When you encounter a stressful situation such as a deer suddenly appearing in the road, your sympathetic nervous system (SNS, a.k.a. "fight or flight") kicks in and produces stress hormones that make you slam on the brakes. Once the stress has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS, a.k.a. "rest and digest") gets activated and your homeostasis is restored.

When under chronic stress, your SNS can be continuously activated and the PNS doesn't kick in to restore the body's homeostasis. Instead, it leads to increased levels of pro-inflammatory agents in your body. That is a gateway to many negative health consequences.

There are, however, ways to stimulate and activate your PNS to stop this cascading effect, and knowing what works best for you to manage stress is very important.

Meditation, walking, listening to relaxing music and massages are some of the most effective ways. But you have another good tool at your disposal - the Vagus nerve. Viva, las Vagus!!

THE VAGUS NERVE

The Vagus nerve is one of the 12 cranial nerves that connect the brain to the body.

Vagus means "wandering" in Latin. As the name suggests, the Vagus nerve wanders from the brain stem and reaches vast regions, including organs such as ears, throat, heart, lungs and digestive tracts. This is a very unique aspect about this nerve as the rest of the cranial nerves primarily connect to and from regions of the head and neck.

The best part of this intriguing nerve is that it is a "two-lane" highway, meaning that the brain not only sends signals to the related organs to regulate them, but it also receives signals from the organs to regulate the brain itself.

This implies "Body Over Mind" is totally possible!

WAYS TO EXERCISE "BODY OVER MIND"

The Vagus nerve is the main component of PNS. When the Vagus nerve is activated, the heart rate and blood pressure drop and digestive function and sense of calm and relaxation increase.

There are quick ways to stimulate the Vagus nerve by directly working on the related organs, such as:

* Breathing slowly from the belly, expanding your ribcage

* Splash cold water on your face

* Abdominal massage

* Gargling

* Humming

* Laughing

* Eating high-fiber foods

The easiest way, is to practice slow breathing. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Exhale twice as long as inhalation, and it is even better if you make vocal sounds when exhaling such as oooo or ahhhh.

So, the next time you feel stress coming on, try these techniques and see how your brain listens to your body signals!

While many people associate massage with treating lower back pain, shoulder tension, arthritis, headaches, and deep relaxation, regular massage can also be a strong aid in maintaining a healthy heart. A good massage stimulates the nerve endings in the skin and can reduce the cortisol and adrenaline levels (stress hormones), increase production of endorphins (the body's natural painkillers), improve blood circulation, reduce blood pressure, and slow the heart rate. Massage therapy on a regular basis can reduce occurrences of cardiac arrhythmias, in which the heart pumps less efficiently so less blood reaches the brain and other vital organs. Massage therapy relieves contracted muscles and pushes venous blood towards the heart, easing the strain on this most important organ. In addition, maintaining healthy blood pressure can also lower the odds of one having a heart attack.

Fun Facts About The Heart!

1. Your heart works harder than any other muscles in the body. Grab a tennis ball and squeeze it tightly: that's how hard the beating heart works to pump blood.

2. Your body has an average of 5.6 liters of blood. 5.6 liters of blood circulates through the body 3 times every minute. Blood travels around 12,000 miles every day.

3. Your heartbeat changes and mimics the music you listen to.

4. Your heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body. And that electrical pattern can affect other's brainwaves such as between a mother and her infant.

5. The cells of the heart don’t divide. Therefore, a heart cancer is extremely rare.

"Glutes" is an abbreviation that collectively refers to the gluteal muscles, especially, the gluteus maximus. The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the human body located in your rear end and is the chief antigravity muscle to keep the trunk in an erect posture. It is one of the most important muscles of the body, if not second after the heart. But in our modern life-style, it more often gets treated poorly. The glutes have very few sensory nerves supplying it so it is not as sensitive as other areas, hence we can sit on them for a long period of time before feeling the pain in the butt!

What do they do? Other than supporting your trunk upright, the primary job of the gluteus maximus is to extend your hip, meaning they pull your legs backward. When the leg is fixed, it lifts the trunk backward into extension. Walking on flat surface, however, requires very little use of this muscle but climbing stairs two at a time, jogging, running, cycling or jumping place much bigger demand on them, as well as bending down to pick up an object off the floor.

How are your glutes? It is unusual to have tight glutes due to our long hours of sitting down. Sitting keeps the muscles in the stretched position and makes them weak and inhibited. When your gluteal maximus are weak and disengaged, your hamstrings and lower back have to take up the strain. Therefore, weak glutes can lead to lower back injuries, lower back pain, and can also affect knee and hip health.

Healthy Glutes are flexible and strong. So it's important to do both stretching and strengthening exercises to keep this vital muscle in good shape, literally!

The Pectoralis Major is a large, triangular muscles that covers the front of the chest. It attaches to the sternum (breastbone), clavicle (collar-bone) and the humerus (the upper arm), and its main actions are flexion, internal rotation and adduction of the arm at the shoulder joint. This is the muscle that allows you to give some great bear hugs. Also, this is the muscle that often is responsible for rounded or hunched shoulders.

Do you spend many hours with your arms and hands in front of you, such as working at the computer or driving for a long distance? Then you are a candidate for having the tight, shortened Pectoralis Major. When you keep this posture too long and this condition stays unresolved, this will neurologically turn off the upper back muscles - therefore the muscles between the shoulder blades become weak and overstretched. As a result, your back will be rounded and your shoulder blades will move forward, then this will make the Pectoralis Major even tighter and shorter; it's the vicious cycle. In the most exaggerated case, you can picture what cavemen's upper bodies used to look like with hunched shoulders and arms internally rotated, dangling forward. When the pec major gets too shortened and tight, it can develop muscle adhesions, trigger points, or it can impinge on nerves and blood vessels that supply it and the arms and may cause the decrease of function or loss of sensation.

In our modern life style, it is rare to see someone who doesn't have this tendency even slightly, so I almost always include pec major work in my session and at the same time I try to wake up and shorten the inhibited upper back muscles, such as rhomboids and lower trapezius, to bring the body back in natural alignment.

For your daily self-care, it is vital to take a frequent break from your computer or desk and do some stretches. After all, you don't have to work that hard on your Pectoralis Major to give someone a good hug!

Slip & Fall Prevention:

* Wear slip resistant shoes with good traction, or keep a pair in your car

* Wear gloves and keep both hands free and out of pockets

* Take small steps and walk slowly

* Don't jump out of your vehicles

* Test potentially icy areas by tapping your foot before walking over them

* Keep your walkways clear of water, ice, wet leaves

Fall properly:

* Bend your back and head forward to protect your head

* Try to turn and land on your side

* Keep your arms and legs bent

* Roll with the fall

* Let go of the load that you are carrying and protect yourself

After the fall:

For decades, the medical authorities suggested the RICE protocol after the injuries. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Nowadays, movement and rehab exercises for the injured area are recommended for faster recovery and healing, rather than immobilizing the injured ares in cast or bandages for a long period of time. RICE is considered a first aid treatment, rather than a cure for soft tissue injuries. Its aim is to manage discomfort and internal bleeding at an acute stage of injury.

1. Immunity Booster: Massage therapy is known to boost your immune system by increasing the level of natural "killer" cells. With regular massage, you will be better prepared to defend against the communicable diseases, such as cold and flu viruses.

2. Best Remedy for Winter Blues: Winter's short, dark days will leave many people feeling tired and worn out, maybe a little depressed, combined with the abundant holiday season stress. Studies have shown that deep tissue massage reduces the stress hormone cortisol as well as adrenaline (epinephrine) while the secretion of endorphin and oxytocin increases. These shifts will give you an immediate change of mood. Your breathing pattern will change and you will feel much calmer; you will be in much better mindset to take on stress with more ease.

3. Better Blood Circulation: When we get hunched over the computer in a cold office or just holding our bodies tight to keep away the cold, our blood circulation stagnates, and the joints suffer stiffness or pain from the lack of oxygen and nutrients while the extremities remain cold. Massage is an excellent way to get your circulation going and restore the healthy range of motion of the joints and tissue cell repair activities.

4. Great for Arthritis: Arthritis is a painful inflammation and stiffness of the joints, commonly weight-bearing joints such as knees, hips, fingers, and feet, and it can get worse in cold weather. Stress can also affect the condition greatly. Regular massage can help lessen the pain and stiffness, restore the range of motion of the joints by improving the blood circulation while eliminating the toxins and waste products faster from the body, and also by reducing the stress level.

5. Healthier Skin: Winter's air makes your skin dry. A massage therapy is proven to stimulate the collagen production in the skin and therefore helps its elasticity. Also the medium the therapist uses on the skin, whether oils or lotions, will moisturize your skin deeply and effectively.

As various studies are finding, the biological benefits of massage are far-reaching and so much more than immediate relaxation effect. Its benefits include boosted immune system, stress and anxiety reduction, increased blood circulation, improved mood, relief of neck of back pain, improved athletic performance, stimulation of digestive system, and it will help you sleep better at night. Not only adults, but babies, children, and teenagers can also greatly benefit from whole body massage therapy.

Pain doesn't end just as a physical sensation; it can cause a number of other problems including stress, depression and sleep problems. When you have aches and pains in your body, it is difficult to enjoy life. However there are ways to be proactive against common osteoarthritis pain and to minimize joint discomfort.

1. Eat balanced diet and keep healthy weight:

Shedding extra pounds can take some stress off your joints. Diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids can reduce inflammation and curb stiffness. Keeping our vitamin D up to par in winter is important as well, not just for preventing common colds and winter blues but also for keeping joint pain at bay.

more about food for healthy joints...

2. Stay warm:

You should wear gloves, a hat, a scarf, layers of clothing to keep your joints warm and pliable. Layering enables you to remove clothes as your body gets warmer. Taking a warm Epsom Salt bath in winter is an excellent way to reduce joint pain. A warm bath is also good for the heart and circulatory health.

more about epsom salt...

3. Keep good posture:

Bad postures while sitting at desk for hours, while driving long distances, or when lifting a heavy object can lead to joint pain. During the winter when your body is stiff and less flexible, injury rates go up. If you experience even mild discomfort, stop what you are doing before it is too late!

4. Remember "Joints live for motion":

Don't let the winter keep you curled up under the blanket! Exercises help lubricate joints and keep muscles strong to prevent joint injuries. Low-impact aerobic workouts, such as walking, swimming, snow shoeing, dancing, rowing, are easy on joints and get the job done. Even if you already have osteoarthritis, exercises are effective tools to reduce pain!

5. Get a massage!

You knew this was coming! During my therapeutic massage sessions, I am always mindful of the fact that joints live for motion. While assuring your utmost comfort and relaxation and relieving the muscle tension, I carefully assess your joint health. I work with a goal in mind that you will leave the session not only with improved circulation and feeling better, but also with increased range of motion in your joints!

What is Fascia?

If you have received massage therapy from me, you most likely have heard of the word: "Fascia". Fascia is a very important component of our body, but not as commonly known as muscles or bones. Fascia is, like tendons and ligaments, a form of connective tissue. It is a fibrous membrane located under the skin and wrapping all around muscles, organs, blood vessels and nerves like a shrink wrap, and it spreads three-dimensionally throughout the body from head to toe. You might think it is our skin that is keeping all of our muscles and organs from spilling onto the floor, but it really is the fascia that is binding them in place and holding our body together. If you are looking at a citrus fruit, the peel is our skin and the white thin membrane holding each juice sac inside is the fascia.

What does Fascia do?

The Fascia is primarily composed of collagen fibers such as tendons and ligaments. However unlike tendons and ligaments whose fibers are running in one direction, the fascia is a disorganized and irregular fibrous connective tissue. As a result, these "stretchy" fascial fibers can withstand repeated forces of multidirectional stresses without damage. Besides compartmentalizing each muscle, blood vessel or organ, functionally, fascial layers around muscles play an important role in transferring the force of muscle contraction to the bones. Also, these fascial layers in muscles help lubricate the muscle fibers and reduce friction during the contraction and lengthening. Therefore, if the fascia is too dehydrated, the fibers can adhere to one another and restrict the muscle functions.

Inter-connectedness of our body

Have you had an experience such as after you sprain an ankle, where you have a pain in the hip later and even in the neck? Since the fascia is connected throughout the body three-dimensionally, a restriction in one area can cause a restriction in another area. One of my clients has a neck movement restriction deeply tied to the fascial restriction around the rib cage and the abdomen. In these cases, working on the neck alone doesn't solve the problem.

Fascia and Nervous System

Fascia is densely innervated; it has 10 times more sensory nerve endings than in muscles. Those nerve endings feed information to the Central Nervous System. Depending on the stimulus, the CNS dictates whether we should be in a sympathetic (fight-or-flight) or parasympathetic (relaxing) state. Also processing all incoming information from the nerves, the CNS can recreate the "internal map" for our body - how our body should be and can help revive healthier muscle movement.

What is Myofascial Release (MFR)?

Myofascial Release is a hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure directly onto the skin without use of oil or lotion. It loosens and releases often dehydrated, restricted fascia so the contiguous structures can gain more freedom and mobility.

Even though I integrate MFR technique throughout my session, I always start my work with MFR before working with the muscles. My intention is to not only loosen the fascia to facilitate the muscle work afterwards, but also to help the body to move into the parasympathetic mode quickly so it can receive the therapy work more efficiently and pleasantly.

For the last few years, I have been learning West Coast Swing Dance.

As I have gone through various learning curves, I have become much more aware of certain strengths and weaknesses in my body and its changes. Although I didn't decide to dance in order to become healthier, I cannot help but recognize many health benefits. There are lots of dance styles; Jazz, Salsa, East Coast/West Coast Swing Dance, Bachata, Zumba, Hip-hop, Foxtrot, Waltz - every form of dance is equally beneficial. For those who don't go to a gym for regular workouts, I highly recommend getting out on the dance floor!

Seven Health Benefits of Dancing

1. Healthy Heart and Weight

Dancing is a form of aerobic, cardiovascular exercise. While dancing, it will raise your heart and breathing rates and you will burn calories. Salsa, Ballroom, Disco dancing can burn up to 396 calories per hour while slow forms of dancing such as Waltz can burn about 216 calories per hour. As you continue to dance, you will notice you have more stamina and your heart rate will stay steadier, longer.

2. Improve Muscle Tone

Almost all dancing requires rhythmical movements and positional changes. It especially strengthens the muscles in your legs and glutes as well as the hips, lower back and abdomen. As muscle tone improves, you may become less susceptible to back pain.

3. Better Posture

Dancing works the spinal muscles which contract to keep you upright and maintain good posture that is efficient (and looks good) for dancing. It also works the abdominal muscles to maintain your balance. The more you dance, the better posture you will gain even away from the dance floor.

4. Increased Balance and Coordination

While learning to execute each movement and sequence correctly, you are coordinating three body systems: the vestibular, motor and visual systems. Rather than staying balanced in one spot, dancing requires quick changes in the positioning of the body, especially in the feet, ankles, knees and hips. Some researchers have found that amateur dancers demonstrated better balance than people who have gone through vigorous endurance and flexibility training.

5. Better Memory & Anti-Aging

Dancing not only gets you up and moving, but also requires you to remember various steps and sequences. While exercising, the chemicals in your brain that encourage nerve cells to grow is increased. Dancing will further boost that brain power to help improve your memory. Dancing incorporates several brain functions - kinesthetic, rational, musical and emotional. Utilizing all of these at once increases your neural activity, helping reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

6. Reduce Stress

When you are dancing - and focused on your movements, your partner and enjoying the music - you are present in that moment; you are not thinking stressful thoughts, therefore reducing the amount of cortisol, the stress hormone. Also, as with any other types of physical activity, dancing releases the neurotransmitters, endorphins, which further help alleviate stress and increase your sense of optimism.

7. Laughter Is the Best Medicine

Getting lost, confused & making mistakes go hand in hand with learning to dance! Good laughter and giggles are guaranteed to happen on a dance floor. Laughter activates the body's natural relaxation response; it is like good massage to all internal organs while toning abdominal muscles. Deepak Chopra says the healthiest response to life is laughter. Remember that life is funny!