of space consciousness.’ Experiment with this and see if it makes a difference for you. As you experience massage, focus on your breath and you will find that you relax easier on the table. Next time you dread going to a social event, see that annoying person at the grocery store, have to pay the bills, take a moment and focus on your breath. You might find that you get through those moments better than you thought you would! What is energy work, as it pertains to healing? I had a client ask me this the other day and I told her about how I came to learn about energy and using it in my life and to benefit others. We all use energy daily and are probably not aware of it. One example is when you get hurt and the first instinct is to put your hands on the injury to make it feel better. Other examples; we pet our animals and feel calmer and they do too. By focusing on your breath, you become calm, centered and more grounded. You instinctively feel whether you are safe or unsafe in the presence of a stranger. You know when you are being watched. You put on quiet music to sooth your nerves, etc. This goes on as to the many small ways energy is part of our daily lives. When I look back, Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer, was my first teacher of energy. I have a passion for working with dogs, especially the fearful and aggressive dogs. I studied videos of his show, read his books and watched the DVDs several times. I practiced with the dogs I was working with at home and at a kennel I was working at during that time. I began to understand that energy could be controlled and how to use it to change a situation with animals or people. About that time I entered massage school and Reiki was offered as part of the curriculum. Reiki is an energy work that was rediscovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan during the early 1920s. I was curious about the class and needed the credits to finish, so I enrolled in the course. The Reiki Master was also my massage instructor so I had a great amount of respect for her, but was pretty skeptical of this whole “healing energy” thing. She related a story about her husband and how he had accidentally cut himself with a chainsaw in the upper thigh and ended up with a raging infection. The doctor had little hope of getting it under control and thought he might lose the leg. Being newly attuned into Reiki, she sat down and laid her hands on his leg and after awhile the heat and swelling from the infection started to lessen. She kept working on him and his leg ended up healing just fine. In class, she had us partner up with another student to practice what we had learned and also to experience the work for ourselves. My partner was pretty skeptical too, so it was really exciting when both of us experienced the same sensations as I was working on her. It was the same when we changed places. After that I practiced using Reiki on myself, my animals and my plants and used it at any opportunity I could. I had several incredible situations, such as the time one of my chickens got attacked by a visiting dog and I used Reiki on her for several minutes and she came out of shock and her injuries healed quickly. I have been part of a healing circle and there have been several cases of people with cancers, tumors or heart problems that healed or became healthier than expected. Now that I teach Reiki, it is always interesting to watch the students as they go through the process of learning, initiation and practicing the use of energy. They tell me the reasons why they have attended and usually leave having exceeded their expectations. I especially love hearing about their experiences in using their skills. What is the difference between Reiki and the healing energy that we are all born with? Reiki has attunements included in the initiation process and you learn to focus the energy on different parts of the body. Reiki can be used to heal body, mind or spirit in this dimension, the past or the future. Reiki is just one form of energy work; Quantum Touch, Healing Touch, Sound Healing, Cranio Sacral Therapy, Love & Gratitude, Karuna Reiki, Rainbow Reiki, Zero Balancing, just to name a few. My recommendation is to ask your friends if they have experienced this type of work and who they recommend. There are many talented healing facilitators out there and who knows; maybe you will be one of them too! For more information about Reiki, visit www.reiki.org I have back issues and a lousy mattress and between the two, I am lucky to get a good night’s sleep. You know the kind that you hear about where you wake up refreshed and ready to take on the world? Yeah, well I can’t remember the last time I felt like that. However, I have found something to be true...I HAVE BEEN DOING IT WRONG! All these years I’ve been sleeping on my side with my legs bent, in the fetal position because “they” say it is the best position for the back. When I would get out of bed, my back was tight and it took a while for things to “warm up” and I could move better. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be, so I started experimenting with sleep position and found a better way. In my massage practice I have numerous people complain about low back pain and when I ask them how they sleep, they all, with a rare exception tell me they sleep on their side in the fetal position. Some use a pillow between their knees and some don’t. Now I know what you are saying to yourself, right now…”But that is what the doctor/chiropractor/physical therapist, etc. told me”. Yep, but they could be wrong and let me explain why: A muscle called the Psoas (so azz) is connected to the top of the femur and the front of the spine, just above the bony plate called the sacrum. It is the muscle that helps you lift your leg if you were marching or dancing the Can Can. When the muscle is contracted for long periods by sitting, bending or sleeping in the fetal position, it spasms and pulls on the low back causing discomfort. If you think about it, isn’t your back tight after a long drive or when you’ve been sitting too long? Well, the legs are in the same position when you are in the fetal position. If you live a life with stress and tension, as we all tend to do, the tension keeps the muscles taut and leads to tightness and spasm even when asleep. So tonight when you go to sleep, try sleeping on your side with legs straighter. Use a pillow between your knees if you want and just see how you feel in the morning. You just might wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day! About three years ago, I was talking to a young lady and was telling her that I did massage. She exclaimed, “Wow!, I wish I met you last week. Because my boyfriend and I paid $120 each for massages at {well known spa in my area} and it wasn’t very good!” At the time, I was working at a spa and also building my own practice closer to where I live. I always have a habit of checking Craigslist to see what jobs are available and saw that the {well known spa in my area} she had told me about, was hiring therapists. I sent in my resume. I was called about a week later for an interview and because it was a bit of a drive to get there, I asked what the rate of pay was, so I didn’t waste their time, or mine. She gave me such a ridiculous answer that I figured there had to be more benefit to working there and scheduled the interview. {Well known spa in my area} has beautiful landscaping and a gorgeous hotel that is tucked among the hills and you walk into a nice lobby that has that feeling of luxury and expensive. I was told to have a seat and my interviewer would come and get me. When she did, we walked to a secluded part of a dining room and proceeded with the interview. She seemed impressed with my experience and wanted to know if I was interested in scheduling a “hands on” interview with me demonstrating my skills, which is a normal part of the hiring process. At this point, I finally had to ask her how they could justify asking a therapist to work 5-6 hour shifts, being paid only if a massage is scheduled and only paying 33% of the amount of the price of a massage. She said, “Well, we supply the sheets, the room and the client”. Considering that I was being paid between 40-50% at the spa I was currently at and I knew the average in our area was 40%, I told her that what she was paying was too low…needless to say the interview ended there. So here is the deal…many spas will hire anyone that is certified, breathing and will work for low wages. regardless of experience. So always do your homework when scheduling bodywork at the spiffy and expensive places. I have heard so many times of people paying a lot of money and being disappointed in what they experienced. The same can also be said for the lowest priced massages too. Are their prices so low because no one will pay more to go there? Do they require the proper certification and training of their people? Now days with the availability of internet, go online and see what information is available about their therapists and their backgrounds. Check the review websites and see what the ratings are. When you see information on Yelp or Google or any of the other search engines about independent therapists, don’t discount them. They are independent for a reason and are able to be independent because the have the client base to support them, so that right there tells you something. There is probably little more frustrating than to spend your money on a service that ends up being unsatisfying and leaving you more stressed than when you walked in the door. Believe it or not the amount of change in the picture weighs 2 pounds. This was the change in my change purse! Many times my purse feels like it is full of rocks and when I empty my change purse, it is significantly lighter. Today I decided to weigh the change just out of curiosity and was astonished to see it weighed 2 POUNDS! I kept the quarters ( you always need parking money) and put the rest in my big jug I keep spare change in. Years ago, I had saved up half a Culligan bottle of change and when I rolled it up it came to $85 dollars. My son hated that I paid for gas and groceries for a week in rolls of pennies, nickels and dimes. Hey! Money is money as far as I am concerned and a little change adds up! Typically men don’t carry a lot of change because it affects the way their pants stay on. However, I have seen many women carrying a suitcase size purse (what do they have in there?!?!?) and can only imagine how much it weighs! Purse weight can really have an impact on your back, shoulder and neck, so check your change purse and walk a little lighter. I think we all have a fairly good idea of what stress is. We hear how bad it is for us and how it will harm us and there is a lot of information about how to relieve or lessen your stress. However, stress is part of life. There is good stress and bad stress and it will always be there. However, I recently had an experience that introduced me to TENSION, the evil step child of stress!
About a month ago, I was fostering a motherless litter of 10 puppies. This means puppies whining, peeing, pooping, needing attention and wanting to play…all the time. I tend to think I am super woman and completely underestimated the amount of time and energy this would take. As you know, I ended up physically locked up and in pain. The puppies went back to the shelter to be adopted and I started repairing my house and body. I wanted to understand why this had such an effect on me physically. I am in reasonable health and have a good life, so why did I end up in so much pain? At this time I also had some clients come to me with similar issues and pain patterns…ya gotta love synchronicity! They were experiencing increased issues at work, in relationships, with children, health concerns, etc. So I started to research the effects of stress on the body and how tension was a factor. The physiological response we have goes all the way back to our caveman brothers and the “fight or flight” response. Stress raises the heart rate, increases blood pressure, shuts down parts of the brain function so blood can flow to muscles, shuts down some organ functions, etc. Most of this is old news, but something that we don’t usually think about is the body’s physical preparation for fight or flight as our muscles are preparing for great amounts of work. This means that they are tense and tight. Ever witness a cat before it pounces or a dog that is ready for a fight? Every sinew is on ready, twitching and strung, waiting to assist the body in fighting the predator or fleeing to live another day. Well how come our caveman brothers didn’t just die on the spot? Considering that they didn’t have massage therapists in those days, it is a wonder (hee, hee). In the case of an animal, if they experience the stress of being chased by the lion and manage to escape, it has been observed that they will shiver and shake for a period of time and then go on about their day. We see this in our pets, when they have been in trouble or a skirmish; they shake it off…LITERALLY! Animals shake off stress and tension, releasing all the adrenaline that was dumped into their system as part of their stress response. Well, it turns out that we still have this instinct buried within us, but once our frontal lobe engages the response is interrupted, for example - you are in a car accident and start shaking, but have to think about copying driver information, interacting with emergency personnel, etc. This is probably why people with physical jobs usually have less symptoms of stress than office workers…they are able to work off their stress. That “walking on eggs” feeling at home or work or the feeling of impending doom can be wearing and have physical effects if there is no release. There are some types of trauma releasing exercise out there; TRE, Somatic Trauma Resolution, as I found on the internet. These types of exercise are being used for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome for survivors of abuse and veterans. www.tre.org, and I found it very interesting. Now I began to understand what happened to my body; the tightness started with a rib that was out of place for a while and the fascia kept tightening up throughout my body and adding constant cleaning and bending, a sacrum that acts up, not enough sleep, irritation and not enough play time took its toll on my body. Sound familiar? I got a massage, went to the chiropractor, got back to my stretching program and my meditation. This last litter I was very aware of what was happening and made sure to stay on top of my stress levels. The easiest and quickest way to release pent up adrenaline and stress is to move your body; walk, exercise, yoga, dance, followed by stretching. I have also found that reading something short and inspiring and then sitting and contemplating or meditating is very powerful too. To begin your day or at the end, take the time to unwind and/or prepare for the battles that life brings…take time to take care of you. |
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January 2023
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