29 Sept 2014

That Card Costs Me - Support Local Small Business By Choosing Payment Method Mindfully

Paying with a card might be free for you, but it costs the merchant.
Do you know how much using your card costs me?
I accept payment for massage treatments at the clinic in a variety of forms: cash, cheque, debit, MasterCard, and Visa. Some of these methods cost me to deposit into my account, others don't. 


Do you know how your payment choice affects local small business owners? 

For my micro business the breakdown is like this:
  • Cash = Remember that stuff? Those bills are free for me to accept/deposit.
  • Cheque = A bit old school, but works like cash.
  • Debit = 10 cents, no matter the size of the transaction.
  • Credit = 2.8% of transaction total. The amount I pay our credit card payment provider is approximately $2.80 for every one hour massage treatment. Part of this percentage is charged on top of the tax I collect. Sneaky, aren't they?
 

So, what?

I operate a tiny little business. When you function at this scale, every dime of revenue and expense is accounted for. Although it can be helpful to have business expenses for tax purposes, there comes a point when you have enough expenses accumulated and just want to see income simply coming in. Last year I paid nearly $600 in point of sale fees; that same amount could have flown me to Maui for a continuing education course to further my professional skills. Receiving payment by cash, cheque, and debit keeps more money in my pocket, so I can invest it into growing my business.

I am grateful for all paying customers, and will accept any form of payment that they provide, but if it doesn't matter to you whether you pay by credit, debit, or cash, then I invite you to consider how your choice of payment method affects me. When supporting small businesses in your community, why not ask if they have a preferred payment method? You might just be helping them actually put more money directly in their pocket, and that is a very sweet thing indeed.

See you in the clinic,
Dana




22 Sept 2014

Magic Honey Facial Mask

Really, I'm not kidding. This is magic, and possibly the simplest face mask imaginable.
Okay, ready?

Here's the secret recipe:

  • One teaspoon of unpasteurized honey, smeared evenly over your face.
  • Let sit for several minutes.
  • Rinse off. 

It's understandably quite sticky, so using this mask before a shower might be best. I've found that I don't require a cleanser after rinsing the mask, it takes care of this, too.

Honey will firm up your visage, shrink your pores, and fine lines will fade. All this thanks to magical workings of bees.

Give it a try! You don't have much to lose - except maybe a few laugh lines. Let me know if you notice a difference in your skin with repeated use.


- Dana

19 Sept 2014

The Pain Gate Theory Explains How Massage Reduces Pain

Sorry Pain, you cannot pass through the gate. Pleasure gets priority.
Have you ever stumbled through your living room in the night to have the corner of the coffee table come in direct full-swing contact with your shin? I have many times - gee, maybe I should move the table - and I often find myself instinctively reaching for the injured area to briskly rub it.

Why is that?

One theory is that our brains don't want to feel pain and have mechanisms in place to reduce our perception of it. The ascending nerve pathways (sensation information going to the brain) have a preference for input that brings pleasure. That's right, we are all wired to feel pleasure before pain. So when we injure ourselves our instincts make us rub the sore spot to intercept the pain signals also trying to reach the brain.

Imagine that there is a gate keeper on the road to the brain, and a pain signal and a pleasure signal arrive at the gate at the same time. If the signal for pain isn't that important, ie: not life threatening, the pleasure signal will be allowed to pass through first and will arrive at the brain faster. The brain will receive the signal of pleasure before the signal of pain and therefore down-regulate the pain's message.

How does this relate to massage therapy?

With this theory in mind one can apply the concept of pain management through positive touch. If you suffer from chronic pain such as arthritis, headaches, fibromyalgia, et cetra you might perceive less discomfort from these ailments by experiencing pleasant cutaneous sensations in other areas of your body. To clarify: by receiving a soothing massage your brain may "turn-down" the pain signals it has been receiving in order to give preference to the pleasure signals.

Ronald Melzack, a Canadian researcher, with Patrick Wall introduced their "gate control" theory of pain in 1965. This theory changed how we look at pain perception and is still relevant to how pain management is approached. These researchers also validated the role of psychology in pain management by examining how mental state influences perception of pain.

One big piece to the psychological component of pain perception is how you think about pain when it is occurring to you. Your mood, personal experiences, environment, and context of stimulation can all alter how the brain experiences pain. People who live with chronic pain syndromes can learn to down-regulate or choose not to perceive as much pain by controlling their thoughts about pain. But this is a whole other discussion in itself.

Who can benefit from massage in this way?

A little positive touch can go a long way.
People suffering from these common conditions could benefit from regular massage therapy to reduce pain:
  • Osteoprosis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Fracture
  • Pregnancy
  • Cancer
  • AIDS
No, I'm not promising that massage therapy will solve your health concern or disease, but it can improve your quality of life by reducing the amount of pain that your brain perceives.

Massage therapy has an incredible breadth of application and can be useful for anyone looking to improve their quality of life by making their body as functional and pain-free as possible.

In wellness,
Dana


P.S.   If you feel like getting a bit nerdy and learning about neuoranatomy and chronic pain management, I've included some links that have been helpful to me.

Resources:
  • Dr Ronald Melzack discusses human pain perception and the development of his Pain Gate Theory(5:25 Pain Gate Theory introduced):   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRFanGInvlc
 

  •  Dr John Campbell explains The Ascending Gating Mechanism (Pain Gate Theory description starts at approx 1:20 mins):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9qbXKIAeNo
  •  Graceful Agony blog post about the Pain Gate Theory: 
    http://gracefulagony.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/gate-control-theory-of-pain/