If you are on my newsletter list, you've heard about the proposed legislation taxing massage as a "pleasure service". We therapists are up in arms (or is it up in hands) over this, since we are listed under NC Law as "licensed health care providers". If we are taxed, we feel that ALL health care providers should be taxed, including doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, etc. Of course, ultimately, we feel we should not be listed with "pleasure services", and that services with medical benefits should NOT be taxed. Let me expound on this.
While many types of massage are pleasurable, there are medical benefits even when the service takes place in a spa setting. "How?" you may ask? For one example, and one that has far reaching consequences, it helps to turn off the sympathetic nervous system.
We have two areas of the nervous system: sympathetic and parasympathetic. Now, the parasympathetic system allows our bodies to function the way it's supposed to during normal activity. We get blood to our extremities, we digest, we repair damaged cells... The sympathetic system is our survivor system. This is often referred to as fight, flight, or freeze. When we hear the rattlesnake rattle, we freeze. When we sense danger, we are ready to make our stand or run to fight another day. And it is this system that has kept our species alive. However...
In our modern everyday lives, most of us don't have life threatening events take place on a regular basis. We do have insidious events that happen to which our bodies react as if it is life threatening. We overhear the boss talking about lay-offs, and we wonder if we are next. We hear on the news that pollution is at an all time high, and we wonder if that's why our children have asthma. We drive, and someone cuts us off, making us hit the brakes. These types of events turn on the sympathetic system.
What happens when the sympathetic system gets turned on? The body sends out additional noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and adds adrenaline along with that. Noradrenaline by itself is short lived in the body, even a double dose. But when the body adds adrenaline, that will persist in the bloodstream for hours. Hormones, particularly cortisol, increase organ sensitivity to both noradrenaline and adrenaline, which means it's easier for us to feel panic when this happens frequently. This means that our blood vessels constrict, especially at the extremities, keeping the core of our bodies safe. Our digestion slows. Our pupils constrict. This can lead to rapid heart beat and migraine headaches, among other disorders. (see http://stressdirections.com/content/view/46/68/ for more information)
How does massage counter this? We relax when we receive massage. We breathe more deeply, which relaxes us farther. Blood flows more fluently to our extremities. Our minds can become quiet, and we enter a meditative state. These reactions can turn off the sympathetic system, and allow the parasympathetic system to do its job.
So, do yourself a favor. Contact your legislator to vote no on taxing massage. And make an appointment with your massage therapist today!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Summer's Lavendar
I have some growing in my small home garden. It feels so good. I love to rub my hands through it and then smell my hands… ahhh…
Lavender as an aromatherapy blends with so many different aromas, it can be used widely. In addition to its versatility and calming odor, did you know that it is also an analgesic, antidepressant, antiseptic, antiviral, cytophylactic (stimulates growth of healthy new skin cells), decongestant, hypotensive, nervine, and sedative?
Last month I was in the woods and was bit by an insect and noticed that in addition to the itch, it was inflamed and the tissue was hard. I asked Aliya Boozari, a massage student and also a clinical herbalist, if she could recommend something for this. She said lavender, witch hazel, and aloe. I had some lavender with me, so I used that, and within two minutes the itch was gone. By the time my class was over it was no longer inflamed. By the next day it was no longer hard. Wow. I never had to use the witch hazel or aloe. After this incident another student told me that her youngest child had poison ivy. She applied lavender. It cleared the rash right up.
A client told me that a friend of hers has been using lavender on her face since she was in high school. It helps with acne.
We grew up thinking that if a medicine was good for us, it had to be aesthetically displeasing. This is the exception to that rule!
Lavender as an aromatherapy blends with so many different aromas, it can be used widely. In addition to its versatility and calming odor, did you know that it is also an analgesic, antidepressant, antiseptic, antiviral, cytophylactic (stimulates growth of healthy new skin cells), decongestant, hypotensive, nervine, and sedative?
Last month I was in the woods and was bit by an insect and noticed that in addition to the itch, it was inflamed and the tissue was hard. I asked Aliya Boozari, a massage student and also a clinical herbalist, if she could recommend something for this. She said lavender, witch hazel, and aloe. I had some lavender with me, so I used that, and within two minutes the itch was gone. By the time my class was over it was no longer inflamed. By the next day it was no longer hard. Wow. I never had to use the witch hazel or aloe. After this incident another student told me that her youngest child had poison ivy. She applied lavender. It cleared the rash right up.
A client told me that a friend of hers has been using lavender on her face since she was in high school. It helps with acne.
We grew up thinking that if a medicine was good for us, it had to be aesthetically displeasing. This is the exception to that rule!
Eulogy for Bart
Bart died early this morning. He was one of our neighborhood cats who adopted us as family (though I'm sure he had others, too).
When he came inside the house, he'd climb into your lap, up into your arms, and flop over, so he'd be held like a baby. And frequently he'd meow at my bedroom door in the middle of the night just so someone would pet him while he ate.
Outside, he had a different story. He acted like he didn't know us if we came together then, like the teenage boy who doesn't want to acknowledge the grownups, 'cause he has his reputation to consider.
Yesterday Art found him lying by the car. Bart didn't move, so we put him in the house. Art kept an eye on him during the day, and Bart seemed to move between in front of the couch and behind the couch, walking just a few feet before falling down. Our daughter left us a note this morning, saying that everytime she'd turned off the light, Bart cried, so she ended up just leaving it on.
I do feel honored that Bart came to us, that he felt safe enough with us. And that he didn't have to die in the dark. We will miss him.
When he came inside the house, he'd climb into your lap, up into your arms, and flop over, so he'd be held like a baby. And frequently he'd meow at my bedroom door in the middle of the night just so someone would pet him while he ate.
Outside, he had a different story. He acted like he didn't know us if we came together then, like the teenage boy who doesn't want to acknowledge the grownups, 'cause he has his reputation to consider.
Yesterday Art found him lying by the car. Bart didn't move, so we put him in the house. Art kept an eye on him during the day, and Bart seemed to move between in front of the couch and behind the couch, walking just a few feet before falling down. Our daughter left us a note this morning, saying that everytime she'd turned off the light, Bart cried, so she ended up just leaving it on.
I do feel honored that Bart came to us, that he felt safe enough with us. And that he didn't have to die in the dark. We will miss him.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
New Office found because of Grace's love for Tim
I was giving a massage a couple of days ago and was asked how I found my new digs. I have to tell you, I LOVE my new space. It's me, it reflects more of who I am and how I operate. Mark was great to share his space with me, but our personalities in space were opposite. He looked at empty counter space and thought something like: zen: peaceful. I looked at empty counter space and thought, hmmm, what would look good on this? So being back with all my STUFF makes me happy, content, and busy.
But when I thought back through the process of how I found my new space, I realized it was because of Gracie's love for Tim. You see, Tim came to Asheville to teach in the new massage program here at AB Tech, and the game plan was that he and Grace would sell their house and within a year she would move up here. And then there was the house market slump... so the house never sold. The year became a year and a half, and Tim realized how his absence was affecting the one he loves, and the choice I think was ultimately easy, not to mention inevitable. He chose to go back to live full time with Gracie and gave up his job here at AB Tech.
When Tim left (after giving a month's notice), Marek and I took over teaching Tim's classes to finish out the semester as our schedules allowed. However, due to this change I knew I needed to refer one of my regular clients to another massage therapist because I could no longer accommodate her schedule. When I called around, one therapist told me that she was in the process of moving to this great new place, which was actually a rather old building, and the rent was the best she had seen. I kept this in mind, and when I was ready to move, I checked it out, and the rest is herstory.
It's amazing to me how the threads of our lives intermingle. Tugging on one thread brings another downstage, front and center. We never know when our actions will have an effect on someone else, or what those effects will be. Some are easier to see than others, "if I left sooner/later I would not have been in this accident", "if I had not married I would not have my daughter". The others are more subtle and take thought to backtrack through. Look at the Iraq war. I can see back to the Russian/Afghanistan war, but it probably goes father than that. All this to say that I read a great quote earlier this morning. It's from the Male Herbal by James Green. He says, "We live what we think." So let's think good thoughts, great thoughts, hard and challenging thoughts, thoughts that bring us together to solve our global and local problems. Instead of saying, "This won't work because..." we need to be saying, "how can we make this work?" And lets see how our threads fall. After all, it was love that got me my new office.
But when I thought back through the process of how I found my new space, I realized it was because of Gracie's love for Tim. You see, Tim came to Asheville to teach in the new massage program here at AB Tech, and the game plan was that he and Grace would sell their house and within a year she would move up here. And then there was the house market slump... so the house never sold. The year became a year and a half, and Tim realized how his absence was affecting the one he loves, and the choice I think was ultimately easy, not to mention inevitable. He chose to go back to live full time with Gracie and gave up his job here at AB Tech.
When Tim left (after giving a month's notice), Marek and I took over teaching Tim's classes to finish out the semester as our schedules allowed. However, due to this change I knew I needed to refer one of my regular clients to another massage therapist because I could no longer accommodate her schedule. When I called around, one therapist told me that she was in the process of moving to this great new place, which was actually a rather old building, and the rent was the best she had seen. I kept this in mind, and when I was ready to move, I checked it out, and the rest is herstory.
It's amazing to me how the threads of our lives intermingle. Tugging on one thread brings another downstage, front and center. We never know when our actions will have an effect on someone else, or what those effects will be. Some are easier to see than others, "if I left sooner/later I would not have been in this accident", "if I had not married I would not have my daughter". The others are more subtle and take thought to backtrack through. Look at the Iraq war. I can see back to the Russian/Afghanistan war, but it probably goes father than that. All this to say that I read a great quote earlier this morning. It's from the Male Herbal by James Green. He says, "We live what we think." So let's think good thoughts, great thoughts, hard and challenging thoughts, thoughts that bring us together to solve our global and local problems. Instead of saying, "This won't work because..." we need to be saying, "how can we make this work?" And lets see how our threads fall. After all, it was love that got me my new office.
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