Happiness Breeds Health

another good quote found on pinterest

When my mom was undergoing treatments for breast cancer nearly 20 years ago, she and my dad made a point of renting funny movies every night.  Things that made them laugh.  My dad drove her to her daily treatments, an hour away.  As long as she was feeling up to it, they’d have a nice lunch afterward, or maybe take a circuitous route home.  Something different.  Something to enjoy together.  Something to make them smile or, better yet, laugh.  This was a healthy way for them to face the fearful and exhausting experience of cancer.  They did it together, and they tried to find something good in each day.  She sailed through treatments.  She had great doctors.  The tumor was found at an opportune time, i.e. at a manageable stage.  Treatments were effective.  But I’m also confident that the happiness they experienced each day helped too.  Certainly with their mental health.  I believe the happiness helped her body receive treatments and heal; that it helped strengthen her chemically, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  It fortified her and helped her heal.

What a Therapeutic Massage Looks Like

photo reposted from pinterest: kitt3yzzz.tumblr.com

I totally agree with this quote.  Music, to me, is EXACTLY what feelings sound like.  Whenever I listen to music (particularly classical) feelings, emotions, and scenes play through my head and my body.  Music always describes a story or a feeling to me.  It’s how I experience what I’m hearing.

Something I struggle with is describing a therapeutic massage.  It would be so much easier to talk about massage therapy if I could just take a picture of it.  Like a work of art.  An artist blogger can snap a photo of what they’re working on so you can see what they’re describing and discussing.  Of course it isn’t the same as experiencing their work first hand, but it really helps.  You can look at what they’re describing and discussing.  But a massage is a completely sensory experience.  You can’t look at a massage.  You can’t see it.  You can’t listen to it.  So I’m asking myself today, what would a picture of a massage look like?  Would it begin with pain or discomfort?  What does that look like?  Stark colors, perhaps.  Shocking yellow against gray-brown with lots of sharp edges.  Maybe.  Then the massage would enter.  A gentle hue.  Maybe robin’s egg blue.  Swirling gently.  Increasing in intensity and color.  Washing away the sharp edges.  Softening the hues.  Changing the consistency and intensity.  Morphing the picture into soft blues, royal blues and purples, silver and gold threads woven through.  A tranquil yet powerful picture. Abstract.  Powerful.  Clear.  Clean.  Vital.

After I wrote this I googled “the color of pain”.  This is what I found:

the-color-of-pain-tony-rodriguez.jpg

It’s quite similar to what I had envisioned in my head.  I like this.  So, what can the internet serve-up so we can “look at” the entrance of therapeutic massage into pain and discomfort?  I’m going to google “colors of soothing, healing”.   This was the first image I liked:

It works, but it’s not what I was picturing.  So now I’m going to google “swirling blues”, because that’s what I envisioned as the entrance of massage into pain and discomfort.  This is more like it:  

and:  

Now I’m going to google “the colors of tranquil power”, because those are the best words I can think of to describe the post-massage experience.  Let’s see what there is.  Voilá:

082108_mood02 found on apartmenttherapy.com

Mandy Meyer-Hill

NYS Licensed Massage Therapist

Stairway Healing Arts Center

1 Washington Street

Cambridge, NY  12816

518-265-7889

StairwayHealingArts@gmail.com

New Adventure

Yellowstone Falls, WY adventuretravel.about.com

 

 

Today I had the joy today of giving a massage to a young woman who was heading out on a new life adventure.  One of the things I so love about my work is hearing people’s stories.  This woman is a recent college graduate.  She leaves in a few days on a road trip to Wyoming, where she’s been hired to work in Yellowstone National Park.  She’s never been there before.  (Neither have I, but it’s on my list!)  She’ll be taking her time driving out West, seeing the sights, meeting people, experiencing the country on her way.  She’s excited, of course.  And a little nervous, naturally.  An adventure.  A twenty-something woman heading out into the unknown terrain of the country and of her life.  I was thrilled to be a part of her taking-off place and I loved having the opportunity to cheer her on on this adventure.  The massage helped relieve the tension and pain in her arms, shoulders, and upper back.  It also served to ground her, soothe the nervousness, and refresh her for the excitement that lies ahead.  When we said goodbye I wished her happiness and fun and everything good on the new adventure of her life.  What a joy.

Lives Well-Lived

Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose. – Tennessee Williams

I was catching-up with my dear friend Jo the other day.  It’s always so up-lifting to talk with her.  She had many wonderful stories to share.  It had been too long since we’d last spoken.  That’s what happens when an ocean separates friends.  But the friendship stays true and strong.

So she was telling me that her parents are having a party this year to celebrate their 70th birthdays.  She sent out the invitations earlier in the year along with a request that the invitees forward her photos and stories of their friendships with her parents.  She’s been compiling the memories in a book and told me what a delight it’s been to see and read the stories of how these two  people have touched (and been touched by) the lives of so many others.  What a wonderful project.  “They’ve had a good life,” she said.  I could hear the smile in her voice.

That really is a good life:  to be turning 70 and have a host of friends and family to celebrate with.  To look back over the years shared together with joy, love, and pride.  Lives well-lived.  I can’t imagine anything better.  I wish that for us all.

When We Need to Meditate

 

This quote says it all.   Truly.  When we feel too busy and hurried and stressed for time to meditate is EXACTLY  when we most need to.  That’s when meditation will particularly benefit us.  Try it.  Even if you just take 5 minutes from your crazy day.  That’s a fine place to start.  Find a comfortable place to sit.  Quiet is best, but sometimes that’s impossible.  Turn off your phone.  Shut the door.  Set a timer.  Close your eyes.  Breathe deeply.  Exhale.  Repeat.  Your thoughts may race.  That’s natural.  Don’t try to stop or change your thoughts.  Simply notice them.  Breathe deeply.  Exhale.  Repeat.  Just notice the thoughts that might be charging around your brain.  Just notice them.  Inhale deeply.  Exhale fully.  Repeat.  You can repeat a mantra quietly, aloud or in your head.  Something gentle.  Perhaps, “I am safe,” or  “I can do this,”  or  maybe just  “Love”.   Something that comforts you, soothes you, or makes you smile.  Inhale deeply.  Exhale fully.  Repeat.

When the timer rings, take another moment to focus on your breath.  Then open your eyes slowly.  Keep breathing deeply as you return to your work.  Do this again later today when you’re feeling harried or harassed.  Do it again tomorrow.  Keep going.  This is healthy.

Massage for a Cure

Jennifer Hunter Yates Sarcoma Foundation

Saturday April 20th 2013 will be the first annual  Massage for the Cure event at Stairway Healing Arts Center.  Massage for the Cure will fund Sarcoma research and help find a cure for this particularly aggressive form of cancer.  I will be offering 1/2 hour therapeutic massages for $40, all day long.  100% of the proceeds will go to the Jennifer Hunter Yates Sarcoma Foundation.  By scheduling a massage session on the 20th, you’ll help bring us one step closer to finding a cure  AND you’ll be taking care of your own health at the same time.  You can’t go wrong.

You can find out more about the  Jennifer Hunter Yates Sarcoma Foundation  and more about Sarcoma in general by clicking this link.

Please call or email me at the phone number/email below to make an appointment.

If you’d like to make a contribution but can’t participate on the 20th, you can simply send a donation.  Please make checks payable to “JHYSF”  and mail to me at the address below.  Thank you!

Mandy Meyer-Hill, NYS Licensed Massage Therapist

Stairway Healing Arts Center

1 Washington Street

Cambridge, NY  12816

518-265-7889          

StairwayHealingArts@gmail.com

Equinox

Today is the Vernal Equinox.  For those of us living North of the Tropic of Cancer and South of the Pole Circle, it means 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of darkness.  Balance.  Equilibrium.  I like that.  But it doesn’t last long.  The earth continues its course and we groove on into longer and longer days.  Back out of balance, in a way.  After the Summer Solstice in June, night begins its turn again as we travel towards fall, then winter when night is king.  But our planet continues hurtling through space, and sunshine reigns again.   For a while.  Cycles.  Ebb and flow.  Balance.  Equilibrium.  But there is no stasis.  No stagnation.

It used to be that when I imagined balance in my life, I pictured weighted scales, like in markets of the old days.  You know the scales I’m talking about, with weights on one side, pouring grains or whatever onto the other side until balance is reached.  I used to live my life constantly trying to keep those darn scales even, constantly trying to readjust myself to keep everything in balance:  me, my family, my relationships, my work… the universe. And when I’d achieve balance I’d freeze and try to hold on to it for as long as I could.  Sometimes it lasted a moment.  Sometimes a day or two.  Never long.  I tried to hold on, but couldn’t.  Things kept moving.  I didn’t recognize the flow.  I didn’t see that life, health, happiness, grief, love, relationships, everything has a cycle.  Things ebb and flow.  Balance is about cycles and flow.  Life, love, health.  All of it.  Allowing flow.  Releasing my death grip.  Letting go.  Putting one foot in front of the other, for sure.  Accepting what comes my way, and also what doesn’t.  Handling both the good and the challenging with some sort of grace.  And sometimes not.  Flow.  Balance.  Equilibrium.  Movement.

I love that on this first day of Spring the sun is shining and the ground is blanketed in snow.   That’s another kind of balance.  And I like it.

 

 

Hope v. Optimism

Last week.

Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Vaclav Havel

When I was going through tough times, I kept this quote taped to a cupboard door, above my computer screen, and in my wallet.  It was my reminder that success didn’t necessarily mean shiny bright outcomes.  It was my reminder that if I was convicted and/or committed to some thing, some one, or some situation (and felt good about it) then I just needed to dedicate myself to it; give it my best.  I could set aside my fears of things not working out.  Sometimes they don’t.  But that doesn’t mean I’ve failed.  Putting one foot in front of the other and continuing on because I believe in what I’m doing is the important thing.  Hope.  Believe.  Keep going.

Retreat

 

This morning  I heard from a couple of people who had registered for this weekend’s Meditation Workshop & Retreat.  Due to circumstances beyond their control, they had to withdraw from participating.  Our small group has become too small.  So I made the decision to postpone the retreat.  Unless, of course, a few people register this evening.  I’ll reschedule the date later in April or May.

I was really looking forward to this experience.  I can’t help but feel disappointed that I’m having to cancel for the time being.  Yet I am confident that things happen for the best. The weekend is opening for something else for all of us who had planned on participating. Plans are shifting.  A small vacuum has been created.  Perhaps it will be filled with something wonderful.  Perhaps not.  But the day will fill-up with something else.  I’ll keep you posted on the new and improved date for later this Spring.

Fresh Snow

Kodi. Fresh snow, old dog.

 

We had a few new inches of fresh snow last night, and it’s still falling.  I love snow.  It makes everything feel clean and new.  Each new snow fall is like a new beginning; a fresh start.