The TRICK to TREAT Yourself Well

 Treat Yourself Well

Fall is in full swing with kids/grandkids back in school, sports schedules pack the evenings and weekends, and yard cleanup from summer gardening and raking leaves keeps us all so busy! This is the time of year when colds and flu bugs start ramping up, so it is important now more than ever to keep yourself well so you can enjoy the upcoming holiday season.  There is so much advice on what we could be doing to take care of ourselves, but it can be overwhelming to put it all together and find the time in your day to actually DO the recommended things! So many of us are caregivers and are in the habit of putting other's needs before our own. Remember the advice from the flight attendants to "Put on YOUR oxygen mask before assisting others" or you may have heard "You can't pour from and empty vessel." I'm on a mission to simplify things and help my clients (and myself...) learn to "Treat Yourself Well."  

I've come up with an easy activity to remember and perform that will feel good and help enliven key muscles in your neck, shoulders, upper back, and core to energize your mind, enhance your ideal alignment and posture, minimize pain, and keep your immune system boosted, and the best thing is that you don't need any extra equipment. Sound too good to be true? If you can remember 3 letters, you'll never forget this game-changing "trick" that I've already shared with a handful of clients. 

This "trick" is very practical and versatile, as it can be performed while sitting, standing, lying down, and walking.  This simple activity involves making 3 positions with your arms. If you want to "Treat Yourself Well" and can remember the first letters of each word in the phrase, T Y W, you will always remember this easy trick! 

T stands for Treat

Make a "T" shape with your arms stretched out to either side with your palms facing forward. Be sure to keep your shoulder-blades down and back, anchored to your ribcage. Take a full breath into your belly and as you exhale, engage your shoulder-blades down and back as you reach out through both of your middle fingers to feel the elongation/stretch through the front of your neck, chest, shoulders and arms. Hold this position for 3 full breaths, relaxing slightly as you inhale, and reaching as you exhale. Allow your body to move gently from side to side or any way it feels natural and easy to fully enjoy the benefits of this position. 

Y stands for Yourself

Move your arms into a "Y" shape, as if you are at a wedding and doing the "YMCA" dance move. Be sure to keep your shoulder-blades down and back again, just like during the T position, and position your hands so your thumbs face the back of your body. Take a full breath into your belly and as you exhale, engage your shoulder-blades down and back slightly more as you reach up and out through both of your middle fingers to feel the elongation/stretch through the arms, shoulders, armpits and ribcage. Hold this position for 3 full breaths, relaxing slightly as you inhale, and reaching as you exhale. Allow your body to move gently from side to side or any way it feels natural and easy to fully enjoy the benefits of this position. 

W is for Well

Move your arms into a "W" shape with elbows bent out at your sides, palms facing forward or with pinky fingers facing the back of your body. Take a full breath into your belly and as you exhale, allow your shoulder-blades to engage down and back on your ribcage and feel the elongation/stretch through the front of your shoulders, arms and chest as you reach your pinky fingers back. Hold this position for 3 full breaths, relaxing slightly as you inhale, reaching as you exhale. Allow your body to move gently from side to side or any way it feels natural and easy to fully enjoy the benefits of this position. 

So there you have it! It's as easy as TYW to Treat Yourself Well! When you "embody" these letters and perform these simple movements, you truly are participating in a form of self-care. This easy trick will help you fill your own cup so you can continue to pour out for others.  Let me know how this goes for you and what you notice in your body and in your life as you make this a daily practice. You deserve to take the time to TYW! 

Celebrating "Women's History Month" in a Unique Way

Mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters, family, friends, child-bearers, caretakers, cooks, educators, entrepreneurs,  and more...women are some of the greatest Superheroes we know!! It is amazing to see how far women have come and how they have shaped our world throughout "Her-story." It is great to have a whole month to celebrate all of the amazing women in our lives, especially those who brought us into the world! Of course, most great women have tons of support from great men in their lives (thanks fellas!), as it takes all of us to make the world go around! So, if you are reading this and you are a woman, or have women that you love in your life, please read on!! 

One of the greatest concerns that women face is caring for their bodies so they can continue to care for and nurture others. October is "Breast Cancer Awareness" month, but I like to refer to it as "Breast Health Awareness" month. We're ALL aware of the rates of all sorts of cancers, so instead, I like to switch the focus to "What can we do to prevent breast cancer or holistically treat it?" I'm bringing it back for National Women's Month as breast health is so important yet often goes overlooked until there seems to be a problem. A lot of people don't realize that movement is key in preventing and treating breast cancer. 

Breast tissue is imbedded with many lymphatic ducts and channels, which are part of our immune system and allow for waste removal. Gravity pulls us forward naturally, but the increased use of computers, cell phones, and other hand-held devices keeps us flexed forward even more, putting added stress on our neck and shoulders, and limiting the flow of the lymphatic fluid throughout our neck, chest, and armpits. That is NOT good, as this can lead to cystic and cancerous tissues to form. 

For the rest of March, I'm offering a "Breast Wellness Check" as part of each treatment session to assess mobility and tissue health for the muscles of the neck, shoulders, chest and armpits. It's amazing how easy it is to locate compromised tissue areas with some simple movements, and these specific movements can really help to keep tissues healthy and fluids flowing naturally to boost your wellness. Instead of only having your monthly breast self-exam to do, you'll leave your session with some customized and super easy movement exercises to add into your daily routine to help keep you healthy!! 

Call, text (414-405-3956), or email (1212bodyworks@gmail.com) today to schedule your "Breast Wellness Check" appointment. I'm happy to help keep women as healthy and happy as I possibly can so that they can continue their work as Superheroes and continue to shape "Her-story" for YEARS to come!!

Keep Moving Well! 

8 Key Elements to a Well Balanced Life: "C" is for...

To live a well-balanced life, it is important for all of the cells throughout our body receive efficient oxygen, hormones and nutrients to successfully carry out our daily activities, properly digest food, eliminate toxins, and maintain homeostasis. Since October is Breast Health Awareness Month, it is fitting to highlight the importance of circulation throughout our breast tissue and also throughout our body. Breast Cancer CAN affect both males and females, so it is equally important for both sexes to stay proactive, maximize your circulatory health, and reduce your risk of disease. 

The Circulatory System is divided into 2 separate systems, the Cardiovascular System which distributes blood, and the Lymphatic System which distributes lymph. According to Wikipedia, "Blood is a fluid consisting of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets that is circulated by the heart through the vertebrate vascular system, carrying oxygen and nutrients to and waste materials away from all body tissues. Lymph is essentially recycled excess blood plasma after it has been filtered from the interstitial fluid (between cells) and returned to the lymphatic system. The cardiovascular (from Latin words meaning "heart" and "vessel") system comprises the blood, heart, and blood vessels.^[3] The lymph, lymph nodes, and lymph vessels form the lymphatic system, which returns filtered blood plasma from the interstitial fluid (between cells) as lymph."

As our culture has gotten more sedentary, the incidence of many diseases has increased. Our homes and workplaces have become very convenient in terms of how we have things placed around us for easy access and long durations of reduced mobility. Our upper body, including our head, neck, shoulders, elbows, hands and ribcage can function within a limited range of motion directly in front of our body throughout an entire day unless we make an effort to extend these limits with intentional mobility activities. Our body has a "use it or lose it" mentality, and when our end ranges of motion are not frequently challenged and practiced each day, we get tight, stiff, and sore, and our fluid systems of the body become stagnant. I've quoted it before and I'll quote it again: "Sitting is the new smoking." This position can wreak havoc on the circulatory system especially throughout the legs and lower body. The hips are compressed as they support the weight of the trunk and upper body, which challenges the ability of the circulatory system to flow efficiently. When the legs hang down, the blood vessels have to work against gravity to return the flow of blood and lymph back up to the center of our body which can lead to swelling, numbness and tingling, and leg muscle weakness. 

Luckily, there is a solution to maximizing your circulation every day. MOVEMENT!! Movement of the body is the most efficient way for our Cardiovascular and Lymph systems to circulate blood and lymph. Our muscle contractions serve as a pump around our blood and lymph vessels to help keep the fluids traveling where they need to go for proper function of the organs and cells. Daily movement practices such as walking and exercise can improve and maintain your circulatory health. Be sure to move your body through as much of your maximal range of motion throughout your head, neck, arms, torso, spine, pelvis, hips and legs to maximize your circulation. 

It doesn't have to take long to move as many different ways as you can to mobilize your blood and lymph fluids. Here are my favorite 12 whole body movement activities for you to try. (# 1-6 are especially helpful for healthy breast and chest tissue)  I recommend 5-10 repetitions of the following movements: 

1. Look up, down, side to side, and turn your head and neck each way. 

2. Reach your arms all the way up, reach out to the sides, and behind your back. 

3. Spread your hands and fingers then squeeze them into fists. 

4. Draw circles with your arms at your shoulder joints, forward, backward, make figure 8's across your chest. 

5. Turn your torso each way and bend it sideways. 

6. Flex your spine all the way forward then extend all the way back. 

7. Move your hips in circles, forward, back and sideways. 

8. Rotate your hips in and out. 

9. Bend and extend your knees. 

10. Point and flex your feet and ankles.

11. Draw circles with your ankle, foot and toes.  

12. Spread and squeeze your toes. 

See, that didn't take so long. Imagine if you committed to doing this at least once per day. How do you think it would make you feel? 

The Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) system utilizes whole body movement activities to determine the location of potential muscular weakness. Each time you receive an MAT treatment, you maximize the circulation throughout all of your muscles as you move through full range of motion of all of your joints. One of my clients recently commented that she loves coming for treatments because she feels warm and tingly all over as circulation flows to more areas of her body than she notices during her daily activities and exercises. I told her that MAT is like a "Fluid Flush" as well as a "Re-Boot" for the whole body. By maximizing neurological communication signals throughout the muscular system, we improve muscle contractile efficiency and the ability to pump fluids to optimize circulation. Muscle Activation Techniques is an important part of a pro-active health plan to keep us moving and grooving from head to toe. 

Looking forward to seeing you for your next "Fluid Flush and Re-Boot!" 

Keep Moving Well!