Massage Therapy or Stretching, Which is better? Massage and stretching are both helpful ways to keep your muscles relaxed, nimble, tension free from exercise or other training regimen and help with recovery after an injury or after pushing through to new a new plateau. Stretching helps to get the blood flowing to your muscles and to align muscle fibers. Muscles often experience micro tears after intense exerted effort. On the flip side if your muscled are stiff from inactivity, contracted (locked long or short), and adhered to each other; slow stretching and movement can help restore muscle … [Read more...]

Every day! if needed, is the operative answer. A better question is, when should we not get a Massage? Most of us live very demanding lives with all our responsibilities and expectations to ourselves, family and work; it is difficult to envision a time when not having a stress relieving massage would not be of use. It is imperative that we live a balanced life, if we work hard, we most relax and kick back to the utmost. That may mean getting a good nights sleep and enjoying your weekends as much as making the most of vacation time. Visiting Thailand I had a massage every week for three weeks. … [Read more...]

If we are not mindful to our posture our heart suffers the consequence. I am proposing that not only taking dietary, exercise and stress measures into account, that the burden of a forward head, collapsed chest, and rounded shoulders play a large part inhibiting our hearts functioning physiologically, emotionally and energetically. Poor posture causing restrictive pressure on blood flow could be a condition allowing plaque to build up especially in the heart.  By lifting and extending our rib cage upward we are physically creating more space for our heart and lungs to do their job; that is to … [Read more...]

Good Posture and Well Being Gravity exerts a force on us 24/7/365 days a year, a force, when utilized appropriately, propels us forward or allows us to move with ease and hold ourselves optimally. Not to utilize gravity to our advantage places additional toll on our body everyday, constantly straining our soft tissue and compressing our joints, exacerbating compensation patterns and malalignments. Conditions that left unaddressed lead to Ischemic (lack of blood), painful and sensitive soft tissues, especially muscles and joint capsules. Decompression is an important antidote after a full day … [Read more...]

I have been offering Thai Massage since 1997 when I studied Thai Massage with Asokananda outside Chiang Mai in a Lahu village. The program was intensive along with total immersion into a very rural cultural primitive experience. I am forever grateful, the experience imprinted a healing state of being and approach to bodywork that I could never achieve on my own or elsewhere. Below is an excerpt from his book I believe first published in 1990. In peace and loving kindness. -david The Art of Traditional Thai Massage by Asokananda Traditional Thai massage can look back at a long history of … [Read more...]

Proposition 37 failed to pass in California, a stature that would have required the labeling of genetically modified foods (GMO's) in that state. Because of economies of scale this would have impacted labeling in the United States as a whole. In general I am for transparency and honesty in labeling in advertising and in commerce. Only with straight forward Information can consumers make informed decisions. This has me suspicious... of those responsible for proposition 37 failure. Their bottom line and corporate underpinnings is more important than your decision for your own health, your … [Read more...]

Restorative yoga is a practice devoted to relaxation, disengagement, replenishment, and contentment. In my many years of attending Iyengar yoga classes it has always been the last class in a month of weekly classes that was devoted to restoration, a tradition I carry in my own ongoing weekly classes. Restorative class, by far the most popular, is a class that focuses on being mindful of letting go. In restorative yoga, getting comfortable is imperative, so that we can mindfully disengage our thoughts and their associated tension in our physical body. Restorative poses are positions that we … [Read more...]

Are you constipated? Oh not me! A diet high in processed foods combined with every day stresses, is detrimental to our digestive systems. The digestive system is at the beck and call of the nervous system. It is our sympathetic nervous system that has us multitasking and taking care of the multitude of task and chores demanded of us every day. It is this state of attention that we are so good at. In a well balanced life one would finish all of one's chores, close those projects and put them aside for follow up the next day. This would allow the parasympathetic nervous system to prevail; than … [Read more...]

That’s the Spot! Ouch! ‘That’s the spot’. Sometimes that is all it takes. The tenderness is gone. Trigger points are localized points that when pressed are super sensitive; outright painful and often fire into a familiar achy pattern. These points develop from a relentless demand on the soft tissue and musculature. A simple paradigm is the bones support us and muscles move us. There are only a hand full of muscles required to contract for long periods as in standing. Yet bad posture and faulty movement patterns are demanding muscles to support us as well as move us. These muscle fibers … [Read more...]