Feeling overwhelmed with the agenda of this holiday season?  Try these tricks:

1. Don’t multi-task.  Take things one at a time.
2. Put on some peaceful music.
3. Take a 5-minute break and stretch or walk.
4. Read a poem or short article and only focus on that until it’s done.  Then, go back to work.
5. Step outside.  Nature is soothing.

If you want to see my availability and book an appointment, visit https://www.massagebook.com/Saratoga_Springs~Massage~MassageByLesley   You can also buy gift certificates there, too!

With the colder weather, you’re inside more often and are subject to pollution from the objects in your home and office.  You can clear the air and add some natural beauty by simply adding houseplants.

Aloe vera is a common, easy-care plant that helps to remove formaldehyde given off by flooring and other building materials.  You can even use the gel straight from the plant to help with burns and other skin issues.

The Boston fern survives even if you forget to water it regularly.  This might be a great plant for an office.

The English Ivy removes toxins from cigarette smoke and pesticides. It is especially helpful if you have allergies or asthma.

My favorite air purifier is the spider plant. It also keeps carbon monoxide levels low and doesn’t need a lot of light, although it does like regular watering.

Find a plant you enjoy and keep it around.  For more info, visit http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/types-of-houseplants.html

Text neck is a very real thing.  Over the years, I have seen the areas of muscle tightness move around to different parts of our bodies. It corresponds to the changes in the technology we use.  I have less mouse-related shoulder issues and more text-related neck issues as I spend more time on my smart phone and less time on my laptop.  This seems to be true of the majority of you that I work on.   Yes, I suffer from it too and am learning how to help you thru my own aches and pains.

What we do everyday matters! It can build up, but there is a simple cure.  All you need is a little vigilance and effort and do some regular stretching. Taking care of your neck now will also help prevent and alleviate issues in the future such as pinched nerves.   

Here’s an excellent website to give you many more stretches and some good background info  http://posturedirect.com/how-to-fix-text-neck-syndrome/

“A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” Albert Einstein

If you want to move better than you are now, massage cupping is for you.  Whether you need more flexibility, better range of motion, less pain, or you’re just not getting around as well as you once were, I can help.

Massage cupping isn’t new, it’s just not well known.  Cupping has been done for thousands of years in Egypt and Asia.  Luckily, since then, they’ve invented a machine that creates easily regulated, gentle pressure so I won’t need to leave circular marks like you’ve seen on Olympic athletes and celebrities.

Cupping can be as gentle and relaxing as you’d like.  It can also create incredible changes in your body from both old and new injuries.  I personally have had results from one session of cupping on injuries I had decades earlier.

Best of all, I can combine cupping work right into your regular massage session so you get the best of both worlds.

Massage cupping works for olympic athletes like Michael Phelps and gymnast, Alex Naddour.  It restores circulation, improves your immune response, relieves tight muscles, soothes your nerves, and as an added bonus it’s also restorative for your skin.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to get those “bruises” to get the great effects of cupping therapy.  You don’t need to be an athlete either!  Cupping marks are created when pressure is used to draw your tissues up under a glass or plastic cup. Traditionally, this vaccum pressure is created by the heat from fire. I use a more modern method of air vaccum that is much more easily regulated so there is no need to create those telltale circle marks while still getting therapeutic results.

They’re not really bruises either.  Cupping helps improve the efficiency of your body’s systems, removing what is no longer needed, some of which are old red blood cells.  These come up beneath the layer of your skin and look similar to bruises because when you’re recovering from an injury, you also slough off old blood cells.

Cupping can help you heal from injuries that are years, even decades old, helping you move more freely and with less pain.  But more importantly, it still feels good. I usually blend massage cupping into a traditional massage so you get the best of both worlds.  Ask for it with your next massage.  We can try it out for a few minutes and see if you like it.

No amount of coffee can change me into a morning person.  Not even a grande drenched in mocha. However, our society runs on a daylight schedule so I’ve learned a few tricks over the years to help me face the day with a reasonably good attitude. 

The best advice I have is to stop hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock.  Just set it for the right time and face the fact that sleep time is over.  The good news is, you don’t have to get out of bed right away.  I do my stretches right there.  Lengthen your legs, arms, breathe in and out deeply, and massage any achy parts.  This way the morning not only feels more luxurious, but you’ve increased the oxygen in both your body and your brain.  For me this translates into less stupidity and a higher level of functioning once I get out of bed.

The other tips help my mood:  don’t watch the news, check email, or answer the phone before you’re dressed and have had breakfast.  Having either sacred quiet time or a light conversation nurtures your sensitive side before jumping into the busyness of your day and the demands of others. 

We can prevent back pain if we look at how cultures with little to no back pain behave.  Americans tend to scrunch their shoulders forward, so our arms are in front of our bodies. That’s not how people in indigenous cultures carry their arms. To fix that, gently pull your shoulders up, push them back and then let them drop. Now your arms should dangle by your side, with your thumbs pointing out. 

A 2013 study on mice published in the journal Brain, Structure and Function used differed types of noise and silence and monitored the effect the sound and silence had on the brains of the mice. The silence was intended to be the control in the study but what they found was surprising. The scientists discovered that when the mice were exposed to two hours of silence per day they developed new cells in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a region of the brain associated with memory, emotion and learning.

Silence seems to have the opposite effect of the brain to noise. While noise may cause stress and tension,  silence releases tension in the brain and body. A study published in the journal Heart discovered that two minutes of silence can prove to be even more relaxing than listening to “relaxing” music. They based these findings of changes they noticed in blood pressure and blood circulation in the brain.

To read more, visit http://www.lifehack.org/377243/science-says-silence-much-more-important-our-brains-than-thought?dgs=1

This election cycle has been one of the longest, most divisive one I can recall.  At times, I have resorted to talking back to the TV when I didn’t like what I heard a candidate say. Not my most enlightened moment.  I try to learn from these lower points in my life to see how I can improve personally and  also make the space around me more peaceful and healing for others.

One of the techniques I’ve found most helpful when I’m feeling aggravated is to just focus on my heart and imagine love pouring out of it like a sprinkler hose.  There is no target, no agenda, just love watering the hearts of anyone within range. Hopefully, it affects someone.  I know it calms me down and puts me in a better, more accepting mood.

Now that you’ve stopped laughing at my suggestion, just try it.  Next time you’re stuck in traffic, hassled at work, or wherever your stressful triggers are, just picture love pouring out of your heart. Do it long enough to notice if your heart rate has decreased, your breathing has slowed, or even better, that your mind has moved on to other, more pleasant thoughts.