Discussion topic: DIY chemical free products

I had a conversation over on Facebook this evening with a friend as she was reeling from applying a chemical, aka moisturizer, on her skin and then wondering out loud what was in that product.

What I realized is that not enough people know what it is that I do for a living. I don't mean "hey what do you do for work?", I am a massage therapist. That is the basics. Mostly I look at skin and muscles all day. It is important to note that I do that and a bunch of other things over the course of time with a client.

Long before you arrived for your massage, I thought about what products I was using in the office.  They also relate to your skin.

This gets down to the real subject at hand. I spent many years using crappy products for massage, some I didn't even know that they were bad till I became enlightened.

Oils: I don't use many of them at all, they are usually adulterated and not good for your skin. When I say this I mean the oils that are created for massage therapy. Oh, you didn't know that there was an entire industry built on selling massage lotions, oils, gels, etc to the massage therapists of the world. Let me tell you I have tested nearly every one on the market and they all suck. Either they go rancid, before getting to the office, or shortly after. They have so much junk in the oil that it doesn't even feel like oil.

Lotion: one version that I use for mixing. The rest don't get to grace the shelf of the office.

Cream: one version as a foot cream.

I use one thing and one thing for every massage every day all day. Jojoba, it isn't even an oil, it is a liquid wax ester. It performs like and oil, and a cream and a lotion all in one product. I can use it for all the techniques in the office, himalayan salt stone, deep tissue, and even facial massage. Sure it is more expensive than the rest of the stuff, who cares when it is so versatile. I only have to use about 1 oz per client. Sure, I can buy coconut oil cheaper, and clients won't know the difference. I will and that is what is important.

I stray from posting from time to time and sometimes longer than others. It is frustrating for me to keep up with all that I have going on, then to find a subject to post. Today my post is very different than others that I have written. It is about going back.

Yesterday I went back to camp. A place that I have fond memories of and a place that also has some heartache. I left camp in 1987 and never looked back. I walked away feeling empty and sad. From time to time I was drawn back into camp through newsletters and a chance meeting. Most of the time, I kept camp quiet.

Camp was a cool place where I got to do all kinds of things outdoorsy and fun. Swimming in a crystal clear lake, camping, playing, and having a great time with people from all over the world. I built friendships. I can tell you that I loved every single minute. I spent more time at camp as a counselor than a camper. That kind of alters my perspective, most spend more time as a camper.

I became a Junior Maine Guide at this camp. I learned to fire a gun, and I also got to have a bunch of sisters. I come from a family of three, two brothers and I, no sisters. It was so fun to have a cabin full of sisters my age.

Seven summers of bliss till the last day of camp. A close friend and I had been through our CIT and early counselor training together, she was the first person I met at camp. We did everything together. I was a swimmer and she loved canoeing, and everything related to that side of the waterfront. Not to say that she was not a swimmer. We all were lifeguards at the waterfront. I was a swimming teacher and I did a bunch of other things as well. I don't think that I ever taught riding, not really my thing.

Hey Heather will you get to the point. Last day of camp 1987, my friend had an early start to her college and she was taking the bus back to Portland to get her flight and to escort the other campers to their flights. I can't remember exactly what happened, there was something, and we must have had a falling out, time does heal the wounds. She got on the bus and never said good-bye, rode off to the airport, never to be heard from again. Please do not label this a a sexual thing, we were BFFs at camp. Camp was small 100 campers per season.

I walked back to my cabin to begin the final cleaning of the cabin, mind you her sister was my co-counselor and she was on the bus back to the airport. I was cleaning up my cabin and getting ready for the rest of the day which included helping the owners close up camp. All the canoes, sailboats and everything else was put away for the winter. This process happened over a period of three or four days. While I was cleaning my shack, I realized that it was over. My time at camp was over. I was not going to be returning to camp in any form, at least in the near future. I was in college and I wanted to get going on that life of mine.

I haven't heard from my friend in 19 years. I don't expect to hear from her ever. I would love to reconnect, doubtful that she will. I have heard that she has a family, and other obligations. It wasn't meant to be.

I went back yesterday to the 110 anniversary of camp. I saw a lot of friends from my camp days. I went back to the logs and browsed through the pictures. Memories came flooding back. It was fun and sad.

I am home now and ready to face my busy week. Camp is again a part of me, it formed part of who I am.

My journey.

It has been well over a month since I began the journey with Multigreens from Young Living Essential Oils.

• MultiGreens™ is a nutritious chlorophyll formula designed to boost vitality by working with the glandular, nervous, and circulatory systems.* MultiGreens is made with spirulina, alfalfa sprouts, barley grass, bee pollen, eleuthero, Pacific kelp, and therapeutic-grade essential oils.

I am not sure exactly what I am noticing. I haven't changed my diet very much. We are eating at home a lot more and having a salad nearly every night has helped to keep us filled up so that we don't eat as large a dinner portion.

I also take regularly Sulfurzyme from Young Living Essential Oils, and this I can emphatically say is the number one reason that my joints don't hurt me any more.

• Sulfurzyme® combines wolfberry with MSM, a naturally occurring organic form of dietary sulfur needed by our bodies every day to maintain the structure of proteins, protect cells and cell membranes, replenish the connections between cells, and preserve the molecular framework of connective tissue.* MSM also supports the immune system, the liver, circulation, and proper intestinal function and works to scavenge free radicals.* Wolfberries contain minerals and coenzymes that support the assimilation and metabolism of sulfur.

I'd love to talk to you about essential oils and other products that Young Living offers. Please feel free to reach out by phone, or email. You can click on this link and it will take you directly to the site.

#riverbendtherapeuticmassagekennebunk

#YLEO

Young Living Multigreens.

Finally sitting down to update the blog. It has been far too long since I have stopped in.

I am about to start documenting my experiences using certain essential oils and related products from Young Living.

Maybe a bit more than a month ago from today I listened to this podcast, and was very interested in the four core items that were suggested. I had a Young Living order processing shortly after and I added multigreens to my order. I followed the directions and with some additions of water and a fish oil. I am not sure that I have noticed much of a difference yet. I am going to keep up with this journey, since most of my other supplements are finished and I have been looking for a more natural option.

How do I choose which bodywork therapy is right for me?

Heather Piper, Lmt

I recently logged onto the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals website, and found numerous types of bodywork. Far too many to mention or to list in one short article, let’s just say the list had 26 choices one for every letter in the alphabet, plus a few more. I can totally understand why clients don’t choose to consider massage therapy or bodywork when it is far too overwhelming. How do we know what to choose? How do I know whether or not this type of bodywork is good for me? At this time I would like to define for you some common types of bodywork and the type of bodywork therapy that I use in my office.

Lets begin with Swedish massage. Swedish is one of the most common and well-known types of bodywork, designed to stimulate the circulation and energize the body. Swedish massage is based on five techniques, Effleurage-long flowing, or gliding strokes. Petrissage-kneading and squeezing of the muscles using hands fingers, and knuckles. Tapotement-rhythmic tapping that uses the sides of the hands, to loosen and relax the muscles. Friction-uses movements with the the hands to create heat, to bring about relaxation of the muscles. Vibration-uses the back and forth movement of the fingertips or the heel of the hand over the body to loosen the muscles.

I appreciate the Swedish massage more than anything; typically this is ignored as an excellent form of bodywork. Why do we stigmatize this work as many of the deep tissue techniques are based on this work? Don’t miss-interpret that Swedish is light work in any way. Some of the techniques listed above can be very deep. Petrissage is and can be very deep work. My conclusion is that what is written about Swedish in the features section of a spa menu leads us to believe that this work is more of a relaxation session than a massage. This is simply not true.

Deep Tissue is described by some as the only type of bodywork that makes a difference in the body or to affect change in the muscles. Therapists have a tendency to use this term to describe their work and to make it seem as if there aren’t any other types of bodywork. What I want to say here is that this work is very good for many people, we all are different and what might be deep to you might be light to someone else. These are techniques based on Swedish massage that affect the deeper layers of tissue in the muscles and usually require a good understanding of anatomy, and structure of the muscles. This work can be helpful with chronic pain or muscular injury rehabilitation. I think it is best to work using a combination of deep techniques with lighter strokes to allow the body to adjust to the work.

I find that it is important to keep the lines of communication open between the therapist and the client. Just telling the therapist that you want deep work and to “go as deep as you can, don’t worry I can take it”. Is not really what we are going for here. When I am working with clients I really want to know what is going on in the body while I am working. I use a pain scale of 0-10. Zero means is this person even touching me, all the way up to ten where this is killing me and I am out of here. I prefer to work around a seven or eight, and this is subjective for nearly everyone. Your eight maybe my five. Everyone is different and it really isn’t for the therapist to decide what is right for you, it is your decision, it is your massage after all and you are the one that is paying for the session.

Muscular Therapy is not listed in the glossary, so it will need its own definition here. It is a form of bodywork that includes a series of techniques and exercises designed to break down muscular tension and possibly prevent it from returning. This is different than deep tissue or Swedish. We have nearly 200 different techniques that we learn in our course work to apply in different parts of the body, we learn to use speeds and rhythms. Plus there are three other parts to our work and they are body care, tension release exercises, and postural alignment.

What does it feel like when you receive a Muscular Therapy session? Probably different than Swedish though there are some very close similarities, and it may also feel like a deep tissue massage. We use oil or lotion and we also do a nice warm up for the part of the body that is being massaged. The full benefits of the work come into play when we add the other segments.

Body care techniques are usually given as homework and sometimes clients don’t think they need to do this part of the work. My favorite one to use with everyone is a salt bath. Add two cups of salt to a warm, not hot, bath. The salt facilitates the tension reducing effect of the water. The act of taking a bath and taking time to do something for you is relaxation. I use this one to demonstrate that you don’t need to do a lot to change how you feel, or to help your body feel better.

Tension release exercises are given as homework for clients to use with specific muscles and parts of the body. They are simple and easy ways to reduce tension in your own body. I wish that I could describe some in further detail; these are taught to clients after they have had a full intake, assessment and a few massages, and are taught specifically for each client. I can say that when I was going through school, I used these techniques on myself and experienced some tension relief.

Postural Alignment may also be known as ergonomics. While reducing the tension in the body via Muscular Therapy, it is also important to improve your postural alignment so that treatments will allow you to return physical health. I don’t go to offices to help with ergonomics though I educate my clients about proper posture, how to sit at the desk, and to encourage breaks in the day to stretch, drink water and re-evaluate your posture. If you are in pain this can truly make the changes last as you are not undoing the work that your therapist did in your last session.

There aren’t very many Muscular Therapists around especially in Maine as this coursework was done in Cambridge Massachusetts at the Muscular Therapy Institute. At the time is was a stand-alone massage school that was 1200 hours of training, nearly unheard of in the fast paced world of today.

I am sure that I could go on for hours or pages about the types of bodywork that are out there, and I am sure that there are more being developed right now. It is not so much the type of bodywork that you receive but the fact that you are receiving the bodywork and that it feels good to you. It really is about communication between you and the therapist. Remember it is your session; don’t be afraid to ask for clarification or for a reduction or an increase in pressure. The therapist doesn’t get to decide what is good for you, you do.

How do you choose, you go with your heart or your referrals from friends or family or colleagues. Or maybe you read my article and decide to find someone in your area that does the type of work I have described and you reach out to him or her for massages. It really comes down to personal preference.

Originally published in Essential Living Maine May 2014

Two Remaining Ways to Improve Your Sleep

Tip #3  Turn off the electronics.

Okay, so you’ve heard this one. But it’s the most important and the least followed piece of advice.

Get an old fashioned alarm clock so you don’t need to use your phone. Turn your phone, iPad, Kindle, or whatever you’ve got off, and put the devices in another room. Yes, a whole other room. You may think that a phone on silent, hanging out on your nightstand, won’t disturb your rest, but it will. Just knowing it’s there puts your body on alert. It’s far too tempting to reach over and ‘just check a few emails’ if you do wake up in the middle of the night. Save yourself. Break this habit.

Tip #4  Get a massage

Yes, Massage can help with sleep issues. There have been several studies demonstrating the efficacy of massage in people with sleep problems, especially when treating secondary issues that may impair sleep, like back pain, pregnancy and migraines.

Thanks for coming along to my blog to read the rest of the tips, while you're here take a look around and feel free to contact me for further information. Here is a link to my website for further details.

Heather

Good Morning-

I had an interesting time putting together my wordle for today. Funny how things happen when you need a word and you can't think of any about the topic that you want to discuss.

That is what happened when I needed all the words for Valentines Day. Then an idea popped into my head, do a google search. What ever would we do without a google search. So there landed many of the words that I was looking for. You can see the result on my page called Valentines Day. It was fun to put it together and well then the result is fun to look at too.

I hope that you have a great day enjoy your Valentine celebration if you have one. I will be enjoying the warmish weather in preparation for next weeks cold weather. 

In health,

Heather