​Did you know I offer massage with CBD oil? Do you know the benefits of getting a massage with CBD oil? Do you even know what CBD is? I would like to offer some information to you on this newer hot topic so you can have an educated experience if you choose to use CBD.

So, what is CBD? This is a natural compound found in the flower of the cannibis plant. What??? No, cannibis does not mean marijuana, though marijuana is a type of cannibis plant. This natural compound is generally found to be safe and nonaddictive, whooo! For something to be considered CBD, it must not have more than 0.3% THC (that’s the psychoactive compound found in cannibis (like marijuana).

Now, a little about your body. You have internal regulatory systems active in your body maintaining you in your best health. One of these systems is the endocannabinoid system, which is often called the “master regulator”. Your body has receptors all over it to receive signals from (endo)cannibanoids produced in your body, by your body, that help keep you in homeostatsis- basically in top form! These endocannibanoids are very similar to the same cannibanoids that come from the cannabis plants (like CBD and THC). So, if your endocannabinoid system controls how you feel pain, stress, hunger, sleep, mood, metabolism plus a whole lot more, imagine the impact if you supplement it with exo-cannibanoids.
So what are the benefits? There is hype that CBD can cure all that ails you. And well, if this were proven true, it would be everywhere, but it isn’t proven. There is however, anecdotal evidence that CBD can benefit you. Some of these areas of benefit are in pain reduction and reducing inflammation, reducing or eliminating seizures, treating anxiety, reducing muscle spasm. And in June 2018, the FDA approved a pharmaceutical CBD for the first time- an epilepsy medication named Epidiolex.

Can I get high from CBD? Well, not so much high, but depending on the type of CBD you are using, some CBD will contain trace amounts of THC (but remember, it has to have less that 0.3% THC to be labeled as CBD. This trace amount of THC could come up on a drug test. CBD isolate contains only CBD, no other cannabinoids, especially not THC. Broad Spectum CBD does not contain THC, but does have other products from the compound it was derived from. Full Spectrum CBD contains all of the cannabinoids, including THC.

The products I utilize in my practice are sourced in the US, from Colorado, and are derived from Hemp. They are CBD isolate, so only CBD, no other cannabinoids and definitely no THC. Topical CBD should not enter your blood stream, so it will not affect the CB1 receptors in the brain, but the body is covered with CB receptors, so there should be some amount of absorption and some affect on the pain.
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This note was drafted with information gained from “massage and bodywork” magazine, September/October 2019 issue. CBD and Massage, pp 46-56.
This magazine is available for you to view at my office at Five Dances Wellness Center, 13 W Potomac St, Brunswick, MD 21716

It sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? You rarely hear the words ‘mood boosting’ and ‘sofa’ together, but after a long hard day, too many of us collapse onto our sofas, exhausted or in a bad mood from whatever stresses our busy day has handed us.
If you’re like me, once you’re down, the chances of you getting up are slim. So let’s take a look at some easy and quick things we can do to revive ourselves.

1. Put on some upbeat music. Nothing lifts a bad mood as fast as hearing Pharrell’s ‘Happy” blasting through your speakers. Whatever kind of music that lifts you up will do!
2. Get in touch with your inner flexible child and try out some couch friendly yoga like a good arm stretch. Moving your body is proven to improve your mood.
3. Laugh and smile. It sounds cliché, but a good chuckle can really lift your spirits. Find your funny bone and expose it to as many YouTube videos about cats, babies, cats and babies, babies with cats and dogs and anything else that will leave you clutching your sides and gasping for air. Try this one: Baby Gives the Evil Eye
4. Let it out. Sometimes it’s as simple as recapping your frustrations to a loved one. Talk it out and then, let it go! Or, write it down in your private diary.  Once it's out there, you don't have to hold onto it anymore. (And you can look back at what used to drag you down and see how insignificant it is now.)
   
5. Open up your curtains and windows, let the sun in and count your blessings. Often we are focused on the negatives in our lives. Retrain your mind to look for the positives and contemplate about all the things in your life that you are blessed with.

So just remember the next time you’re slumped on your sofa, cursing the TV for flooding your screen with reality shows; there are so many other options that you can choose from that will leave you feeling great!
Don't forget the power of touch. We all innately need touch to thrive.  Hopefully you can take a few minutes to sit down next to a loved one and just hold hands, lean on each other, and be close.  The power of connection can help to heal everything within.

We always talk about how we are going to change for the better, and for some of us, that is enough to make it happen.  For the rest of us, we need a little bit better of a plan. That is our first fault in the change.  We don't plan.  We say we are going to eat healthier, and then we get the same food at the grocery store, or even worse, we clear out all of our old food and go buy all the fresh veggies and fruits and then order pizza because we are hungry. We say we are going to save money but then we keep the same old habits and our savings account doesn't change. Or we are going to work out, get healthy and look great in that bikini come summer. And we go to the gym once, get intimidated and don't go back.  Have any of you been there, cause I've done all of these and then some.
We need a plan! And to not make it too much of a challenge.  And to accept that sometimes we will suffer setbacks. The general rule out there is it takes 30, maybe 66, but who knows how many days to make a new habit stick.  We are all individuals, if it doesn't stick for you in the first bit, maybe it takes a little longer, or maybe you need to evaluate your goal and how you PLAN to achieve it. And don't overwhelm yourself by taking on too much too soon. We all plan on January 1st to lose 20 pounds, become vegan (ok, maybe not that one), and save $100 a week. And by January 7th, we realize that life sucks as a skinny broke vegan, so we stop.  But maybe if we only set one goal on January 1st, we would get there. And maybe set the alarm on your phone to remind you on February 1st to start working on the next one. 
Sure fire ways to fail are to be too vague in our goal.  "I want to eat healthier" is a lot less encompassing than "I will only eat fruit and a single piece of dark chocolate for my snack". Then sneak in a little, "trade out white bread for wheat bread in my sandwich" for an added bonus. Now you have a specific, easily achievable and maintainable goal.  Also, it is okay and encouraged to share your goals, to let the people around you know that you don't want donuts at the shop and lunch at that great buffet is really just too tempting. If they really are your friend, they will accommodate you and your goals.
As for saving money, that's easy.  Most of us get some small (sometimes large) wage increase each year.  You already live off of the old money you made, so why up your lifestyle to just spend more money if you have it. Save that money.  If you don't have a raise coming to you, and you want to save, set up your plan. Open a savings account and put money in it. Don't keep your debit card in your wallet to get that money out.  With direct deposit you can send money to multiple accounts easily, or you can set up an automatic transfer of cash from your other account. Don't view this as money available to you.  Its not.  It is your savings. A little bit quickly adds up to a lot more. And don't look at it every day, it will tempt you and taunt you.  Look at it every 6 months and see how much it has grown. That should inspire you to let it keep growing.  What are you going to save for? A down payment on a house? A new car? A vacation? Give yourself a reason to save.
If the gym is your nemesis, as it is mine, find an activity you are interested in and pursue that. If you want to lift weights, but don't know how, maybe work with a trainer for a bit.  Sure, you may have to pay, but actually learning how to use the weights is going to be way more beneficial to you in the long run for your safety and health and confidence.  Or sign up for a class.  And if it is something that is on-going, and perhaps takes an automatic payment to keep it going, you will be inspired like me to not skip. I hate wasting money! I signed up for boxing classes once, and even if I was so tired, I made sure I made it to class because I had paid for that and I was not throwing my money away. Don't forget that nature is a great place to workout too.  Go for a hike.  Go adopt a high energy dog and then you have a great friend and a reason to get up and go take a walk or run to save your sanity from the crazy dog. And he'll probably love to go for a hike too! If you have been a couch potato, don't despair that after your first training session you are sore and tired. It means you are doing something for your health. Take a day to recover, take a slow day of reworking your muscles and get back out there.
Finally, reward yourself! Achieve your goal for a certain number of days, pounds lost, money saved, whatever the goal is, set yourself a reward! It is ok to indulge yourself and feel like the champion you are. You have earned it. By the way, massage is a great treat for the body and soul!

As a member of ABMP, a massage practioner professional organization, I receive this e-magazine regularly and enjoy the knowledge it can pass on for why you should get a massage and other industry relevant information.  As not everyone is a member of my e-mail message groups and just as an easy way to keep it out there, I figured I would share it with you today through the blog.  
There are a couple of cool articles which I really liked in this one.  The first has to do with Aromatherapy and use of essential oils. Besides just smelling good, did you know that there are very specific healing properties to essential oils. But, you need to be careful how you are using them, because they can be unsafe in certain situations.  And please, do not ingest them. Mainly, essential oils are great to stimulate our olfactory senses (the sense of smell) and they can be applied topically, to your skin- but most should not be applied directly on the skin, they need to be diluted. Higher quality oils can be found at specialty shops, but if you just want some for your diffuser, I have found some nice relatively inexpensive ones at the grocery store. Besides the 4 aromas that this article highlights, one of my favorites for it's healing properties is Tea Tree Oil.  It has a strong aroma, but it is a great natural anti-bacterial oil. Use it in your skin care routine to knock down breakouts before they start. There is an abundance of information available on the internet regarding essential oils, but do be cautious of someone offering you a cure all and telling you there are no side-effects or dangers to essential oils. Mostly, they are safe, but there are some concerns.
The next article I really enjoyed talks about stretching.  Which if you have ever had a session with me, you know, I am likely to tell you that you should work on stretching regularly. Take a cue from nature. Watch your dog or cat or horse. They stretch and don't feel any guilt for doing it. So should you. It is easy to stretch wrong, and this article has some pointers for doing it right.  I think besides trying to stretch too far too fast, the most likely thing we do wrong when stretching is not holding it long enough.  You are stretching for a reason, let it happen.  Some stretches should be held for minutes, not the mere seconds that most of us are guilty of doing. And if it doesn't release, you may be overstretching which tells you muscles to tense up, so you are never going to get the release you need.
So if you have a few moments, please, take time to browse through and read this little magazine.  You may find an answer you have been looking for. 

I am exhausted lately. I have a night owl toddler that won't sleep without his momma and a natural habit of waking up too early.  The toddler did not get the night owl thing from me, no, that's his Dad.
Did you know that over 60 million Americans have chronic sleep disorders- things like insomnia, narcolepsy or sleep apnea. Is that you? And did you know what that can do to you?
Not getting your required sleep can increase your chances of experiencing chronic anxiety and depression, or having it worsen for you.  Forget much, that can be the result of your brain just being exhausted. Sleep makes our memories worse and just forgetful in general. You have an increased risk of hypertension - high blood pressure- and heart disease risk goes up, all because of lack of sleep.  And when you are tired, you are more apt to turn to comfort foods, taking in unhealthy foods to keep you going, because they taste good and because you forgot to get the healthy stuff at the grocery store. And that can lead to weight gain and an increased risk of diabetes. And have you ever found yourself nodding off while driving. Yup, lack of sleep makes us a lot more likely to get into an accident on the road. Yikes, who knew that sleep was so important?
So, what can we do? First things first, you need to make your needs a priority in your life. You need sleep, so don't not get it just because someone else wants you to make them a priority. (I'm working on getting my toddler to go to bed earlier so I can get to sleep earlier). Sometimes that is as much as it takes, moving up your bedtime. Not a lot, just a little. Also, regarding bed-time, do you know the blue light emitted from our phones and televisions impedes our bodies abilities to produce melatonin- the happy sleepy chemical our body puts out to say night night. So try to turn off the phone and the TV before your bed time- by at least an hour. Exercise to keep your body healthy and to make it tired, but don't exercise too close to your bed-time, you need time to cool off and calm down, probably a couple of hours at least.  It will make your sleep so much more effective if you do exercise. And making up for all your lost sleep of the week during the weekend won't really help you all week.  It is better to get a sleep schedule and stick to it, going to bed at the same time, getting up at the same time, ensuring you get enough sleep every night than trying to bank sleep on the weekend.  It doesn't work.
And, might as well make the plug here, go get a massage! You might take a nap on the table while your therapist is working. Probably means you need a little more shut-eye anyway. Massage helps to reduce the body's stress hormone cortisol and helps promote the happy hormone seratonin, If your body is naturally calmer and happier with less built in stress, you may find yourself sleeping better. And massage feels good.  If you have those chronic aches and pains, maybe a massage can relieve them and then you will sleep better.
Moral of the story, I need a massage and to kick my toddler out of my bed. One of these will happen before the other, I'm sure.

So I decided to take a class on reflexology earlier this month.  It was close to home, not too expensive and is something that has intrigued me for a while. 
Let me tell you, it was not what I expected, but oh so amazing when we came out the other side.  There were 28 of us in the class, I expected under 10. I didn't expect to feel such an awesome relaxation from such a simple massage.  And I was surprised to find out exactly how to perform reflexology, since apparently the little bit that I had been forced to do as part of some protocol massages was performed very wrong-sorry about that, but maybe they should have got me some instruction prior to telling me to do it.  That is all in the past and a very different story.
What is reflexology you may ask?  Well, it is a whole body approach to wellness that is mainly focused on manipulations of the feet, but can include the hands and ears as well. There are reflex points in your feet (hands and ears also) that correspond to different parts of your body and different organs as well.  By manipulating these points, we can bring about a sense of well being and possibly positively affect your whole body. As an example, one of my classmates had been experiencing insomnia for weeks upon starting the class.  She was so tired.  After our first day of class, when we did our first reflexology session, we adjourned and went to our respective places.  The next morning, she reported having gone back to her hotel and sleeping.  Not just a cat nap. But all night long.  She felt amazing. That day, we did another session of reflexology, and again adjourned.  Again, she came back having slept the whole night through.  Maybe it wasn't the reflexology that did it, but I'm not going to argue.  It was awesome.  Lots of people reported having similar uplifting experiences.
So the reflexology style I studied is called Integrative Reflexology. It integrates four different theories to come up with one approach for treating the body.  There are other approaches out there, so one session of reflexology with me may not feel the same as with someone else. And some practitioners will find the reflex points slightly different than others. It is ok.  It is an intuitive treatment, much the same as massage is intuitive. No sessions will be exactly the same, because we as people are not exactly the same. That's what makes this fun.
I was so amazed at the deepest levels of relaxation I achieved during my reflexology sessions.  Especially as I tend to have ticklish feet.  The fact that I could just fall into an almost trance while receiving the treatment, practically asleep and not even notice the touch.  Just the peace.  And good intention.  And I felt the same when I was giving a session. It wasn't an intense concentration to ensure I was on the proper points, because I could find them intuitively.  It is amazing.  
I hope everyone would love to try a session.  You will be amazed!

Body image risk and reward in massage

Body image. Almost everybody has something about their body that they don’t like. For many people it’s a minor issue, no big deal. But some people have a major issue with their body image. It affects how they live and their happiness.
 
When I tell some people that I’m a massage therapist it can cause a strong reaction. They tell me, whether verbally or through their reaction and body language, that massage is not for them. Their body image is such an issue that they don’t think anybody else can accept them.

The paradox here is that massage can really help with body image issues. In massage school we were all nervous about taking off our clothes and letting somebody else touch us. It didn’t take long for us to discover that bodies are just bodies and become much more comfortable with our own. We also experienced how good receiving a massage made us feel. Something unexpected happened – when our bodies felt better we felt better about our bodies.

I think there are three options to consider. Let’s look at the risk versus reward for them.

1. Don’t get a massage.

This is the easiest because it involves doing nothing. The risk is low since you are not letting another person see or touch you at all.
 
The reward is zero. You didn’t get a massage so your body doesn’t feel any better, and you still have the stress you had before.

2. You get a massage, but the massage therapist either makes note of how you look, as if it matters.
 
If this has happened to you, I’m sorry. You got a crappy massage therapist. That’s a bummer, and I’m really sorry. You took a risk, and even if the rest of the massage was decent, got very little reward. 

This is not going to happen if you come to me. Never. No way. I can’t say this strongly enough. It goes against the very nature of who I am, how I treat people, and what I believe.

3. You get a massage. A great massage. And the therapist does nothing to make you feel uncomfortable about your body. In fact, you feel pretty good about your body after the massage.
 
In this option your risk is low. I don’t care how your body looks. That’s none of my business. I just want to help it feel better. Your reward is high. Again your body will feel better from the massage and you can start feeling better about it.

I have no idea how your body got to be in the condition that it’s in. You may be dealing with something that you can’t control, such as a medical condition or an injury or accident. You may be in a lot of pain or are limited in what you can do physically. Since I don’t know what caused your body to be like it is now I can’t make any judgments about you.

I’ve worked on hundreds of people. Each body is interesting and I’ve yet to come across one that I could not help.


If you have been avoiding massage because you feel uncomfortable about your body, let’s find an option that works for you. You don’t even have to explain anything to me. Leave your clothes on. Stay sitting up or face down or lying on your side or however you want. It’s up to you.

It’s my job to help you feel better. That’s it. Together let’s find a way to help you relieve your pain and stress. Don’t let your body image keep you from feeling good.
 
Also, please don’t worry about little things like shaving. It’s okay. Not everybody shaves, we all know that. 
 
Sometimes a certain condition may make you feel like you should avoid massage.  If you are really uncomfortable with something, but would like to see how massage can help you, please, don’t hesitate to contact me (or any massage therapist) to discuss and see if we can help you out.  As stated before, you can have as many clothes on as you like, lay or sit in which ever position makes you comfortable. You never know how good a massage can make you feel until you try it.