Network Healing Centre
July & August 2006
Newsletter
Important Dates to Remember!
Saturday, July 1 Canada Day
Monday, July 3rd Administration and NSA Chiropractic office are closed
Thursday, July 13th Wellness Workshop with Dr. Michael Tucker
Tuesday, July 25th NSA Gateway to Healing Introductory Workshop
Monday, July 31 – Monday, August 7 Naturopathic office, NSA Chiropractic office and administration are on holidays
Thursday, August 17th Wellness Workshop with Dr. Michael Tucker
Tuesday, August 25th NSA Gateway to Healing Introductory Workshop
Network Healing Centre welcomes Justine as our new Administrative Assistant
Justine is new to Ottawa having moved from Toronto recently. She is keen to be a part of our team and helping you to meet your wellness goals.
Gateway to Healing Introductory Workshop
With Dr. Michael Tucker, DC
Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 from 7:15-8:15 pm
and
Tuesday, August 25th from 7:15pm -8:15pm
A complimentary Information Session for all New Patients to attend as well as anyone who is interested in learning more about Network Spinal Analysis Chiropractic and how this gentle method can help in many different ways. The Workshop consists of a half hour talk about the work, followed by a half hour demonstration of the work. This workshop is an important part of your care and we encourage you to join us.
Call Andrea at 725-0988 to reserve your space
Wellness Workshop
with Dr. Michael Tucker, D.C.
Thursday, July 13th from 7:15-8:15 p.m.
and
Thursday, August 17th from 7:15 – 8:15pm
This complimentary workshop provides an in-depth view of NSA and how it can be useful to enhance quality of life and well-being. It aims at providing continuing support to patients who are committed to Network Care. Please call Andrea at 725-0988 to reserve your space.
Hands make for happy families: massage can soothe sore muscles, rub away stress, and strengthen family ties. Best yet, you can do all this in the comfort of your own home
By Angela Soberal, RMT
When you think of a massage, perhaps you envision slipping away for one of those rare afternoons at the spa. Or you recall the one you had on that Caribbean cruise. However you imagine a massage, you likely don't see it as part of a near-daily family routine. But you should.
"We don't touch one another enough," says Kathleen Miller-Read, a certified massage therapist in Seattle. "Massage helps you destress your family and gives you the time to touch one another and show compassion and love."
Massages don't always need to be long, drawn-out affairs. In fact, they shouldn't be, because then they tend to fall into the realm of occasional treat instead of regular occurrence. A quick massage can last mere minutes. And don't limit massage only to the adults in the family. Kids respond extremely well to the power of touch.
Here's how a day of massages tailored to suit everyone in the family could play out.
8 A.M.--UNFRAZZLE THE MORNING RUSH
Just shuttling a sleepy family out the door in the morning can spike stress levels and get children off to a bad start. A few simple techniques during the wake-up routine will change mornings from a rush to a relief.
At the breakfast table squeeze your child's shoulders and gently pull and stroke the arms in long, smooth motions all the way down to the fingers. This simple move can increase blood flow and get your child ready for the day.
If you have a child who has trouble waking up and even making it to the breakfast table, Miller-Read suggests gently rubbing your snoozing child in the notch that sits just underneath the bottom of the collarbone. A few minutes of this and your child will yawn, stretch, and wake up smiling. "It's better than an alarm clock and it's a 'good morning' point," Miller-Read says. "Along with helping your child wake up, it'll help with focus."
5 P.M.--DESTRESS IN THE AFTERNOON
When family members straggle home from work and school, often the first thing they do is kick off their shoes. Good thing, too, because the foot is where your family's afternoon massage should start. Sit on the couch or floor and face each other, so you can give each other foot massages. After a day on your feet, there's nothing better.
To keep your hands from tiring out, use your knuckles to knead the meaty, middle part of the foot. After just five minutes of this massage, everyone will feel the day's stress fade. Don't worry about technique with a foot massage; just rub and knead where it feels good. Scented body lotion can help too.
If one of your family comes home with a headache, reach for the ears. Use your fingertips to rub around inside of the ear structure. Then gently tug up on the top of the ear and down on the ear lobes, holding each tug for a few seconds.
"During the day, this is where tension builds," says Miller-Read. "It's like putting on a hat; massaging the ears will warm the whole body. Ear massage works quickly and will also loosen tight jaws." Another way to help relieve tension headaches is to make small circular motions on the jaw muscles with your fingertips. Many people clench these muscles in response to stress.
10 P.M.--PAIR UP AT NIGHT
Once the children are rocked in bed, you and your spouse can spend more time massaging each another. A little planning ahead of time will make this one of the most relaxing nights of the week.
It's important that only one partner get the full-body treatment on massage night. It's hard to enjoy a massage if you have to give one immediately afterward. Besides, you'll be a pile of relaxed mush and the only thing on your mind will be sleep. Your spouse can get his massage the next night.
If you're just learning how to massage, plan to start with a 15-minute session, then work up to 20 minutes and, eventually, a half hour. Use grapeseed oil as a massage oil. You can get it from health food stores or the health food section of the local supermarket. All-natural grapeseed oil rarely causes allergic skin reactions and won't stain the bedsheets if you spill it.
Use your body weight as leverage to give a massage, instead of relying on arm and hand muscle strength alone. This leverage trick avoids wrist and elbow pain and can extend the massage time by preventing fatigue.
Get above your partner and lean part of your weight down through the bottom of your palms. Maintaining this pressure, move your hands slowly along the length of the muscle you're massaging.
"You don't want the couples massage to be work," says April Pilz, a certified massage therapist who teaches couples massage in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. "It should be fun. While you're giving a massage, you should be comfortable. If not, then you'll be sore."
Finish the massage with a quick facial rub. Use your fingertips to stroke the forehead and around the eyes, mouth, and nose. Continue along the face making circles and concentrate for a bit on the jaw muscles in the cheek. Then gently rub along the sides of the neck to find knotted muscle. Lastly, move back to the forehead for a moment--this time for a soft kiss--and watch your partner drift quietly off to sleep.
Exerts from Better Homes & Gardens, Feb, 2005 by Doug Donaldson
Quinoa/Millet Salad
Dr. Leesa Kirchner, ND
1 cup (before cooking) Quinoa or Millet
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tsp crushed, fresh garlic
¼ cup flax seed oil or olive oil
1 cup packed freshly-chopped parsley
1 chopped cucumber
1- Put quinoa in a pot with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Fluff with a fork.
(if using millet, use 2 ½ cups of water)
(Always rinse grains thoroughly before cooking).
2-Add lemon juice, garlic, oil and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate 1 hour.
3-Before serving- add vegetables.
Low Back Pain/ Neck Pain/ Headaches
By Dr. Michael Tucker, D.C
Commonly people seek Chiropractic and Network Spinal Analysis care for relief of spinal pain and headaches. This makes sense since Chiropractors use the spine as an approach to the nervous system and there is ample evidence that Chiropractic care and Network Spinal Analysis provide cost effective and safe treatment for spinal pain and headaches.
My approach to spinal pain and headaches is best explained by contrasting it to a medical model. Often chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, massage therapists and other alternative therapists use a medical model. This approach moves directly to the center of pain. The specific tissue that is most hurt, torn, inflamed, injured and defensive is addressed. In the medical model, the therapy attempts to correct that area and stop the painful messages. This is a valid and important approach that at best could save your life.
I have chosen to work with a different more holistic model called Network Spinal Analysis (NSA). NSA has evolved from a network of chiropractic techniques that have been integrated and softened not to fix the pain but to connect with open spots on our spines that easily communicate and harmonize with the whole spine. Specific spots that connect form the spine to the nervous system through the meninges. These are spots in our spine where a light force has maximum effect. In NSA we call these spots gateways. At the gateways, we have access to our stored tension and energy. When we learn to release this tension and defense over and over, we learn trust in our innate ability to self organize and self heal.
In twenty five years experience, I have found trying to numb or disconnect from the pain (the problem) is often not as effective as working with our strengths. Our strengths lead us to natural solutions. It is often very simple to heal low back pain, neck pain and headaches. We simply let go and let our innate strengths unfold. If we let go our tension, defense and holding around our pain, the body heals itself. We make our own anti-inflammatories in the right dosage. We carefully experiment when it is safe to let go muscle tension. We try different alignment of our joints. We relax into the process and learn skills and wisdom to improve our quality of life.