More research notes: we all know massage feels good and helps heal sore muscles, but how? In one clinical trial, research subjects performed difficult exercises, and then received Swedish massage on only one leg. Biopsies on each leg found that massage activated genes that decrease inflammation and promote energy generation within cells, resulting in muscles that hurt less and grow quicker. If you want the source go to today's blog entry. So, do what horse trainers know-get a good rub down after exercise!
The study was published in February 2012 in Science Translational Medicine. I read the story in Body Sense Magazine, Spring Issue, 2012, which you can link to from my website. This issue also contains one of my favorite articles "I'm a Massage Convert" which tells one man's story about why he spends his very few discretionary dollars on regular massage.
Are you a convert?
Peace
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
What Is and What Is No More, Progress?
Two poems of change,
Buffalo Dusk
The buffalo are gone.
And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.
Those who saw the buffaloes by the thousands and how they
pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs,
their great heads down pawing on in a great pageant
of dusk,
those who saw the buffaloes are gone,
And the buffaloes are gone.
-----Carl Sandburg
The Flower-Fed Buffaloes
The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
In the days of long ago
Ranged where the locomotives sing
And the prairie flowers lie low:
The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass
Is swept away by wheat,
Wheels and wheels and wheels spin by
In the spring that still is sweet.
But the flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
Left us long ago,
They gore no more, they bellow no more:--
With the Blackfeet lying low,
With the Pawnee lying low.
--------Vachel Lindsay
These two poets, born a year apart, were both members of the Chicago School of Poets.
Buffalo Dusk
The buffalo are gone.
And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.
Those who saw the buffaloes by the thousands and how they
pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs,
their great heads down pawing on in a great pageant
of dusk,
those who saw the buffaloes are gone,
And the buffaloes are gone.
-----Carl Sandburg
The Flower-Fed Buffaloes
The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
In the days of long ago
Ranged where the locomotives sing
And the prairie flowers lie low:
The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass
Is swept away by wheat,
Wheels and wheels and wheels spin by
In the spring that still is sweet.
But the flower-fed buffaloes of the spring
Left us long ago,
They gore no more, they bellow no more:--
With the Blackfeet lying low,
With the Pawnee lying low.
--------Vachel Lindsay
These two poets, born a year apart, were both members of the Chicago School of Poets.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Safely Stretching Necks and Easing Computer Eyes
(this is a continuation of a conversation from my Face Book page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rising-Sun-Massage/1662628780544032)
OK, back to stretching the neck, it's pretty straight forward ( or sideways) but you should not bend the neck straight back. This compresses all the vertebra and can cause more strain and pain. To stretch the front of the neck, tilt the head back and left, and then back and right. When doing any stretching, go to where you first feel a gentle stretch and hold it there until you feel the tissues release, then if you want to go further, gently do so.
There are organelles in the tissues that tell your brain how much stretch is being put on the muscles,(this is also where several parts of your balance system are located) and since the muscle's job is to protect your joints any sudden over stimulation of the length sensors causes the muscles to contract. So, slow and easy is the way to make progress, and of course, consistency. Easy, right? Pick a body part every day to focus on, and every thing will get at least some attention on a regular basis.
You can do stretches statically, moving into one position and holding it, or you can do a moving stretch. This has be particularly mindful. There are fluids that are produced in joints only when they are moving that help with motion and comfort. So if you are rehabbing an injury, movement is your friend. Just go slow and easy. You can do circles with your head, slowly.Feeling every part at each moment will protect your neck and muscles. There are nerves in the neck that can cause some vertigo if stretched overly much, so take caution when stretching the neck. The best prevention for neck strain is the proverbial warning: HEADS UP!
At my website you can find a link to this season's edition of Body Sense Magazine and an article about how using computers is causing eye and neck muscle strain. go here: http://www.risingsunmassage.massagetherapy.com/body-sense-magazine to read the article.
Peace
OK, back to stretching the neck, it's pretty straight forward ( or sideways) but you should not bend the neck straight back. This compresses all the vertebra and can cause more strain and pain. To stretch the front of the neck, tilt the head back and left, and then back and right. When doing any stretching, go to where you first feel a gentle stretch and hold it there until you feel the tissues release, then if you want to go further, gently do so.
There are organelles in the tissues that tell your brain how much stretch is being put on the muscles,(this is also where several parts of your balance system are located) and since the muscle's job is to protect your joints any sudden over stimulation of the length sensors causes the muscles to contract. So, slow and easy is the way to make progress, and of course, consistency. Easy, right? Pick a body part every day to focus on, and every thing will get at least some attention on a regular basis.
You can do stretches statically, moving into one position and holding it, or you can do a moving stretch. This has be particularly mindful. There are fluids that are produced in joints only when they are moving that help with motion and comfort. So if you are rehabbing an injury, movement is your friend. Just go slow and easy. You can do circles with your head, slowly.Feeling every part at each moment will protect your neck and muscles. There are nerves in the neck that can cause some vertigo if stretched overly much, so take caution when stretching the neck. The best prevention for neck strain is the proverbial warning: HEADS UP!
At my website you can find a link to this season's edition of Body Sense Magazine and an article about how using computers is causing eye and neck muscle strain. go here: http://www.risingsunmassage.massagetherapy.com/body-sense-magazine to read the article.
Peace
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