Stress Management

As the previous blog post stated, stress can and will have some serious side-effects to your life. Nobody ever wants to be sick, so you need to find ways to avoid these stress-related illnesses. Of course, there will be times that a sickness such as maybe a cold will happen, the more you do to prevent it, the more time you'll have for your life.

There is not one single solution to reducing stress, yet a multitude of ways. Of course, you know I'm a huge proponent of massage and I will do whatever I can to promote it. Massage will decrease stress and increase your immune system and the more often you have a massage the better it will be for your health. Even if you can just do once a month, that is better then none! Think about it this way, you take your car to get it's oil changed every 3,000 miles or so, you need to do the same with your body... get your monthly tune-up.

There are other stress management things you can do. As another previous post stated, Take a Cigarette Break. Taking breaks during your workday can decrease stress and increase productivity. Another thing is to find something that you enjoy and do it! Find the time for you. More de-stressing tips are:

• Walk
• Laugh
• Yoga
• Have more fun
• Increase physical activity
• Talk things out with family, friends or even a therapist
• Get plenty of rest, relaxation and sleep
• Make time for hobbies
• Take a bath and relax
• Read a book 

I hope you take the time for you and find out what you can do on a daily basis to help reduce your stress.  Part of it really is making yourself a priority and not everyone else.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

The Ill Effects of Stress

Experts estimate that 80-90% of disease is stress related. Though stress starts as emotional, such as pressures from work or family and instant stresses such as car accidents, it often can turn into physical issues. Stress can affect the body by raising your heartbeat, headaches, upset stomach, diarrhea, and lower your immune system. According to webmd.com, stress is linked to high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmia), blood clots, hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, heart attack and heart failure, neck, shoulder, low back pain, pain menstrual periods, low fertility, erection problems, feeling cranky, frustrated and tired to name many of the physical issues. As you can see, ignoring stress, not dealing with it and finding ways to release your stress will make you sick! Maybe you might not notice it right away, yet eventually stress will get your attention when you are in the doctors office finding out what is wrong.


For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Take A Cigarette Break

Take a cigarette break? What the heck am I talking about? You thought I was all about health and goodness, etc. Well I don't mean to actually take a break and go smoke a cigarette, what I do mean is to take a break. Before doing massage, I worked in a variety of manufacturing offices and the people who smoked where constantly taking breaks. So now that I do massage and promote taking time to re-charge, the people who took those cigarette breaks mostly had the right idea.

Though obviously I am NOT going to promote smoking, I do promote taking breaks during the workday. So many of us sit at our computer hour after hour after hour and before we realize it we haven't gotten off our butts for four, five maybe six hours or more. Sitting for such long periods is both not good for our bodies as well as our minds. You hear about when you travel that you should get up and walk around every hour or so. The same thing applies to the workday. Get up! Walk around! Even just getting up and walking away from your desk for as little as 3-5 minutes will circulate your blood through your body and give you those few minutes to re-charge your brain. This especially good when you are facing a problem that you just don't know what to do about. Taking those few minutes to not think about it, can give your subconscious mind the time to circulate the problem and hopefully give you an answer when you come back to it.

Though this might seem to be a contradiction to you, you can be more productive when you take more breaks. So again, though I am not promoting cigarette use, I am promoting taking as many breaks (or more) as the people in your office who smoke. I will end with this quote from Dr. Joyce Brothers, Psychologist and advice columnist: "No matter how much pressure you feel at work, if you could find ways to relax for at least 5 minutes every hour, you'd be more productive."

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Infertilty Massage

Wow, it has been quite some time since I've written a blog! Now that I am, what better thing to write about then the new aspect of my massage therapy practice: Infertility Massage. Originally titled Fertility Massage, yet I have decided to change it to Infertility as that really is what is happening.

Infertility Massage (or IM for short on this blog) is a specialized massage working with both the reproductive and digestive systems of the body. Some of the benefits of IM are:

• Helps to restore the uterus to its normal position and shape if it has become tilted
• Helps restore the uterus to its normal position if it has been compressed by overloaded intestines
• Improves circulation and brings fresh oxygenated blood to the reproductive organs
• Helps loosen scar tissue and clear blockages from the fallopian tubes
• Helps to improve digestive health Helps to eliminate impacted intestines
• Helps to achieve hormonal balance

As many of you who might be reading this know, many women and couples will do anything to achieve their ultimate, life-time goal of being parents. I'm sure many people know someone who have tried for years to get pregnant and either go with in-vitro fertilization (IFV), adoption or just finally give up after years of emotional heartache. Infertility Massage can be an alternative to, prior or during IVF treatment. However, IM is at a significantly lower cost, as well as having some of the great health benefits as listed above.

Statistics, statistics, statistics. Most people want to know, will this work? Of course I can't promise 100%, yet here are two studies for you to see the promise:
Medscape General Medicine Ob/Gyn & Women's Health, 6/18/04 reviewed the outcome of infertile women and divided them into two groups: natural fertility and pre-IVF. Women in both groups received therapy to their abdominal/pelvic area. Of the natural fertility group, of the 14 patients available for follow-up, 71% became pregnant within one year. Of the IVF group 22 of 33 embryo transfers were successful, which is significantly higher than the estimated odds ratio for successful pregnancies.

Alternative Therapies, Jan/Feb 2008, Vol 14, No 1 studied the impact of pelvic physical therapy for blocked fallopian tubes. 28 infertile women who had been diagnosed with complete tubal occlusion were give 20 hours of manual physical therapy treatment. One month later, the women were tested to determine the status of the blockages. Seventeen of the 28 patients (61%) showed that the tubal blockages had been released. Nine of the 17 women went on to become pregnant. The study concluded that because "truly occluded tubes are not known to reopen spontaneously, the results suggest this non-invasive therapy might be considered as adjuvant to standard gynecological procedures in treating tubal occlusion."

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Massage, Aura's, Spirits and Natural Health, It's What I Do

Most of my blogs talk about pain relief and ways to help your body.  I realized I've never really blogged about  the variety of things I've done besides just massage.  I started out doing massage going on 9 years ago this year.  It's been lots of fun and I love what I do!  I've been able to help people heal, help people get rid of headaches, migraines, various body pain and help people lower their stress.  Such a blessing and joy!

Besides massage, I've also done quiet a few other things.  Some of it is a bit out there and what I jokingly call the woo woo stuff as many people have that scientific/non-belief mind to where they won't believe me of the things I've done and seen.  With massage, I've been fortunate to massage many, many types of bodies.  Anything from the personal trainers, fit fireman, stroke victims with half body paralysis to largely overweight clients and everything in between.  Honestly, I don't care what you're body looks like when I massage you, I just want to do my best and make you feel fantastic and amazing!  I have also massaged animals.  I've worked on dogs, cats and even a horse.  It's amazing how receptive and in tune animals are to massage!

Some of the other things that I have done and worked with are flower essences, energy work, auras, homeopathic and natural medicine.  This is where the woo woo stuff comes in.  I have seen peoples auras, I have seen spirits or ghosts and I have worked with peoples unseen body energy and helping them heal a physical issue.  Ya, I know some of you are thinking you can't see ghosts or auras.  Yet, I don't really care whether you believe me or not, I know what I have seen and I can give you detailed descriptions of them.  I can tell you about the plaid shirt one spirit wore, or the orange and bright purple aura's I've seen. I've used and have helped people find the right remedies for flower essences.  These are (literally) the essences of flowers and plants that you take to help you deal with all kinds of emotional issues that we all go through.  Though I am nowhere near a homeopathic doctor or natural homeopath, I have studied a lot about about natural medicine and try to help clients with conditions and what I think might help them, or refer them to the right people.  So now you know a little bit more about me and the other that I work with and maybe could help you with.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

First Aid for Back Pain

When you first feel a catch or strain in your back, try these steps to avoid or reduce expected pain. These are the most important home treatments for the first few days of back pain.

Ice
As soon as possible apply ice or a cold pack to your injured back (10 - 15 minutes every hour).  Cold limits swelling, reduces pain and speeds healing.

Pelvic Tilts
This exercise gently moves the spine and stretches the lower back. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Slowly tighten your stomach muscles and press your lower back against the floor. Hold for 10 seconds (do not hold your breath). Slowly relax.

Walk
Take short walk (three to five minutes) on a level surface (no inclines) every three hours. Walk only distances you can manage without pain, especially leg pain.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Ear Poking and Ass Slapping, Oh My! (Part 4)

(This is the final and part 4 of my personal and crazy experience of receiving a massage at one of the so, so many cheap foot reflexology businesses)

I was afraid to look at my friend and when I finally did, she looked straight at me and said “I hate you!” One of the complaints I hear from people is how they’ve been hurt during a massage and my friend was hurt! As I said in a previous post, she does like a deeper massage. However there is a difference between a deep massage and just being hurt during the process. I couldn’t even count how many times she told her guy that it was too hard, or he was hurting her. And after when we went to lunch, her neck was in pain! Her range of motion in turning her head became limited to where she could only turn her head ¼ of the way she usually could. Definitely not good for her or for return business!

I hope this doesn’t come across as just “bashing a competitor.” My intent on going was to see what they are doing that is different then me, what could I learn and why are people going there, besides just the cheap cost of it. I didn’t even intend to write about. Yet after the ridiculousness of it how could I not blog about! I’m still shaking my head and laughing over it! And I’m pretty sure if I did not have someone else with me to confirm this oddity of a massage, no one would believe it. I’ve had some really good massages and some not so good massages. Usually the not so good are the pressure is so light it’s basically a skin massage, body parts have been skipped as in not massaging my head or face, skipped out on time as they rush through my body, etc. However, again this was the most strange, oddest, absurd and nonsensical massage I have ever received and I really do not understand why someone would continue to go back to this business. So in the end, if you want a cheap massage, you’ll get a cheap massage. Me personally, I’d rather pay the cost for a great massage. It goes back to the old saying …. “You get what you pay for.”

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Ear Poking and Ass Slapping, Oh My! (Part 3)

(This is finally Part 3 of my personal and crazy experience of receiving a massage at one of the so, so many cheap foot reflexology businesses)

Instead of going into so much more detail let me just highlight a few more things. When I was face up and he was massaging my face and head, he stuck his fingers inside my ears. No not massaged my ears, literally stuck his fingers in the hole of my ear! Many friends have asked if he gave me a wet Willie, lol. Minus the wet part, yes! How odd is that? My left ear bugged me for a week! Why would you stick your fingers in someone’s ear??? He took my eyebrows and pulled them out. Literally grabbed the eyebrows and pulled them straight up. And an embarrassing thing, he took my back fat and pulled on it, grabbing it between his hands and squeezing. For the most part I’m very comfortable in my body and who I am, however this definitely made so not comfortable with myself! I had various parts of my body just unusually smacked such as the tops (backside) of my hands, my triceps, my butt, and my feet. My guy had a bracelet on that I would both hear move around and scratch me at times and my friends guy chewed gum the whole time to which I could hear him (I so hate the sound of chewing!). After the ‘massage’ and uncomfortableness and many, many, many times asking myself WHY is he doing the weird things he’s doing, I was glad it was finally over and all I could do was laugh.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, "like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Is Massage Is Important To You?

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website . Learn something new daily, connect with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.