The Essentials: Part 1

I bet right now you’re holding your breath.

(Now that I mention it, you probably took a deep breath. Good. Keep breathing.)

Photo by Tiago Rïbeiro

Breathing is one of the most essential parts of your existence. It is something so profound, so immediately necessary, that without continuing the simple act of breathing, you would not last very long. Fortunately, breathing is something that happens for us automatically and without much thought. If we had to consciously think about breathing every minute of every day, our lives would be much different. We wouldn’t have much attention to pay to anything else. Really, this is similar to most of our bodily systems – the beating of our hearts, the course of digestion – but with the unique quality that we can actually control our breathing. It can be either a conscious or unconscious activity. This is rare. We cannot consciously change the beating of our heart. Once we swallow, the progression of food through our digestive tract is fully in the hands of our body. With our breath, however, we have a choice. We can consciously breathe, or we can simply allow our body to continue to breathe in a way it’s grown accustomed to over time.

As infants, we don’t need to be taught how to breathe.  We know instinctively how to do this.  If you watch a healthy baby breathing you’ll notice that their breath comes easily, in a natural rhythm that inspires and relaxes their whole body. It is unforced and even.

As we grow up, things change. We become self-conscious. We encounter accidents, traumas, weddings, exams, and all kinds of stressful events that shift our breathing for a moment or a lifetime. As our lives fill up we tend to make less room for ourselves and our breathing. In response, it grows more shallow. Have you noticed how your breath almost disappears when you’re nervous? When we live in an atmosphere of deadlines, tight schedules, and trying to keep up with everything, our breath is disregarded. We practically forget about it. Yet, through all of the moments of our lives, our body keeps inhaling and exhaling.

Photo by Josh Libatique

Our breath is a part of us that is always there, carrying on with it’s duty, responding to our moods, and keeping us alive. It is our constant and most intimate companion.

The way we breathe says a lot about who we are. It evolves with us. It shows us when we are relaxed as well as when we feel challenged. It can tell us how much tension our body and mind carries on a daily basis. It is a reflection of who we are in any given moment and it is a powerful tool.

For now, I want to encourage you to just become acquainted with your breath. Sitting there, notice how it flows (or doesn’t flow). Don’t try to change it yet. Don’t judge it. Feel where it fills up your body. As you breathe, does your chest rise? Your belly? Does your back push slightly against your chair? Does it feel tight? Where?

Notice how often it moves; how quickly or slowly.

Just let it be and see what you observe. How does it behave? How do your thoughts and emotions respond to what you’re noticing? Give it time and attention.

Now, if you have a minute, I encourage you to make a note of what you’ve witnessed. This is an opportunity for you to study yourself, to step outside of yourself for a moment and peek inside.

In fact, I suggest you do this tomorrow, too. Just breathe and watch. See what you notice and jot it down.

This is part of a series in which we’ll be exploring more about our breath, what it shows us, and how to work with it. But this first step is very important, so practice it. Take at least a few minutes out of every day to pause, acknowledge your breath, and observe.

More to come.

Who would you be without stress?

Imagine, for a moment.

Photo by Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic

First, notice how you feel right now.  Notice what is going through your mind, how relaxed or tight your breathing is, and how your posture is.  Now, sit back and daydream about the coming year and how you see it unfolding over the next twelve months.  Let your mind wander with this.  What comes up for you?  Take note and then let it go. Stay with this reverie and now imagine that this long year ahead of you is without fear, without pressure, without feeling overwhelmed, and without anxiety, dread, or stress.  A stress-free year.  How does that change what you may have first envisioned?  Can you even read those words without immediately shutting them out as an impossibility?

A stress-free year.

When I use the word “stress” here, I’m talking about the utterly horrible feeling that somehow we can’t keep up with all of our responsibilities, commitments, and obligations.   I’m talking about negative stress.  The tightness in your chest, the feeling that you can’t take a deep breath, mind racing, not enough sleep, stretched thin, aches and pains, wishing there were 12 more hours in a day, and no longer enjoying your work, family, or friends.  This is what I call stress and this is what I hear people asking for help with.  Who wants to live this way?  No one that I know, and yet this is how we find ourselves living our lives more than we like.   So, let’s consider the alternatives.  Maybe we don’t have to live like this.  Can we entertain that possibility for a change?

So let’s play for a moment.  I want you to abandon reason and suspend disbelief.   Just humor me.

Go back to that daydream now and imagine who you would be without stress.   Go there.  The stress in your life is literally falling right off of you.  Feel the freedom that comes with that.  What else do you feel?  Joy?  Peace?   What feeling fills you up when you let the idea of stress go?  This is an important one, so linger here for as long as you can.

Photo by Pratani

What do you look like?  What expression do you carry when you’re in this new space?  Does your face feel more relaxed?  Do your shoulders fall back a bit more than usual?   What are you wearing when you feel this free?

How does your body feel?  Is it strong?  Comfortable?  Do you radiate health?  Do you feel like you’re glowing?  Does it move easily and smoothly?  Play with this idea.

Where are you?   Where do you find yourself when you feel this relaxation, this strength, and this unwavering sense of freedom?   What is the landscape?

Who is with you?  Are you alone?

Spend as long as you want with this and imagine other things, too: what do you hear?   What do you smell?  If you could paint a picture of yourself in this place of freedom, what colors would you use?  What would you say?

…..

I hope you’re smiling right now.

Keep at this.   This is worth it.   You spend a good deal of your life worrying about a great many things and usually you don’t even realize you’re doing it.  It has become automatic for us.   So it is important for us to consciously turn our minds to something more peaceful and freeing.   Give yourself a break from the usual daily grind.  Doing this opens us up to new possibilities and will actually help you make changes in your “real” life.

Photo by Guiri R. Reyes

This is my challenge for you.  Go through this exercise and continue to imagine who you are without the stress we’ve all grown so accustomed to.  Find activities that support this vision of yourself, surround yourself with people that support it, and keep your mind open.  Part of my job as a bodyworker is helping people come closer to making this vision a reality, but much of the “work” happens outside of their treatments.  The exercise we’ve done here is a great practice to do to move you in a peaceful direction for the new year.   Let it help you figure out some resolutions that can actually benefit you and lead to positive change.

How to sit more comfortably at your computer

Considering I practice in the Pacific Northwest, a large percentage of my clientele spends their days sitting at a desk and looking at a computer.  This is probably true for a good deal of people that work in urban areas, but keep in mind that the greater Seattle area has companies such as Microsoft and Amazon being the most popular employers.  According to simplyhired.com, the most common occupations in Seattle in 2006 were management, professional, and related occupations (at 48%) and sales and office occupations (20%).

Photo by Bev Sykes

That indicates a lot of sitting, and with a lot of sitting tends to come a notable amount of back pain.  Most of the people I work with are suffering from back, shoulder, and neck pain from parking at a desk all day.

You’re probably at your computer right now, so before you become self-conscious and try to sit up straight, just notice how you’re sitting.  If you’re like most people, your pelvis is tilted back, your chest collapses forward, shoulders hunch, chin juts out, and you might even be leaning your head forward so you can see the screen better (depending on how your monitor is situated).  Also notice how difficult it is to take a really full, deep breath in this position.  This is what usually happens when we relax in front of the computer and forget what our body is doing.  How much do you really need to use your body when you are reading words on a screen?  It’s easy to forget about until you start to feel the crick in your neck or the ache in your shoulders and low back.

I hope you’re still slouching.  If you’ve already self-corrected, cut it out and go back to slouching for just a moment.

Now, sit up straight.

Often, when people decide to sit up straight they end up pushing their chest out, jutting their hips back, and doing something funny with their neck.  Understandably, it’s uncomfortable.  So let’s try something different.  Slouch again.  Now this time, I want you to imagine you have a string sprouting from the crown of your head, which is basically the highest point of your skull.  This string is shooting up to the ceiling, up to the sky, and gently pulls you up with it.  Feel the top of your head float up from this gentle pulling.  This should feel relaxed and comfortable.  Notice how easy it is to take a deep breath here.  Inhale; exhale – but with your exhale feel that string pulling you up even higher so you don’t collapse down as you let the air out of your lungs.  To reinforce this posture, you can even imagine another string extending out from your tailbone into the ground.

photo by Jessie Heaven Lotz

My goal here is to give you a method to help you begin to correct your posture when you’re sitting at a desk all day.  More importantly to you, correcting your posture like this will reduce the amount of pain you experience from your desk/computer job.  In the beginning, you are going to need to leave yourself clues to remember to do this somewhat regularly (read my post on establishing a new routine).  Eventually, you’ll begin to remember to do this on your own simply because slouching just won’t feel right anymore.  My clients that practice this technique are thrilled to find that they really do feel better as a result of it.  Ultimately, part of my job is to help you feel better, and every little bit counts.

If you’d like a demonstration of how to do this, along with some breathing tips, or for some extra hands-on help with that sitting-induced neck and back pain, contact me for a session.

Postpartum massage and fluid retention

During pregnancy, a woman’s body experiences a dramatic increase in the amount of fluid it holds, and for good reason.

(photo by Arwen Abendstern)

According to the American Pregnancy Association, a woman’s body produces about 50% more blood and body fluids in the course of a normal pregnancy, which make up about 25% of the total weight she gains during these nine months.  The numbers increase with multiple fetuses, too. So, how is this fluid being used in the pregnant woman’s body, and what happens to it after birth when it is no longer necessary?

Both the APA and Merck Manuals mention the following reasons for this extra fluid volume:

• Blood flow increases to the uterus as the placenta and fetus develop
• More fluid is provided to the skin to help with temperature regulation
• The kidneys work harder and use it to release the wastes of the fetus
• Extra fluid is needed to soften the woman’s body and help it expand as the baby develops

You can see this fluid retention for yourself if you press a fingertip along the front of her chin bone and hold it there for about 10 – 15 seconds.  When you release your finger you’ll see an imprint remain for just a moment while the fluid flows back into the area.  This fluid retention is called edema and can be part of a normal pregnancy, especially in the late second and third trimesters.  It’s most commonly found in the hands, face, legs, ankles, and feet.  (However, if the imprint from your finger persists for sometime after you release it, this is called pitting edema; if you notice pitting edema or sudden swelling in the hands and face, please contact your health care provider as these could indicate other conditions.)

(photo by Powel Loj)

Once the baby is born, this extra fluid is no longer necessary.  If you think about it, after 9 months of pregnancy, suddenly not being pregnant anymore is a huge shift for the woman in many ways.  At the moment of birth, her body begins a 6 week process (or longer) of shedding this fluid as her body slowly finds balance again.  Increased urination, profuse sweating, and lochia are some of the main ways this occurs and are incredibly common experiences in the postpartum weeks.

It is also beneficial for her to get a massage within the first 1- 6 weeks after having the baby, keeping in mind that earlier is usually better unless it is unsafe for her due to complications from the birth.  A full body massage focused on circulation and drainage can help this process of “flushing” that is already happening, while supporting her during this transition back to a non-pregnant body.  Massage soon after giving birth provides relief from the physical demands of labor and helps her feel more nurtured herself.  The comfort she finds from receiving bodywork benefits her during her own recovery and helps her to better care for her baby.

Why your jaw muscles could use some TLC

Believe it or not, one of the most common complaints I’m hearing from new clients these days is that they are experiencing discomfort in their jaw.  They may simply be feeling some tension in the muscles or they may be dealing with multiple problems, such as soreness, clicking, or dental complications.  Sometimes I’ll focus on relaxing the jaw muscles for clients that are suffering from neck pain or headaches and they’ll be shocked at how much it helps.  They hadn’t even realized how tight these muscles were before their treatment.  From then on, they’re hooked.  The jaw becomes one of their favorite places to focus on in session, along with their back, neck, hips, or whatever else they usually favor.  This is one area where I find that using both massage and craniosacral therapy benefits my clients, though it is the craniosacral techniques that really shine.

Sometimes people know without a doubt that they need bodywork to help relax their jaw muscles, but many of us don’t even realize how tense these muscles are.  Here are some things to look for that benefit from this work:

• Clicking in the jaw joint (TMJ)
• Told by a doctor or dentist that you have a TMJ disorder
• Often clenching or grinding your teeth
• Sore or achy jaw muscles
• Wearing a night guard to keep from grinding at night
• Headaches (often caused by tight jaw muscles!)
• History of a broken jaw or other jaw injury
• Needing to get crowns
• Preparing for extensive dental work
• Recovering from extensive dental work
• Generally “tight” feeling in the jaw or face

Tension in the jaw muscles will often affect the neck, head, and shoulders, causing pain or discomfort in these areas.  The jaw is one of the most common places in the body where people “hold stress” and people will often tell me that they catch themselves clenching or grinding their teeth when they’re experiencing a lot of pressure or stress.  Sometimes it seems harmless, like they’re just tapping their teeth to a song in their head, but it is important to watch for these little clues.  Jaw tension has a way of being particularly sneaky and not becoming obvious until our dentist prescribes a night guard or tells us we are going to need crowns.

Aside from saving ourselves an extra trip to the dentist, receiving massage and craniosacral therapies to relax our jaw muscles just feels good.  Our entire face softens, a smile comes easier, and we feel lighter and more relaxed overall.  We use these muscles constantly throughout the day – potentially more than any other muscle group in the body – but how often do we treat them to the special care that they deserve?

(photos by Martino Franchi and Dan Foy)

Is it really a “sleeping injury”?

Have you ever woken up feeling as though you somehow injured yourself in your sleep?

Maybe one morning you realized you felt a kink in your neck that wasn’t there the day before or that your back was  suddenly hurting for no apparent reason.  Maybe you were even in too much pain to get out of bed.  What could have happened?  Did you turn the wrong way in your sleep or wrench your back without noticing it?                                                                                               

It’s possible, but not the most common cause.  Usually when we’ve woken up in the morning to pain like this it’s because we really did over-stretch our limits (and our bodies) in broad daylight, but didn’t realize it at the time.  When I have clients that tell me they woke up one morning with significant pain I always ask them to think back to a couple of days before.  Did they do anything out of the ordinary?  Lift something heavy?  Hold their neck in one position for a long time like with reading or looking down at something?  Did they almost take a fall at some point during the day?  Lift their child in a way that made them lose their balance for a second?  Sometimes our bodies don’t give us immediate feedback and it can be really hard to remember what we did to hurt ourselves.

When they can’t recall anything out of the ordinary happening, I consider another option: a repetitive motion they’ve been doing has finally reached its threshold.  This could be anything; playing a guitar at band practice, nursing a baby, lifting a child, doing day-to-day activities for your job, or even blow-drying your hair.  Simple actions that we do every day can take a toll and surprise us with pain when we wake up one morning.

It’s funny, but oftentimes our bodies don’t fully register an injury until after a period of rest.  This is why we wake up with “sleeping injuries” – especially as we age.  So before you run out to buy a new pillow or mattress, do some detective work and consider what you could be doing during the day that’s causing you pain in the morning.  Resolving the pain could be as easy as making a small adjustment to a repetitive motion, incorporating regular stretching, or even receiving some bodywork to help your body out while it recovers.

(photo courtesy of Janine Dupree)

Now contracted with United Healthcare, Great-West, and more

I am excited to announce that the list of medical insurance companies that I am contracted with is growing.  One of the great things about being a massage therapist in the state of Washington is that most people have massage therapy benefits through their insurance plans, which makes it accessible to so many people.  If you have massage benefits, use them!  They are worth taking advantage of and will simply vanish at the end of the year if left unused.

As of August 30th, I am accepting clients with the following insurance companies:

• United Healthcare
• Great-West Healthcare
• Health Allies
• Reserve National
• PacifiCare Health Systems
• Medical Resource, LLC

This is in addition to the other insurance companies that I am already in-network with:

• Premera Blue Cross
• Lifewise
• KPS
• Aetna
• Uniform Medical Plan
• Cigna
• Corvel
• First Choice
• L&I

Most insurance plans require a written prescription from your doctor (MD, Naturopath, Chiropractor, or ARNP) for massage therapy including a diagnosis code, the number of visits, and the duration of treatment.  Usually my clients will just bring the prescription to their appointment with them or have their doctor fax it to my office.

I encourage people to contact their insurance companies to find out more about their benefits, but I am happy to help with any questions they might have, too.

What’s weighing you down?

Today’s post is a public service announcement for anyone experiencing shoulder pain or upper back pain, especially if it affects one side more than the other.

Does this sound like you?  Sometimes the causes of pain can be complex and sometimes they can be quite simple.  It’s often the simple things that we gloss over when we’re looking for some relief, so I want to address one common situation I see with many of my clients.

In a word: bags.  Purses, computer bags, handbags, and briefcases are parts of daily life that could be causing us pain without us even realizing it.  Bags that sling over one shoulder put extra pressure on that one side of the body and wrench us out of line as our muscles try to compensate for the additional load.  The bones of our shoulder become compressed, our spine gets pulled out of alignment, and we end up with seemingly inexplicable, nagging pain in our neck, shoulder, upper back, and/or mid back.

Years ago, I had a guy coming into my office for regular visits twice a month to address his shoulder, neck, and back pain that he had been experiencing for several months.   He was finally tired of it and wanted to see if getting some bodywork would help.  He would feel better for a few days after his sessions and then the pain would act up again, though he couldn’t figure out why.  We had been working together for a couple of months when one day he accidentally left behind a personal item in my office during his session.  I realized this a moment after he departed and followed him out to try to catch him only to see him walking down the street, one shoulder being pulled down by a rather heavy-looking computer bag, his neck pulling in the opposite direction, and the rest of his body working to brace against the pressure.  After a few more sessions and applying some of the ideas below, he was feeling much better.

What are some solutions?

• Backpacks. I love backpacks.  I know they’re not as fashionable as some alternatives, but they can help tremendously with bag-related pain and discomfort since they keep the weight balanced between both sides.

• Alternate. If you’d rather hold on to your current bag, try alternating which hand or shoulder you carry it with.   Today use your right side, tomorrow your left.

• Lighten your load. Clean out your purse, re-evaluate what you carry around day in and day out, and let some of the contents of your bag go.  With some investigation, you’ll probably realize that you don’t need to carry around as much as you have been.

• Stretching.  Consult your local massage therapist, physical therapist, yoga practitioner, etc., for tips on how to stretch your neck, back, and shoulders every day to help your body stay relaxed with the added pressure from your bag.

My client from the story above switched his computer bag for a backpack, decided to carry a bit less in it, and incorporated some stretching, especially in the initial stages.  Take a moment to think about whether or not the bag you carry around could be contributing to the pain you’ve been experiencing and see if you can make some adjustments that fit with your lifestyle.  It may be a welcome, simple solution.

Is it time for a new routine?

Part of what I do for clients falls into the category of coaching since I will often help people set goals, brainstorm ways to achieve them, and hold themselves accountable for the goals they’ve set.  Usually the goals are simple, like drinking more water, deep breathing, setting an intention, or changing a lifestyle routine that in some way affects their health.

It varies with each person and what they’ve chosen to accomplish, but the question remains:  How do you start a new habit?  How do you catch your attention so you can create a new behavior?

Habits are often automatic and unconscious rituals.  Starting a new habit or routine takes a clear intention and a willingness to bend your attention in new and sometimes uncomfortable directions as you work to create new behavior patterns.  I’m going to lay out some basic ideas that have helped clients in setting new routines for themselves.  These are simple, basic, versatile, and hopefully take little effort to set up.

Clearly establish what your new routine is going to be. Do you want to start drinking more water?  Would you like to stick to a breathing practice?  Do you want to focus on staying in the moment or  practicing gratitude instead of negative thought patterns?  What do you want to do differently?

Be honest with yourself. Check in and make sure this is something you really do want to do.  How will this new routine add value to your life?  Is this a realistic addition?

Set reminders. This is one of the essentials.  There are a few options here.  You can add sticky notes to a surface you visit often, such as a monitor, laptop, refrigerator, or door.  You can set email or alarm reminders on your cell phone to go off at regular intervals.  Another good reminder is to simply place an object that represents your desired state of mind (such as gratitude) in an obvious place for you.

Some examples of how to put this into action–

Abby wants to start drinking at least 60 ounces of water a day.  She buys a 20-25 ounce water bottle and sets an alarm on her computer to fill it at 8am, at her lunch break, and before she leaves work.  She also puts sticky notes on her work table to remind her to drink her water between fills.

Let’s say Bob wants to take a moment every hour to take a few deep breaths.  He programs his cell phone to an alarm that vibrates every hour with a pop up reminder to take a deep breath.  Guess what?  After a while, he’s going to start taking a deep breath every time his phone vibrates, whether or not it’s a reminder.

Mary wants to remember to be present in each moment and not worry so much.  (I know this is kind of an abstract one, but stay with me; it’s a very real goal for many people.)  She finds a photo/symbol/artwork that represents this for her and posts it on the dashboard of her car, on her water bottle (since she’s great at drinking water!), on her mirror at home, and on her desk.

Honor your reminder. If you encounter the alarm, note, or symbol you left for yourself, take action!  Commit to following through with what you intended and don’t just brush it aside.  Be consistent.

Commit to a timeline. Plan to do this for at least a month.  Or two.  The idea here is that after a while these behaviors will become more automatic and natural and the nature of your reminders will evolve over time.  If you can commit to sticking to a routine every day for a month, your chances of incorporating it long term will be much improved.

Rotate your reminders every week or every month. Sometimes the notes or reminders we leave for ourselves become part of our landscape and lose their original spark.  Use different colors of paper for your notes, change their locations, change the timing, and do what you need to keep it fresh and noticeable.

Ask someone to follow up with you. This is another way I can be helpful for people.  I will check in with them on regular intervals to help them stay consistent, if they request it.  We can go over the effectiveness of their plan and tweek it if needed.  Finding a friend, family member, or coworker to fill this role is also a good way to go.  Having people that you can share this process with increases your success immensely.

Following these guidelines and keeping your goals simple can lead to very attainable and beneficial changes in your health and your attitude.  Let the task of creating new habits be an adventure in learning how you function and how you can consciously change your own automatic behaviors.  It’s fascinating.

Why you want to receive massage during pregnancy

Do you know any women that are expecting a child? Here is some information they are definitely going to want to hear:

Research has shown that receiving massage during pregnancy results in reduced anxiety, fewer labor complications, and fewer complications for the infant after birth.

A study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology and authored by T. Field, M. Hemandez-Reif, S. Hart, H. Theakston, S. Schanberg, C. Kuhn, found these results almost ten years ago. The abstract states the following:

“Twenty-six pregnant women were assigned to a massage therapy or a relaxation therapy group for 5 weeks. The therapies consisted of 20-min sessions twice a week. Both groups reported feeling less anxious after the first session and less leg pain after the first and last session. Only the massage therapy group, however, reported reduced anxiety, improved mood, better sleep and less back pain by the last day of the study. In addition, urinary stress hormone levels (norepinephrine) decreased for the massage therapy group and the women had fewer complications during labor and their infants had fewer postnatal complications (e.g., less prematurity).”

This is huge. Who wouldn’t want this kind of support for herself and her baby?

Time and time again, research shows what a profound positive affect massage therapy has on pregnancy and birth, and this study is a perfect example of it. Not only does the pregnant woman feel happier, more well-rested, and more comfortable in her own body when she receives regular massage, but she has a smoother labor experience, and actively promotes the health of her baby. I think that last point alone would be enough to catch any pregnant woman’s interest.

For any women that are expecting and haven’t yet begun receiving massage treatments, I highly encourage they seek out a practitioner that has had advanced training in pregnancy and postpartum bodywork. The depth of support and knowledge this person can offer is significant and well worth considering during this amazing time of growth, anticipation, and transformation.