Gift Certificates Available for Mothers Day

Massage is a great gift for Mother's Day.  A massage gift certificate shows how much you care.  Moms need a little time away, time to relax and decompress.  Contact me TODAY for your last minute shopping needs!

Wake up with a Coffee Scrub!

Mix up your morning routine with this coffee scrub.  

It's refreshing and invigorating.

Coffee Scrub Recipe

1/2 pint Mason or other jar

1/2 cup coconut or other vegetable oil

1/2 cup used and/or fresh coffee grounds

A few drops of your favorite essential oil

In a 1/2 pint jar, I mix together 1/2 cup of coconut oil (melted) and 1/2 cup of used coffee grounds.  I add a few drops of Whisper or Peppermint Essential oil.  As it cools it will harden back up, so you can press it into muffin tins and save them for use another time.  I just leave the jar in the shower.  

When you are ready to use it, just scoop out a little bit and scrub in circular motions from the tips of your toes and fingers toward your torso.  Work on one limb at a time too, using about a tablespoon per leg.  Then do your arms and don't forget to scrub the backs of your arms and those hard to reach places.  The shower will rinse away the grounds as you go so there's no need to worry about the drain.   

Its, just that easy.  So, what are you waiting for.  

Winter Sports Injury Series - Hips

Hips take a toll over the long haul.  The movement in the hips is very subtle.  When mobility is removed, like on icy conditions or when you are driving a lot, you can really stiffen up, causing pain and achiness.  

Massaging clients hips can be hard because most people are very guarded.  Even the most seasoned massage patron can unconsciously hold tension in the hips.  A skilled massage therapist (such as myself, just sayin’) and a trusting client can do really good hip massage.  

If you haven’t found me yet, I suggest stretching your hips.  Take the time to breathe through your stretching.  It's better to do one stretch right than three stretches incorrectly.  

I came across this great blog and have to re-share.  I can’t say it better than these folks do.

how-to-stretch-your-hip-videos

Thanks for coming to read Part 5 of my series, 5 Ways to Treat Yourself Better in 2016.  You can find posts in my archive to do your Daily Abayanga, Read More-Sleep More, Exercise for Fun, Pamper Yourself, and to Learn New Things.  My story about learning to play guitar starts below.

Learning to play guitar has been something I always wanted to do.  My dad was a talented musician, and I never learned to play an instrument as a child, despite the fact that there were always many instruments in the house. My dad was a drummer, so the other musicians would come to our house to play.  My dad always told us to learn to play a harmonica, because it fit in your back pocket.  I admit, it would be pretty hard to pack drums around with you.  

My brother and I, circa 1984-ish

About a year ago, I was telling all of this to a friend and he challenged me to stop my bitchin’ about it and try to learn NOW!  One thing leads to another, and before the night is out, he has me hooked up with my first lesson.  I have to go, in the morning, the very next morning!  He committed me to go and I don’t want to be a flake; so, I went.  

My goofy dad.

It was hard, and painful, and my poor tender fingertips will never be the same.  The first day wasn’t even the hardest.  It has gotten easier on the hands, and harder for my mind and my hand/eye/ear coordination.  I am addicted to it.  In fact, I am going on a bluegrass cruise (as a player) and I am n.e.r.v.o.u.s.  Nonetheless, I made a goal to perform with other people or play live within a year, so it's definitely time to stretch out of my comfort level to get better.

And that, my friends, is why I share this with you.  Treating ourselves better includes pushing ourselves to reach our goals, extending our goals to be outside of our comfort zone.  How to treat yourself better means don’t give up on your dreams.  It turns out learning new things will help you at any age.

Stay tuned and I will share a place you can see my personal pictures from the cruise.

Daily Abayanga

My Daily Abayanga

I'm dedicated to giving myself a massage every day with some plain organic coconut oil.  I do it for other people all the time, but often skip myself.  I'm just taking 10 minutes every day for daily Abayanga. It's a gentle massage, more of an application of moisturizer. My hands are worse than awful too; all that handwashing between clients really dries out your hands, especially in the winter. Some days I add a couple drops of essential oils.  At night, it's nice to add a couple drops to some peppermint oil and give myself a foot massage; just how I like it.  

Here's the recipe I modified with DoTERRA essential oils:  

   DIY Whipped Body Butter

Winter Sports Injuries Series - Low Back Pain

Winter is here and if you live like I do, that includes snow and cold weather.  It makes the days shorter and longer at the same time.  There are lots of reason to have lower back pain, but cold weather, extra gear, and extra chores add to the winter load for me.  

Do your days include snow pants and winter hats, gloves, and some pretty cold conditions.  Shoveling snow making you sore yet?  Me too.  Winter sure is hard on the ole back.  Massage is one of the best things for a good ole sore back.  Give it a try!

Watch this hilarious YouTube video I found about a month ago.  We have watched it over and over again.  Every one of these folks could have used a massage.

Epic Snow and Ice Fails

Read a Book a Month

The goal was to go to bed early, read more......

Hardly a moment passes once my head hits the pillow.  I am out like a light.  I can't seem to make it to bed "early" to read anyway.  The goal I set was to read more by going to bed earlier. Ppffff! I barely make it past bedtime! I have to read in the morning; maybe that is the new "early". My dad and all the old farts I grow to become more like are always up before dawn; this is early to them.  

In order to fulfill this goal of reading a book for my benefit, I am going to finish the book I started before the end of the month.   Maybe, just maybe, I will set a goal to read a book every month. I could carve out enough time to do at least that.

If you don't have a book, may I recommend, "Tiny, Beautiful Things", by Dear Sugar, an alias name for Cheryl Strayed, which is also an alias, but that's another story...

Just read this book. You will cry, and laugh, and have at least one radically empathetic moment. I'm not going to post a link for where to get it, because you can always get it at a book store! or in the library, or through Amazon; whaTEVER.

Yours Truly,

Audi Lyn