Dynamic Balance

Get It Started

Well, So much for October, and now on to November. As of this writing - only 52 days till Christmas - can you stand it? It has been an October kind of year. Always waiting for the next thing to pop up. But November is about giving thanks. and it may be early but I would like to thank all of you whom are clients present and past and thank-you to you who receive this newsletter. You give me the opportunity to share what I know and learn with you whether as an academic thought or a practical application. They say that after giving birth, the greatest thing our parents teach us is gratitude - so tell someone thank-you, it will make you feel good!

That being said, in conversation the other day a reference was brought up to getting old cause I prefer to listen to Jazz and no longer like to listen to angry young white boys rant about,.. what ever. It stuck with me during the day for some reason. I think that is indicative of our society. It labors under the belief that unless we are manic and running crazy with limitless energy that we are tired and of little use. Granted those in business for ourselves have to be a touch driven or committed (or should be :))to make it a success. But to truly survive the rat race one must truly know when to run and make time to rest as well. It would seem to me that the old adage of " It is better to burn up than to fade away" might be a little short-sighted. I think it says a great deal about our thinking processes, that we don't take time to smell the roses.

Maybe we would better serve ourselves, better to take the time to relax, get a massage and store up some energy for the next wave, its always a great ride!

AS a Special Offer I am offering my gift giving Gift Certificates at a special price.

10 Gift Certificates for $350

Value of $700

This is only for gift giving, not for yourself.

Did You know?

The customer may not always be right?

But they are always the customer!!

Body Balancing Massage Therapy

It is important to say thank-you.  Many business people never realize just how critical this can be. Our clients, patients, customers are not bound by some silver thread to us that they can never go away. Rather they stay because we treat them like the jewels that they are. when we don't they soon find someone that will. They are not fickle, as much as they want to feel good about the transaction.

Someone told me once that every occasion you have with a customer, or potential customer should be an event.  It is in their minds. So the better the event the more often they will want to repeat it, repeat it (sorry couldn't resist J)

A happy customer will tell 3 people about their experience, an unhappy customer will tell 20, and more if they like to talk.

It is the rare person that fails to realize the economics of attracting new customers and holding onto the weathered ones. It cost (relatively speaking) $50 to attract new customers, it costs $150 to regain lost ones. SO economically it is well worth it to go the extra step to both keep your customers and keep them happy

I have and still maintain, the nicest thing you can do for a business owner is to COMPLAIN! Tell them if you are not happy and allow them the opportunity to correct the complaint.

SO tell your customers how great they are, how grateful you are to have them, and they will stay. Don't, and someone else will be happy to!!

The flow through the popliteal or back of the knee is critical to the health of the lower limb. While common knowledge admits to only 7 or 8 nodes in this area it is interesting to note that they are embedded in fat tissue. fat tissue is generally an energy source but is also a method for the body to separate, toxins from sensitive areas. Their placement not withstanding swelling of the nodes in this area are medically recognized as a sign of infection of the lower limb. However in my practice I often find this area swollen with no evidence of infection, more common is the backup pressure created as a result of "slow flow" with resultant varicosities and increased "pooling" or edema. Most consistently this is visible with individuals who do not utilize the calf muscles as efficiently in walking or sit  on hard chairs for long hours.

As you can easily tell from the leg on the far right of the trigger point descriptions a TrP in the soleus can be a real pain in the butt - couldn't resist :)

Muscle of the month - Soleus (AKA the 2nd heart)

In humans and some other mammals, the soleus is a powerful muscle in the back part of the lower leg (the calf). It runs from just below the knee to the heel, and is involved in standing and walking. It is closely connected to the gastrocnemius "calf" muscle and some anatomists consider them to be a single muscle, the triceps surae. Its name is derived from the sole fish whose shape it resembles.

The soleus is located in the superficial back compartment of the leg. Not all mammals have a soleus muscle; one notable species that lacks the soleus is the dog.

The Soleus contains the acupressure point  Bladder 57 It is to be found at the point of the calf where the gastrocnemius becomes soleus and Achilles Tendon. It is used to treat back pain and hemorrhoids and is a good spot is the calf is in spasm. Not necessarily nocturnal spasms though.

You also notice as in the figure to the right that a TrP in the soleus muscle can refer pain to the jaw but more specifically to the TM Joint. In many circles it is said that chronically locking of the knees imbalances the rest of the body and contributes to TM Dysfunction, locking your knees will contribute to TrP's in the soleus as well.

As military people know well, raw recruits in the army who stand immobile at attention may suddenly faint when venous blood pools in the lower limbs because it is not being pumped upward by the soleus muscle. Trained recruits rhythmically contract and relax the calf muscles isometrically and thus avoid fainting while they stand at attention.

Case Study

Lets call her Mary, Mary had a job where she sat in front of a computer for long hours. When she started the position she was a "little" over weight but not serious. She would often cross her ankles under her chair to keep her posture up. Slowly but surely her legs began to swell and she would have to spend her evenings with her legs up to bring the swelling down. THe increased fluid pressure in her legs made them sore and she stopped her evening walks. Slowly over a year she went from a reasonably active individual to 75 pounds over weight. Then came the low back pain and finally her jaw started hurting. Someone referred her to get a massage. It took a while to identify the problem, and longer for her to follow up. Getting the muscles moving helped with the circulation and opened up the restrictions in the calf muscles. The lymphatic work drained the toxins and 1 year later she is active again and steadily loosing weight