I have a friend, Nicole Schindler-Jeffords, who is fabulously talented and creative. She is an artist who paints portraits in oil. She is also a published novelist and a born storyteller. She has many circles of friends. I’ve known her for at least a decade through the Austin ecstatic dance community.
Here’s are two of Nicky’s self-portraits:
Self, by Nicole Jeffords
Most people who live in Austin suffer from respiratory allergies. The weather reports always show the pollen and mold counts. One so-called joke is that in the early days of Anglo settlement, native Americans called this area “beautiful place with bad air”.
I moved here in 1986 (after a couple of earlier sojourns when I was young), and within a few years, I was taking prescription allergy medicine every day, all year round. I still got sinus infections, usually one or two per year, for which I was prescribed antibiotics.
In 1997, I moved to Dallas where I didn’t need to take allergy medicine. When I moved back to Austin in 2000, the allergies started up again. That was my least favorite thing about living in Austin. I asked around and decided to go to an acupuncturist who did NAET (Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique).
I just learned that I have successfully jumped through all the hoops on my way to becoming board certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork.
Board certification is a voluntary credential that means:
I went to an informal gathering for Zero Balancing practitioners Thursday evening, and I was very fortunate in that the man I partnered with is an experienced Zero Balancer, massage therapist, and physical therapy assistant.
I received first on our trade. I told him I wanted to take off my sacroiliac belt before getting on the table, which engendered him telling me what he uses to make SI belts for his clients.
He goes to a sporting goods store and gets a product sold as a waist cincher or a waist slimmer belt. It’s made of black neoprene with Velcro at one end, has anti-microbial properties, and is about 42 inches long and 8 inches wide.
He then takes a pair of scissors and cuts it in half lengthwise. The cut velcro can be sewn, glued down, or left as is. Continue reading
Here’s the link: http://http://thewell.massagetherapy.com/home. And if you don’t mind, while you’re there, please click a “share” button on the left or a “follow” button at top right. It helps with search engine rankings.
This is just a screenshot! Click the link to view the actual website!
It’s a work in progress, but it is complete enough at present to go public with it. I’ll be adding images, videos, and more as I have time. Continue reading
I’ve written about this before. I tell my clients to stay hydrated, rather than asking them to drink “extra water” after a massage to “flush the toxins out.”
Water makes physiological processes, especially the brain, work better, so getting enough is important. Whatever measure you use – a gallon a day, half your body weight in ounces, until your pee is clear – most of us don’t drink enough, and we need extra to make up for sweating, diarrhea, etc.
Now New York Times health writer Gretchen Reynolds addresses the issue, interviewing an expert. Continue reading
The Well: bodymindheartspirit 