STRESS

Stress is not a bad thing in moderation.  And although we were built to handle emotional stresses, everyone has their own unique limit before they reach their breaking point.  Unfortunately, we get so caught up in the challenges of juggling all the complex demands in our life, that we ignore and push these limits repeatedly.  Society may reward this behavior, but your body most certainly does not.  

Before we know it, we're snapping at our husbands (more than usual), our kids are scared of us, our head is throbbing, our shoulders are eating up our ears, our skin is dull, we're eating too much, we're not eating enough, we forget things, we're confused, our boss is recommending a vacation, our temper is short, our heart is racing, we hate the way we look, we can't sleep, we sleep too much, we hurt from all the different ways we're trying to sleep, our to-do list seems longer and more complicated-even though its really the same as always, our temper is short-er, our husbands now stay as far away as possible, our palms are sweating, our shoulders feel like they're carrying around giant sand bags. It seems like something is always hurting, our boss demands we take a "personal" vacation, that to-do list really is longer now because we have been too tired, forgot or just didn't care, then we're sad about how long our list is, then we're depressed and overwhelmed because we realize we can't do it all ourselves, then we get mad because we can't do it ourselves, then we find someone to blame because we have gotten into this position in the first place, then we get depressed because we blamed someone else, we're daily fighting the urge to strangle the neighbors dog-who insists on yapping at every living thing in sight, nothing seems to go our way, the sand bags in our shoulders have turned to cement, and we are ready to cave in...but we don't. We suck it up, hold it all in, and keep on truckin'... until we find out someone drank all the milk after we have already poured a bowl of cereal...AND THAT'S IT!-now our eyes are bulging, our teeth are gritting, our rapid inhale-exhale is visible from a mile away, our nostrils are flared,we're possibly foaming out the mouth...And just as we are about to explode...that dear friend, who always lets us know when we have a boogie or that we need a mint...slaps us upside the head and says..."girl you need a massage.... umm, like yesterday!"

Hey! "Lighten up."  Throw some wings on it! 

Take some time for yourself, flush some toxins, and get some blood flow to your brain for crying out loud! This is just an example of how we let stress build and build because we feel like there is no other choice.  Then we slowly turn into someone we dont even know.  We as women, usually take as much as we possibly can until we just can't, then we let it all out at once, over something as silly as not having any milk for our cereal.  And you know we can only blame this erratic behavior on PMS  one week of the month!

Moral of the story?  Don't let your panties get in a wad!

Letting ourselves get to this point is destructive to ourselves and those around us.  Stress turns to tension-tension turns to hypertension-hypertension restricts blood flow- this causes metabolic waste accumulation-which causes pain-pain causes stress-stress causes tension-tension causes hypertension-this restricts blood flow- this causes metabolic waste accumulation-which causes pain-which causes stress, ROUND AND ROUND WE GO.  Now you're in a stress-tension-pain cycle.  Get on a regular schedule with something that helps relieve your stress. It might be the gym, maybe a cup of tea, yoga is great, it might a night out with the girls, it might be massage maintenance (if so, I'm your girl, right?)  The list goes on and on.  Choose your remedy and make it a routine.

Get Real.

Okay so, you take your friends advice, and schedule a massage.  You get your massage.   It was just as wonderful as you expected, drool and all. But, now what?  Are you going to walk out of my office and find that all your troubles which led you here in the first place, have suddenly vanished?  Or find that to-do list DONE? Yeah, I don't think so.  I'm a body worker, not miracle worker. 

Fact: Life is still going to be there when you walk out my door, and stress is going to continue to be a part of it.  But massage will help you deal with it better.   Not only are you going to have your batteries charged, ( and we know everything runs better on a fresh charge), but massage sets up a positive spiral of increased well-being and awareness of the body's subtle signals, enabling us to respond to stress long before it's destructive effects take hold.