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The Impotence of Being Silent

11/9/2015

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There is a couple that I work on regularly that almost always asks me which person had more tension. They are both hard working people and they do very different kinds of work. It is hard to compare the tension of a runner with the tension that comes from being at a desk all day. One might as well ask whether it is easier to lift one good-sized boulder or 10,000 grains of sand one at a time. Pain is a feeling, a response that is not truly quantifiable.Many people ask how tight they are in relation to others. I don't think that most want to believe that they are damage or broken. I see people who are in pain who need validation for how they feel. We often don't want to wear our pain openly. There is a funny misconception that it is a sign of strength to hold in our pain. I have found personally that being open and vulnerable takes far more endurance and will than ignoring and keeping it inside. I believe that confronting these feelings within ourselves is an integral part of the healing process. Our discomfort is valid no matter where it falls in the spectrum of human experience. Pain is an important feeling because it tells us when to slow down, when to turn inward. Your tension deserves to be acknowledged and your pain deserves to be relieved.
Health is a process. It's not a level we reach and then we are healthy indefinitely. Our body is in a constant state of renewal. There will always be things we could do differently, maybe better. The thing I always try to remind myself is to acknowledge what I feel in the moment and go from there.


Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come? ~ Rumi



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Sometime's it's going to hurt

2/5/2015

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Sometimes it has to hurt to feel better. A simple concept at first glance becomes a lesson I learn anew each year in a different way. Sometimes you have to dig deep and what you find may not be sunshine and kittens. Old habits must be broken before new ones can be implemented. Scar tissue must be broken up and flushed out for muscle tissue to reclaim its space. The ashes of past often fall to our feet as we walk into the future.

I, like many in this day and age, was not taught to take time for myself. Preventative care wasn't even on my radar. I understood basic concepts like eat well and exercise, but the actual becoming process of health alluded me until pain and illness had already knocked down all my walls. I see this too with many of my clients. Often, people don't seek help until their pain is unbearable or has started to inhibit daily activities. Whether they don't want to be a bother or don't want to be seen as weak, people often belittle themselves for the sake of “getting things done.” If we don't make space for ourselves sacred, our days are easily filled. We forget and push through.

As we trudge on, our bodies fill with this rubble: emotional knots we bury deep, lactic acid and cellular detritus that builds up in our muscles, cycles that settle into our nerves shooting pain themselves in perpetuity. We expect more of ourselves than we would the most powerful machine. From cars to phones to kitchen appliances, we expect a certain amount of upkeep and maintenance to be a part of the deal. We buy them cases and oil changes. If we don't protect them, they burn out. Yet, this concept seems almost foreign when applied to the extraordinary organic machines we use everyday.

It's okay. We're not broken and we can learn to live again. We can learn to live better. We can be better to ourselves. Healthy eating and living movements are gaining momentum, but one area in which I feel they are utterly lacking is addressing what has come before. It is hard to build anew if we do not clear the rubble first. We must truly confront who and where we are if we want to move forward. Sometimes that can really hurt. Still, we've had a lot of practice at working through the pain and I think we can do it.

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Validate Yourself

1/3/2015

1 Comment

 
There is a couple that I work on regularly that almost always asks me which person had more tension. They are both hard working people and they do very different kinds of work. It is hard to compare the tension of a runner with the tension that comes from being at a desk all day. One might as well ask whether it is easier to lift one good-sized boulder or 1,000 grains of sand one at a time. Pain is a feeling, a response that is not truly quantifiable.

Many people ask how tight they are in relation to others. I don't think that most want to hear that they are damaged or broken. I see people who are in pain who need validation for how they feel. We often don't want to wear our pain openly. There is a funny misconception that it is a sign of strength to hold in our pain. I have found personally that being open and vulnerable takes far more endurance and willpower than ignoring and keeping things inside. I believe that confronting these feelings within ourselves is an integral part of the healing process. Our discomfort is valid no matter where it falls in the spectrum of human experience. Pain is an important feeling because it tells us when to slow down. Your tension deserves to be acknowledged and dealt with.

Health is a process. It's not a level we reach and then we are healthy indefinitely. Our body is in a constant state of renewal. There will always be things we could do differently, maybe better. The thing I always try to remind myself is to acknowledge what I feel in the moment and go from there.

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More Than Just Massage

1/9/2014

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As a therapist, I am constantly growing; learning new skills and expanding my perception on what massage can do. One of my main focuses has always been injury assessment because it is such a wide, expansive field. No two injuries are exactly the same but they all tell a story. Some injuries are acute meaning they come from one specific instance like a fall. Chronic injuries build slowly as we push ourselves harder and harder. Often times an injury can be extremely tender, bruised or swollen. You might think that it would be best to wait until it's healed until you should get a massage. Sometimes this is true, especially with therapists who just practice swedish, deep tissue, and other typical forms of massage. However, there are new modalities, such as massage cupping and kinesio tape, that do not put any pressure on the soft tissue and therefore can be used on many injuries that were previously outside the scope of massage therapy. Nevertheless, there will always be things outside of my specialty, massage cannot and should not be used on an open wound, inflamed or irritated skin (dermatitis), or broken bones. Your therapist cannot diagnose you with one condition or another so if you have questions or doubts, please consult with your doctor.

Massage cupping is one of my favorite new techniques. It is a type of therapy that uses a gentle vacuum to lift and move fluids through soft tissue. It is similar to fire cupping done by acupuncturists and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine with two unique differences. Massage uses a pump instead of fire to create the vacuum. This allows better control of the intensity of vacuum pressure. A massage therapist using cups also moves the cup to increase circulation in the affected area coaxing the lymph and other interstitial fluid along its course. What does this mean? It means the swelling around a sprained ankle or “thrown out” back can be greatly reduced. It means an injury can be encouraged to heal faster and hurt less.

Kinesio tape is starting to gain a lot of exposure from professional athletes. You might have seen some brightly colored tape on people at the 2012 London Olympics. KT is a definitive rehabilitative taping technique that is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process while providing support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion as well as providing extended soft tissue manipulation to prolong the benefits of manual therapy administered within the clinical setting. Kinesio tape gives the support of an ace bandage but allows functional movement of the joints and muscles. It can also be used to lift the skin and encourage lymphatic drainage. Everyone's body is different and no treatment can guarantee success, but I have seen some astounding results with these new techniques. If you have any questions, about these techniques or any others, call today. I'd love to talk with you about them!
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This is an ankle sprain I worked on. The client had fallen down some stairs and sprained their ankle. They were unable to walk without crutches and the foot was too tender to be touched or massaged by normal means. We did 45 minutes of massage cupping on the foot and leg. I then applied Kinesio tape on the foot and ankle. The second picture is just 90 minutes after the tape was applied. These pictures are a few hours apart and the client was able to walk that evening and return to work the next day.
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The Best of Intentions

9/8/2013

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Life does not obey our expectations.
Life obeys our intentions, in ways 
we may not expect.


I hear often that people have a bad knee or shoulder, that it will never get better.  I have always believed that what you think has an effect.  I don't think I can believe myself into super powers and childhood evidence seems to ratify that belief.  I can, however, believe myself into a better job, a better house, and better health.  The last is what I really want to talk about.  I'm pretty sure you've heard about the power of prayer and how people who believe they will get better, do.  This works in a secular way as well.  You have to believe there is a path before you can head that direction and if you imagine a wall, it will block you just the same.

It's not a cure-all, but an important aspect of health.  The way I define health is an open process of becoming experienced by perception.  To extrapolate that to our current context gives us the theory that without perceiving the possibility of greater health and physical improvement, one cannot begin the process of becoming.  

I'm often reminded of my first day of massage school.  The anxiety and excitement were about as palpable as a Mack truck headed straight for you.  Our first lesson was actually intention.  Here's how it went.  We were paired up with one of each pair seated in a folding chair and the second standing behind them resting their hands gently on the first person's shoulders.  The first person would close their eyes while the teacher would write something on the board along the lines of “You're really nice and I want you to feel relaxed.” or “I hate you and I hope you die.” The second person didn't move or change the position of their hands but focused on whatever the phrase was on the board.  The funny thing was that the first person knew what the sentiment of the phrase was every time.  The lesson being that as a therapist we must keep our own emotions in check lest we transfer our problems onto someone we mean to help.  The life lesson for me has been that emotions are contagious and that health is as transmittable as disease.  Think back to a time when you walked into a room and without a word could tell if the people were fighting and it instantly made you uncomfortable or how having a pleasant conversation with someone at the bank can brighten your whole day.  

Now all of this is very anecdotal.  Maybe believing your body is “bad” or “fighting you” triggers stress, which causes inflammation and slows down cell regeneration.  There are some studies that are beginning to link high levels of serotonin( a hormone associated with positive/happy thoughts) to greater bone density and organ development. It's not entirely scientific but that's okay.  How much does it really cost to believe in yourself?  I've spent the last several years teaching myself to stop saying “my bad knee” and start saying my knee that needs extra time or my knee that needs more love.  Whatever you choose to do and say is great and should be unique for you and how you think.  Our words help us decipher and, in turn, rewire our brains.  Something as little as believing one part of you can feel better, can move better, can do more is easy.  Focus on one part of you growing and getting better and I think you'll be amazed at how contagious that becomes.  

"A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them."
-Liberty Hyde Baile
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Benefits of Massage

2/13/2013

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  • Increases circulation, which allows the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs. Prepares the body for exercise, sports, any kind of physical exertion.
  • Stimulates the lymph system, the body’s natural defense, against toxic invaders. For example, in breast cancer patients, massage has been shown to increase the cells that fight cancer.
  • Releases endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller. For this reason, massage is incorporated in treatment for chronic illnesses, injury and recovery from surgery to control and relieve pain.
  • Improves range of motion and decreases discomfort associated with lower back pain.
  • Relaxes and softens injured and overused muscles.
  • Reduces muscle spasms and cramping.
  • Increases joint flexibility.
  • Reduces recovery time for strenuous workouts and eliminates subsequent risk of muscle strain.
  • Relieves pain for migraine sufferers and decreases the need for medication.
  • Reduces post-operative adhesions and edema, as well as reduces and realigns scar tissue after healing has occurred.
  • Contributes to shorter labor, reduces the need for medication and aides in quicker recovery in pregnant women.
  • Reduces blood pressure and heart rates. Aids clients dealing with anxiety, depression and/or chronic fatigue.
  • Promotes tissue regeneration, reducing scar tissue and stretch marks. Improves overall skin health.
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How to Get the Most out of your Massage

1/9/2013

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Be as open to the process as you can.

Communicate with your therapist as to whether you like or dislike the pressure, temperature, music, etc.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions or direct your therapist to a certain area  and know that your comfort is of the utmost importance.

Relax and try let your thoughts go. One way to do this is to focus on how the touch or technique feels.

Remember to breathe, as this helps you relax. Sometimes people hold their breath when a sensitive area is massaged, but it is best to breathe through it.

Tightening your muscles during the massage is counterproductive. If you can’t seem to relax your muscles, let your massage therapist know. They may need to adjust the massage technique.

Feel free to bring your own music or lotion if you have specific needs.  Be assertive and express your needs to make the most out of your experience.
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    Author

      Anna Collins, L.M.T.

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