Peaceful Touch at Acorn Preschool

One of my closest friends, Liz, and I decided we wanted to include a very important but often overlooked population to our list of massage clients. After seeing a video on Peaceful Touch Massage with Children, we were so motivated by the reactions and influence it has on children that we started our own Service Learning Internship at the Acorn Preschool.

We already completed a quarter (10 weeks) of this Internship and are continuing again for our last quarter. So far it has been such a rewarding experience and really fun!

Objectives for Peaceful Touch Massage with Children:
~To promote awareness of the relationship between non-violence and healthy touch, socializing and learning.
~To educate young children about the ownership of their own body and voice through communication and the permission process.
~To provide a touch that is necessary for human growth and development.
~To introduce touch at nap time as well as during structured lessons.

Benefits
~Children may become calmer and have a greater ability to focus because of the calming hormone, oxytocin, being released through touch.
~Children may be more socially competent and have an increased sense of worth and esteem.
~Massage can help influence learning and school work, as well as improve group functioning.
~Massage can increase the contact and thus inhance the bond between parents and children.

I am so excited about this internship and working with others who are committed to the success of our future!

"The power of touch is miraculous in its simplicity. It is a necessary gift of nature, without which a human being cannot thrive." ~ Peaceful Touch

Hot Springs...What a Beautiful Day!

Today my workout partner and I decided to reward and rejuvinate our bodies, minds, and spirits but going to the Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs, CO. I have never been to a hot springs and was really excited. The drive was amazingly beautiful. There was a light rainy, snowy mist and the mountains were just sprinkled with snow. The trees were huge and smiling and it was mesmorizing to view the scenery on the drive past Golden, CO to Idaho Springs, CO.

Indian Hot Springs were nice...definately not the most upscale place to go but great for people like me on a budget who just want to take a few hours and enjoy peace and serenity. If you want to check it out the website is: www.indianhotsprings.com

We went in the Geo Thermal Cave Baths and it felt like you were walking into a hot hot hot bath. At first I felt a little too hot but once my body got used to the air and water I really enjoy the experience. At one point I found myself meditating and really focusing on my breathing. I felt happy and joyful and for once in the last 3 weeks felt my muscles relaxing and letting go of built up tension.

On the way home, in the town of Idaho Springs, CO, we stopped at a Gypsum Rose Minerals & Fossils and met the most amazing, wise, old, sweet, woman. She was the owner of the shop and went on about her children, grandchildren, and life stories for about an hour. She must have been in her 70's or 80's but she was amusing and held my attention for a long time. Sometimes it is the people we come across in our journeys that hold meaning.

We are planning on going back after the next phase of our workout, if not before. I hope to explore more of the Hot Springs that Colorado has to offer because it is an experience and sensation that everyone should get to have more than once in their lives!

Sometimes a State of Exhaustion Can be a Positive Experience

Integrative Massage is teaching me a lot about myself and my place in the world. We have learned so much in 8 weeks already and this has allowed me to open myself more to challenges and opportunities as they come.

My Pilates instructor spoke about a new workout routine she wanted to try one day and after thinking about it, I decided to become her workout partner through this journey. The workout I am speaking of is P90X. I have watched numerous infomercials on this product and knew a couple of people who actually did the program and enjoyed the results. This is a huge challenge to my mind, body and even spirit.

Here is the website in case you are interested in looking at the program:

Week 1 is almost over and I can feel a shift in myself already. My Integrative teacher, Melanie Russell, as well as fellow classmates seem to be enjoying this new person they see. Honestly, I feel like a dumb jock most of the time! I feel blank, lost, exhausted and just focused on these daily workouts but I am looking forward to seeing the changes that each week and each phase brings. My only goal is to COMPLETE the 90 days and then take it from there! I seem to have trouble finishing projects and goals so this is something I am doing for myself and for my confidence.

"Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever"
~ a quote that has come up a lot in my life! :)

The Invitation ~ By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or mix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty, every day and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mind, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "YES!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

This Beach Bum is FREEEEZING!

Take me back to the warm, sunny weather and the cool, refreshing waters by the beach!

For the past few days its been SO COLD...not 20 degrees cold...I'm talking REALLY COLD! According the the weather channel, it is currently 4 degrees outside but feels like -13 degrees!!!! This is something I am not used to at all but it's funny how quickly I'm learning to (because I have no other option) acclimate.

In VA, people would stay in their homes, with hot cocoa by the fireplace. It would most likely be a snow day and all the kids (and government workers ;)) would celebrate!

In CO, people continue going to the gym, school, work, and running errands like it's nothing! Today, I babysat in the morning but treated myself to starbucks beforehand. No one else seemed bothered by frozen hands or red noses...it just reminds me that the world and life continues whether I am up for it or not.

This winter is probably going to be a very cold and snowy one...I just have to keep thinking warm thoughts and reminding myself that this season will pass and the sun will come out soon! Wishing everyone a great winter season with lots of warmth and cheer!

Infant Massage

"Being touched and caressed, being massaged, is food for the infant. Food as necessary as minerals, vitamins and proteins."

~ Dr.Frederick Leboyer

The past two weekends of my life have been great but have been occupied with the Infant Massage Elective at BCMT. The elective teaches students (soon-to-be therapists)how to teach infant massage to parents and other caregivers.

Massaging an infant, whether it's yours or a baby you are caring for, has so many benefits. Some of the many benefits include:

*enhances your baby's bond with you
*creates healthy tone in your baby's developing muscles and reduces muscle tension
*enhances your baby's immune system
*helps reduce the discomforts of digestion, elimination, and teething and may eliminate colic in some cases
*facilitates better sleep patterns
*for the premature baby, may increase weight gain and the chance of an earlier discharge from the hospital
*strengthens your communication with and your intuition about your child
*allows you to be an example of compassion and love for your baby
*gives partners a specific role to fulfill in parenting which helps them feel integrated and important in the parenting process

"Touch is a language that can communicate more love in five seconds, than five minutes of carefully chosen words."

~ Phyllis Davis,Power of Touch

I worked with the sweetest 9 week old girl these past two weeks and really enjoyed her company. She already slept 7 hours a night and was very calm. Her mother came to the sessions and ended up massaging her daughter almost everyday during the week. She saw positive changes in the both of them. Her daughter had more solid stool and her digestion was better! The mom said that she enjoyed the quiet time with her new infant and felt calmer. This experience makes me excited for my own children and had left me wanting to persue a certificate in infant massage so I can work at health centers and hospitals. Many people think they spoil their children when they touch them or hold them too much but healthy touch and love is what people, especially new people to this world, need in order to feel safe and to thrive.

Normalization of Soft Tissue (NST)

This quarter I am taking a class focusing on the evaluation and treatment of postural dysfunction and traumatic injuries. This course involves learning Myofascial Release, Trigger Point Therapy, Muscle Energy Techniques, Lymphatic Drainage, and Cyriax Cross Fiber Friction. There is so much to learn and remember..but I feel like I am learning techniques that can really help me help others.

I have clinics every other week on Wednesdays. This time, everyone in my quarter is doing 3 in a row! So from 2-6 we are working with the public and giving massages. It's great to experience so many clients in such a short period of time and seeing how I handle each client and situation differently. Some clients just want to relax and receive a Swedish session, while others are very open to deeper work and having me evaluate their Range of Motion or Posture. Everyone is different and that's what I have to keep remembering so that I can help them help themselves.

I'm also beginning to have repeat clients come into the clinic and am starting to advertise myself more so that I can be in a good position (client wise) once I graduate. I think the hardest part about NST will be to remember all of the techniques and great information!