A MESSAGE FROM MATT: THE
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
The new year is upon us, and I hope it brings you blessings of joy, health and peace. Thank you to everyone who responded to my Chanukah discount and logged on to check out the new website at www.jerusalemmassage.com .
Aside from offering our unique and expert approach to massage therapy and bodywork, Jerusalem Massage has big plans for 2006: we aim to be a first-rate resource for people to learn about health and massage, through the offering of seminars on varying health topics, information and videos on our website, distribution of this newsletter, and the creation of a network of healthcare professionals and teachers throughout Israel, and eventually worldwide (if you are a healthcare professional, and would like your classes or seminars listed on the Jerusalem Massage website or in the newsletter, please drop a line).
Our first health seminar, The New Holistic Paradigm, led by Dr. Sol Grazi, has been a resounding success. Topics have included how to prevent heart disease, causes and cures for headaches and migraines, and when to reach for antibiotics. CDs of all 10 seminar sessions will be available for purchase on our website as of early February.
The Art of Subtle Palpation, Level 1, a 30 hour first level course, taught by Shmuel Berger, P.T., of the Berger Institute, is now under way. Combining techniques from Craniosacral Therapy, Zero Balancing and Visceral Manipulation, this course is for any health care professional interested in deepening their work, quieting their mind, and using their hands to listen. I took this course as an intensive a year and a half ago, and can personally vouch for its powerful and transformative effects.
To schedule a massage session or purchase one of our newly available gift cards, contact us at 052-636-2000.
HEADLINES: NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF HEALTH AND MASSAGE
*According to ABC News, a
*Work-life programs used to be viewed as a nice perk. But new research shows they're also crucial factors affecting employee productivity and retention. Among the findings cited by Incentive Magazine: 56% of companies in Corporate America have wellness programs, 19% offer stress-reduction tips to workers, 20% have on-site fitness centers, and 13% now offer on-site massage therapy.
*No matter how energized you may have felt in the morning , by mid-afternoon, your body and mind have just about had it. CNN offers five tips on how to perk up from the “3 P.M. slump,” including drinking peppermint tea (which can improve mood and motivation), sitting up straight (bad posture decreases the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain by 30%) and massaging your ears to feel more alert (there are many nerve endings in the ears).
*A retired General Electric engineer with neck and jaw pain has invented the “masseuse robot.” Equipped with titanium prongs on a robotic arm covered in black plastic, the robot is said to sense muscle resistance and changes pressure as the muscles tighten or relax. The constant force ultimately relaxes the body and allows for effective muscular release. A technician stands by to give commands. According to Vogue, the robot is in use at 20
*
HEALTHY BODY/HEALTHY MIND: TIPS OF THE MONTH
*Now that the weather has turned cold (and thank God there has been rain in
forget to drink lots of water. Hydration is not just important during the heat of the summer
months. The air outside is often dry in the wintertime, as is the air inside, due to heating systems.
Don’t replace water with sports drinks – nothing is as clean and natural as water.
*“Judge every person favorably” – Pirkei Avot 1:6
If there is one surefire way to prevent stress, this is it. Integrating this piece of wisdom from our sages into your life will save you time and energy (which you would otherwise expend on being angry), and elevate your mood. This is not easy advice to follow. When we think someone may have wronged us, our natural instinct is to take offense or jump to conclusions. Instead, when a situation comes up where you could either judge someone towards the side of good or the side of bad, take a step back, and choose good. Stop it at its source and feel the difference. Not only because you would want someone else to do the same for you, but because to do otherwise robs you of your productivity, your health, your life.
MINDFUL MEDITATIONS
“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us to see their own images and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even a fiercer life because of our silence.” – William Butler Yeats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How I Come To You
How I come to You: I listen
for the quiet in my mind. Eyes closed,
the niggun starts; I am filled
in with clear and cleansing space.
You are the stillness
of my thoughts; You are the rise
and fall of my chest, sensation,
breath. The play of light
on walls, the rustle
of leaves, the smile of a child,
footsteps in water- all are You.
This is how I come to You.
To a place of peace, an inner light,
a wanderer in the desert
still. A soul brought
down and on the rise, humbled
in a wave of Heavenly light; a perfect
calm, a quiet storm, free from harm,
This is how I come to You.
© Micha’el Rose, 2006.
Q AND A: YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Each month, I will answer a different reader question about massage therapy. If you have any questions you would like answered, please send it via e-mail with Newsletter Q & A in the subject line.
Q: What do massage therapists actually do?
A: This is the question I get asked all the time. At the most basic level a massage therapist manipulates soft tissue to alleviate pain and stress, improve circulation and flexibility and work out muscle spasms and tension. Therapists may use oils, lotions, aromatherapy, moist heat and ice in their practice, but mostly they achieve results through use of their hands – kneading, tapping, rolling and stretching muscles and tissues. A massage therapist is a healer and a facilitator, helping you to achieve mind/body integration and overall wellness.
DID YOU KNOW?: FACTS AND FIGURES
Massage was first used as a healing modality 4,000 years ago as a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine. From there, it spread to
FEEDBACK
If you have any ideas, critiques, comments or thoughts on the Jerusalem Massage newsletter or website, we would love to hear from you! Are there any workshops or classes on health related topics you would like to see offered by Jerusalem Massage (i.e. Couples Massage, Health in the Workplace, etc.)? Please let us know…and we will do our best to make it happen!
Feel Good, Stay Healthy and Be Happy….
Matt Gleicher, CMT
Jerusalem Massage
052-636-2000