26 Feb 2013

Blocked Sinuses? Try this.

 Four simple steps to easy breathing:
  1. Push your tongue against the top of your mouth.
  2. Place the heel of your hand between your eyebrows and apply gentle steady pressure.
  3. Hold for about 20 seconds.
  4. Your sinuses will begin to drain.
The delicate bone and fascial structures between the two points of pressure can be influenced by this compression. The result is a gentle facial stretch that provides the opportunity for congested sinuses to drain, making breathing easier.

Give it a try, and let me know if it worked for you.


See you in the clinic.
Dana



  Sources: 
  • http://healthyliving-x.blogspot.ca/2012/10/sinusitis-symptoms-diagnosis-treatment.html
  • http://www.healthhype.com/sinus-cavities-paranasal-sinuses-location-anatomy-pictures.html

18 Feb 2013

Hot and Cold for Health

Take a cold shower to feel
energized & ready to rock your world.
It's that time of year where tissues, hot tea, and blankets are in high demand as our immune systems are working hard to stave off the ever-morphing rhinovirus, aka: the common cold.
Here's a simple way to help your body's defense system kick into turbo drive.
  1. Take a hot shower to warm your body deeply.
  2. Take a deep breath and harness your bravery.
  3. Set the water to cool/cold for 30 seconds. Squeal "Eeek!" as needed.
  4. Turn the water back to warm/hot for 3 minutes. "Ahhh."
  5. Return the water to cool/cold for 30 seconds. "Eeek!"
  6. If you have the stamina, time, and sense of adventure continue alternating between hot "Ahhh" and cold "Eeek" for a total of three times, ending on"Eeek."
For best effects, have the cold water run on all of your limbs, abdomen, back, and anterior neck and chest. Rinse your head when you are ready, it's breathtaking and the ultimate "Eeek" of all. Once you begin contrast showering regularly you will find yourself craving the flushing effects this hydrotherapy process provides.

Don't let the rhinovirus get you down!
Generally speaking, hydrotherapy promotes the body’s innate ability to heal itself and return it to a state of balance. Hydrotherapy techniques are meant to stimulate the function of white blood cells, change the body’s pH, increase movement and secretion of metabolites, expand and contract blood vessels to move blood and lymph, reduce inflammation, help to regulate blood pressure, and increase peripheral circulation. If it's not apparent, understand that these are all really good things that help your body maintain optimum health.

If you read my previous blog post on contrast bathing for the limbs, then the concept of providing a circulatory whip for your blood and lymphatic systems will be familiar.

Please use your common sense when applying this technique and consult your doctor first if you have concerns about whether this is appropriate for you.

This guy was the founder
of modern hydrotherapy
If you are inspired by this topic and old books, as I am, you can view the 1898 publication of Life of Vincent Priessnitz Founder of Hydropathy here.

Be well & see you in the clinic.
Dana



Sources:  
  •  Another blogger's testimonial of her experience with cold showers: http://www.englishmuse.com/2012/06/cold-showers.html
  • http://wellwire.com/health/cold-flu-health/hydrotherapy-immune-booster
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenz_Priessnitz
  • http://www.topnews.in/healthcare/content/-21270scientists-chart-sequence-99-cold-virus-strains

10 Feb 2013

Foster Care India & The Necessity of Touch

Babies need loving touch for healthy development
It's a fact: children need to experience touch not only to learn how to show their feelings appropriately but also to promote their healthy development. More often than not, families provide our first experiences of physical contact; we learn how to love and be loved by familial displays of affection, often involving touch. Studies have shown that babies have depressed levels of hormones when living in situations where little physical contact is given such as an orphanage. The hormone oxytocin is released in the body of a person experiencing safe and friendly touch, which has influence on healthy emotional development including caring, communication and stress regulation. Children who have not had enough physical attention are at higher risk for behavioral, emotional, and social problems later in life.

Ian's infectious smile outshines even lovely Udaipur
When traveling in India last April
I was fortunate to have crossed paths with a child well-fare visionary named Ian Anand Forber-Pratt. Adopted as a baby from Calcutta by American parents, was educated mostly in Saint Louis and attended Washington University's Brown School of Social work. A couple of years ago he returned to India with a masters degree in social work to live full-time and fulfill his dream of developing a foster care system for orphaned children. This is a completely new concept in a country where the orphanage model has always been followed.

The caste system, a form of social stratification that governs which jobs a person may perform and who they may associate with, still exists in India. This further complicates how an orphaned child is able to operate in society as, without family they have no caste. Foster Care India hopes to modify how these societal tethers affect orphaned children by providing the opportunity for them to function in a family environment and gain skills to eventually integrate into society. With a home where these kids can experience regular, friendly, familial touch they will be on the path toward being happy, healthy individuals.
Learn more about this revolutionary new organization

I have a lot of amazing people in my life and Ian is one of them. His tireless work and honest passion towards this cause is a great inspiration to me. I'm so very glad that he's out there making the world a better place. It's working.

In the spirit of British Columbia's newest stat holiday, Happy Family Day!

Dana

4 Feb 2013

Singing: The Internal View

Take a seriously intimate glimpse inside one artist's mind.


Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_964dqQxQwY&feature=player_embedded