During the COVID-19 pandemic many states have labeled massage therapists non-essential workers.  While I can see how our working at close proximity for extended periods of time could add to the spread of Coronavirus, I've never thought of myself as non-essential.  Ask any regular receiver of massage and they'll have a good reason why they believe it's an essential part of their health and wellness.  The stigma that massage is a luxury has fallen by the wayside over recent years.  Let's look at 20 of the top reasons massage therapy is an essential part of life.   

1. Human touch can’t be replicated

No number of self-massagers, massage chairs or electric massage tools will replace the effects of skin to skin contact.  

2. Manually manipulated muscle tissue is healthier than stagnant tissue.

As little as a few minutes of massage can positively effect the state of muscle tissue.  

3. Lymphatic system can be manually...

Shorter workouts while still getting great results! 

What is HIIT?

High intensity interval training is in it's basic form a cardio session split into short bursts of very hard work.  The goal is to pick up the intensity and give it your all for a short time.  That's the good news.  It's hard but only for 30-90 second bursts.  It's work hard, rest, work hard, rest and repeat.  When you read the benefits you'll see the appeal.  

Why is HIIT good?

High intensity exercise boosts endurance, increases metabolism, regulates insulin levels, and burns fat.  It's a fast track to getting lean.   

HIIT is known for it's calorie burn long after the workout is over.  HIIT uses the body’s reserves of energy and, after a workout, metabolism stays elevated and continues to burn calories for hours after the workout. This is due to something called the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) effect. With HIIT, you not only...

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations.

I like this definition when talking about mindful eating because we can think of all these things while chewing our food.  There are many other things going on while we eat most of the time.  Talking, driving, and watching TV are the top three.  I went to a yoga retreat once where we had to eat all meals in silence.  It was eye opening and so cool!  Many of the things in this article were ah-ha moments from that experience.     

Three aspects of mindfulness.

Intention - 

What do you hope to get from practicing mindful eating?  I hope you will find a new way of putting food in your body.  Basically a slower way.  

Attention - 

to your inner or outer experiences.  This is where the magic happens.  Bringing our...

Are you going to do any summer travels? With COVID restricting different levels of activities within different areas, some families are going stir crazy and taking to the road or modified vacation plans. My husband and I recently went to the mid-west and road tripped around the wide open country side for a few days. There are some breathtaking views and it’s easy to maintain social distancing when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Traveling reminded me of some of the challenges around maintaining a healthy diet when always on the go.

TOP 5 TIPS:

1. Stay hydrated

It’s hard to drink as much as you should when the next restroom may be an unknown destination.  And who wants to use the restroom on airplanes?  Only if I have to!  So, we tend to drink less for the convenience of not having to stop as much.  Sadly, it doesn’t take much for us to become mildly dehydrated and a few days in a row can take us to dehydrated really easily. ...

Work Smarter Not Harder Massage Therapist

Body Mechanics To The Rescue!

We've all had that client on our table who wants deeper and deeper work.  For many years I would push, contort and ultimately strain my body to heed their request.  Anything to make the client come back for another session.  Does this sound familiar? 

It's hard to find the balance between what is good for your body and what will be deep enough to work for the client's body. 

Here are the top tips to follow so you don't injure yourself while working deeper for a client. 

Slow down

When we slow down our work, it becomes more specific and allows us to get deeper pressure.  If you are used to flowing quickly from one stroke to the next, cut your speed in half and really feel what is happening under your hands.  Stop and hold.  Use a compression, cross fiber friction, or move to a deep tissue stroke or myofascial release.  Wipe off some oil to reduce the glide over...

Summer time brings lots of peppers in our garden.  Peppers of all types are a favorite at our house so we tend to plant many and I like to find different ways to eat them.  I pickled some for the first time and brought you the recipe in case you'd like to try.  It's super easy and fits the bill when you need to add something tangy to a meal.  Banana peppers are good on sandwiches, on top of pizza,  or straight out of the jar.  This variety of pepper is also known as the yellow wax pepper or Hungarian pepper.

RECIPE
Pickled Banana Peppers

Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients

• Banana peppers (about 10 = 1 pound)
• Garlic 1-2 cloves
• Distilled white vinegar 3 cups
• Water 2 cups
• Salt 2 tablespoons
• Sugar 1 tablespoon

Preparation

1. Wash and slice 1 pound of banana peppers.  
2. Peel and smash a clove or two of garlic. Put in a glass mason jar and then add the sliced peppers.  
3. In a medium pot bring 3 cups vinegar and 2 cups water to...

There are as many choices of bars as there are fish in the sea.  Convenience stores have whole sections filled with bars which completely takes the convenience right out of it as you stand there for 15 minutes looking for the perfect bar for you.  The word protein is plastered on the wrapper, or energy, or low calorie.  Beware of bars because most are not much better than a candy bar.  Let's look at four different bars and show what to look for in your next nutrition bar choice. 

I went to my pantry and pulled out 4 bars that happened to be there.  I have kids which means there are kid things in the house which I don't eat.  I'll let you guess which bar is mine.  :)  

We are going to look at nutrition labels and briefly at the ingredients list for examples of easy ways to discard options.  I'll give you quick ways to choose when you're eating on the run.  

Let's take the top two bars in the picture.  The Nugo...

I look at any massage therapist as an athlete.  Do you consider yourself one?  You spent months or years  learning how to provide massage services to clients.  You practiced body mechanics every day to train your body so you can use it for hours on end and not injure yourself.  This is what athletes do.  They train for their race, game or competition, getting their body in shape to perform successfully.  Massage therapists train for 20-30 clients a week.  Once there, massage athletes need to continue to train to avoid injury.  There are certain exercises that give you more bang for your buck.  Whether you enjoy exercise or not it is an important part of your self care.  Here are the best exercises that go a long way to keeping  massage therapists strong and injury free.  

Exercises

Planks

Planks are a favorite because not only do you build core strength, you build shoulders.  Massage work is very upper body...

Breath is energy.  Breath is life.  Breath is grounding.  Massage therapists can use breath to make their strokes more connected and effective.  Although breathing doesn't require constant thought, when we turn our focus to noticing our breath great things begin to happen. 

Have you ever watched an infant sleep?  Their belly rises and falls as they breathe.  This shows we innately know the correct way to breathe.  As we grow responsibility grows and with age our breathing begins to turn away from our wise infant breathing.  Most of us become chest breathers instead of belly breathers.  Stop for a moment and observe your breath now.  Is your navel or chest moving with inhalation and exhalation?  Most adults breathe shallowly within their chest.  Shallow breathing leads to tight muscles, tension, and can contribute to digestive issues.  If we visualize oxygen entering through our nose and going all the way down to...

These past few months (since mid- March) have been nothing short of weird, crazy, scary, and ultimately life changing.  Who ever imagined a world wide sweep of a virus would lead to stay at home orders.  WHAT?!  Stay home?  Overnight I became a home-school mom with an income that came to a screeching halt.  I do realize others have more serious health related risks associated with a new, incurable virus on the loose and I was merely inconvenienced with the home school part but however this pandemic has touched your life, it's a big deal for you.  It's a big deal for all of us.  Is there a silver lining?  I'm a cup half full person so here's one area where COVID-19 may be a blessing in disguise.   

While there are many massage therapists without income which leads to stress and a host of other problems, I couldn't help but notice the frequency of posts on social media commenting how their body needed a break and this "forced" break...