To My Clients: I Like You Just the Way You Are!

My heart absolutely breaks to hear that someone skips their Therapeutic Massage because of embarrassment. Or that they have deprived themselves of the wonderful experience of bodywork because they're so unhappy with their own body. Whether it's due to weight issues, scarring, bruising, thinking they are unattractive or even undeserving, it all just breaks my heart.

We are all special individuals, beautiful in our own way. We are lucky enough to experience these amazing bodies - that have been created with such precision and according to a very real plan.

I was reminded today that my clients might not know how I feel about this subject. I want you all to know: I have flaws too. And I'm trying to reach goals just like all of you are, and some of them are incredibly challenging. You're not alone. And when you come into my treatment room, I am working on YOU. Not a size 6 or a 26, an athlete or not - I'm working on YOU, and all of the parts of you that make you an individual. And I enjoy every moment of it!

I've found a couple of articles that might interest you! Please feel free to pass them on to anyone else who might enjoy them.

In peace,
Amanda
Stop Judging Your Beautiful Self
and Body Image: Learning to Love Who We Are

Tips to Prevent Cancer

Shaklee Health Sciences e-Bulletin March 2009
Ten Tips to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer
In 2008, an estimated 1.5 million people in the United States were diagnosed with cancer, including over 700,000 new cases in men and nearly the same number of new cases in women. There were also over 650,000 cancer deaths last year, which ranks cancer second only to heart disease as a leading cause of death Cancer is caused by changes in genes that control the growth and death of cells. The disease develops when cells continue to grow and divide instead of dying off when they get older as they would normally do. As cancer cells multiply, they can damage nearby tissues and can also spread to other parts of the body and develop into new tumors. While improvements in detection, diagnosis, and treatment have increased the survival rate for many types of cancer, we also encourage doing all you can do to prevent the disease as a core strategy of your prescription for optimal health.

With prevention in mind, here are 10 things we can all do to reduce the risk of developing cancer:
1. Avoid tobacco products and second-hand smoke
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States for both men and women. Ironically, it’s also the most preventable type of cancer. Some 87-percent of lung cancer deaths are attributable to exposure to tobacco smoke including roughly 3,000 deaths each year in non-smokers due to second-hand smoke. Of the 45 million Americans who still smoke in 2007, 30-percent of male and 21-percent of female high school students reported using some form of tobacco in the prior month. If you smoke, take the necessary steps to quit for the health of you and your loved ones.

2. Achieve and maintain a healthy weight
Being overweight increases your chance of developing certain types of cancer, including cancer of the esophagus, colon and rectum, and pancreas. Obesity also increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women by roughly 50-percent, and endometrial cancer by about three fold. And carrying too much extra body weight is believed to account for up to 30-percent of kidney cancers in both men and women. Make smart food choices, control portion sizes, and fill up on fruits and vegetables to help manage your healthy weight and reduce your risk of cancer.

3. Get moving
The American Cancer Society recommends regular exercise as a way to prevent cancer. Regular exercise burns calories and can help you reach and maintain a healthy weight. Pick something that gets and keeps you moving like walking, hiking, cycling, swimming, team sports, and even dancing. Consider biking or walking to work, or take a walk during your lunch break. Be sure to gradually work up to 30-45 minutes of exercise a day for five or more days per week.

4. Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
Fruits and vegetables are naturally rich in dietary antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, and a whole family of carotenoids that may help to protect your healthy genes from oxidative damage. Recent research suggests that eating tomatoes may help to protect against developing prostate cancer, while eating cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts may help to protect against bladder cancer. Fruits and vegetables are also rich in fiber which can speed the transit of food through the digestive system and may reduce the absorption of cancer-causing chemicals. So eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables may be the best way to ensure broad spectrum protection.

5. Fresh is best
Until about 20 years ago, stomach cancer was the most common cancer worldwide, perhaps due to cultural preferences for eating large amounts of salt-preserved foods such as cured meats and pickled vegetables. This finding underscores the point that when it comes to eating most foods, it’s generally best to eat fresh rather than salted, cured, or pickled. In general, the less processed the food, the healthier it will be for you.

6. Limit alcohol intake
Excess alcohol consumption is associated with increased risks of cancers of the oral cavity, throat, voice box, esophagus, liver, breast, and possibly the colon and rectum. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in women, and aside from carrying too much body weight, alcohol intake is the only other established risk factor for this disease. It’s recommended that men who drink alcohol should limit their intake to no more than 2 drinks per day, while women should limit their intake to no more than 1 drink daily.

7. Practice sun safety and check for changes in your skin
Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is damaging to your skin. The genetic damage it can cause to skin cells can lead to skin cancer, a disease that is increasingly common, especially among young people. Be aware that the sun’s peak time is between 10 am and 3 pm and that sunlight exposure can be intensified by up to 50-percent when reflected from sand, water, snow, ice, and concrete. When outdoors, cover up exposed areas and wear sun screen with an SPF of 15 or more. Know your skin and be aware of the location, size, and shape of moles and skin spots, and report any
changes promptly to your physician.

8. Reduce your exposure to potential carcinogens
There are many substances in the environment with the potential to put you at higher risk for developing cancer. On the job, minimize your exposure to fumes, dust, solvents, and chemicals. Try to reduce your everyday exposure to potentially-toxic environmental chemicals in the home and…
• Dust and vacuum regularly to rid your home of toxins attracted to dust
• Open windows and use fresh air to freshen and minimize indoor pollution
• Filter your drinking water to remove pollutants
• Switch to green cleaning products that are safe but still powerful

9. Know your family history and get screened
Some 5-10-percent of cancers are due to a genetic predisposition to cancer. Family history is a risk factor for common types of cancer including breast, ovarian, colon, and prostate cancer. If you have a family history of cancer your physician may recommend genetic testing to see if you have the type of gene that can increase your chance of developing cancer. For individuals with an average risk of cancer, the following cancer screening guidelines are recommended:
• Breast cancer: Women should begin yearly mammograms at age 40 and conduct regular breast self exams starting in the 20’s.
• Colon and rectal cancer: Men and women should have one or more screening tests including a colonoscopy starting at age 50.
• Cervical cancer: All women should begin cervical cancer screening no later than 21 years of age.
• Prostate cancer: Men should have the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and digital rectal examination annually beginning at age 50.

10. Choose your dietary supplements wisely
Whether it’s vitamin D, folic acid, calcium, the antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, and the carotenoids, fiber, or emerging phytochemicals, nutrition surveys have made it clear that your diet is unlikely to be providing all the essential nutrients and other dietary factors you need to be at your healthiest. And dietary supplement studies have yielded compelling evidence that supplements can help to reduce the chance of developing cancer in undernourished individuals.
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington published a study in Nutrition and Cancer1 that evaluated the association between dietary and supplemental zinc and prostate cancer in 35,242 men participating in the VITAL cohort, a study specifically designed to evaluate the impact of dietary supplements on cancer risk. In this study, long-term supplemental zinc intake was in fact associated with reduced risk of clinically relevant advanced disease.

And as reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine2, National Cancer Institute researchers found that among postmenopausal women, the greater their total calcium intake from dietary supplements and food up to about 1,300 mg per day, the lower was their risk of developing cancer. For men and women, a diet rich in calcium from supplements and food was associated with a lower risk of developing cancers of the digestive system such as colon cancer. These findings are consistent with randomized clinical trials which have shown that calcium supplementation reduces the recurrence of colon polyps, which are precursors to colon cancer
Clearly, dietary supplements play a key role in making up the nutrient shortfalls in your diet, and they provide a means of achieving optimal nutrient levels needed to achieve and maintain the best of health.

1Zinc intake from supplements and diet and prostate cancer. Gonzalez A, Peters U, Lampe JW, White E. Nutr Cancer.
2009;61(2):206-15
2Dairy food, calcium, and risk of cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Park Y, Leitzmann MF, Subar AF,
Hollenbeck A, Schatzkin A. Arch Intern Med. 2009169(4):391-401

Enough of the stress! It's time for a treat!

Don't you think? I mean, really. So many of us are hanging on by threads. We need to relax, we need a chance to relax.

Just for you, I've come up with a package that will help you slip right into a couple of hours of bliss! Schedule your appointment online!


Through Independence Day, 2009, I am offering:


Summer Stress Relief $99

• Mini Hydrotherapy Reflexology Treatment (35 minutes)
  
• Full Body Therapeutic Massage (50 minutes)
  
• Mini Facial (Mineral Facial or Lifting) (35 minutes)

The details: Services must be scheduled together - no separate appointments. Must be scheduled before July 4, 2009. No gift certificates.

Headaches? I don't want no stinkin' headaches!

None of us likes headaches. Some of us never have them - but for most of us (95% of women and 90% of men), we have had them and don't ever want to again!

Is there hope? Yes. A cure? Maybe. Information? Definitely. And that information leads us to a place where we just might be able to prevent them.

Holding headaches at bay can seem completely out of reach - but I'd like to show you how I can help you.

Help through bodywork: A specific combination of centuries-old treatments helps to realign the body, easing it back into its natural rhythm and flow. Your muscles become soft and supple, your joints are now loose and relaxed and before you know it, your head stops pounding, your vision is more clear and that sensitivity to light and sound - it's diminished.

Journaling and Awareness: During this process, it's important to know what is happening to your body both physically and emotionally. Knowing that you are separate from what is happening to you is a profound truth that allows you to distance yourself from pain and misery and become close to yourself. As a society, we have learned over the years that writing is a significant part of healing, so I am here to help you on that journey.

Nutrition: You may not be aware that some foods increase your circulation, or that a lot of the yummy cheeses contain tyramine, which can be a headache trigger for a lot of people. This is why I'm here to go step-by-step with you, weeding through the overwhelming piles of information (and misinformation).

I want to help you get to a place where headaches aren't on your mind so much. Whether you deal with stress, tension, migraines, allergies, neck and shoulder pain - let me help you beat that pain in your neck (or head, or eyes, or cheeks...). Call me today to get started! 251.375.6855.

Wii Fit was Right!

Wii Fit is right. Hula Hooping is not only terrific exercise, but it's addictive as well; which, of course, leads to more exercise. (Sorry, but I couldn't resist this picture of the female storm trooper hooping her way in shape!)

Apparently, hooping can burn up to 600 calories per hour and is enjoyed by celebrities such as Beyonce and Marisa Tomei.

When you use a weighted hoop, you receive more benefits than just a cardio boost - you also receive quite a bit of muscle strengthening and core toning. Most importantly, you have fun.

So, whether you have Wii Fit or not, spring for the weighted hoop, and I'll bet you'll be a little more excited about your work out!

Women: Want to Lower Your Risk of High Blood Pressure?

I know I do! Whether you already have high blood pressure, or are at risk, you need to know the facts about blood pressure. By the way, did you know that May is Blood Pressure Awareness Month? The American Heart Association has many tools for helping you access your risk, learn as much as possible and get healthy now! Please take advantage of that resource!

In addition, I've just completed some studies about Folic Acid and its relation to lowering high blood pressure in women. According to what I've found:


Folic acid is a member of the water-soluble B vitamin group. Isolated in 1946 from spinach leaves, its name comes from folium, the Latin word for leaf. In the body, folic acid is converted to a more biologically active form. Folic acid occurs in a wide variety of foods. Best sources include dark green leafy vegetables, brewer's yeast, liver, and eggs. Other good sources are beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, orange juice, cabbage, cauliflower, cantaloupe, kidney and lima beans, wheat germ, and whole grain cereals and breads. The body's "friendly" intestinal bacteria also produce folic acid.

Folic acid can also lower homocysteine levels, even when the levels are increased by lipid lowering medications.¹ Because homocysteine is an amino acid that is a significant risk factor for Atheroslerosis, folic acid may prevent the development and progression of the disease. The same effect has been noted when folic acid is given in conjunction with vitamin B6.

In this recent study, data was collected from women from two prospective cohort studies. The first cohort study was from the Nurses' Health Study II and involved women aged 27 to 44 years of age. The second was the Nurses' Health Study II and involved women aged 43 to70 years. Data was collected regarding their folic acid intake from both food sources and supplements, and all women were free from high blood pressure at the beginning of these studies. The results showed that the younger women who consumed 1000 mg daily or more had a decreased risk of high blood pressure when compare to those who had 200 mg daily or less. The same results were shown for the older women, although the stronger in the younger women. The authors concluded that, "Higher total folate intake was associated with a decreased risk of incident hypertension [high blood pressure], particularly in younger women."

Support Your Local Farmers!

I hope that you're supporting our local farmers. I hope that you're concerned about the food that you put in your marvelous body, and that you might even be consuming some home-grown fruits and veggies of your own.

Why? Why do I hope this for you? Because I want you to be healthy and strong, and I want our children to grow up knowing how important good food is and learning the satisfaction that comes from gardening and consuming their own foods. We're experiencing this right now, with my father's garden.

This week we've been enjoying his squash and cucumbers and to say that they taste so much better than any others we've had is a tremendous understatement. It got me thinking about all of the produce I've bought in grocery stores when I should have sought out local farmers. So I did a little research, and I came across this article about why local food is so important and this wonderful site that locates local farmers in the U.S.

So do a little research of your own. Support your local farmers, eat better and pass on the tradition! Your children and grand children will thank you.

In health,
Amanda

Are You Getting Your Zzz's?

I was told by one of my clients today that she loved what she remembers of her session. You see, she fell sound asleep on the table - so deeply that I had to wake her to turn over, and then again at the end of the session. I have to wonder - was the massage that fantastic, or is she sleep deprived?
We all have so many stresses in our lives these days, it seems to me that sleeplessness has become much of the "norm". We are accepting and settling for inadequate rest and putting much more importance on other things than on our own health. Even now, I am writing this piece instead of climbing into my own warm, soft bed (but I assure you I'll be there in a moment or two).

I'm linking you to a wonderful article called "The Sleep Crisis" by Barry Kapke, A.C.S.T. Read through it and learn why you must put sleep at the top of your Health To-Do List. Learn about our Sleep Need and Sleep Debt, how to manage your sleep time wisely, and find out what sleep really is. You'll be surprised to know that sleep is not a want. Sleep is not something that comes in bits and pieces, and sleep is not a privilege. Sleep is a NEED. So get plenty of it! You'll be amazed at how much better you feel, and then you just might be able to experience how wonderful the massages really are!

G'night!
Amanda

Healthy Feet are Happy Feet

A large percentage of my clientele complains of sore, tired feet. And several people in that percentage complain of Plantar Fasciitis. I think that everyone will agree that if your feet and ankles are hurting, the rest of you does, too.

Yet, day by day, we walk in trendy shoes with little to no support, and we stand on hard, concrete floors with little to no cushion. For some reason, we are surprised when our feet ache at the end of the day!


I encourage routine care of your feet - making sure your shoes fit properly and are in good condition. Do they wear too much on one side? In addition, pamper your feet and ankles! A Reflexology Session not only feels good but balances your body inside and out. This treatment has been used for many years in many cultures. At MyWellnessPartner, I offer a Hydrotherapy Reflexology session that incorporates a warm jet bath for your feet with essential oils and soothing mineral salts. Partnered with the most thorough foot treatment you've ever received, you'll be walking on air afterward!

This article by Shelley Sheets gives you more great ideas for keeping healthy, happy feet. Let me know if I can help you!

Products I love for the feet:
Save Your Sole® Sea Sand Foot & Leg Scrub
Most amazing moisturizer for feet and legs!

Does your sleeping position affect your body?

You bet it does! And although I remember my Therapeutic Massage instructor telling us that we should sleep in anatomical position, eleven years later I still wake flat on my stomach every morning.

I try to sleep on my side with a big, thick pillow between my knees, and when I'm on my back, in anatomical position, I sleep with that monster pillow under my knees. Both of these positions are so comfortable - why I can't stay there is beyond me! I encourage every client to sleep in those two positions, and admit that it's a nightly exercise for me to try to stay that way throughout my slumber.

I've tried barricading myself with pillows, to no avail. I must admit that my thoughts have turned to hypnosis, though I haven't followed through with it! Well, today I found what might be an answer - in this month's Body+Soul Magazine, I stumbled across an article entitled Sleep On It by Kate Hanley. The article is in June's addition, so it probably won't be online until next month. (Visit the website, though - you can sign up for a free issue and try the magazine out.)

Sleep On It tells you step by step how to make up for sleeping in these poor postures all night! Kate talks about the importance of stretches when we wake, and specific movements depending on your sleep position, with pictures and directions! I am very encouraged by this article, will be momentarily trying my new 'moves' that Kate suggests for my "On Stomach" sleeping position!

I hope that you will find the article useful. And I'll let you know how my body responds.

To peaceful sleep!
Amanda

Not wanting dementia, not wanting Alzheimer's...

I've taken care of several clients with dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. I really don't want anyone else in the world to be affected by these diseases. So I'm learning everything I can about them.

Stress is a major factor. And boy, do we live in a world that is full of stress. It doesn't help that we make life harder than it has to be sometimes. My daughter, an intelligent, precious 6 year old has begun making things harder than they need to be. I realized tonight that I have the opportunity to shape her future by helping her stop this pattern now. So we begin learning about stress relief, stress reduction and wouldn't you know it? She's now lying in the middle of the living room floor meditating. We all just need to take a deep breath now and again, and put things into perspective. Faith comes into play here - knowing when to turn things over and let go.

Nutrition is also incredibly, incredibly important. Granted, this is coming from a 31-year old who could certainly have a better diet. But as I'm writing this, I have a wonderful, Mediterranean-inspired meal simmering in the kitchen. So I'm doing better. Nutrition is immensely important, and unfortunately our foods don't have the nutrients they once had. Crops can't be rotated, fertilizers and hormones rage through just about everything we purchase. It seems the best way to get nutritious veggies is to grow them ourselves! Not a bad idea - as my father has already found out, gardening can also be a great stress reliever.

What is our food lacking? Omegas. All of them. Why are they important? Did you know that how the omegas are processed is as important as the omegas themselves? Fatty acids aren't just good for your heart, they are also essential for brain development, reducing asthma symptoms, depression, hot flashes and guess what else? Cognitive function!

In addition to the omegas, B vitamins are essential to cognitive function and battling depression. We can't forget about these vitamins, and I'm so happy to carry what I consider to be the best complex of B vitamins on the market.

So this is all information that I knew. And I've been taking my Bs and my Omegas. Today, while I was learning more, I stumbled across this article that terrified me. Why did it scare me? Because I am heavier than I've ever been. And fighting sugar and weight gain is hard. But you better believe that I'm fighting as hard as possible right now. I do not want to end up losing precious moments, and even years with my family and friends because of belly weight. I'm taking one big step right now. And if you'd like to join me, I'd love the company. We have to do this not only for our children, our grandchildren, friends and loved ones, but also for ourselves!

In peace, health and most of all faith,
Amanda