Article Archive

Candle Cautions

Healthy Alternatives to Paraffin

Last year, while rearranging the paintings in her living room, Cathy Crystal noticed black smudges on the walls around the frames. Baffled, she looked around and discovered similar “ghostings” surrounding the electrical outlets and air conditioning vents. “We don’t allow smoking in our house, and we have a vent over the stove,” recalls the herbalist and nutritionist in Santa Cruz, Calif., “so it didn’t make sense.” It wasn’t until a week later, while lighting a constellation of votive candles on the mantle for an evening soiree, that the source of the soot suddenly dawned on her.

Asian Bodywork Therapy, Part 1

Amma, Shiatsu & Jin Shin Jyutsu

What are Asian Bodywork Therapies (ABT)? Are they indigenous, traditional forms of bodywork from Asia? Does a style of bodywork necessarily have to originate in some Asian country or culture in order to be considered an ABT? What is it that qualifies ABTs and draws them together under that umbrella? Are there bodywork therapies within Asia that are not considered forms of ABT? These are complicated, and revealing, questions.

Footprints for Health

Incorporating Reflexology into Your Life

You walk on them all day, but did you know your feet do more than carry you from one place to the next? They also have a unique connection to balanced health and well-being. In a form of bodywork known as reflexology, the feet are said to contain reflex areas that mirror and connect to all parts of the body — and pressure on these points can actually influence your state of health.

Liquid Therapy

Pouring Water on Your Routine

In utero, the unborn child lives in a floating state, breathing the nurturing fluid that surrounds him. He tumbles and rolls, all the while being suspended weightlessly and without strain. It’s this “small” biological miracle that protects human life during its most fragile of times.

Laughter

The Best Medicine After All

Originally published in Body Sense magazine, Autumn/Winter 2004.
Copyright 2004. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.

A Man's World

Males Bask in Bodywork and Skin Care Services

Men and women have enjoyed the relaxing qualities and healthful benefits of bodywork for thousands of years and in a variety of cultures around the world. Unfortunately, unhealthy stereotypes have kept many American men away from the massage table.

Pilates

Companion to Peak Performance

What do Gwyneth Paltrow, Rod Stewart, and Martina Navratilova have in common? No idea? Would it help if I added the San Francisco 49ers? No?

They all practice Pilates.

These popular personalities — and so many others — have discovered a winning combination of toning, timing, and training in this exercise regime.

While the popularity of Pilates gains more momentum each day, this exercise program had a slow start.

Soothing the Season

Natural Remedies to Ease Holiday Stress

As the holiday season approaches, your task list may begin to overwhelm you. There are office parties, social engagements, gift buying, children’s recitals, holiday meals, travel, and financial decisions — all tapping on your shoulder and demanding attention. Where do you begin?

“We have to resist the speediness around us,” says Hyla Cass, M.D., coauthor of several books, including Natural Highs: Feel Good All the Time (Avery, 2002). “All the forces are pushing us to perform, to always be doing and going,” she says. “It can really wreak havoc. Remember to slow down and breathe.”

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