 How is your Vagus Nerve Tone? After the past two years and the impact of a pandemic on our daily lives, I'm going to guess that its not that good. If the stress of Covid was placed on top of existing stress or physical/emotional trauma, your Vagus Nerve tone is probably struggling. The majority of us have had to modify and adapt our personal and work lives, as well as limit our social engagements. There have been many unknowns as we've tried to safely navigate our lives and keep others safe. The result has been chronic stress at varying levels. (The pandemic has made stress appear to be more prevalent however many people were already dealing with the burden of chronic stress and unresolved trauma prior to Covid.)
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 When I was newly trained in Reflexology I offered to give my Dad a treatment. He had been suffering with Osteoarthritis in his hip for many years and was often in a lot of pain, which hampered his being able to be as active as he wanted to be. A Metallurgical Engineer, he was a skeptic, saw things very black and white and did not believe without science and proof. But he did agree to let me practice on him.
Diabetes is a condition that most are familiar with, whether you are diabetic or pre-diabetic yourself or know someone with Diabetes.
While Massage, Reflexology, Reiki and other forms of holistic therapies are safe for diabetics, there are some things to consider both before and after your sessions.  "Stand up straight and tall!" Who didn't hear this as a child? What was never explained was why.
Posture, next to stress, is one of the main reasons clients come in to see me. Though I'm not sure they realize that. Posture while standing, Posture while walking, Posture while sitting at a desk and computer, Posture during screen time... Good posture, or lack thereof, makes a difference to more than your muscles. Unlike Massage and Myofascia Release, Craniosacral causes a more subtle "unwinding" effect on Fascia and in that provides muscles more room to move. The movements are light, almost unnoticeable. The effects are amazing.  The first time Craniosacral Therapy crossed my path I was a busy single parent of a 10 year old. While he was really bright and could articulate all kinds of information that he took in, dissect and discuss it, my son always had trouble with writing it down. Any kind of paragraphs, essays, stories...were a struggle. Over a coffee discussion with a therapist who specialized in Craniosacral Therapy for children, my son ended up with an appointment. He felt comfortable right away and fell soundly asleep on her table. She asked me at the end of his session if he had ever hit is forehead and she pointed to the centre.
 Gentle, slow unwinding of Fascia while also opening up any restrictions in the movement of cerebral spinal fluid, are the goals of a Craniosacral Therapy session. I often find that if a muscle is not letting go with traditional Massage Therapy, that a gentle Craniosacral hold to the area will do the trick. Sometimes muscles require a lighter touch to respond.
Chronic pain (especially in the low back, shoulders and neck), limited range of movement and flexibility, pain from old injuries or surgical sites, anxiety from recent and/or long ago traumatic events... all of these point to an unfitness in your Fascia. Holistic therapies can help!
 It always makes me smile a little when I'm a few movements into a Massage Therapy session and I hear "You can go deeper" from the client, face down on the table. Yes, I can go deeper, but are your muscles at a point where they are ready for that? Is your Fascia ready?
We've been walking on some icy surfaces in Calgary for a couple of weeks at least, and I can feel it in the muscles of your legs and hips! Apparently there is more to come through the weeks ahead...ugh. What are your muscles telling me? To avoid falling or slipping we tend to walk differently on icy surfaces. The shoes we wear hopefully have a better grip, but they also tend to be heavier and clumsier than our usual footwear.
Our stance, or centre of gravity should change to feet wider apart and slightly bending forward over our feet to shift body weight where we need it to maintain balance. Hands out of pockets to balance and holding handrails to catch our fall if we go down, shifts our balance as well. We may hit an icy step and jerk or twist our body to keep from falling. Your muscles tell me all about it. Nature spirals in and out through the seasons … so do we. Have you noticed the whorls and circles in the trunk of a cut tree, how a cat will curl up and around itself to sleep within a tucked up ball, the spirals of sea shells, plant leaves, wave patterns in the sand left by the ocean’s waves…  |
Teresa Graham,
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