Live Laugh Learn

I was in a fantastic workshop this weekend, learning advanced trigger point therapy techniques.  The techniques included massage therapy, ischemic compression, heat and range of motion/stretching.  It was a great course, and I learned so much!  It was also the perfect weekend to be in class, as it was a stormy one!  Gusting winds and driving rain - I was sooo happy to be inside!

The class focussed on releasing trigger points in the upper body, including the arms and hands.  I can’t believe how many muscles in the head and neck can give problems with headaches, vertigo, ringing in the ears, and even nausea! 

I also realized how important it is to release trigger points in tendons and scar tissue!

Pain and dysfunciton associated with trigger points is also know as myofascial pain syndrome (it goes by many other names as well), and it affects millions of people every day.  

I just sent an article out to my email list on the topic, and if you would like to know a little bit more about trigger points, I have posted it on my other blog at http://www.simplehealthideas.blogspot.com. 

I had better run - need to get to work and try out the new techniques! 

Just had a yummy lunch, so I had to drop a line and tell you all about it!  I picked up a beautiful big head of romaine lettuce yesterday, so I took two big leaves, spread some hummus on them, sprinkled some sprouted beans on (I bought them already sprouted at the grocery store - I know you can make your own, but I just haven’t gotten that adventurous yet!), put some cut up cherry tomatoes on, rolled them up lengthwise and voila!  A raw burrito! 

I have to tell you I was a little skeptical at first, after all, how can lettuce and sprouts taste delicious!  But you know what - it was delicious!  I think it must have been the sweetness of the tomato, mixed with the punch of the hummus, and the crunch of the lettuce and sprouts.  Whatever it was, I am having the same thing for lunch tomorrow!

Oh ya, I had a green smoothie this morning with apple, banana, strawberries and spinach.  Yum - I should have energy all day!

Confession time - I still haven’t given up my half cup of coffee in the morning - guess if that is my only vice I am not doing so bad!  (And the Friday night glass of wine )

ps - my knee is improving, although I am not back to running yet - needs a bit more rest!   

pps - if you would like more raw recipe ideas go to http://tinyurl.com/2ymleq

This is crazy, but I have had three weeks of relative rest, and my knee is still bad! 

I assumed that some time off would do the trick, and my knee was finally feeling pretty good last night and this morning, so I decided to go for a walk - that’s right, just a walk.  I loaded my boy into the stroller, and walked across the street to start heading up to a trail and boom - spikes of pain right in the knee.  I hadn’t even taken 20 steps, so here I sit once again with my knee up, feeling very frustrated and pudgy! 

Now I will be seeing my MD and a physio, and getting to the bottom of this.  Anyone out there who is a runner will know how difficult is has been for me not to run through this, but I have seen what happens when people ignore knee pain and keep damaging them, and it is not good!

So my message for today is this:

If you feel pain, listen to it, temporarily stop the activities which flare it up, and do the self care needed to elliviate it.  This will often get you back to pain free within a few days.  

If your problem persists, you need to seek professional help.

Do not ignore pain, it is the bodies way of talking to you and telling you something is wrong.

Just finished yet another run in the pouring rain - we have had a pretty wet summer in Nanaimo this year!  The hardest part of running in weather like this is getting out the door.  It always looks much worse than it actually is once you are out there.

Rain aside, I had a crummy run today, because I have been having some knee problems.  I have NEVER had knee problems before, but I have been experiencing pain behind my knee cap, mostly with lateral movements.  As a true health care professional, I decided to ignore the pain and run anyway (hee hee), and half way around the 6km lake trail, I realized that my knee had started to swell up!  OOPS!  

My run turned into a walk the rest of the way home, and now I sit with my leg up and an ice pack on it.  Please do not try to run through knee pain.  I am going to do RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) for the next two days, focus on some range of motion exercises, and see how things feel after that.

The good news is that I don’t have to run in the rain again tomorrow!  There is a bright side to everything! 

Just finished a great work week, but it was a little different than usual!  Normally my massage therapy clients chit chat through the treatment, but there was a lot less talking this week.  The reason was the music I was playing - I just picked up a couple of CD’s from Mark Romero. 

Mark Romero is the first guitarist in the world whose music has been proven to create increased wellness and higher levels of spirit and consciousness in the listener. Through Mark’s music people are discovering their own inner “songs of the soul” – music, tones and vibrations that Mark believes each one of us carries within our true self, our higher self. When these inner tones are activated by the music, the listener resonates at higher levels of consciousness and peak performance.

I have to tell you that I am always a bit of a sceptic, but there were times during treatments when I found myself feeling quite calm and tranquil, and I think my massage strokes were somehow smoother and more flowing than usual.  

I know my clients felt the same way, as they were much more “in the moment” during their treatments, and I could feel their bodies let go more quickly than usual.

It was pretty cool!  I can’t wait to play them again next week and experience the results.  He has a meditation CD also that I don’t have yet, think I’ll have it soon too!

If you would like to experience Mark’s gift for yourself, either contact me for an appointment  or check out the following link:

www.markromeromusic.com 

Wishing you peace and tranquility!

Denise 

My son and I were out playing in the front yard the other day, and he walked into the garage and grabbed the toboggan.  My first reaction was to tell him that it wasn’t winter, and please put the toboggan away.  He put up a bit of a fuss, as he really wanted to play with it.  I thought for a minute and then decided why not!  So we took the toboggan out onto the lawn, he hopped on, and I pulled him around on the lawn.  He had a fantastic time!  We went fast and slow, up and down the slope, and did doughnuts on the grass.  It was so great, and I can’t believe that I almost stopped him from playing with it!

Step outside the norm every once in awhile - just because the toboggan was made for snow doesn’t mean it can’t work on the lawn as well! 

I have started suffering the effects of computer overload!  My forearms and wrists have been a little achy lately, so I decided to practice what I preach and do a little self care, and you know what - it worked!  I used a tennis ball to massage my forearms (I put it on the table and rolled my forearms around on it) - there were some pretty good trigger points in there!  Then I used the elbow of my other arm to get a little deeper into the trigger points, and worked them out really well.  YEOW!  Did a little stretching, by flexing and extending at the wrist with my forearm straight, and finished off with a five minute ice massage to the entire area.  What a difference!  I am typing this post with fresh arms!

It always amazes me how long I will suffer before I actually stop and take a minute for some self massage, and it amazes me even more how quickly you can make a difference with just a little bit of self care! 

 The next time you are feeling sore and achy and you know it is from overuse, rub the area out yourself, stretch and mobilize it (move it through full range of motion), and do a quick ice to the area (5 to 10 minutes).  If you are going to ice it though, be sure to take an hour off before going back to the task which stressed it in the first place.  Icing leaves the area a little cooler for quite a while after, and you shouldn’t overwork cool muscle!  Good excuse to take a break and go for a walk!  (That’s what I did just before typing this post!  Now my dog is happy too!

Hi all, I have an exciting invitation for everyone! After hours and hours of work (and blog neglection), I have my website and newsletter working smoothly! I would love it if you signed up for my free e-zine, called Simple Health Ideas.  Every few weeks I will send out an article of all things healthy - like self massage techniques, diet and exercise tips, and other juicy health and wellness tidbits. I also have a special suprise for new subscribers, I have just finished a special report, 7 MUSCLE STRAIN MISTAKES WE MAKE DAILY, AND HOW TO AVOID THEM! It is a fun and informitave report on some of the things we all do every day, which are maybe not the best for our muscles!

Please visit my website at http://www.denisemackinnon.com, have a look around, and sign up for my free e-zine and special report!

I would also love to hear some feedback, as this is my first attempt at all things net-related, and I can’t wait to learn more and improve!

I did the coolest thing the other day - I had two massage therapy treatments, each one week apart!  This might not sound so amazing, but until now I have only been having one a month, and my chronic shoulder pain feels better for a few days, and then just comes right back.  I know the pain is from trigger points in my rotator cuff, due to overuse at work.  Of course the monthly treatments relieve the pain, but then I just go back to abusing that shoulder, and whammo! 

 So I finally took some of my own advice (that if you can’t give up your muscle straining habits, then you need to get treatment for them more often).  And guess what - it worked!  Not only does the shoulder feel way better than it ever has, but I also experienced an accumulative effect of therapy - I was still more relaxed from the first treatment, so during the second treatment my massage therapist didn’t have to spend half the time calming down my protective spasming around the rotator cuff, she just got right in there and went to work!

Please don’t think I am telling you that it is OK to abuse your bodies and then just go get treatment for it - because I am not.  It is much better to avoid repetitive injuries in the first place.  I am sharing this because if you are suffering from chronic pain, and only get therapy once in a while, I urge you to try a few treatments close together - you will be amazed at the difference.

If you can then follow up with some self care - regular exercise and stretching, and do try to limit those repetitive and straining activities, your body might just stop screaming at you!  

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. I have lived on Vancouver Island for 35 years now (that would be my whole life), and I can not remember a spring so cool and rainy - ever! I think we have had 3 days of “short and tank top” weather so far. But as a true Island girl, I showed my hubby and boy how to have fun in spite of the weather. We stayed in a cabin right on the beach in Qualicum Bay on the weekend, and despite the pooring rain, had a blast. We put on our rain jackets, pulled on our gumboots and ran around on the beach, we found crabs, picked sea shells and skipped rocks.

Sometimes it is hard to get motivated with the gray rainy days we get here, but a little water never hurt anyone, and you can’t get any more wet that soaked! The best part of getting cold and wet was going back into the cabin, making hot chocolate and snuggling up to watch CARS with my two year old! Yup, it was the perfect weekend!