10 things you love

I read an article or quote this morning that talked about when people are asked to list 10 things they love people seldom listed themselves. I thought this was interesting. Though we can all sit and think that we have 10 things/people/priorities/etc that are way more important than ourselves, we should sit and think about how it feels to not include ourselves in that list. How would you feel if your spouse/child/parent/sibling/etc did not include you in that list? Not great I bet.

Why is it any different when you don’t include yourself in your own same list?

I’ve gone through times in my life that I would never have even thought about including myself in a list of things that I loved. But the article or quote made me take a double take. It makes me look at things a little differently and understand more about people. No wonder so many people just go through the motions of work, home life, etc each day.

I wish I would have bookmarked it or printed it out, but I was moving around too fast this morning to think about that. But the statement has stayed with me all day.

What does it mean to you? Does it shift your mind a little or make you look at certain things differently?

Time to take a break and do something nice for yourself :)

Feeling Calm

Calm  

When you think of being calm what do you picture or feel? Do you think of being alone in a place where it is quiet and not much going on around you? Do you think of laying quietly in a peaceful room? Take a moment to close your eyes and really picture a setting that looks and feels serene to you. Is there movement around you? Or is it free of activity?

When I think of being calm I picture my head being clear and free of random thoughts bouncing around. I picture myself sitting or laying down. There might be activity around me but maybe not. It is more of a feeling that if I feel centered in myself, the outside stuff doesn’t bother me as much. I find that when my emotions are on high, it is hard to find this calmness.

Bodywork is one of those things that can help us feel this way. It can help us, for a moment or a series of moments learn how to find this place easier. When we are allowed to completely relax and let our minds and bodies relax we are welcoming the peaceful calmness into our bodies and minds.  Bodywork allows us to quiet our emotions and it helps us learn how to find this place easier when we are by ourselves.

CranioSacral Therapy is a wonderful bodywork modality that is great at allowing our bodies to relax and our minds to take a break. It is a gentle non invasive type of bodywork that is done while the client lays fully clothed in a peaceful and quiet setting.

Massage Therapy is another great way to allow your body and mind to relax.  When we can allow our bodies to relax and let someone else help our bodies release the tension they are holding, we are training our bodies to unwind and feel more peaceful.

Thoughts

For the past several weeks I have not felt well. I have been dealing with some illnesses lately. Yesterday was the first day that I felt more normal. Still more tired than usual, but to be able to feel happier and with less pain was wonderful.  It got me thinking about how certain people we meet during our lives are thought of as withdrawn, rude, or cast aside because they seem to be anti-social. When maybe a lot of what seems to be rude behavior, may just be the fact that they are not feeling well. I know that when I’m not feeling well I do not feel like carrying on conversations with people, I tend not to smile a lot, etc etc.

What a difference it would make if, instead of sending these people unfair judgments we could send them love and caring. How much of a difference would that make in their lives? How much of a difference would that make in our lives? Doesn’t it feel better to send love rather than judgments?

Customer Service

It seems these days that good customer service is hard to come by. One of my biggest pet peeves it to go into a store and be treated rudely or just another problem to deal with in their busy day. To me, that shows that you don’t really want my business and I will happily go somewhere else that proves they do want and appreciate my business.

I recently had an experience at a jewelry store that really seemed to go above and beyond my expectations.  It really meant a lot to me and really showed me that they appreciate their customers and are willing to go out of their way to make their customers happy – to hopefully make them repeat customers.

This experience has shown me that there really are still places out there that are about the customer and not just about making another sale.

I hope I do the same with my clients. I hope I am able to show them that I truly appreciate their business and try to do everything I can to make sure they leave with less pain and with tools to carry through their days to feel better.

What is it that you like/expect from good customer service?

Referral SPECIAL! :)

I am going to start offering referral specials for clients for the rest of the 2015 year. If you are a client of mine and you refer someone (a friend, family member, colleague, whoever) to me for a session, and they book an appointment, you will get your next session 50% off!! This is a great deal!!! Just for telling a friend how wonderful you felt after coming to a session with me and in return they make an appointment with me, you will receive 50% off your next one hour session. Instead of paying $65 for a one hour session you will receive a one hour session for just $32.50. 

Just be sure to mention to the person you refer to tell me who referred them!

What could be a better deal than this? 

The more referrals you successfully make, the more money you save on your sessions. 

Set Backs...

How do you deal with set backs? How do you keep moving forward? What keeps you motivated so you keep putting one foot in front of the other?

I think, too many times, when something gets tough people throw in the towel. People may see illness or life hurdles as a way to give up. I don’t believe it always has to be. Instead, change your view to see it as a challenge instead of something that is impossible. 

What helps you keep going? Is it motivation from someone else? Is it motivation from inside of yourself? Or is it because you are trying to succeed to help someone or something else grow?

When I start to feel discouraged, I allow myself to fully feel and try to understand the reason I’m feeling discouraged, but then I try to think of ways to move past that. I try to think of ways that might make me feel better so I can pick myself up and keep going forward. 

Finding a way to release the discouraged feeling is important. Writing, playing/singing music, exercising, and/or talking to someone else are all good ways to release unnecessary feelings. The most important part is to find what might work for you.

What helps you to keep moving forward???

Active Isolated Stretching/Strengthening

Active Isolated Stretching

This weekend I attended an Active Isolated Stretching class. We learned ways to help people recover from injuries, help muscles have more range of motion, and increase flexibility.

During this class we were able to work on ourselves and on each other seeing how much of an effect the stretching was having on our mobility. By day 3 we were feeling very limber and moving more freely.  We were able to watch, as we worked on each other, our range of motion increase and pain decrease as we continually did the stretching technique.

A quote taken from Aaron L  Mattes book – Active Isolated Streching: The Mattes Method, “Trauma, overuse, and age are the most common causes of muscle tightness resulting in protective flexor postures.”

As we age we slow down and may develop poor habits like hunched shoulders or our hips may become tight because of changes in our walking habits. This work can help you stand straighter and move with less pain.

Stretching is important for your bodies’ circulation, oxygenation, relaxation, lymphatic circulation, and tissue lengthening. Everyone should incorporate stretching in their daily routines.

We also were instructed on exercises to go along with the stretching that people can do to strengthen the weak areas.  The exercises we learned can help in becoming stronger, improving posture, and decrease pain.

This work is great for anyone who is recovering from an injury or anyone who feels like they can improve performance in various areas of their life.