I met a client this week who shared after her session that she was surprised that I didn’t painfully dig in to her muscles. (She came to me by way of a gift certificate and hadn’t seen my website where I very clearly state that my style of bodywork is NOT painful.)
It gave me the opportunity to address what I believe is a very common myth that pushing really hard on sore muscles is the way to create relief. In my experience, this is absolutely not true! At least for me and the thousands of people I’ve worked with.
What happens when the body feels pain? It tenses. How does that help? It doesn’t.
And when someone is experiencing chronic pain, their muscles are already tense and their nervous system set to hyper-protection mode. Even the hint of pain activates an instinct to fight or flee. How does that help? It doesn’t!
Instead, I find that a soothing, gentle approach allows the nervous system to calm and the muscles to melt. I meet the painful areas with a curious and compassionate attention: “Hello, I see you there, what can I do for you?” Rather than an attack: “Bad muscle, I’ll pummel you into submission!”
I don’t know where where this “no pain, no gain” mentality comes from in the massage realm, but it saddens me that people think that they need to suffer to experience relief. Or worse yet, that because they are unwilling to suffer, bodywork is not for them.
There are tons of deep tissue therapists out there who want to jab an elbow into your achy spots. If that’s your thing, you’ll have no problem finding someone to hurt you. But it isn’t me.
If you are pain averse and want your session to be enjoyable while leaving you feeling relaxed and gooey, that’s my wheelhouse.
Working with the nervous system, musculoskeletal system, endocrine system, emotional and energetic bodies is a lot more nuanced and effective than pushing hard on a sore spot.
It doesn’t mean a feather-light touch, either, just in case that’s a concern. It means meeting the tissue as it is, sinking in as far as it allows, and responding when it says stop.
It’s a technique that respects the body and its innate wisdom rather than trying to force an arbitrary solution from the outside.
If you’re in the Philly area, I’m here to be of service. If you live elsewhere, don’t be afraid to inquire with the provider before you book a session. Any respectable therapist will be able to answer your questions and confirm if they are able to offer a pain-free experience.
This seems particularly relevant now. Just because you’re sensitive doesn’t mean you have to absorb all…
For the past few days, I’ve experienced an intermittent burning sensation on the sole of my right foot.
#$%
I had the great displeasure of living with plantar fasciitis about 12 years ago and I’m not keen to revisit those days. I immediately took action with the intention of tending to body, mind, emotions, spirit, and energy system.
What does that look like? A holistic approach is about recognizing all aspects of ourselves and investigating what is out of balance. I want to address all factors that could be contributing to the imbalance, not just pushing away discomfort at any cost.
Therefore, I did not take Advil or any anti-inflammatory meds. I don’t want to suppress the pain; I want to treat it. At its source. Inflammation is a message of an underlying problem. Squashing it is like shooting the messenger.
Same for ice. I might consider it if the pain was intense, but I’m not there now.
I didn’t try to stretch it out. The connective tissue is irritated, it doesn’t need me trying to force it to lengthen. Not did I go at it with a tennis ball or other massage tool.
I noticed that a low-grade freak out kicked. That’s an uncomfortable state of being and such a contrast to the inner peace that I’ve cultivated that the shift was obvious immediately.
I checked in- what’s going on? Fear. Fear of pain, immobility, and my life being disrupted.
I let my emotions have some space rather than trying to shut them down. I imagined myself on a mountain top, surrounded by the infinite sky and let out the energetic equivalent of a banshee wail. I live in an apartment, so I turned the volume of my voice way down to not disturb the neighbors but turned intensity all the way up. Quiet anguish. Great for discharging energy without alarming others.
Then I got busy tending to my nervous system. This was pure fight or flight mode. My body was itching to DO something, to GO somewhere, to tackle this head on. While that’s perfectly understandable, we can’t access intuition or cognition in this state. Rather than just doing anything, going anywhere, tackling whatever, I figured it was better to have a plan.
Normally I use my rebounder and some vigorous movement to release this activation, but that wasn’t feasible given my desire to protect my foot. Instead, I did some vigorous breathing, extending my exhales while shaking my arms wildly.
When calm descended, I began to strategize.
I pulled up on my mental screen everything I know about inflammation. Stress and cortisol are great contributors, and I was already addressing this. Gut health factors in, so I considered how I could plan meals around healing foods like bone broth, sauerkraut, and ginger.
I applied a salve I’d made from essential oils, as well as arnica gel. (Best to buy these things at a health food store to assure quality and the absence of chemicals. I like to be able to pronounce all the ingredients of products I slather on my skin.) Aromatherapy oils help to stimulate the body’s healing abilities- which is very different from suppressing symptoms.
I reviewed what I know about the fascia system and how it connects from sole to calf to hamstring and spent some time using a foam roller on my calves, hoping to create some slack that would provide ease for my feet.
I’m not exactly an expert on fascia, despite having a good working knowledge. I turned to Foundation Training, an app I use to relieve pain, build strength and balance, and improve posture. There I found some basic exercises for the feet and integrating the rear fascial chain.
All the while I kept a compassionate eye on my emotions. They were very active. Thoughts like – I should know better. I should have been able to avoid this. How bad will it get? How long will it last? Will I become homeless, live under a bridge, and get eaten by cats? OK, that last one is an exaggeration, but you know how the catastrophising can go!
I welcomed all the thoughts and feelings (vs. suppressing which only pushes problems into the future) and paid attention with curiosity and compassion. I was also careful not to let it snowball into a pity party. Basically, I took the role as the wise, loving grandmother, listening to all the children’s worries and then taking charge of the situation.
I looked at several metaphysical connections to the feet- dragging the feet, standing on one’s own two feet, sure-footedness, slowing down, etc. to see if any resonated and if there was some work that needed to be done in the realm of limiting beliefs.
I viewed my feet through the chakra lens, as part of the root system and my connection to the earth. I made plans to get to the park soon to put my bare feet on the grass to help ground my energy.
I considered my shoes and whether or not I needed more support or more freedom for my toes.
Perhaps most importantly, I saturated both feet (they work together as a team, and whenever one is affected, it can easily spread to the other via compensation or defensive mechanisms) with Reiki.
In addition to infusing my soles with life-force energy, this began the healing of any energetic, emotional, psychological or even spiritual contributions. Plus it’s easy, so I can do it without much effort. It’s portable, so I can practice out in the world, with or without shoes, with or without touching my feet. If you ran into me in public, you wouldn’t even know I was engaged in a powerful healing modality while we chatted over tea.
Essentially, I’m looking for anything that could be contributing to the imbalance and everything I can do to promote healing. It might seem like a lot of effort, but knowing how miserable PF can be and how it usually takes months to abate, I think it’s worth the effort.
My friend and I had plans to go for a hike this morning. I debated canceling our outing, but my desire to be out in nature and spend time with someone important to me won out. I slowed down my pace and was more mindful of where/how I placed my feet. I’m delighted to report that I didn’t feel even a hint of that burning while we walked or in the several hours since then.
See how the leaves are in the process of changing color!
So, there you have it! Probably more than you ever wanted to know about addressing plantar fasciitis holistically. If you have any tips or tricks that helped you, I’d love to hear them. The conventional treatment is woefully inadequate and there’s no need for anyone to suffer needlessly if there are any natural remedies that can help.
For the past few days, I’ve experienced an intermittent burning sensation on the sole of my…
I recently saw a post online about self-care not being enough. It immediately caught my attention. I was intrigued thoroughly, mostly because it triggered my argumentative streak. The man went on to say that he was an active participant in self-care, but it wasn’t enough to prevent burnout.
He exercised daily and ate lots of vegetables and meditated regularly.
He also worked 60+ hours each week and had a few side gigs going.
While I can’t fault him for the self-care aspect, I’d say it was an incomplete attempt. Movement, nourishment, and mindfulness are all excellent practices. But they don’t override our need for a healthy work-life balance.
In my eyes, self-care includes knowing how much we can handle and modifying our lives so that we don’t overdo it.
It’s not that self-care wasn’t enough, but that he ignored part of the equation.
You’ve heard it all before- we all need adequate nutrition, hydration, oxygen, sunlight, exercise and rest to be healthy. You can eat all the broccoli in the world, but if you hardly ever drink water, it’s not going to be enough to stay well.
I’d like to redefine self-care as caring for ourselves with kindness and curiosity. This means paying attention to what we need and responding accordingly rather than following a protocol prescribed by a so-called expert. What I need is very different from what you need. Heck, what I need in this moment is different from what I needed last week. It’s always changing.
This requires developing our self-awareness and capacity to respond with compassion (rather than the pushing/forcing/punishing energy I often seen in runners or folks at the gym).
I endeavor to speak to myself the same way I would to my 10-year-old niece- I wouldn’t shout at her for getting something wrong or berate her for not trying harder or doing more. I’d be encouraging and willing to explore what could be done differently next time.
Rather than jumping on some TikTok bandwagon and following rules developed by someone who has a completely different constitution, history, and lifestyle than yourself, what if you slowed down and listened to your body? To your heart?
This, my friends, is revolutionary behavior and exactly what we need to thrive in a world that is full of stress and toxins. A few years back, I did a 40-day series on self-care if you need some ideas. You can search for the “Radical Self-Care” posts.
But don’t take those articles as a prescription or even a recommendation.
You do you. How could I know if you need more rest or activity or broccoli?
What is one small thing you could do for yourself today that would be a step towards optimal wellness? Don’t overthink it! I bet something has already popped into your mind. How can you make it happen? And this is an important step- afterwards, acknowledge the rewards of your efforts and give yourself a pat on the back. That will make it more likely that you’ll keep going.
I recently saw a post online about self-care not being enough. It immediately caught my attention.…
I saw this question raised online last week. A woman was inquiring about the dreadful statistics of Americans given that everyone she asks claims to eat healthfully.
It really got me thinking about the state of the world in which people try their best to look after themselves and fail.
Unsurprisingly, I have a lot to say about this!
In fact, I could probably write a book about my thoughts on this subject. I don’t have the energy to do that as I spend some much time on cultivating my own health. But as I pondered, two key factors have floated up to the top of my list of key offenders.
One. Chronic stress. Stress is normalized, even celebrated in our culture. It’s normal for people to spend more than half of their waking hours in a toxic work environment. The more you work, the busier you are, the more stress you have, the better. That’s the upside-down message we receive in this crazy society.
This is not healthy! If this describes your everyday reality, know that you’re going to need to take action to mitigate the effects of chronic stress by learning to regulate your nervous system and/or metabolize the physiological impact of being chronically disregulated.
We now know the damaging effects of a constant cortisol drip, but for many of us, there doesn’t seem to be an alternative. The system is rigged against us. Dropouts, misfits, and revolutionaries are able to escape this insanity, but you need to be a risk-taker to go this route.
Two. We’ve lost touch with our inner wisdom and turn to external “experts” for strategies about health. With so many doctors being specialists in one narrow corner of medicine, few have the big picture of wellness in mind. If you’re lucky enough to be able to afford a functional medicine doctor or homeopath, you’re still having to battle uphill against societal norms.
So often I hear people talking about their “healthy choices” and feel surprised at what they consider to be healthy. Low fat? Low carb? There’s so much conflicting information out there. So many of our strategies are influenced by advertisements sneakily disguised and normalized by repetition.
Milk- it does a body good. Remember this campaign from the 80’s? It an advertisement paid for by the dairy council! Milk may or may not be good for your body- we’re all different. But that isn’t a catchy slogan that people will recall for decades.
Trident- it’s what 2 out of 3 dentists recommend for their patients who chew gum. Another ad from my childhood. It sounds like dentists are promoting sugar-free gum, right? But I don’t think any dentist suggests chewing gum. They are definitely opposed to sugar-laden gum like good-ole Hubba Bubba, but I can’t see that any are promoting gum itself.
And 2 out of 3? Not out of every dentist, just those surveyed. Do you think that Trident was careful in its selection of dentists to survey? Yeah.
I don’t remember much from my college days, but I took Statistics and the professor spelled out all the different ways you can lie with numbers by carefully crafting statements to reflect the preferred outcome.
We’ve been overtly and covertly influenced by information that is designed to mislead us, to make us feed bad about ourselves, to believe that if we just purchase this or that, all will be well. But capitalism is about selling stuff, not creating wellness, and there’s a heck of a lot more purchasing going on by people who want to be well than by people who are well.
Ok, one more reason I can’t ignore.
Three. Our food supply is full of crap. We tinker with the genetic material of plants in a lab. If that doesn’t freak you out, one of the reasons for this tinkering is to make plants strong enough to survive a chemical pesticide that is so deadly, it would kill the plant otherwise. Then those plants are manufactured into “food”, along with residue of that toxic chemical.
Yum.
Labels are deliberately misleading. Recipes are engineered to be super-addictive so people buy more and more and more.
The whole system is whacked.
If you’re struggling with health despite doing your best, it’s not your fault. Billions of dollars are invested to fool you.
Please don’t despair! That’s not good for your health either. The situation isn’t hopeless. I wouldn’t be writing this post just to leave you feeling depressed.
Reiki can help.
It can help relieve stress, detoxify your body, and amplify your connection to your inner wisdom, clarity, motivation and intuition. Every day it helps me figure out my priorities and move in the direction I want to go.
It’s not your fault that this world is so unhealthy. But if you want to have a different experience than the one you’ve been having, it is your responsibility to do something different. That could mean changing your job, shopping at a farmers market and preparing more of your meals at home, or working with a naturopath.
Or schedule a Reiki session for yourself once or twice each month to build up your life-force energy and manage your stress. You don’t even need to go anywhere- distance treatments can be received from wherever you are with very little effort. Just click a few buttons, share your goals, and sit back to soak it all up.
I saw this question raised online last week. A woman was inquiring about the dreadful statistics…
I’ve learned a lot from Philadelphia traffic. Sure, there are official laws, assigned by the state, but they’re not really enforced here. I imagine the police have their hands full of other business.
Slowly but surely I’ve come to learn the street rules.
You can run a red light if you long-honk while you’re going through it as a warning.
You can cross the double yellow line if there’s an obstacle (delivery truck, open car door, bus, kids running for the bus, massive pothole, etc) in your lane and there’s no one else there. It matters not if you hold up traffic going the other way.
If you’re first in line at a red light, you can make a left turn in front of oncoming traffic if you go fast, preferably a beat before the light turns green.
There’s more of these, but you get the idea. You can basically do whatever you want if you occupy a space before anyone else gets there. It helps to have an SUV and good insurance, but it isn’t necessary.
I call it finders keepers. If you see a space that would benefit you and nobody else is currently holding it, you can nab it.
This rule-breaking used to make me nuts. I’d get very judgey about drivers who didn’t obey the traffic laws. Of course, they were immune to my thought-daggers and I’m the one who suffered the cortisol surges.
Over time I just began to expect people to find and claim the spaces on the road that suited them. I’ve even begun to participate myself, growing bolder with practice.
It’s the opposite of people pleasing and for that, I commend all these rule-breakers! How much freer many of us would be if we gave less energy to making others happy.
What’s really got me thinking is how limiting the rules imposed by external “authorities” can be and how I’ve internalized rules from all sorts of “authorities” that aren’t actually authorities or are no longer valid.
No running.
Single file.
Be quiet.
Well, I’ve had enough of that! I’m going to start taking up more space. My space. I don’t need to infringe on your space to do that. There’s plenty for everyone in the energetic realm.
I’m not suggesting that you go on a crime spree, drive recklessly, or pursue your needs at the expense of those around you.
I AM suggesting that you make your needs at least as important as strangers you pass on the street and examine the beliefs that you picked up in third grade.
I’ve learned a lot from Philadelphia traffic. Sure, there are official laws, assigned by the state,…
It’s no secret that health and happiness levels are influenced by self-care practices.
The often-overlooked element, however, is that self-care is an individual experience. Not a protocol that can be assigned by an outsider.
This is an inside process of learning to recognize what is needed in this moment, by this unique being. Which means it’s always in flux.
Sure, I have a foundation of self-care practices that are non-negotiable- rest, compassion, self-reflection, nourishment, movement, breath. But the strategies for addressing them is different all the time.
For me, there’s a lot of experimentation involved. I feel a need to strengthen my body, but how? There’s tons of advice online, but non of these people know my specific needs.
It’s been ages since I went to a gym, so I gave that a try. I don’t much care for the atmosphere (so many TV screens! WHY?) but it’s an affordable, easy way to access tons of fitness equipment.
After giving it a solid try for a month, I realize my original assessment was correct: not for me. But I didn’t really know until I tried.
Now I’m revisiting Foundation Training. I appreciate that it has a strong focus on anatomy, physiology and alignment. At one time it was very helpful to me but when a knee injury reappeared, I wasn’t able to do most of the exercises. That’s no longer an issue, so I’m giving it a go.
But here’s the takeaway: I’m not saying you should quit the gym and get an FT membership. I’m just sharing a real life example to make the point that we all need to get in touch with our own bodies and listen.
Look to the interweb for ideas, but do your own research.
Get the help you need if you’re suffering with a malady. AND then take that doctor/coach/therapist/counselor’s advise with a grain of salt and go with what feels right to you.
So many times I’ve worked with clients who followed the physical therapist’s or MD’s orders that caused more pain or delayed healing.
If you know something isn’t working, contemplate what you could do instead with this new data.
Be your own expert. Learn how to inhabit your body and hear your own truth. Take charge of your health and happiness and become a full participant in living your life fully.
Be willing to make mistakes and try things that dead end. Be willing to pivot when that happens and try something new.
Healing is not a linear path. Your zigs and zags, tangents and reroutes will be uniquely yours. Just pick one small thing and give it a try.
If you’re at a loss for where to begin, consider Reiki. This ancient healing modality can do no harm, can be received from anywhere in the world and feels incredibly relaxing.
It’s no secret that health and happiness levels are influenced by self-care practices. The often-overlooked element,…
Interested in giving yourself daily infusions of spiritually-guided life-force energy?
It’s so easy to learn!
Anyone can gain full-time, forever access to Reiki healing energy with minimum investment of time and money.
It’s the most affordable way I know to get consistent treatment for physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic issues.
Chronic pain, anxiety, depression, fatigue, digestive issues, fertility issues, sleep challenges, focus, creativity, peace, joy and freedom are some of the myriad goals it can be used for.
I know because I’ve done exactly that every day for 21 years. And IT’S WORKING!!
Reiki is an ancient healing technique that uses universal life-force energy to cultivate body-mind-spirit balance, stimulate the relaxation response, and relieve stress and tension.
It’s a seemingly magical reset that helps all systems come back online and integrate for maximum wellness.
I’m offering a Reiki 1 certification training, the starting point for those who want to learn how to treat themselves and their loved ones.
We begin on Thursday, October 17th at 6pm in my Mt. Airy (neighborhood of Philadelphia) studio.
This can be the beginning of a new phase in your life if you commit to blending Reiki into your life.
Interested in giving yourself daily infusions of spiritually-guided life-force energy? It’s so easy to learn! Anyone…
Clients often ask me if I felt any bad energy during their session. As if there was something inherently wrong with the energy in their system.
I don’t see it that way.
I often sense energy that is diminished from over-giving/under-receiving or coping mechanisms that have a draining effect. Sometimes it feels sluggish from sedentary lifestyles or blocked from suppressed emotions or unprocessed trauma.
Occasionally it’s clogged in one area, causing a build up upstream and depletion downstream.
Mostly I sense an imbalance in the flow or a general lack of energy. I don’t ever feel energy that is “bad”. I’m not sure there is such a thing.
There are definitely emotions that are uncomfortable; those that we dislike and would prefer not to experience. Our efforts at avoiding them disrupt the flow of energy, but still, I wouldn’t call any emotion “bad”. Unwanted, perhaps, but to label it as bad makes it wrong somehow, and I don’t think that’s helpful.
Many of us have beliefs we absorbed as children about which emotions are acceptable. However, those beliefs are not based on Universal Truths- just some authority figure attempting to make us easier to manage. Just because your third-grade teacher was not equipped to witness grief or anger doesn’t make those feelings bad. Yet we often integrated those messages and began judging our very natural responses to difficult situations as problematic.
I have yet to meet someone with bad energy. I’ve met lots of people who weren’t skilled at expressing themselves or their feelings and were maybe carrying around a lot of unpleasant baggage. I’ve met folks whose energy was not compatible with my preferences and those who didn’t know how to regulate themselves. People with erratic energy, big energy, chaotic energy, or overwhelming energy.
But not bad energy. If you’ve been wanting to get some Reiki healing sessions but worry about the practitioner picking up some bad energy, you needn’t. Reiki transforms and heals whatever isn’t in balance. It doesn’t push it out into the room. That’s something that only happens in sci-if movies.
Let’s stop thinking about our emotions, our experiences, our wounds or our energy as bad. They just are. That makes it a whole lot easier to welcome them, which is the first step in the healing process.
Luminous Heart Reiki & Massage 