Be a giver. Volunteering at your local animal shelter or children’s hospital, and/or donating money or goods to a charity you value, giving can help remind us all of the truly important things in life.
Make your list, check it twice. List everything you want to do: from the moments that build memories, to the chores that keep your life moving smoothly. Visually seeing everything you want or need to accomplish can help you choose your priorities and organize your time more efficiently.
Traveling with kids. Prep for long trips by letting your kids open a present before leaving. Then they’ll have something new to play with. Pack healthy snacks. Plan stops for stretch breaks to dissuade and soothe crabby moods for kids and their adults!
Holidays Are Messy. Clean as you go and keep clutter at bay. That cuts down on the time needed to clean later on. Consumer Reports has a great list for some classic holiday “oops” moments and tricks for cleaning them up.
Savor the Sweet. So much is lost in the shuffle when we’re busy. Practicing mindfulness helps us stay present and “be in the moment”. Savor the food you eat, appreciate time spent with loved ones, really see the sights, sniff the spruce, and inhale the fresh air (link)
Take a deep breath and don’t slip and fall into the “perfection trap”. Holidays come every year. Decide what’s important, what you can skip, and what can be postponed til next year. And then plan your calendar accordingly. To stay well get adequate sleep and exercise, and maintain a balanced diet.
And remember what every Santa needs…
EVERY SANTA NEEDS A CHAIR MASSAGE, A SNACK & A NAP
We all want to leave Thanksgiving dinner feeling grateful, happy and satiated, especially after all the political drama we are experiencing this year. To reduce the potential for experiencing undue stress, we’d like to share some “question deflection” strategies.
Answer a question with a question.
Q: How’s your love life?
A: Why do you ask?
Turn the question around.
Q: What are you planning to do with your degree in Victorian Literature?
A: Wow, I was about to ask you: how did you find your first job in Applied Physics?
Expand the time frame (somewhere between now and never).
Q: Who did you vote for?
A: I did a lot of research and made my own choice, so I’m keeping it to myself for the next few years to see how it goes.
Anticipate routine questions – rehearse your answers (humor is always good).
Q: Can we expect the pitter-patter of little feet soon?
A: We thought you might be wondering about that, so we’re agreed to let you know – we’re adopting a puppy next year.
Establish boundaries: decide in advance which questions you will politely decline to answer at all.
Q: How much money are you pulling in these days? Are you planning to lose weight?
A: That’s actually personal and I really need to leave it at that!
We wish you a happy, memorable and peaceful Thanksgiving. Take 5 Massage is closed Thanksgiving Day, we’ll be there the day before and then back on the Friday after. We can soothe your spirit and aid your digestion. Happy Thanksgiving.
We started with just 2 chair massage therapists – Ron and Sandra – and we’ve grown a lot! We are profoundly grateful to our friends, fans and all the Whole Foods Market team members who contributed to our 14+ years of success in Winter Park.
Follow us to the beautiful NEW Winter Park (North) store. Grand Opening Wednesday, November 9th. Take 5 Chair Massage available 10am to 9pm daily.
Floridians enjoy a four season climate: Tourist season, Hurricane season, Football season and HalloThanxChrisNuYears. That said, we reverently pay homage to the seasons in absentia like Fall and Winter.
August 5th 2016 marks the beginning of the Summer Olympics. Thousands of athletes from around the world will march in the opening ceremony. On the sidelines and in the gyms, you will find doctors, athletic trainers, and physical therapists ready to assist. You will also find many qualified, skilled massage therapists, ready to provide sports massage, a type of specialized bodywork tailored to the specific needs of athletes.
Sports Massage at the Olympics
Sports massage gained momentum in the 1970’s when Olympian Lasse Viren (a.k.a. “The Flying Finn”) credited his back-to-back Olympic Gold Medals to the sports massage he received between training sessions. While there are many subtypes of sports massage, the basic protocols target specific muscle groups, utilize specialized strokes, and incorporate stretching and range-of-motion exercises. The ultimate goal for sports massage is peak performance and the avoidance or reduction of injuries.
Uniquely, sports massage is segmented into pre- and/or post-event sessions (each lasting 10-30 thirty minutes). Pre-event massage prepares an athlete to compete. It warms up the muscles, stimulates the nervous system, and increases blood flow to targeted areas. Friction, vigorous compression, and tapotement are common massage strokes utilized in pre-event massage. Post-event massage, performed after the event and a cool down, soothes the athlete’s muscles and calms the central nervous system. Gentle compression, effleurage, and stretching are effective bodywork techniques frequently utilized in post-event massage to aid in an athlete’s recovery.
Whether you’re an Olympian, an aspiring Olympian, a professional, or an amateur weekend warrior, you could benefit from sports massage. If you or someone you know is looking for professional sports massage in Central Florida, ask your Take 5 Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) for advice or for a potential referral.
One of the awesome licensed massage therapists we discovered heading to the Rio Olympics is Lori-Ann Gallant-Heilborn, LMT, a four-time massage veteran of the Olympic Games. In an interview with Massage Magazine, Gallant-Heilborn stressed the importance of sports therapists knowing the muscles, muscle groups, and how to gain the desired effects from soft tissue manipulation. You can follow her journey at the 2016 Olympics at http://www.ultimate-sports-massage.com.
Lori-Ann Gallant-Heilborn, LMT Four Time Olympic Massage Therapist
Compassion fatigue is a common hazard that care-givers face and is often the result of chronic stress that accompanies care-giving. Mother Teresa once wrote to her superiors, that it was imperative that her nuns take an entire year off to allow them to restore their own health and sense of well-being after long stints of caring for others.
Characterized by waking up tired, emotional exhaustion, loss of sense of self, isolation, feeling frustrated or easily irritated, aches, pains, and illness, compassion fatigue can take weeks to surface. The path back to wellness lies in self-care: getting adequate rest, moderate exercise, healthy food, and spending time socializing with family and friends.
The Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project created a “The Caregiver’s Bill of Rights” a helpful guide to self-care and wellness for professional caregivers.
