Uncategorized

What do you do with your clothes when you take them off to get bodywork? The answer may say a lot about your personality. Or it might not. We’re massage therapists, not psychologists. But that doesn’t stop us from guessing.

The Tidy Cat
You are an organized mind. You are likely one of those people who can’t sleep knowing there are dishes in the sink. Recognize that it may be easier for you to relax when everything is in it’s place, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You would probably make a fantastic (if not a bit pushy) roommate.

The Orderly Shadow
You’re neat and orderly, but also shy about your place in the world. You don’t want to make a mess or take up too much space. You would probably prefer if most people around you didn’t realize you were here, so you can quietly fade into the shadows. There’s nothing wrong with thriving in the background, but remember that you’re entitled to as much space  as anyone else, and sometimes a bit of a mess can be therapeutic (you can clean it up later, don’t worry).

The Raptured
I don’t know exactly what to say about this one. It’s rare, and the people who do it seem to have little in common with each other. Perhaps we need a real psychologist’s opinion here. Until then, my guess is that if you do this, you like to pretend that your clothes are people.

The Body Shy
You leave on all your clothes for whatever reason. That’s fine. Do what makes you comfortable. But remember, you’ll probably get a better massage the more we can reach, so if your reason for keeping covered is that you think you’re too fat/sweaty/wrinkley/pimpley/hairy/moley/bony/whatever, believe me, you’re not. No one is too any of those things to enjoy a massage. Really. We’ve seen everything, and it’s normal. You would be weird if you were flawless.

The Hot Mess
You’re a free spirit, confident in your place in the world. You’re probably a lot of fun at parties, but a lot less fun to live with. Remember, there’s no shame in calling a housekeeper. 

*All statements have been made up by a bored massage therapist who knows very little about psychology and should not be listened to for any reason beyond being similarly bored. 

Several months ago I wrote a blog post titled On Being Present: Struggles of a Frantic Girl. Since then, as promised, I’ve continued to walk to work, which takes me about thirty minutes. However, during the coldest winter weather, I didn’t walk as much as I’d hoped. But this isn’t a story of failure or of struggle. No, my friends, mine is now a story of a journey. 

Since October I’ve been on a journey to get healthy in my mind and in my body. Walking to work allowed me time and space to clear my mind and get my body moving, but when the weather got in the way, I found that I was really missing my daily commute. I realized that it had become meditative for me. In lieu of the walks, I started meditating almost daily. When you’ve got a mind as busy as mine, meditation is no easy task. I’d always heard that meditating meant that you sit down, be quiet, and remove all of the thoughts from your mind. For me, an impossible task! My mind is bustling with constant thought and chatter, many conversations happening all at the same time. Even quieting one layer of thought in my mind proves quite the challenge. One day, I had an epiphany. I was listening to a podcast, I cant remember which one, and the host said something like “Meditation isn’t about erasing all of your thoughts, it’s about narrowing your focus onto one thing. One thought. A mantra. A candle flame. Your breath. Whatever works for you, put all of your attention on that thing until it’s the only thing you see, hear, or feel.” 

Whoa. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that my life was changed by that brief suggestion. Since then I’ve tried different ways of meditating and I’ve found success with most of them. My favorite way to meditate is so fun that I almost think it’s cheating: Guided meditation~ Guided meditation, if you don’t already know, is when you take a little daydreaming trip through your mind’s eye. The meditation can be either guided by another person or recording, or self-guided. 

Luckily! We’ve teamed up with Brandon of Ethereal Daydream. This coming Monday, April 11, 2016 at 6pm, Brandon is offering a meditation in our office. Please come! Donations benefiting Seven Generations Community will be accepted. Seven Generations, if you haven’t heard, is a community focused on sustainability and bettering our local community. You might remember way back in July when we teamed up with them for a downtown trash walk. 

To reserve your spot at the meditation, please RSVP via Facebook here. We’ll see you Monday!

-Charley Caudill, LMT

Last month, my husband and I decided we wanted to see the Grand Canyon. This was a little bit fueled by the fact that two of the characters in my favorite tv show took a similar trip and it reminded me that it is in fact possible to get to the west side of the country by car. 

Last week, we packed up my Yaris and left. We saw a lot of cool stuff along the highway, a lot of western landscape (so flat!) and, of course, the Grand Canyon. The canyon was honestly dizzying to look at; my brain couldn’t understand that sort of distance. 

There was a lot to see along the way, including the worlds largest rocking chair and a plaza that had fudge, candy, burlesque shows, and a dinosaur. The highway is an odd place for sure. In Texas I saw my first tumbleweed, which was extremely exciting, and in Sedona they keep their lights low enough at night that you can see the stars. 

If you want to make this fun journey yourself sometime, I have a few tips that helped us get through being in the car for pretty much 5 days straight. 

-We brought a bag of apples, a couple packs of cans of V8, a bag of carrots, a bunch of bananas, a container of peanutbutter and a 2.5 gallon container of water. I’m telling you, nothing tastes better than some V8 when you’ve been eating fast food all day. Sweet nutrients. 

-We brought a ton of music and podcasts. It takes about 26 hours each way to get to the canyon and back. Stock your mp3 player accordingly.

-We drove through as much of Oklahoma in the dark as we could so we wouldn’t have to look at it. (Kidding! Sort of…)

By the end of our trip back, we had both sort of forgotten what it was like to not be in a car. If we went west again, which we fully plan to, we would definitely plan to spend about 2 weeks on our trip so we could chill out and spend time in different cities. But people voice regrets all the time about how they didn’t see enough of the world before their job got hectic, they had kids, what have you, so we figured now was better than never.

Do you ever have those days where you feel like all you do is run, run, run and still feel like you’re behind? Maybe you skip lunch one day or only get a few hours of sleep another day. Or maybe you don’t realize that you were so caught up until the end of the day when you finally lie down and take a deep breath? These are all, unfortunately, very common habits of modern day, fast living Americans. I fully believe that our fast- paced society is leading us astray from personal wellness and respect, which in turn affects everyone’s human experience in this life. 

With extreme stress inevitably comes “burnout.” Burnout is the last phase of months or even years of using your reserve fuel and never taking the time to refill. With burnout comes exhaustion, both mentally and physically, and often leaves you sick and with no choice but to rest.

Not only does stress leave an impact on our wellbeing, but changes in the seasons can have a noticeable impact on our bodies and moods. According to Ayurvedic medicine, we are now in the time of Navaratri. Ayurveda follows closely with the cycles and rhythms of nature and especially the moon. Navaratri occurs twice a year in the “gap” seasons. Winter into Spring and Summer into Fall. They are both times of the year where it is very easy to get wrapped up in an accelerated pace and to let our self care fall by the wayside. During this Navaratri with the cooler temperatures blowing in, it is of the utmost importance that we take the time to fully appreciate and nourish our bodies with quality rest and whole, healing foods. 

It is entirely too common for stressed individuals to ignore our bodies signals until it is too late and we fall ill. Here is my compiled list of self care habits:

1. Get some sleep!

It is the basis for a healthy lifestyle- It will literally improve your body and brain function.

2. Nourish.

No more quick stops at McDonalds/ Taco Bell, etc. If we expect our bodies to keep up with our busy lifestyle, we need to give it adequate energy.

3. Get your massage/acupuncture/therapy.

So many times I, personally, have rescheduled my self care so that I may help others. Make time for yourself and stick to it! No one else is going to do it for you!

4. Breathe.

Remember, in times of stress, it’s very likely that you are holding your breath which is depriving your body and creating more of a problem. Take those deep breaths and feel your mind and body slowly come back to a level playing field. 

5. Do the things that bring your soul joy.

Just as important as work is to your life, so is play. When you give your spirit the time to restore, it will keep you healthy and enlivened. To be stuck in the same routine of comfort is to disengage. We must keep learning and discovering and experiencing to fully nourish our mind and spirit. Take some time to go for a walk or to plant your bare feet in the grass. Watch the leaves fall and admire the ebbs and flows our lives take us through.

Every season can teach us something about ourselves and the cycles of life. I believe that the fall is a time for us to fully appreciate our vitality and our mortality. We are only given one body in this life and we must treat it with the respect and love that it deserves. 

-Arielle Ferrell, LMT

Image source: Where Easy Living Begins