March 10, 2009
Massage therapy is a broad term that encompasses a wide variety of healing procedures and methods and is generally composed of pressing, rubbing and manipulating muscles and soft body tissues such as tendons, ligaments, skin and connective tissues.
The main objective of massage therapy is to relax the soft tissues while promoting an increased delivery of blood and oxygen to the areas being massages and, therefore, to decrease tightness and pain and stress. Massage therapy is most often accomplished by utilizing the massage therapist’s own fingers, hands, arms, elbows and/or feet. Occasionally, however, mechanical and electronic devices may be also used.
Massage Therapy is an umbrella term for a whole series of more specific body manipulation therapies. As a matter of fact, there are more than eighty official types of massage therapy treatments, as well as many unofficial types, but a few of the most widely known therapies are the following:
* The Deep Tissue Massage. This technique uses a combination of strokes and deep finger pressure applied way down under the skin and into the muscles at the painful sites in order to breakup knots and loosen tightness.
* The Trigger Point Massage. This procedure is also known as the Pressure Point Massage and it is more focused on specific myofascial trigger points with a stronger force than the Deep Tissue Massage. The goal here is to dissolve the painful knots that were formed in the muscles as well as to relieve additional symptoms in more remote areas of the body.
* The Swedish Massage. This system utilizes oblong smooth strokes, kneading and friction of the muscles as well as movement of the joints to increase their range of motion and flexibility.
* The Shiatsu Massage. Using altering rhythmic pressure, tapping, squeezing, and rubbing along the meridian lines and on various other parts of the body, the main objective of this Eastern massage therapy is to enhance the flow of the gi (also, Ki or Chi.) This energy, in the lore of ancient Chinese medicine, is believed to be the life force that regulates a person’s spiritual, emotional, mental and physical wellness. it is easily affected when subjected to the rival forces of yin and yang.
The massage therapies mentioned above, as well as all the others, are also referred to as complimentary alternative medicine (also known as CAM.) Regardless of the specific therapy used, there are important points to be considered:
- No massage therapy should ever be used in place of regular or ongoing medical care. It’s a complement, not a replacement.
- Massage therapy should not be the cause or the excuse to postpone visiting a medical professional for existing medical issues.
- Make sure you are comfortable with your massage therapist’s schooling, credentials, and technique as well as his or her experience with specific health and medical conditions.
- Any additional complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) such as herbs, supplements, special diets or other treatments which are suggested by the massage therapist must first be reviewed with a medical professional.
If and when massage therapy is performed, preferably by a well trained and experienced professional, few risks are involved and the worst of them may simply be temporary pain or discomfort, bruising, swelling or an allergic reaction to the massage oils.
The small number of serious injuries which have been reported were triggered by untrained hands that were not aware that certain medical conditions should not be massaged. It is, therefore, essential to consult a qualified professional before undergoing massage therapy as a primary treatment for whatever condition you may have. Here are several conditions where any form of massage therapy should be done under qualified supervision:
- Deep vein thrombosis
- A bleeding disorder or when taking blood thinners
- Damaged blood vessels
- Weakened bones from osteoporosis, a recent fracture or cancer
- The presence of high body temperature
- Open or healing wounds, tumors, damaged nerves, an infection, a severe inflammation or fragile skin
- Pregnancy
- Heart problems
- Dermatomyositis or any other skin disease
- History of physical abuse
Certainly the various massage therapies are great for loosening tight muscles, relieving stress, increasing blood flow to an area, and so on. The effect this this has on the various hormones of the body, as well as on the positive mental outlook are certainly beneficial. Just make sure that if you have a serious condition that you’re working with a professional, as well.
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March 9, 2009
I posted an article written by Asbestos.net that might be interesting if asbestos is a concern to you. Here’s a snip:
Mesothelioma is a from of lung cancer that is almost always caused by asbestos exposure and is most commonly found in the outer lining of the lungs (called the mesothelium.) A majority of the people who develop mesothelioma contract this cancer through breathing in asbestos fibers or being exposed to asbestos dust while on the job.
In cases where mesothelioma is found in a person with no previous occupational exposure it is thought that the exposure may have stemmed from asbestos fibers found on the clothes of someone in their home or workplace who worked in an area where asbestos dust was found.
the rest >> Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure
While I think that much of the flap regarding asbestos is generated by trial lawyers and people looking for big payoffs there really is a there there and many people really have come down with serious asbestos issues. It is certainly stuff you do not want to have in your lungs. Asbestos.net looks like it has a lot of good info if asbestos is a concern of yours, so check out the article.
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December 23, 2008
No it’s not a wave of the magic wand, it’s the understanding of how best to use your time. John Reese has a killer article that I think should be read by everyone who ever says, “…now where did the time go…”
Think about the points he makes as you get ready for your New Year’s Resolutions.
Have you ever seen the Hugh Grant movie, About A Boy?
If you haven’t seen it you should rent it because it’s a great movie. But if you have seen it then you’ll recognize the following quote from Grant’s character “Will”…
I find the key is to think of a day as units of time, each unit consisting of no more than thirty minutes. Full hours can be a little bit intimidating and most activities take about half an hour. Taking a bath: one unit, watching countdown: one unit, web-based research: two units, exercising: three units, having my hair carefully disheveled: four units. It’s amazing how the day fills up, and I often wonder, to be absolutely honest, if I’d ever have time for a job; how do people cram them in?
Here’s the rest:
How To Get Everything You Want In 24 Hours
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December 23, 2008
The following is a syndicated article, courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna
Do you need a pick-me-up every once in a while to kickstart your day? If so, you’re not alone.
Using inspirational quotations can give you a little nudge in the right direction no matter why you’re feeling upset or de-motivated. They can enhance your mood whether you are having a down day or if you’ve lost focus of where you want to be in life. These sayings will allow you to approach life with passion and excitement again as they give you increased confidence and motivation. You can use inspirational sayings any time, day or night.
Ten Great Inspirational Quotes & Affirmations
Did you know that if you think positive, you’ll feel more positive? It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy!
Many of us have a strong negative dialogue in our minds at any given time. By incorporating a list of affirmations or inspirational sayings into your life, you can help quiet negativity by replacing those feelings with positive thoughts and ideas. This is simple because you only have to reaffirm the quotations or affirmations by repeating them to yourself. The new sayings will become your way of life before you know it!
I’ve compiled a listing of my top 10 inspirational quotations and sayings:
- I trust in my ability to relax. I am calm and peaceful.
- I celebrate my ability to take risks and to dare to take a different direction.
- I enjoy being me!
- I am happy with myself. I relax and enjoy my life.
- My resilience and calmness inoculate me from external pressures.
- I define success on my terms.
- I trust that there is a plan for my life, even if it has yet to be revealed to me.
- I take small steps in life and appreciate the time I have.
- I am thankful for all opportunities. My attitude reflects my happiness.
- I am where I want to be in life.
Whenever you need a little boost in your day, you can use any one of these positive affirmations.
These inspirational sayings help you become the best you can be because it affirms the positive in your life. Sometimes you just need to remind yourself about all the good in your life. Maybe it means that you have a more cheerful attitude toward life and those around you.
By seizing the moment and enjoying life and the opportunities that are presented to us, you’ll feel happier, healthier, and at peace. Ask yourself, how would your life change if you seized every moment?
You will always have a source of inspiration to tap into when you have a list of positive affirmations and inspirational quotes at your finger tips. It may be hard to find sources of inspiration when you’re down, depressed, lacking motivation, or lacking energy, but it’s not impossible. By using your list of inspirational quotes, you will be reminded to keep moving forward, stronger and wiser than ever.
So go get started! Start implementing positive affirmations and inspirational quotes throughout your day. You’ll be excited about how simple it is to incorporate into your life and the benefits will be limitless!
I hope you enjoyed the above article. I think its philosophy is a good one and can be used by all of us to bring greater joy into our lives.
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December 22, 2008
For those of us who aren’t concerned about a little exercise here’s a nifty tip to take off a few years:
It is amazing how little you need to change your life! If you increase your oxygen uptake with 20% you body becomes 15 years younger.
When I first read that I pictured myself for hour and hours in the running track. But if you give it all you’ve got you increase your oxygen uptake very fast. Just 15 min a week has a significant effect on your lungs, heart and blood circulation.
Here’s the rest: 15 Years Younger in Just 15 min a Week
We have two feet of snow on the ground. Shoveling the stuff is great exercise.
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December 21, 2008
This is a syndicated article, courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna, and is not intended to offer any specific medial advice. Always talk to a qualified medical practitioner before embarking on any course of treatment.
Conventional medicine has a certain predictability to it, in that you pretty much know what your Doctor will say. Not that conventional medicine isn’t effective, it is, but sometimes it’s not quite the cure for what ails us. There are other approaches that you may be unaware of, and they are referred to as complimentary and Alternative Medicine.
Complementary and Alternative medicine (also known by the abbreviation CAM) have been around for a long time. Many of their practices come from various parts of the world and may date back thousands of years, such as herbalism and massage. Complimentary and Alternative medicines each use the same basic types of treatments to bring you back to robust good health, but there are differences in how they are used.
Generally, alternative medicine has been practiced in lieu of conventional medicine, herbalism being a good example. Complementary medicine uses the many types of alternative medicine along with conventional medicine. Massage therapy is an example of this. You can be in charge of your own health decisions, yet still listen to the advice of your doctor (which is always a good idea) when you decide to go the complementary and alternative medicine route.
Health centers and traditional hospitals are now incorporating various alternative medicine therapies into their available services. it is not uncommon for a doctors visit to include some type of recommendation for alternative therapies, such as chiropractic treatments for back pain.
Meditation is another technique that is increasingly recommended, and may people find it to be a very useful technique in dealing with the stresses of modern life (not that earlier times were any less stressful.)
A recent survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has found an increase in the use of holistic practices with complementary and alternative medicine being used by adults and the children who live in their households. What we are seeing is a trend towards alternative medicine even with adults that have medical insurance coverage.
Here is an example of complementary medicine that probably everyone has tried at least once. Taking a daily multi vitamin can be considered a form of complementary medicine, as you use it along with whatever regular treatments you receive from your doctor. This is a mild form of complementary medicine that would almost always meet with your doctor’s approval. Massage is another form of CAM, as is Aromatherapy.
It is a comforting thought to know that by using complementary and conventional medicine, you have chosen to do something to safeguard your health, all on your own.
Natural Supplements and Eating Well
Exercising and eating healthy foods are just some of the things a person can do to live a life that is healthy and free from disease. You may have herd the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Avoiding nasty habits like drinking alcohol and smoking is another way to prolong life as well as to improve overall health.
Other than these, taking natural healing supplements can also make a person healthier because these supplements will clear away the many built up toxins that are present in your body.
There are holistic medicines that help promote the removal of toxins in the body, the renewal of skin cells and the flushing out of harmful substances like cholesterol and fat.
There are also supplements that improve your mental and emotional well-being through the relaxing properties that are used in the supplements.
Since stress is known to be one of the major factors that can cause a person to become sick, the use of stress relieving supplements is a important part of a natural health regimen that can keep a person healthy and fit.
End of syndicated article
A very modern treatment, which we have found to be very effective at reducing stress and increasing focus, is Brain Entrainment. This is a process that effectively trains our brains to reach a meditative state far more rapidly than traditional methods, which retaining all of the traditional benefits. You can learn more about entrainment here.
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December 19, 2008
Have you ever had one of those days where you felt so bad about yourself, about your life, and where you are in the world that you just wanted to hear something nice?
Words can often be better than physical affection because they can inspire us. The mistake that a lot of us make is that we wait for someone to speak these words to us when they are right out there for the taking. There are hundreds of inspirational quotes that you can use in your every day life to help you get through the big and the small challenges. It’s time to empower yourself with the inspirational quotes that can help you overcome hurdles and gain self-confidence.
Inspirational Quotes For Challenging Situations
We all have those times when we are facing a challenge where we just need a bit of inspiration to be our best. Sometimes inspiration comes as a reminder that we can overcome any challenge, and sometimes it comes in the form of a great piece of advice from someone who has walked in our shoes before us.
Inspirational quotes are a great source to turn to when you are facing a challenge because they can give you insight that you wouldn’t have had otherwise. The beauty is that there are plenty of words of wisdom out there, just waiting to be discovered and used as you see fit.
There are many beautiful inspirational quotes for you to benefit from, including those you’ll find below:
- “Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.” -Albert Einstein
- “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” -Epictetus
- “If you would create something, you must be something.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: ‘Leave No Stone Unturned’.” -Edward Bulwer Lytton
- “Every artist was first an amateur.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
After reading these quotes, do you feel inspired to take action? One of these inspiring quotes may pull at your heart strings or make more sense to you than the others, so use it. When you feel like you need a gentle push to keep working through your challenges and toward your goals, say one of these invigorating quotes to yourself.
Keep meaningful inspirational quotes at your fingertips so that you can reflect on them when you need to.
The above was a syndicated article, courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna
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December 13, 2008
This is a guest article:
My home page for the internet is Louise Hay’s Affirmation page, so every time that I go online I have a nice affirmation there waiting for me. Today the affirmation was “I balance my life between work, rest and play. They all get equal time.” Hmmmm. How true is this statement in your life?
Do you balance work, rest, and play? I realised (somewhat to my horror!) that, in my case, playtime really comes in only if I’ve ‘booked’ time to play – like my day at the beach last week, or going to see Hamlet in Stratford tonight – or if I have time ‘left over’ to play after I’ve worked and rested! The end result is that playtime is getting about 20% of my time at most. RUBBISH!
Enough already! It’s time to bump playtime up the priority list! I admin I have gotten into bad habits lately. I’ve been busy and working quite a lot…and because I am good at self care, resting a lot too…but at the expense of playtime! Shocking.
And what’s worse, I know that I am better at this balance than most people I know. Many are very unbalanced (in terms of “work, rest and play” that is - not mentally unbalanced!), and the big missing ingredient is playtime. It’s heart-breaking to see, because playtime makes you come alive, playtime is fun, playtime is vital to you having a happy life – let’s face it, how much better do you feel when you’ve been on holiday? And why?
Because you’ve had uninterrupted playtime!
Holidays are all about recharging your batteries and devoting yourself to having some fun…and then we come home and forget to play for another 11 months and 2 weeks. It’s foolish to neglect your fun muscles – if they get flabby you’ll get miserable. I’m sure I don’t really need to extol the virtues of play – you know yourself that when you take part in activities that you enjoy, you feel better.
So when was the last time you deliberately took part in an activity you enjoy and made a conscious choice to savour that playtime? Why not start tonight? Instead of sitting numbly in front of the idiot box, make an effort to do something playful and fun (if that’s tv for you, ok…but as long as you’re actively enjoying it, not just wobbed out in front of it!). You see people, it’s time to take playtime seriously!
Something to play with
Part 1: What is the balance of work, rest and play in your life? 60/30/10? 40/40/20? Have a guess at the proportions – your best guess will be quite accurate! What can you do TODAY to start restoring the balance (especially the playtime bit!)?
Part 2: What do you do to play? Aim to get a list of 100 things (it might take time, but you can do it!).
Part 3: Do something off that list DAILY.
This is a syndicated article, courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna
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December 11, 2008
At least with regard to cardiovascular disease, there is some evidence it is, but the number of glasses a day needed for protection is only five.
Scientists at Loma Linda University in California began following 8,280 men and 12,017 women aged 28 to 100 who had never had heart attack, stroke, or diabetes.
At the end of six years:
- Men who drank 5 or more glasses of water a day were 54 per cent less likely to have had a heart attack or stroke than men who drank 2 glasses a day or fewer.
- Women who drank 5 or more glasses of water a day were 41 per cent less likely to have had a heart attack or stroke than women who drank 2 glasses a day or fewer
The Loma Linda scientists concluded that the protective effect of drinking water was probably due to the reduced viscoscity of blood, which was less likely to clot. Also, in this study, people who drank more water drank less alcohol, sugary soft drinks, coffee, and tea, and the lesser benefit of drinking 5 glasses of water for women may have only been due to the fact that women usually have a smaller volume of blood than men.
Is there any truth to the belief that beverages other than water are dehydrating? Well, actually, water itself is not adequate for keeping you hydrated. You need at least a very small concentration of sugars and electrolytes in your overall consumption of food and drink to ensure normal fluid exchange in the intestine.
Most people, however, consume too much sugar and not enough electrolytes. As little as a tablespoon (15 ml) of fruit or vegetable juice every few hours, or the equivalent from food, may be enough to help your body stay in fluid balance.
Robert Rister is the author or co-author of nine books and over 2,000 articles on natural health including a review of the real value of colon cleansers.
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December 2, 2008
This is a syndicated article, courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna
Reducing Stress Through Meditation and natural healing
Meditation is the practice of concentrating one’s thoughts and awareness on one specific thought. This concentration may not seem like something that could in any way have a beneficial affect on a person’s health, but research has shown that practicing meditation can, in fact, help improve a person’s overall health.
Cardio Health
The most interesting physical benefit of meditation is in improved cardiovascular health. There are many theories about why meditation helps the cardiovascular system, but one dominant theory is that the calming effect of meditation not only relaxes the mind, but it also relaxes the entire body.
Meditation has been shown to be an effective in reducing stress and stress is a well-known player in cardiovascular issues. Over time, regular meditation and yoga can help a person’s heart to be healthier. Heart disease is common in both men and women, so meditation and yoga are helpful for everyone. Of course, meditation yoga also helps a myriad of other ailments like anxiety, stress, and depression by the same relaxation method. Some people who practice meditation feel that it’s a type of alternative medicine.
Yoga Is More Than An Exercise Regime.
Yoga is one of the oldest systems of self-improvement, exercise, and meditation and its gentle approach can help even the most inflexible of muscles to gently yield and limber up. The key to yoga is that you begin slowly in a non-competitive environment and your progress will come through steady practice rather than forcing the body into extreme positions when it’s not ready.
Yoga is more than an exercise regime; those who study this discipline say that it simply becomes a healther way of life.
The effects of yoga are noticeable too. Stronger muscles, greater flexibility and an inner calm that cannot help but be projected outwards. Family and friends may not be able to pinpoint the difference but they will gradually notice that there is something different about you.
As the daily benefits of meditation and yoga begin to take effect you may want to turn your attention to some of the other holistic practices that are available such as Rolfing and Aromatherapy.
Homeopathy and Herbal Medicine, Your Natural Healing Remedies.
There are so many natural healing remedies, such as homeopathy, that are made to heal not just the body , but the mind as well. These are usually referred to as stress busters and the calming effect that a lot of herbal remedies have on a person usually leads to a better life. The connection between illness and stress has been cited a lot of times, and it has been proven that a person who is under stress will suffer from illnesses that he normally wouldn’t have.
Meditation and Releasing Stress
Some of the benefits of meditation and Yoga include increasing your ability to learn, releasing stress, unlocking hidden talents, and a greater ability to solve problems quickly. This can also be done through Brain Entrainment and the Brain Evolution System.
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