Did You Inflame Your Body Today?

We all seem to suffer from some type of degree of body inflammation issues.  Yet, did you know that certain foods can attribute to inflaming our body?  Some of the diseases and conditions associated with inflammation are : chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, fibromyalgia, sinusitis, allergies, asthma, hypertension, depression, and diabietes.  With everything we eat we can either increase or reduce inflammation.

Some foods we eat, we just know they are not good for us.  However, we probably don't think that they could be attributing the above conditions and that they can affect us that severely.  A few of the pro-inflammatory foods are:

• Soda and Sugar
• Dairy
• Partially Hydrogenated Oils (trans fats) such as deep fried foods and margarine
  
• Corn, Safflower, Sunflower, Peanut, and Soybean Oils
• White Bread, Pasta, Cereal, Pretzels and Crackers

We need to be careful about the things we eat and drink.  I know it's easy to grab the afternoon soda and pretzels.  Replace it with Green Tea (not loaded with sugar) and an apple.  They both have great 'pick-me up' nutrients to give you an afternoon boost.  Replace cow's milk with goats milk, soy milk, or almond milk.  All great alternatives, just a matter of changing your taste buds to help you in the long road to health.  Even a few simple and small changes in what you eat can make a difference to your body. 

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

Myth of Cancer Massage

There is a myth out there that a person who has cancer should not be massage. And I said this is a myth. Many massage schools teach their students that massage promotes the spread of cancer by increasing circulation. This included the school that I attended just a few short seven years ago. This myth of course is carried over into the mainstream with doctors, patients and other health-care providers to believe this is true. If this were true then health-care providers would also discourage exercise and other activity for people with cancer as this increases circulation also.

Since my initial classes, I have found through medically funded research that this myth was based on old understandings of how cancer spreads. Thankfully, for cancer clients newer and new research has shown the benefits of massage. Per research done at the Sahlgrenska Academy at Goteborg University in Goteborg, Sweden, they showed that massage relieves nausea in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Many major hospitals have formed an Integrative or Alternative Medicine department such as Beaumont Hospital in Michigan.

Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have strong effects on the body such as severe pain, nausea, fatigue and depression. Massage can help lessen those effects and give a client some much needed pain relief and anxiety relief. We all know how devastating chemotherapy is to the body as well as to the soul. If a client can gain benefits from massage such as pain relief, stress relief, lessened depression, as well as increase levels of dopamine, serotonin, natural killer cells and lymphocytes then that is an amazing thing. Plus massage is natural. And for many clients even just the simple act of touch is an uplifting thing.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website or follow me on Twitter.

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries Part 2

As I posted in my last blog, I am going to post the three part series of Nick Vujicic and this is part two. I know this isn't quite the usual massage related article, yet I had to share something I thought was great. This part gets more serious. He talks a bit about his life and what he has overcome with so many people telling him that his life would be nothing. He doesn't hold back and tells it like it is. He talks about the things you don't have and how your mind stops ourselves and I know I can be guilty of that. However, I think he reminds us to live past our own self-imposed disabilities and you don't have to believe other peoples opinions. Again, I hope you enjoy and learn something.

Employee Overtime = Employee Overstressed

In the June 2008 'Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine' (a publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine), a study concluded that employees who worked overtime were at an increased risk of anxiety and depression. This study on anxiety and depression was concluded on 1,350 employees who worked 41-100 hours per week and approximately 9,000 people who worked 40 hours or less per week.

For both men and women, working overtime was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. The rate scores of these two types of mental distress for men was 9% who worked a normal work week compared to a 12.5% rate of depression for men working over 40 hours per week. For women this rate was 7% for a normal work week compared to 11% depression and anxiety rate for overtime hours. And men who worked more then 48 hours per week were at the highest risk, though even moderate overtime hours seem to increase the risk of mental distress for both men and women.

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

The Sound of Music

Music is played by most massage therapists during a session as it can help evoke relaxation. I personally bring my Ipod with over 150 massage 'style' songs. However, I have had clients that will turn on their own music and it has been anything from classic rock to country (though country is not a favorite of mine, it is a nice change of pace for me). We all know that music evokes emotions. Whether it's heavy metal that brings out our inner tyrant, the love songs that may evoke tears as the memories of loves gone bad flood our mind, or even the 70's, 80's, or 90's music that brings us back to our teen years of high school and the quick escape into that time period in our lives.

Listening to healing music can lower blood pressure, boost the immune system, relieve depression, enhance creativity as well as help manage pain. Studies have been done on the effects of music and your body and one study has shown that listening to music strongly effects healing, releases dopamine and simply put makes us happy. Funny how an official study gave us something I think most of us already knew. Researchers have also found emotions aroused by joyful music have a healthy effect on our cardiovascular system, causing blood vessels to dilate and increase blood flow. What a great effect on the physical body as the emotional body feels happy and relaxed. The right music can help create deep relaxation and induce peaceful sleep. Which makes it perfect to go hand in hand with massage.

Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage

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.

Massage is not just a Luxury!

Most people think massage is a luxury or pampering. They might think that it's something that only 'rich' people do or it's something to treat yourself to once a year or even less. Yet, most people are looking for ways to live a balanced life, to relax and reduce stress and that is exactly what a massage is about. Massage is a fantastic tool to include in your life to help you live in balance.

A massage is not about luxury... it's about re-charging your life, letting go, re-newing your body and mind into a peaceful place and learning how to take care of yourself. Massage is about your health: both your physical and your mental health. A massage doesn't just 'feel good' it helps your body recover from injuries, illnesses and of course stress. Massage has been proven by scientific research to be beneficial for many chronic conditions including:

• Low Back Pain
• Fatigue
• Headaches/Migraines
  
• High Blood Pressure
• Depression and Anxiety
  
• Strengthens the Immune System
• Relieve Stress

It also helps reduce recovery time for many medical conditions such as:

• Arthritis
  
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Asthma and Bronchitis
• Insomnia
• TMJ

When you think of massage in this way, it helps eliminate the thought that it's a luxury or a pampering moment. Now you can see that benefits of massage and the medical benefits that it can and will have for both your mind and body. Again, massage is a fantastic tool to include in your life to help you live in balance.