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.

Are you Dehydrated?

Is water really necessary? Almost everyone knows that you should drink eight glasses of water a day. Cleveland Clinic nutritionist Andrea Dunn says, "Absolutely. Almost every cell in your body needs water to function properly. Many of the patients I see don’t drink enough water. They aren't dehydrated, but they aren't drinking as much water as they should -- especially considering how much your body needs."

The human body, which is made up of between 55 and 75 percent water (lean people have more water in their bodies because muscle holds more water than fat), is in need of constant water replenishment. Consider this: Your lungs expel between two and four cups of water each day through normal breathing - even more on a cold day. If your feet sweat, there goes another cup of water. If you make half a dozen trips to the bathroom during the day, that's six cups of water. If you perspire, you expel about two cups of water (which doesn't include exercise-induced perspiration).

Ms. Dunn points out that a person would have to lose 10 percent of her body weight in fluids to be considered dehydrated, but as little as two percent can affect athletic performance, cause tiredness and dull critical thinking abilities. Adequate water consumption can help lessen the chance of kidney stones, keep joints lubricated, prevent and lessen the severity of colds and flu and help prevent constipation. "I encourage patients to drink eight to 10 cups of water each day. Those who do report that they generally feel better," notes Ms. Dunn.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website.

Does Stress Have a Consequence?

Stress. A part of everyones' lives, whether it be a large part of your life or small part, we all have it. Experts estimate that 80-90% of disease is stress-related, and 40-80% of doctor visits are stress-related. So you can see that stress can and will have a negative effect on your body. Stress can bring on anxiety and anxiety attacks, high blood pressure, headaches and migraines, heart disease, depression, chronic fatigue, insomnia, ulcers, colds and other serious problems such as eating disorders, drug addiction and alcoholism.

How can massage help avoid some of these issues? First off, it's a natural treatment. Massage helps us remember to relax and bring about positive changes mentally and physically. It can help decrease anxiety attacks, headaches, migraines and improve your immune system and circulation. It can help you sleep better and relieving insomnia which just that in itself can be stressful for many people. It reduces fatigue and gives you more energy to handle stressful situations.

Massage is medicine, it's a natural medicine. The 'father of medicine' Hippocrates, used massage techniques to treat many medical conditions. He stated that "anyone wishing to study medicine must master the art of massage." It's just too bad that his philosophy is not widely used. If we all received massage on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis our world would be a much happier place.