13 Dec

Massage Is So Much More Than a Rub

I am sharing an article I ran across. I have added some of my own personal stuff to it.  I know it all too well.

Stress

Stress and anxiety is universal, and it’s not always bad. Whenever you jump to catch a badly thrown ball, feel especially energetic before an important meeting, or hit the brakes in time to avoid a car accident, stress is doing its job. The adrenaline boosting your heart rate and the cortisol boosting your blood sugar, while diverting energy away from your digestive system and immune responses, are exactly what humans need to fight or flee attackers.

However, when there’s never any relief from stress, the sustained fight-or-flight response can cause problems. In fact, WebMD warns that constant stress actually becomes “distress — a negative stress reaction. Distress can lead to physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases.”

Following are some changes that can be brought about by stress:

BEHAVIOR CHANGES

    • Angry outbursts
    • Drug or alcohol abuse
    • Over- or under-eating
      • Social withdrawal
      • Tobacco use

MOOD CHANGES

    • Anxiety
    • Irritability or anger
    • Lack of motivation or focus
      • Restlessness
      • Sadness or depression

BODY CHANGES

    • Chest pain
    • Fatigue
    • Headache
    • Muscle tension or pain
    • Sex drive
      • Sleep
      • Stomach upset

Massage Therapy and Stress

Virtually every symptom listed by the American Psychological Association can benefit from massage. Research has shown that it can lower your heart rate and blood pressure, relax your muscles and increase the production of endorphins, your body’s natural “feel good” chemical. Serotonin and dopamine are also released through massage, and the result is a feeling of calm relaxation that makes chronic or habitual as well as acute or short-term stress much easier to overcome.  I personally know this to be true in every aspect with client results and with my own experiences.

In fact, stress relief is one of the first benefits that come to mind when thinking of massage therapy. It’s also a key component for anyone trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Clinical studies show that even a single 1 -hour session can significantly lower your heart rate, cortisol levels, and insulin levels – all of which explain why massage therapy and stress relief go hand-in-hand. 

Benefits of Massage Therapy for Stress

Taking care of your body should be at the top of your priorities. By adding therapeutic massage to your routine now, you’ll feel, look and simply be healthier far into the future. In fact, stress relief alone can improve your vitality and state of mind. So what better way to prep for a long, happy life than a relaxing, therapeutic massage?

If you’re looking to add stress-relieving massage to your wellness program, a therapeutic massage from Natural Helping Hands can be a powerful ally when combating daily pressures and anxiety. In addition to stress relief, ongoing massage therapy can reduce pain, increase energy levels and improve overall physical and mental performance. I am an experienced, professional, medical massage therapist who customizes every massage (and stress relief) session to address your individual needs. 

Give yourself, or someone you love, the gift of renewal by scheduling a “vacation” on my table.

Contact Me for more information

12 Oct

You are in front of “it”…

Conviction = spirit resolving

Condemnation = emotion, shame, Satan led

Romans 8:1 — Talk to your issue, respond to it, convict yourself in the spirit of the Father, and run to the Father, instantly, before the condemnation sets in.

Nothing we do or say is a shock to the Almighty.  One issue may be the 100th time to you (because we go over and over it), but it is not to Yahweh; it is only one, and it is forgiven one, and it is done and gone.

Disappointments and setbacks are NOT the wrong path. Set forth to read the examples of those lives written in the Word. Sit with those who have been where you are, taken hold, and moved forward. These paths are all patterns to follow, for they all were pursuing something set before them, keeping their eyes on the vision and purpose they were to fulfill.  Someone is always behind you. You are a pattern those behind you are following. At the same time, “Pharaoh” (fear, shame, condemnation) is pursuing you. Keep him behind you. David not a man after God’s own heart; David was a man “AFTER” God’s own heart. We read about David incorrectly. David was daily striving with self and others, daily sinning, daily in war, yet He “PURSUED” the word of the Lord. He was pursuing (after), following, moving forward, and constantly becoming the man Yahweh wanted him to be.  We are not to be like David, the man, but to be pursuing after the Father as David did.

Running while looking backward is dangerous; you will fall. The setbacks and disappointments are behind you. the issue is behind you.  When you have said something or done something, or someone has caused chaos in your life, it is done. YOU ARE IN FRONT OF IT!  Look forward, move forward, run toward the Father, and pursue the resolution.

We can go into the world as missionaries, or we can become the mission field.

Our life should be always about the Father’s business, to be seeking his leading, and to know that He took us into His bosom and will keep us there. Our goal is not to look upon the Messiah as our great example; this is a burden. He is the one who took all of our sins. He is the one who erases those sins.  He tears down fear, shame, and condemnation, so that He may build up in us the spirit of power, might and sound mind we were created with.

You are in front of it.

Image may contain: 1 person

 

 

08 Oct

I am ready

I am ready.

Ready for what you ask?

I am ready to sit next to you rather than across from you. I am willing to put the issue in front of us. I am ready to listen, ask questions, and accept that I may not fully understand the issue. I am ready to acknowledge what you do well.  I am ready to empower you.  I am ready to recognize your strengths and how you can use them to address your challenges.  I am ready to genuinely thank you for your efforts.  I am ready to talk to you about how resolving will lead you to your growth and opportunity.

I am ready to model the vulnerability and openness that I will see from you.

Are you ready?

 

09 Mar

Redemption in Life…The Real You.

STRESS. ANXIETY. HYPERTENSION. Stress
These things take hold by grappling with our hearts and minds. They attack our thresholds and tear down our ability to let go. We build expectations in everything. Expectations lead to distress in body, mind, and soul. Expectations lead to “unforgivingness” with others, self, situations, and things. (note: unforgivingness is NOT just with humans) Unforgiveness (or unforgivingness) leads to stress and anxiety of all levels. Unforgiveness is poison. The way to release stress and anxiety is to get rid of the toxins creating it, one at at time, pulling them out like weeding a garden. Forgiveness, releasing, and serving heals the heart (quite literally) and gives your health back.

English: Effects of stress on the body.

Effects of stress on the body. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Col. 3:13). As the old hymn says, “Nothing between my soul and the Savior, so that His blessed face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His favor; keep the way clear! Let nothing between.”

I am writing a book on this subject: Weeds. Commit to pulling one weed a day. I made a commitment to be in my physical garden every day. I see more fruit than weeds with this approach. When this is applied to the body, mind, and soul, stress and anxiety decrease greatly. When stress and anxiety decrease, the body heals from the inside out, heals the organs, heals the brain, heals the nerves, heals the bones..you see where I am going with this.

Joy is not happiness. Happiness is circumstantial. Joy is lasting, constant, settled, and not affected by the “outside” distractions. We have to roll up our sleeves, join the adventure, and take care of our garden.
Joy
We tend to avoid and resist all suffering at all costs. We demand to bring our expectations to reality through various means. However, there IS redemption and value in pain, illness, or any experience that isn’t what we have envisioned for ourselves. Escaping from discomfort, or helping others do so, will never be successful. All of us are frail, going about life’s journey, in breakable outfits. We are human. We are not fighting. We have to be honest, and present. When we are present, the world becomes clear, and our lives become clear, and we can be “with” instead of against the world, body, people, and things.

Irene Smith, pioneer in compassionate care, says, “This work is not about healing others. We can’t heal another human being. We can only heal ourselves until our presence is healing.” Just being. Be. Still. Breathe. Unvarnished. Agenda-free. Vulnerable. Non-striving. Broken. Beautiful. Wretched. (Hear the song: Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,…).

Lauren Cates, founder of Healwell, has some of my favorite quotes, “This version of you is the best mirror any other human could wish to gaze into. The world needs the you who is more interested in what might be next than in what you can make happen next. When we think we know what happens next, when we’re expert, there’s nothing intimate or connected about that. There’s only anticipation, a serious limitation on the number or shape of satisfying outcomes, and the likelihood of disappointment. Work kinder, not harder. Be authentic and present. Humble and curious. Kindness is what’s left when you’ve plumbed so many of your own depths that you know them well and intimately. Kindness is what grows up in the place of the stories you used to tell about how “I’ll be better…If only I could…” when wisdom invites you to stop telling them. Kindness sees through appearances, and it lets you work and live from a place of truth that’s not up for grabs. Being human is a good gig if you can get it.”

Take care, Be well. Be you. Smile.

23 Jan

SUPER QUOTE

As Bill Nelson said, “the Germ theory proposes we get rid of the flies, while it makes more sense to clean up the garbage attracting them.”

11 Aug

Had a Bad Day? …..

If you have had a bad day, it is just a bad day, and you HAVE NOT failed. Failure is not the failing; it is the staying down.

When things are going well, we feel elated. When hardships come, we sink into depression. But true joy transcends the rolling waves of circumstance. Joy comes from a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ. When our lives are intertwined with his, he will help us to walk through adversity without sinking into debilitating lows and manage prosperity without moving into deceptive highs. The joy of living with Jesus Christ daily will keep us levelheaded, no matter how high or low our circumstances (from the Study Bible Commentary on John 15:11)

John 15.11

11 Aug

Weeds…the Process…Part 2

Pulling Weeds Lessons I have learned from weeding in my garden:

  • The weed in relation to allergies such as alpha gal: What I feel alpha gal and other food allergies, intolerance and sensitivities are in the garden, and my mission to wipe them out so that they cannot reproduce again. This is my coined nickname now for alpha gal: a weed.
  • The weed in relation to life situations, people and things: Must stop in the moments and pull the weed, even when we do not want to stop, take care of it and go on.  When I stopped in the moment to take care of a situation, or approach a person with an issue, the ending was always good. When I catch myself not saying or doing anything, turning my back or face to a problem person or situation, (going silent or leaving after a disagreement with a friend or my spouse, walking on when there is trash in the trail)  it never ends well, creating a lasting bruise or sever in friendship, or scar, and creating a tougher thing to fix.
  • Weed before you water, before it rains: If we water before we weed, the weeds will flourish with the fruit, causing the fruit to produce less because the weed takes away from the fruit. Weeds and grass will consume the majority of the water and deprive the fruit of its needed moisture and nutrients. Watering a weed creates more weeds, bigger weeds, weeds with deeper roots.  If we weed and then water, or are aware of the skies to weed before the rain, then the fruit gets the water.
  • Weeding must be complete, with root and all parts with it: The soil must be knocked off the weed roots or the weed will find a way to re-root. (ie: pull weed from close to ground to get root, or use a tool to dig it up completely, and then make sure it is turned upside down, root up, and soil knocked off) Weeding takes time, but it is worth it in the end. Weed the small stuff and the big stuff; the small stuff is what hides and becomes bigger when left alone or thought to be too small to worry about. Take the time to weed all strands of grass, tiny two leaf weeds, etc. Get the weeds when small because it is easier to weed them with your hands and takes less time.
  • Weeding must be continuous: We have to be out in the garden daily to pick the fruit, yes, but also to take the time to weed. If we are weeding every day, then there is not chance there will ever be a take-over, and our fruit will last longer and be more abundant. Our fruit will rule the garden when the weeds are continuously taken out.
  • Weeds grow around the plants, but sometimes they come in from the sides and walkways: We can overlook many weeds when they are outside our “circle” of produce/fruit/vegetables, such as fences, areas where plants are finished producing for the season, areas where we have picked out the produce plants (beets, carrots, root veggies, greens,etc.), areas outside the fence. Weeds can vine in from far outside the garden growing under the plant then choking it from the inside out…this is where we have to follow the vine and dig the root from its outside source, and not just cut the vine inside the fence.  Weeds and grass will grow in the walkways and trenches, spreading toward the good plants slowly and gradually.  We can leave them be because they are not “near the plant” but they take from the plant from that short distance and they eventually grow out of control surrounding the good plants, creating a long hard weeding process later, or a “too overwhelming” situation (and then the plants die slowly and fruit less).
  • Weeds choke off the water ways: I have trenches in my garden for the water to go out, so that I do not have my plants flooded in big rains. Weeds grow in those trenches first because they are wet longer, but also because trenches are protection from the elements.  Waterway drains must be weeded regularly to avoid choking off the protection from a flood in the garden.  Weeds choke off water, and food, from all fruiting plants.  Weeds, even small, literally suck the water from the soil and the plants around them.
  • A GOOD THOUGHT FOR WEEDS: Weeds can be turned into something good for the “community”, or garden. When I pull weeds, I turn them upside down onto the old mulch, and they then become good mulch, good nutrition and cool ground for the roots. Weeds can be converted into something good for the garden.
  • Hidden evils under weeds: Weeds can look fine where they are, and not be a problem. They can however, be hiding some bad stuff under them. I pulled a bunch of weeds out and it revealed a den of fire ants! I had to extinguish the fire ants, leave the weeds for a while because if I touched the weeds in that spot, there would be bad consequences for me. We have to be aware of what is under the weeds. Snakes, wasps, other insects, crawlers, and spiky weeds can be under or around a weed; when there are groups of weeds, roots are deep and they are tough to pull, but groups also create dangerous situations. Take care and be aware.
  • ONE MORE: Weeds and grasses are beautiful inside and out, just as all plants. Good loving management keeps them from hindering, challenging, or altering the face and growth of the fruit and vegetation.

Pulling weeds

Read Part 1 of Weeds, the Process.

 

04 Aug

Weeds…the Process

I have made a few videos on my Natural Helping Hands Facebook page on the subject of weeds. (click on the titles to view them)

I am developing a book with this subject as the theme. I am developing this from the perspective of food allergies, namely the one I have “alpha gal.” If you have followed my blogs and my videos you have learned much about alpha gal already. If you do some research in my blog posts and my Facebook pages, you will find the best resources, truths, about alpha gal. I have been learning how to deal with food allergies like never before. I have never been allergic to anything in my entire life, except kerosene. This has rocked my world! I now understand to the bottom of my soul how this all feels, the risks it involves, the minute by minute care it takes, and the constant battle of risk behind every bite of food we take in.

I intend to write everything that has been messaged to me from the Father of all creation on the subject of weeds in hopes to give you a perspective on what I have come to coin as a nickname for “alpha gal” (mammal food allergy): a weed.

Weeds and wildflowers can be found just about anywhere. While some weeds are well worth the trouble of removal, others are actually attractive and useful.

Weeds are simply plants growing in the wrong place. Some wildflowers are nothing more than weeds while others provide crucial sustenance to wildlife.

There are two types of weeds—annuals and perennials. Annual weeds grow faster, typically spreading by seed and die out within a year. Perennial weeds are more difficult to control, as these weeds usually have extensive root systems that can cover large areas. They also come back every year.

Look for new blog posts to learn all the lessons I have learned from weeding in my garden, and how it is related to food allergies like alpha gal. In this process, we will find a way to “weed” the weed of food allergy out of the body for good, creating a way to eat the foods we so long to have again. Come with me on my journey. Find empowerment in your journey. If we have this a while longer or if we find ways to come out of it, please share those with me in your feedback to these posts. Please share this with your friends and family.  Together we will grow stronger no matter what ails us.

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05 Jun

I am Writing a Book!!!

The past year my life has changed so much my head spins. I am not alone. Overnight, 70 percent of my diet and the foods I loved were no longer something I could enjoy. I have some things to say, to vent, to teach, and to search out. I have a story that is one among thousands. I am on a mission to find a cure, to find a way to combat this and drive it out of me. The thing that rocked my world: alpha-gal mammal allergy! It is mind boggling! I have had menopause food sensitivities, hormone food sensitivities, and more, but nothing like this nasty thing.

I am writing a book to help those with food allergies and sensitivities find healing and positivities in what they can eat. I am writing a book to let others know they are not alone. I am writing a book to bring to light something that we think cannot be dealt with. I am writing a book to drive home the message to restaurants, activity coordinators, friends, and family members to be aware and make options for these people. Life is tough when we cannot eat anything and have to ask about the ingredients everywhere we go or bring our own food everywhere; it is humiliating, embarrassing, maddening, and exhausting. I have stories of establishments (will be named in my book), who went out of their way to create a menu item for me because I chose to ask! The more I ask the more I find that people will make something work for me. I have been humbled in my frustrations.

I am writing a book to shove the fears out and pull in our internal strengths. I am writing a book to show the Father of all does have our best interest and will make a way for us when we act on His core voice, for it is His voice that has given me life where I thought I had lost and had no way out.

I AM WRITING A BOOK. Follow my blogs and teachings and updates.

By the way. I am using all my modalities and knowledge and connections to find this cure for Alpha-gal mammal allergy. Explore my web page for what I do. Also, watch for Pinterest to see the cookbook I am beginning and the video blogs I am beginning to make on this very “sensitive” (pun intended) subject. 🙂

Live well, Be well, Listen to your intuition.