Category Archives: Relaxation

Could this be you?

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And, the Vision is this…

One day a woman with a chronic physical problem had a vision.  It was of having an alternative health center to go to for pain relief and to gain the knowledge she knew she needed for lifestyle changes. She was ready to not only work on relieving her chronic pain but to get to the root cause of all of her concerns.

She knew she needed a place where she could work on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. She also knew that there needed to be collaborating experts in these fields to give her the support, motivation, andthe self-awareness / education that she so longed for.

“When the time is right, the teacher appears” is a saying in the spiritual world.  She was ready to work at a deep level. Her desire was realized when she found Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center.  Now, she had collaborating experts in the different fields to help her with the psychological root cause, help her to be more relaxed, teach her how to eat healthy, and most of all teach her how to move in an effortless way to relieve her physical pain. 

How exciting to have expert practitioners in their fields give her the support, motivation, self-awareness, and all the education she needed to empower her ”self” so that she can be pain free and successful in all areas of her life.

Could this be you?

Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center is your place for natural health and lifestyle changes!

STAYING ON TRACK WITH EFFORTLESS MEDITATION™

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After 35 years of teaching, it is very clear that people experience tremendous value from their meditation practice, and yet who hasn’t thought, I don’t have time to meditate today? It’s easy to lose focus on the things that are important to us when we’re running around responding to the relentless pressure of daily life.

What are some of those things that fall through the cracks when we lose focus?  Meditation, exercise, spending quality time with loved ones (building relationships), hobbies and other soul nourishing interests all get pushed out of the way.

Those attending tune up classes find that they help connect them with the power of meditation.  Most would benefit from a quarterly 1.25 hour tune up class, some could use it more frequently than that.  If you’re having difficulty finding the time to meditate, you definitely would benefit from at least a couple monthly classes.  Tune ups will fine tune your practice and jump start it and your life to a new level.

Our computers, automobiles, and homes all need maintenance to maximize the return on our investment.  Our meditation is the same.  As I was exercising the other day at my gym, I was struck by the number of people participating in a yoga class in the mind body studio.  That is good news, people are taking time to refine their practice in group classes.

Small group Effortless Meditation tune up classes are inspiring for all those who attend.  I invite you to join us.  And if you prefer, private meditation coaching is available.

YOGA FOR BETTER BREATHING & LESS MUSCLE TENSION

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I recently became friends with Elise who lives down the street from me. I had known of her for a couple years, but just waved and said “hello”.  Recently we were formally introduced when she was hired at the same school I am now employed. It didn’t take long for us to become fast friends through yoga.

She was aware that I was a yoga teacher, so I mentioned to her where I was teaching  and she very quickly became interested in learning more about it. I knew it would help her manage the stress from working and raising a family, so I invited her to join in on my sessions.  She loved the idea.

While I was telling her about the schedule, she asked if she could invite one of her other friends.  I said “of course, the more the merrier”.  She had only done Yoga once before, and it was quite some time ago. They joined my next class and took it real easy at first, but it wasn’t long until they were both loving the challenging poses and the relaxation at the end of each class.  Not only did my friend, Elise, benefit, but her friend was so excited to tell me that after only a few sessions her breathing had improved and her muscles felt less stiff and tense.  She was amazed how great she felt in such a short time.

Now they are both doing all the poses in full length sessions and encouraging each other to practice regularly.  Elise couldn’t wait to tell me after the last session that she is less short of breath going up stairs and on walks with her dog, her tight calves and thighs are much less tense, and that there is improvement in her overall range of motion.

The power of Yoga is truly amazing for moms and even dads!

Laurie Lagerman, CYT, Happy Yoga practitioner and teacher for 13 years.

Living with Uncertainty

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As a counselor, I sometimes find that the same issues come up for several people in the same week.  This week the issue has been uncertainty, and it’s only Wednesday.  Well, certainly, we are living in the most uncertain of times, and, as a baby boomer, I know that says something.

When I was a child, the fear was “The Bomb,” and I have vivid memories about the cold war era.  I lived near an Army reserve depot, and there was a flight path right over my yard.  At age seven, my best friend was the boy next door, also age seven, who was an authority on planes, because he and his older brother had built many model airplanes.  So, when the heavy transport planes and bombers would fly overhead, he would look up, shake his head and say with profound seriousness, “I’m not sure it’s one of ours.”  Those few moments were fraught with trepidation, until the plane cleared my house and he reassured me that it was, indeed, one of ours.   It’s easy to laugh now at my gullible little self and the boy who knew how to scare me.

Life is filled with uncertainty, and there’s always something we can find to worry about.  Worry is trying to control something, when we have no say in the matter.  So, how do we accept the fact that the only thing we can count on is change?  How do we ride the wave of not knowing? How do we live with an uncertain future?  Can we change the self-talk that fuels fear?

Almost daily, I see the changes that Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can help make in letting go of the need to control situations and people. EFT can calm a person’s system as they come to terms with uncertainty and change.  In my practice, I have the privilege of watching a mother let go of trying to fix her adult children’s lives, a teen come to terms with anxiety about school, or an abuse survivor begin to feel safe in the world.  I wish EFT would have been around, when those planes flew over my house.

Obsessive EGO-MONKEY-MIND & Meditation Relief

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Yesterday, I received a contractor’s invoice for a home service that was totally unsatisfactory. They did not provide much of the service that’s advertised and yet they billed me as if they had.    The “warrior” in me was agitated and wanted justice.   I was determined to right this perceived wrong.

Although my prepaid legal service attorney was very ready to take action on my behalf, I began to feel uncomfortable about his suggested response.  Perhaps I was acting hastily, why was I so obsessed with this?

Eckhart Tolle, NY Times best-selling author of A New Earth and The Power of Now, might say that I was caught up in my ego-mind. The ego-monkey-mind, gets pleasure in running the show, justifying its position vs. others and distracting us from what we really want, e.g. joy and peace of mind.  I had definitely lost my focus and serenity over this issue.

Does such obsessive thinking ever occur in your life? How often?

Certainly, injustices are not fair and ideally can be reversed.  However, a balanced mind and approach to life is my goal.  Is this contractor issue really that important that it should consume so much of my mental energy and focus?

Fortunately, many years ago I learned how to take the steam out of my obsessive ego-monkey-mind thinking with Effortless Meditation™.  Although, as this contractor experience reveals, it’s an on-going process.   Obsessive thoughts still sporadically appear, they grab me; however, their roar and impact is far less today.  In meditation, I effortlessly return to mental stillness, a state of balance and peace.  Through regular daily meditation practice, I’ve experienced a growing internal serenity and freedom that enables me to “let go” of stressors and move on in my life rather than obsessing for long periods over things that I have very little, if any, control!

Injustices, both real and imaginary, are a part of life; however, our responses to them can change for the better.  Today, life is good, very good.  Don’t sweat the small stuff; and you know it’s mostly small stuff!

Greg Schweitzer, Effortless Meditation™ Instructor

MY BODY IS STRAIGHT AND FREE!

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The brochure says:  Imagine your body feeling relaxed and peaceful yet poised with energy.  Imagine having the ability to move with flexibility while enjoying maximum strength.  Imagine using your body free of pain, stiffness or chronic stress.  Well, I had heard of Structural Integration, the Rolf Method, and how years ago people said how painful it was. Then I decided that I needed to try it – my body was telling me it needed something.  I talked with Andrei Kazlouski about the pain level and he said that when it begins to get uncomfortable he wants to know and then he always lightens up on his touch. Treatments aren’t painful like they used to be years ago.  The technique has changed that way.

Sitting a lot, lack of good muscle strength, and scoliosis, had me pretty miserable, so I made an appointment to see what this alternative health modality called Structural Integration was all about. Many injuries and physical bad habits (moving incorrectly) changed the alignment of my body which made it hard for me to walk without pain.  I have learned that pain and strain is my body’s way of telling me it is out of balance. So, it was time for me to do something serious about it!

Andrei is a gentle soul who knows his stuff.  His ability to detect the origin of the tightness within my body causing the physical misalignment was fascinating.  As I laid on the table wearing my gym clothes, he began working on my feet and legs.  He explained that was necessary because if the bottom of the body is not in alignment, the top of the body will not hold the alignment.

It felt different from a massage.  Andrei used a range of techniques to lengthen and reposition the protective and supportive layer that surrounds each muscle and provides a matrix that supports every tissue in the body.  This is called fascia.  The amount of pressure he used varied.  Sometimes it was a slow, deep, stretching movement, and sometimes a constant applied pressure. And it wasn’t painful!

I was involved in the process.  Andrei at different times asked me to make continual small movements or take slow deep breaths while he worked.  This allowed him to access and work with the connective tissue. He worked in an unhurried and deliberate way and encouraged me to give him feedback so that I was always within my comfort level.

Andrea told me that people who experience Structural Integration usually feel a greater awareness of body posture.  This was certainly true for me! After one of my first treatments, I walked into the reception area and the assistant director who was sitting there said, “Wow, look at you!”  I not only felt lighter, but I was walking much straighter and it really was so much easier to move. Not only that, but I had no pain – it was just so easy!

Deep Relaxation For The Body

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One of my regular clients at Twin Ponds integrative Health Center called for a massage today and requested a 90 minutes massage.  He wanted to feel relaxed at a very deep level.

Every time I give a massage it is different.  I love just following my inner guidance and the client’s requests to make the session special for that client on that day. I set up the room with the heated pad to warm his muscles and put on some gentle soothing music. These start the relaxation process.  I blended some gentle and long Swedish massage strokes and deep tissue massage, to help with the release of tension and knots. His 90 minute session gave me the opportunity to spend more time on his right shoulder that was holding a lot of tension.

Before I started to work on his back, I did some Craniosacral Therapy to release restrictions that would improve the functioning of his central nervous system. This was a new experience for him and the depth of relaxation he was feeling was amazing to him! He commented on how surprising it is that just placing hands in certain areas allowed his breathing to go so deep. The 90 minute session also allowed me to do extra work on his back and legs. I did different massage strokes and Myofascia Release where I gently applied pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restrictions.  This helps to eliminate pain and restore motion for overall better results. I could feel his muscles let go of the tension.  When I massaged his legs, he told me they felt lighter.

It is very rewarding to get feedback right away. I finished our session with some gentle energy healing called Reiki which helps the body relax and quiets the mind at the same time.  This energy work enhanced the massage and allowed the muscles to let go even more.

By the time he was ready to go home, he was so relaxed he looked as if he had just awakened from a deep sleep! Some research states that a massage is equivalent to four hours of sleep. It is so rewarding to help someone reach such a deep level of relaxation in just a short period of time.

I love helping my clients relax on all levels: body, mind and spirit. Blending gentle, deep massage with energy work like Reiki gives amazing results.  I feel such joy knowing that because of the depth of this client’s relaxation, his muscles will continue letting go of the tension he was experiencing.

Murielle Wesch, Licensed Massage Therapist

Effortless Meditation™ and Anxiety, OCD

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Sarah needed to stop her endless negative self-talk; it was sucking away her life energy.  She said, “My doctor tells me that I have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in addition to anxiety and panic disorder.”

In the preceding five years, her condition had become so debilitating that she could no longer work full-time.  At one point, she was so troubled that she could barely leave the house.

Fortunately, she was spirited and did not give up easily.  She tried medication, cognitive therapy and was vigilant about diet and exercise.  She also regularly listened to self-help CD’s, occasionally attended yoga classes, surrounded herself with crystals and fidgeted with gemstones everywhere to deal with her anxiety.

Compassionately, Sarah’s physician and a few friends enthusiastically encouraged her to take my Effortless Meditation™ course at Twin Ponds.  She was very skeptical, as she said, “I cannot sit still, so how will I ever be able to meditate?”

Sarah eventually acquiesced, realizing that she had little to lose except the course fee.  Once her physician assured her that the course was worth 10 times what was being charged, she was ready to take the plunge.

What was to come took Sarah by complete surprise.  After the third 1.5 hour session, the third day of the course, she excitedly declared to me, “I have removed all my gemstones and crystals from my car and I haven’t carried them with me since I learned to meditate.  She was initially hesitant to discuss these changes but after a few months of being free of her obsessive compulsive behaviors, she freely began to share her story with others.
“When it came to obsessive compulsive disorder, practicing Effortless Meditation™ did for me what medicine, diet and exercise, and cognitive therapy couldn’t, and literally within days.”  To her delight, Sarah’s obsessive mental dialogue has lost its power to control her life.

Greg Schweitzer
Effortless Meditation™ instructor

Massage – There is more to a massage than you think!

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I’m at work and sit back for a moment when WOW! Suddenly I feel the stress in my body!   My mind goes to having a massage and immediately I feel my body relax a little.

Did you know that just thinking about getting a massage starts the process of relaxation?

I call for an appointment and spend the rest of the day in great anticipation knowing that the evening will be much more enjoyable after the massage and a good night’s sleep will get me back on track for my hectic day planned for tomorrow.

I’m feeling more positive already!

When I walk into massage room 2, my favorite, I feel comforted by the warmth of the room, the dim lights, and the soft music that is playing.  It gives me a feeling of being safe and supported in life.  Isn’t that what being cared for is all about?

As I crawl under the sheets, I feel the warmth of the heated pad under my back and relax in total comfort until the therapist comes into the room.  I’m then asked a few questions so my requirements for the massage are met.  Sometimes it is just the stress release I need, sometimes it is a tight neck and shoulders, and sometimes a low backache.

It is amazing what goes on during and after a massage that we aren’t even aware of.  Things like better circulation, the lymphatic flow in my body is better, and even my immune system gets a boost!  Can you imagine?  Who would think that a massage can even keep you from getting colds and other annoying discomforts of the body!  Actually massages are even beneficial for very serious conditions, but I won’t talk about that now.

My attention goes to where the therapist is working.  I have been told that this intensifies the benefits of a massage 10 times and I immediately feel that area relax. I wonder as I lie there what else is happening in my body.

This is all so amazing to me!  Lying on a table, feeling relaxed and knowing that there is so much more going on than I am aware of.  When the massage is over and I leave room #2, I know my postural alignment is better – I feel it. I know I have more energy − relaxed but vitalized – I feel it.  My body, mind, emotions, and spirit are uplifted!  I know it and feel it.

I am also aware as I’m walking down to the office that I have bed head, creases on my forehead, and feeling really spacey − who cares!  I feel so wonderful! I drink a glass of water to bring me back to earth and know that drinking more water than usual will help eliminate the toxins that have been loosened from my muscles.  Amazing!

This is a great ending for a day.  It is so evident when I walk into my home and greet my family. They are so appreciative!  Me too! The newly relaxed, fully−patient me is home!

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