Roasted Veggies Recipe

Roasting your vegetables in the winter is a great way to get in your vitamins and minerals while still enjoying a hearty, warm, comforting meal.  You can roast almost any veggie, but here is my favorite combo!

2 sweet potatoes

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2 carrots

2 beets

½ winter squash

2 potatoes

2 turnips

Chop all into similar size pieces.  I usually cube everything into 1 to 2 inch chunks.  Toss all in a large bowl with 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil, sea salt and pepper to taste.  Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 35-45 minutes.  Stir half way through.  Cooking time will vary depending on how big your cubes are, so check it regularly, and cook longer if needed.

Do You Massage Feet Too?

I see a lot of clients who come in regularly to keep work or recreational repetitive stresses from flaring into issues.  This usually means that we work on the same areas each week, either neck and shoulder focus, or low back, or forearms and hands.  Every once in a while one of these clients will ask if I can do anything else.

The answer is yes!  One of my regular clients, whom I have been seeing for some time now, usually has a 45 minute treatment focused to upper back, neck and sometimes forearms and hamstrings.  The other day she came to see me and asked if I ever work on feet, to which I replied absolutely!

We proceeded to do an entire 45 minute session to feet and calves.  I did a little reflexology work, and some massage.  She totally loved the session, actually had the same treatment the following week!  The reflexology still helped loosen and relax her upper body, and well as areas that we never get to work on, plus she had the relaxing effects of TLC on her tootsies!

Another client who normally comes for deep tissue work asked if I could do relaxation massage one day, as she was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.  We spent the entire hour doing a session that you might get in a spa setting.  I even used an oil blend perfect for relaxation.  We spent the last 20 minutes working scalp and face, and the results were fantastic.  She left feeling calm, and very relaxed.

So if you are ever feeling like a slightly different treatment is what you need, please ask!  I have many tools under my belt as a registered massage therapist, from active assisted stretching, to craniosacral therapy.  Even though I joke about giving a crummy relaxation massage, I am actually a pretty good at it!  

Baby Step Your Way to Health

Sometimes the road to health can seem overwhelming.  You see these fit people and think they are freaks of nature, or just lucky somehow to be gifted with time to exercise or eat right.

Well I am here to tell you that the road is a little bumpy, but you too can one day be one of those people that others look to and wonder how you find the time.

The secret to success is to simply move in that direction, one little step at a time.  This can be as simple as eating one less spoonful of cereal, taking one more flight of stairs, or adding one more leaf of lettuce to your salad.

Each step you take towards health means one step farther away from your previous unhealthy habits.  For every celery stalk you eat, you will have less room in your tummy to fill with cookies.  For every after dinner walk around the block you take, you will have less time to get hooked on yet another TV sitcom.

There are so many opportunities in a day to do something healthier than you did the day before; you just have to make the choice.  Every time you reach for your morning bowl of cereal, ask yourself, “is this the best choice for my health?”  Maybe you should read the label and measure what an actual portion size is.  Maybe you should try the cereal with just a little more fiber and a little less sugar today.  Maybe you should have a green smoothie today and not have cereal at all! 

These are all options that most likely won’t make you late for work, but they do make you step out of routine just a tiny bit.  This is where most people get caught in habits.  It isn’t that there isn’t time, it is that you have to think – it isn’t automatic.  We are all running our lives on autopilot so much now that I think routine itself is becoming a bad habit!

Shake it up a bit!  Make a commitment to adding one tiny new healthy habit every week.

Eventually these little tiny things add up to major lifestyle changes, until suddenly you are leaner, have more energy, and therefore more time to do the things you love, and become a role model for those around you.

Forearm Stretch

Many of you work at computers all day long, only to go home and work on them all night too.  Excessive keyboarding can cause discomfort in the hands and forearms.  Many of the muscles that control finger movements are located in your forearms, so stretching out the forearms is a great thing to do during your busy work day.

Start by extending your right arm out in front of you with palm facing down.  Using your other hand, hold your right hand just below the wrist and gently pull it down so that your hand is pointing down toward the floor.  You should feel a gentle stretch only.  Hold for 20 seconds (or longer if you like)

Next turn your outstretched arm with palm facing up, and this time, using your other hand, hold across your right fingers, pulling them down so they point to the floor.  Again, keep the stretch gentle and comfortable, holding for 20 seconds.

Self Help for Neck Pain and Stiffness

Have you ever woken up and not been able to turn your head?  If this has happened to you, you know how uncomfortable this can be.

Sometimes it is painful, and sometimes it isn’t.  Sometimes you have an idea what might have caused it, like sitting at a table with your head turned to the right or left for two hours chatting with someone at your side.  Or maybe it started the morning after you were hit in the side of the head with a football.  But sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be any logical reason whatsoever.

No matter what the cause, it can be quite distressing to be unable to turn your head one way or the other.  Many cases of neck crick clear up on their own, within a few days or weeks, but sometimes, like anything in the body, things don’t go quite the way you planned.

So what can you do if your neck is painful and/or immobile?  Start with good old heat.  Any kind of heat will do, hot shower, hot pack, sauna, hot tub, even some warming liniment can help relax tight muscles and trigger points around the area.

Next do some self-massage.  Gently work the tight areas with your fingers, working up the back of the neck in the groove between the spinous processes in the back of your neck and the transverse processes in line with your ears.  Stop and hold some pressure on any big lumps in the muscles you feel. 

Using finger tips, gently run over the sides of your neck, working down in little 1 inch sections.  Then, using a pink pearl eraser, or fingers, work the ridge along the base of your skull, frictioning side to side in small sections, again holding on any tight, tender spots.

It is a great idea to mobilize your neck in pain free range after loosening it.  Try doing shoulder checks side to side, repeating a minimum of ten times each side.  Then drop ear to shoulder, alternating side to side, again minimum ten times each side.

Lastly, try to keep your neck warm for a few days.  Wear a hoodie or scarf outside, be cautious of sleeping by an open window, as cool breezes at night can often flare neck tension, and possibly be the cause of it in the first place!

With these few simple techniques you can help decrease down time and get back to normal neck function!