Great loving for ourselves

Great love (and sex) starts with loving ourselves. Recently I had the extreme pleasure of hearing one of my favourite authors, Naomi Wolf speak. She spoke about women and their self esteem from her book, the famous Beauty Myth. I have been shocked to have had a few potential female clients who wanted to get massage but didn't because they were embarrassed about me seeing their bodies. When and more importantly HOW did we get so worried? I've been told by some women that they haven't worn shorts in years, even in extreme heat. How did this happen? Its likely because of the media.

Ms. Wolf describe how TV sponsors have been required to advertise diet companies like Jenny Craig right before a guest on the TV Show appears - if that guest is not close to the Barbie look. So if the guest is heavier, or not as attractive, they will be made to feel more unattractive with the preceding commercials. Ms. Wolf talked about anorexia and how the rates of obesity AND anorexia are both up exponentially and cosmetic surgery became the fastest growing industry. If you'd like to see an extreme case, have a look at the French model in an Italian campaign to bring about awareness here. She told us how the average north american woman would rather lose 15 pounds than achieve any other goal. Women, the most accomplished beautiful creatures, who have achieve more financially, politically and legally in these times than in any other time in history, still worry about how their bodies look in a bikini.

Women in hollywood are quite typically, and historically, blonde, tall, looking no more than 25 years old and weighing at least 20% less than what her height requires. And this is who women hold as their standard. Click here

I think its so funny that the winner of America's Next Top model, a size 10, was a Plus Size Model. There is another Dove video about a boy calling a girl he likes. The caption reads, Amy can name 12 things about herself she finds unattractive, Joey can find one. This is so prevalent in women.

The myth beauty is being skinny, blonde and young but what about thickness, it says beauty is found in youth. Older women can be cover girls too like actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Cybyl Shepard, Oprah, and Isabella Rossellini, all in their 50s and 60s. Some say beauty is the most fair skinned but look at all the colours of beauty.

"True beauty is found within yourself. Beauty is the radiance of truth and the fragrance of goodness. The best of part of beauty is that which no picture can express" - Francis Bacon Sr.

"The kind of beauty I want most is the hard to get kind that comes from within - strength, courage, dignity." - Ruby Dee

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which means everyone has to create their own definition.

Anorexia statistics are rising. But what strikes me is the little things, clients who worry that I'll judge them for not shaving their legs, or not eating or worrying that their arms are too big for short sleeves.

Even women's magazines at the grocery store takes the stand that we are not good enough; about how to improve everything from your looks to your sex life to how to finally lose those last few stubborn pounds (in only 2 weeks!).

I certainly weigh more now than I did in my younger years and yet, having gone through years of fighting media images and losing 30 pounds due to a health concern, I feel better about myself than I ever have. I went to Hawaii recently and while I was one of those women who for a short time didn't wear shorts, I bought a bikini and walked as those I was Cindy Crawford.

I talk to women who I am quite impressed with and then they reveal how they don't think of themselves as all that great, can't take a compliment and slander themselves at any chance.

Let's, finally, once and for all, stand up and love ourselves - just because...

Drinking cold water after a meal

Drinking Cold water after a meal = Cancer!
For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion.. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

The importance of Eating Fruit

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It's not as easy as you think; It's important to know how and when to eat.

What is the correct way of eating fruits?

It means not eating fruits after your meals. Fruits should be eaten on an empty stomach. If you eat fruit on an empty stomach, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.

Fruit is the most important food - Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so.

In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil.

So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining - every time I eat water-melon I burp, when I eat durian (fruit from Asia with a foul smell yet delicious flavor) my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet,etc - actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat! Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes - all these will not happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach.

There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic,because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the Secret of beauty, longevity, health,energy, happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans.. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins. But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it.

You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look!

KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium,vitamin E & fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoid which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

ORANGE: Sweetest medicine, eating 2 to 4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene - the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C
& Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes.

Sugar and You

How much TV do you really watch?” Just like the answer to that question, the answer to “How much sugar do you really eat?” is usually “hardly ever”. But did you know that eating just a tiny bit of sugar can affect your immune system?

Most people would never touch drugs but did you know that sugar is just like a drug, In fact, sugar is only one element in difference to a drug like cocaine. Like many drugs, sugar starts out as an innocent little plant and with heat and processing turns into a deadly consumable that can harm your body and your life. That may seem a little dramatic, but once you hear the following statistics, you may be off sugar for life.

In the early 1900s, the average North American ate about 5lbs of sugar in a year. These days, with added sugar in everything from savoury foods like store-bought spaghetti sauce to condiments like ketchup, we eat more than 100 times that amount (and it’s killing us).

What is sugar?

Sugar comes in many forms; sucrose (brown or white sugar), fructose, glucose and malt. (Honey can be included, though it isn’t as bad as the others when not pasteurised.) Sugar is derived from plants, liquefied and processed, bleached with chlorine and dried. There are no nutrients left from the cane and beet plants they came from. It has been studied and proven to be highly addictive.

What happens when you eat sugar?

When you eat sugar, your system takes nutrients from other places in your body so that this non-food can be processed. In the process, your immunity is sapped; calcium is sapped from your bones causing osteoporosis.

What does it do?

Sugar affects us in so many ways. Many illnesses that we hear about, like cancer and cardiovascular disease, were not even an issue in the early part of the last century. Nowadays, most people I talk to know someone who is suffering from devastating diseases like heart disease and cancer or even headaches, asthma, depression, diabetes, gallstones or arthritis or intense cravings for coffee or sugar (particularly in the mid-afternoon). These are all situations caused by the consumption of sugar. One of the most brutal ways sugar affects us is with our immunity. After consuming sugar, say the amount in a small chocolate bar, your endocrine and nervous systems are then affected and your immunity will stay suppressed for up to 5 hours. Your body’s defence mechanism would not be fighting a cold or heart disease or hypertension or fighting any other disease, for up to 5 hours.

Here are some of the ways sugar can affect your health:

· Sugar can suppress the immune system.

· Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.

· Sugar contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection.

· Sugar can cause kidney damage.

· Sugar can increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

· Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.

· Sugar can promote tooth decay.

· Sugar can produce an acidic stomach (disease cannot exist in an alkaline environment).

· Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair.

· Sugar can increase total cholesterol.

· Sugar can contribute to weight gain and obesity.

· Sugar can contribute to diabetes.

· Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.

· Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.

· Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure.

· Sugar causes food allergies.

· Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.

· Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.

· Sugar can cause depression.

· Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.

· Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance.

· Sugar can cause hypertension.

· Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.

· Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha and theta brain waves, which can alter the mind's ability to think clearly.

What can I do about it?

Some people say its okay to consume a little bit of sugar, say 10-15% of your total calories. Other experts agree that you must be vigilant to eliminate sugar completely from your diet.

The first thing you can do is to begin to eliminate sugar from your diet a little at a time. Take one day a week without sugar and then increase to 2 and then 3 days a week. Read labels and buy items than don’t have sugar listed first in the ingredients on the label if at all. When you do eat sugar, look for fruit sugars as they are better for you than chemically refined white or brown sugar. Start to convert to Stevia, Xylitol and Agave Nectar all of which can be purchased at your local health food store.

Adopt the 80/20 rule – eat right 80% of the time and leave the 20% for weekends or nights out.

Sugar is a highly addictive chemical that causes death. Its not an easy road to change your diet, but one that you’ll be happy with immediately as your notice the changes in your body and mind and in future as a healthy elderly person.

7 Ways to Detox Daily

1. Eat green apples; thy naturally detoxify as they bind metals with toxins and pull them out of the body.

2. Avoid processed foods, refined sugars and alcohol.

3. Add lemon to water to aid digestion.

4. Chew food well to aid digestion, which helps put less stress on the kidneys and liver.

5. Minimize the use of chemical-based household cleaners and personal care products.

6. Drink green tea.

7. Get regular massages.

Compiled by Barbara Fabian, January 2009

Drink A Coke Right Now

What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now?

December 8, 2006 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Drink, Prevention, Your Body

*

Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? It’s because it gets you high. They took the cocaine out almost a hundred years ago. You know why? It was redundant.

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the abilityto hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.) But, hey, have another Coke, it’ll make you feel better.

[tags] coke, effects, pharmacology, soda, caffeine, sugar [/tags]

*FYI: The Coke itself is not the enemy, here. It’s the dynamic combo of massive sugar doses combined with caffeine and phosphoric acid. Things which are found in almost all soda.

A great healthy drink

The "Immortal Health Elixir"

By Yarixa Ferrao

Usually you drink to quench your thirst. But there's a great tasting, energizing beverage that does much more for you.

I'm talking about Kombucha.

Kombucha is a lightly sweetened, fermented tea that dates back to China's Qin Dynasty (around 250 BC), where it was called the "immortal health elixir." The fermentation process forms:

• Enzymes that aid digestion

• Probiotics - the good bacteria that help with immune function, nutrient absorption, and inflammation reduction

• Organic acids, which help detoxify the liver

• Polyphenols, chemical substances found in plants that have antioxidant characteristics

• B Vitamins, which help support and increase metabolism, maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, enhance immune and nervous system function, and promote cell growth

Best of all, Kombucha is low in calories and sugar, so you can drink it every day.

You can brew it yourself, but I don't recommend it. My favorite commercial brand is Synergy, available in lots of flavors, including Cosmic Cranberry, Gingerberry, and Gingeraide.

Self care & Cellulite Reduction

Skin Brushing

Using a brush with real bristles, brush the skin in upward movements all over body or affected areas. Hand gloves may be substituted as it is ideal for removing dead skin tissue. This method increases the blood circulation. Brushing should be done before the bathing rituals and massage applications. This should be done every day.

Lymphatic Drainage/Cold Water Method

Use a detachable shower-head) Shower with cold water. The firm pressure of cold water will contract the blood vessels and lymph. Massage your skin with the water. Making sure you work inside the ledge, thighs and groin areas. Circular movements (clockwise direction) in abdomen region, then up the inner arms and armpits. (min twice a week during drainage sessions or as often as you can).

Hot Water Method

Bathing in hot water and having the water hot enough that you will sweat, but comfortable enough to lie in. Shower or sponge afterwards to wash off sweat. Hot baths should be done twice a week during sessions.

Bathing methods

Bathing in Epsom salt is ideal, as the salt draws out the toxins in the skin. Use 2 handfuls of Epsom salt and 1 handful of rock salt in bath. You can mix with dry lavender, 6 drops of lemon and 8 drops of grapefruit essentials oils.

Improving cellulite appearance

Fill the bathtub and add 2 drops of each oil: Juniper, Grapefruit, cypress and Mandarin. Mix well in water before climbing in. This mix is mildly astringent and it will temporarily tighten the skin, improving the appearance of cellulite.

If you have dry skin, try premixing the oils with one teaspoon of a carrier oil, along with a 1/2 cup of milk or a tablespoon of honey for added moisturizing benefits.

Essential Oil Bathing

Bathing in essential oils is very beneficial. The oils in the bath penetrate the skin by osmosis. Pinching and gently pummeling the cellulite areas will help break-down the fatty deposits.

Daily Massage

Massage the areas in upward movements towards the heart. Using the pads of your fingers, thumbs and “spongy areas” of the hand. Massage should be done in the morning and when you go to bed. Twice a day, if time permits. Massaging the cellulite areas should also be done during the bathing rituals.

Aromatherapy & Pregnancy

There are some divided ideas on the dangers of certain essential oils used in aromatherapy during pregnancy, but since this time should be a time to enjoy and to prepare for the upcoming birth of your child, it would be wise to rather give some essentials oils a miss.

Aromatherapy can be a great benefit during pregnancy and assists in minimizing some of the discomfort and aches.

There are however some compounds in certain essential oils that have hormone-like behaviour because of their molecular structure and although there is no conclusive evidence on the effect of estrogenic oils it would be prudent to avoid anethole rich oils, like fennel and aniseed during pregnancy.

This list has been compiled with oils that are recommended to be avoided in pregnancy.

Almond – bitter Aniseed

Angelica Root Basil

Birch Black pepper

Camphor Caraway

Cedarwood Cypress

Chamomile* Cinnamon

Clary sage Clove

Eucalyptus Fennel

Fir Geranium

Ginger Hyssop

Jasmine** Juniper

Lavender* Lemon

Lemon grass Marjoram

Melissa Myrrh

Nutmeg Oregano

Pennyroyal Peppermint

Pine Rose*

Rosemary Sage

Stinging nettle Tansy

Thyme Yarrow*

Wintergreen

Chamomile, lavender & rose may be used in low doses in last trimester. ** Jasmine can be used during delivery, as it will ease labour.

Written by Deb Drummond

Exfoliating your skin

Get rid of it. Get rid of the dead skin making your face and body look dull, lacklustre and well, older.

Our bodies are amazing, even to the point of sloughing off and renewing our own dead skin. But the rate at which this happens slows as we get older and as people go from their 30s to their 40s and 50s, decreases from 20 days to up to 40 days. As this natural process slows, dead skin dead skin cells pile up on top of each other (eew!) resulting in skin being thicker, duller-looking and drier. Dead skin also prevents oxygen, moisture and nutrients from reaching your living skin, and then sags and holds onto wrinkles.

So you might be asking, “Where is the radiant skin I used to have?” - Its there; you just can’t see it underneath the dead skin cells. Only by exfoliating will your skin reveal its gorgeous self. Gentle exfoliation using a salt rub with essential oils such as Lemon or Peppermint or my exceptional Coffee Grind Rub, also helps with ingrown hairs. For men, exfoliation lifts your beard up, meaning a closer shave.

Sun Tanning

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of tan lines on my massage table. This can be a good thing as it means we’re out getting some sunshine. But mostly, it’s a concern. You won’t get cancer from being in the sun - in fact, the sun helps your body make Vitamin D, which protects you from cancer. You should, however, protect yourself from burning and we all know to stay out of the sun in peak hours. There is a lot of controversy over tanning and sunscreens. Sunscreens are often touted as a defense against cancer but in fact may contribute to it. Some chemicals in sunscreen are carcinogenic or toxic. There are new lines of sun products are coming out – one that I like (recommended by Brenda Eastwood, RNCP) is called Miessence Skin Care Line. This is a new, non-toxic sunscreen that won’t lead to cancer. As well, there are a couple of new lines of clothing specially designed for surfers that protect you against the sun. If you’d like to learn more about sunscreens, give me a call and I’ll give you some great resources.

Trouble Sleeping?

I hear so often from my clients that they have trouble sleeping. It is critical to your health and over all well-being to get a sound sleep - just as important, if not more so, than diet and exercise. Did you know that 75% of adults have frequent bouts of sleeplessness? Lack of sleep can cause your normal functions to weaken due to the increased levels of cortisol in your body. There are more reasons for the inability to get to sleep or stay asleep than there is space for in this newsletter. Underlying causes include stress, anxiety, and depression.

You do not have to rely on over-the-counter medications. There are a number of ways that you can help yourself sleep. First of all, lessen the amount of mental stimulation (e.g. Television, computer work) at least one hour before you plan to go to sleep. Do not eat sugar in your dinner or after dinner snack as it causes your blood sugar to spike. Take a high quality, high dose of Magnesium supplement or alternate source of magnesium before bedtime – magnesium directs the calcium in your body to help you relax and fall asleep. Having a massage starts your evening ‘slow down’ process. Rub an essential oil like Lavender, Marjoram, Sandalwood, or Rose on the soles of your feet before bed – within 20 minutes, it will circulate in your body and provide immeasurable calm so you can sleep

Cellulite

I didn't know that...
Summer is here, I can tell because everyone’s car windows are down and kids in bathing suits are running through a sprinkler in their front yard. For most women, that brings up unwanted thoughts of beach and bikinis which brings to mind the dreaded “C” word – Cellulite. Everyone has it. Whether they’re thin or overweight, 85-90% of women have it. Even thin and physically fit celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears and Nicole Kidman have it. While its not easy to get rid of and every company out there has THE product to get rid of that cottage cheese skin, (308,000 hits on Google), there are some ways to fight it.

Cellulite is fat that has pushed through cell walls into the middle layer of skin and so shows through to the surface but it doesn’t really matter what it is - What’s important is how do you get rid of it? The secret is to keep the blood vessels open and flowing smoothly. Drink lots of water, avoid salt and processed food (water retention contributes to cellulite problems), kick the coffee and the smokes (because these constrict your blood vessels) and get regular exfoliating massage. In between treatments, practice drybrushing daily and bathe a couple of times a week in Cellulite Salts with Cellulite Essential Oil Blend which will pull toxins from your body. Ask me if you’d like more information.

Couples Massage

When you get a massage you are likely to feel rejuvenated, relaxed, and ready to relax for the rest of the day. The next day, you’ll be ready to take on your world!! Imagine having that same feeling and sharing it with someone you care about.

If you feel restored after a massage, what would happen if you and your partner had one together? What would happen if you two were on the same wave length, at the same time? This is synergy and this is what happens when you have a Couples Massage. Having a massage together creates the common ground of an experience. After a massage at the same time, in the same room, many of my clients have said they feel better about themselves and about their partner and that they are more loving and patient to their kids and everyone in their world. It’s the power of touch and touch is fundamental to human existence.

Babies, particularly in Third World countries, it is said, have died without touch, despite having food and shelter, in what is called “Failure to Thrive”. In relationships where one person doesn’t talk much, touch is a way to communicate, to build good feelings for each other. Ladies, this is also a great way to introduce your man to massage if he is a little apprehensive about it. Nurturing touch is very important for our soul and for our emotional heart, something that often can be lacking in a relationship.

This experience, this synergy, is not just for couples. Anyone can experience this participation in harmony. How would your friend, mom, even co-workers react with a ‘morale-building’ exercise like this one?

Sports Massage

What do Joe Montana, Martina Navratilova and Michael Jordan all have in common? All three are athletes who have reached the top of their sport. What helped them to get through their gruelling practice session was sports massage.* While you may not be a Michael or a Martina, maybe you’ve put your runners away because it’s snowing outside, maybe you have your skis or snowboard waiting on ‘Standby’ at the door. After a day on the slopes or if you’re still running outside, you likely need to give some extra love and care to your muscles. That’s where sports massage comes in.

So often I hear a client say they started to feel a small ache or bit of a ‘pull’ but ignored it thinking it would go away. The issue comes when it didn’t go away. Post-event sports massage, given within 4 hours of exercise, could have alleviated that situation promptly. Rehabilitative massage can also help, but again you need it within a few days at the latest. Ignoring the situation causes increased pain or other overuse injuries.

For athletes or the ‘weekend warrior’, giving your hips and leg and back muscles a post-event and rehabilitative massage is just what you need to keep you on the move. Sports massage aims at recovery, normalizing your stressed muscles and treating any minor muscle tissue complaints you may have. Sports massage is different though; for one thing, it isn’t the relaxing style that you get at a spa. This might cause you to groan and gasp just a little. while this can still be ‘full body’, we concentrate on the area that’s been a problem, the areas that are used in your sport of choice. If you have tight, stiff, sore muscles, or edema (swelling) is evident around certain joints typically caused by overuse or improper body mechanics. The specific techniques involve compression and broadening of the muscles, deep sliding strokes, cross-fibre and transverse/circular friction; ‘picking up’ the muscles brings blood and oxygen to an under-stretched muscle. Sports massage also includes facilitated stretching, helping you get rid of any lactic acid built up during your activity.

Stages of Rehab include several stages such as the primary focus of reducing muscle spasm, then restoring flexibility, and rebuilding muscle strength and endurance.

A little sports massage and you’ll be running out for more exercise.


* quoted from “Sports Massage for Every Athlete” by Michael J. Taylor, LMT