Body Mechanics Massage Therapy

04/27/2026

Worth the watch.

https://www.facebook.com/MeirKay/videos/827278564077447/

04/27/2026

Goals

Celebrating the happiness of others requires a generosity of spirit that we often find only in the process.
Our desires act as fuel, propelling us toward new horizons. Without something to strive for, we stagnate and become stuck in ruts of our own making because we are unsure of what to do next. Goals are the dreams that we are willing to work for. When we set goals, we take responsibility for our lives and choose to wholeheartedly devote ourselves to our aspirations. Even if we only take the smallest steps toward achieving our ambitions, it is vital that we actively pursue our goals rather than just daydreaming about them. Having goals makes us feel good because it adds a sense of purpose and direction to our lives.

When you endeavor to achieve clear and quantifiable goals, your choices and actions take on new significance. Consciously creating your goals can help ensure that the success you seek is attainable and serves you. Your plan must be conceivable, tangible, and measurable. If you cannot visualize your goal in great detail or believe that you can realize them, you may find it difficult to commit to your goals and take the necessary steps to achieve them. Make sure that your goals have the potential to be emotionally satisfying. You may even want to write them down. Putting your goals into words can keep your intention fresh in your mind and remind you of your purpose. As you make progress toward realizing your goals, give yourself a reward each time you take a step forward so that you have the incentive to keep going. If you find yourself stuck in a rut, examine ways in which you can revise your strategy so that your plan can work.

In creating goals, you create your future by outlining your destiny. When you choose your goals using your head and heart, you take the first step in manifesting what you want. You grant your own wishes every time you achieve another goal.

04/26/2026

Take a moment and stretch! Let your body feel the length it can create. Reach, twist, bend and expand.

04/24/2026

Too time-crunched to meditate? Think about this: the average Facebook user spends more than 15 minutes a day perusing status updates. Instead you could devote 5 of those minutes to meditating daily to really change your mental state.

04/21/2026

Inflammation is a two-sided natural response.

It’s great when immune cells show up to help heal an infection or injury by ridding the area of damaged tissue and starting tissue repair. But when inflammation becomes chronic, it is a one-way train ride to nothing-good-can-happen. In fact, chronic inflammation in the body is linked to a lot of major health issues, among them cancer and heart disease.

Wisest, then, is to actively tame chronic inflammation. A good and simple way to do that is through your diet. You can do this easily by removing processed foods and inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy, and soy, but also by adding fruits and veggies. Some of the strongest soldiers in the battle against inflammation may surprise you—they’re the spices and herbs we add to flavor foods! And boy, are they powerful.

Here are six herbs and spices that are especially good as anti-inflammatories and for contributing to health in general. And it doesn’t take a lot to make a big difference. Routine use of a teaspoon or so added to foods in most cases is sufficient!

Turmeric

A bright yellow spice, turmeric is the base of curry and has a long history in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for helping to treat digestive problems. Among them are indigestion, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease. The component, curcumin, in turmeric is a strong anti-oxidant, which makes it an inflammation fighter as well. Powerful medicine indeed!

Clove

A recent study showed that clove, with its bounty of phytonutrients, is a leader among the most potent 24 herbs and spices people commonly use. Not only does it fight inflammation, it also helps relieve upset stomach, nausea, and specific inflammation of the mouth and throat.

Ginger

It’s a strong anti-inflammatory, including battling inflammation in the colon. Not surprisingly, then, ginger is well known for helping reduce many kinds of gastrointestinal distress, including nausea caused by motion sickness. If you’re prone to it, put some candied or crystallized ginger in your pocket before heading out. Add fresh grated ginger to a smoothie, sautéed vegetables, or fish dishes, and make ginger tea to soothe an aching tummy. It is a great help for digestive discomfort.

Cinnamon

This spice’s high number of anti-oxidants make it a powerful anti-inflammatory. Other health pluses: it helps fight infections, viruses, and bacteria including those that cause digestive issues. Cinnamon is so versatile and easy to use—try it in coffee, applesauce, or Moroccan vegetable dishes. Get creative! Plus, this one is especially delicious.

Cayenne

A member of the capsicum family, cayenne pepper helps relieve digestion problems such as diarrhea, gas, upset stomachs, and cramping. Filled with anti-oxidants, cayenne pepper is a useful anti-inflammatory as well. The hotter the pepper, the more healing capsicum it contains. Kick it up a notch.

Sage

This is an anti-inflammatory, but sage is helpful for a wide range of additional health issues: gas, stomach pain, heartburn, and bloating. Other problems sage helps address include relief from hot flashes. And yet more! Sage is known to help with memory loss and sharpen other cognitive skills. Use it on foods or make a soothing sage tea.

Rosemary

Sometimes called a cousin of sage, rosemary has similar antioxidants that help fight cancer as well as inflammation. It helps protect against bacterial infections, especially in the stomach. As a gentle diuretic, it flushes out toxins and pathogens. Even just a sniff of the strong smell of rosemary is said to help relieve migraine pain. This herb maxes its health properties when it’s cooked—add it to chicken, roasted vegetables and other dishes in which its potent fragrance also enhances taste.

Using spices and herbs for their anti-inflammatory properties and to aid digestion can also lead to more fun in the kitchen. They give your recipes a special taste that will have your taste buds wanting to explore healthier options. Here is to your healthiest you!

04/19/2026

Hey did you know, I do Lymphatic Therapy? Been trained for over 15 years. Working on all types of clients for various lymphatic concerns.

Call and let’s get you scheduled too!

Scientists found a way to double brain waste removal simply by stimulating the skin. The finding may shape the future of Alzheimer's prevention.

Researchers have identified a non-invasive method to improve the brain’s natural waste-clearing system, which could create new possibilities for treating neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Scientists at the Institute for Basic Science showed in mice that gently stimulating lymphatic vessels beneath the skin of the face and neck significantly increased cerebrospinal fluid flow, a key process for clearing harmful substances from the brain. Using a specially built mechanical stimulator, the team managed to double CSF outflow and restore drainage in aged mice, without drugs or surgery.

This advance points to a possible new strategy for safely supporting brain health in aging populations.

The team also identified previously unknown drainage pathways from the brain to superficial lymph nodes through facial lymphatics, routes that remain active even in older animals. These findings complete the anatomical map of CSF outflow and suggest that wearable or clinical devices could one day improve brain waste clearance.

While more research is still needed to confirm long-term effects and use in human patients, the researchers believe this gentle mechanical method could become a therapeutic tool to help prevent or slow neurodegenerative disease progression.

Paper:
Nature. Increased CSF drainage by non-invasive manipulation of cervical lymphatics, June 4, 2025

04/15/2026

04/13/2026

We were not meant to carry such heavy burden alone; visualize yourself laying down your burden and feel the lightness

04/10/2026

This is a very simple way to calm the body and mind. Please practice this! If we all do this load and strong daily we will see a difference in our own lives which will show in others lives and so on.
Suggest when your feeling stressed to take the moment and say Ohm. Say it a few times. Stay it til you feel a change in your mind set. Otherwise morning and night 5 times each to balance you out.

Peace and stay healthy during this time of universal concern about the Corona 19 virus. 🕉☯️❤️

https://www.facebook.com/CureJoyInc/videos/588263964700215/?vh=e&d=n

04/10/2026

Why Massages Really Do Keep You Healthy: A Cardiologist Explains

Joel Kahn, M.D.
Cardiologist & Best-Selling Author

We've all seen it on TV or in a movie. The scene is tense and the patient is doing poorly. The doctor calls out urgently. Retractor! Scalpel! Suction! Massage Table!

Wait a minute .... Massage table?

Did Dr. House ever scream for body oil?

The good news is this: if you enjoy a massage, you just might be helping your heart and arteries stay healthy and youthful.

Scientific studies have shown benefits of massage therapy for insomnia, multiple sclerosis, anxiety, cancer pain, post-operative recovery and other conditions.

Several recent studies point to benefits of massage therapy that help heal the heart.

In 2008, researchers studied 263 volunteers who had a massage for 45 to 60 minutes. Average blood pressure fell by 10 mg Hg and heart rate by 10 beats per minute after one treatment. That's about as much as you might get from prescribing a new blood pressure medication for life!

Earlier this year, 50 people with mildly elevated blood pressure received a 15-minute massage, three times a week for 10 sessions, while a similar group just relaxed for the same amount of time. Blood pressure fell at the end of the sessions and remained lower for several days—but only in the massage group.

Another study this year examined 8 women with high blood pressure who'd had an hourlong massage each week for four weeks. At the end of that period, their blood pressure fell by 12 mm Hg systolic (top number) and measurements in the blood reflecting inflammation (specifically VCAM-1 if you like science) fell significantly. A control group just rested for the same amount of time and had smaller improvements in the same measurements. The drop in markers of inflammation is intriguing and suggests massage therapy may have a body-wide healing effect.

Why might massage therapy result in improvements in measurements of cardiovascular function?

Reductions in salivary and urinary levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been observed in several experiments in humans. In contrast, urinary levels of the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine were not seen to fall during several studies.

Bottom line: not yet completely known and studies remain to clarify these pathways.

Is it time to chuck your blood pressure medication? Throw away your magnesium, CoQ10 and taurine blood pressure lowering supplements? Forgo your plant-based diets full of phytonutrient-rich leafy green vegetables and arginine rich pine nuts, arugula and watermelon?

No, it's clearly premature to consider massage therapy on par with those approaches. Furthermore, there are no studies showing a reduction in heart attack, strokes, and heart related deaths—and likely never will be due to the costs of such research projects.

However, given that tens of millions of people in the US alone grapple with high blood pressure, massage therapy can join acupuncture, yoga, meditation, and Tai Chi as complimentary approaches to maintaining optimal vascular health.

Buddha said that “to keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”

Maybe this is the week to schedule a massage treatment or private yoga lessons to move toward that goal?

04/07/2026

Understanding how your emotions influence your actions can ensure that you are always cognizant of why you make your choices. When you let your feelings drive you without knowing where they may lead you, the life you end up creating may be vastly different from the one you dreamed of. Recognizing the power our emotions can hold over us allows you to choose whether to follow their lead or to seek counsel from our rational mind first. Our emotions are meant to serve us, rather than be served by us. When you understand how your feelings may be driving you to express yourself today, you'll be able to harness your emotions to help you further your cause, not hinder it.

04/06/2026

Massage’s Powerful Role in Relieving Pain from Rheumatoid Arthritis

Typically affecting the wrist and small joints in the hands, knuckles and finger joints, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common type of autoimmune arthritis. Affecting 1.5 million Americans, two thirds of which are women, RA causes pain and swelling in the joints, limiting movement and function.

In RA, the synovium, the tissue that lines the joint, mistakenly becomes a target for the immune system. The immune system cells release inflammation-causing chemicals which cause inflammation in the synovium. The synovium creates a fluid called synovial fluid, which lubricates the joint allowing for smooth movement. When the synovium becomes inflamed and damaged, it fails to produce this lubricant and the joint does not move as freely. If the inflammation of the synovium continues over time, the cartilage and eventually the bone become damaged. The joints can then become deformed and misshapen, and movement becomes limited.

RA affects more than just the hands and other smaller joints; it can affect the entire body making it a systemic condition.

Symptoms

pain in multiple small joints for six weeks or longer,
morning joint stiffness lasting longer than 30 minutes,
bilateral pain,
loss of energy and appetite,
low grade fever,
dry eyes and mouth (Siogren’s syndrome),
and rheumatoid nodules, or lumps, which can grow beneath the skin.
Trouble breathing, anemia and inflammation of the blood vessels can also be symptoms of RA.

Joints affected by RA may be tender, warm and swollen, typically in a symmetrical pattern – meaning if one side is affected the other side usually is affected as well. RA shows up in the smaller joints first, so wrist and finger joints are affected most often, but other joints such as the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles along with the feet can be affected. While there is a great deal of variation in symptoms, once someone shows signs of RA, those symptoms usually last for years.

Drug treatment for RA involves drugs called disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) that relieve symptoms and slow the progression of the disease. Analgesics like non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and NSAIDs may also be used to reduce swelling, pain and fever.

Massage and Rheumatoid Arthritis

While massage can aid in increasing mobility and alleviating muscle tightness resulting from chronic pain, it cannot do much to alleviate pain from deformed or degenerating joints. Moderate pressure Swedish massage and myofascial release are the two types of massage that research has proven offer benefits for those with RA, but working with your clients you may find other techniques that reduce pain and increase mobility as well.

Massage therapy has been shown to reduce pain and increase joint mobility as well as decrease depression and anxiety in clients with RA. In one study, those with RA who received moderate pressure massages enjoyed less pain and greater mobility and grip strength than those who received lighter pressure massage therapy (Field, et.al., 2013). Another study showed that the stress hormone cortisol decreased immediately when RA patients received massage therapy (Field, et.al., 1997).

A 2011 study showed that myofascial massage, applied three times per week for two weeks, provided significant pain relief from RA symptoms. Myofascial release works through the application of sustained moderate to deep pressure, which allows the muscle to lengthen, reducing strain on the joints from muscle tension (Cubick, et.al., 2011).

Be careful using deep tissue massage techniques or trigger point therapy on clients with RA, as these techniques might trigger a flare up of inflammation, especially near joints affected by the disease. When employing these techniques, it is important to work slowly, giving the client time to react, and to not overdo it. Let the client “live with” the work after a short, limited amount of deep work to see how their body reacts. If they are okay and do not have an increase in inflammation in RA-affected joints after the session, you can do a little more deep work at the next appointment. If they have a flare up of symptoms, avoid deep tissue techniques.

Contraindications

Basic contraindications for massage therapy apply to those clients with RA as well; avoid massage when there are open wounds, fever, skin rashes or irritation, or deep vein thrombosis. Clients with any significant health concerns should be cleared by their physician before getting massage therapy.

When working on clients with RA, avoid working on joints that are in an acute stage of inflammation and are warm, red, or extremely painful. Check in with the client regularly to ensure that the pressure is not too deep, as it is important to ensure the massage does not trigger muscle contraction and cause more tension and pain. If a client is having a significant flare up of symptoms, do not perform the massage until symptoms calm down. Be careful in performing joint mobilization and stretching, as joints may be damaged and compromised.

Massage therapy has been shown to significantly reduce pain, increase mobility and reduce stress and anxiety for clients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Massage therapy should be light to moderate, and care should be taken with inflamed and potentially damaged joints. Clients with RA live with pain as a constant companion and truly appreciate any intervention which offers relief from that pain.