 Have you ever wondered why we need salt? Apart from the fact that it tastes good, it also helps the functioning of our cells. The problem is that there is table salt (an extract of sea salt) and THEN there is sea salt! Table salt is made up of two minerals, Sodium and Chloride – the two major components of salt. However it does not contain the 82 minerals that are found in Celtic or Himalayan salt. Our body needs all the minerals and trace elements to function well.
We lose about 2.5 litres of water a day and this needs to be replaced. However some people find that drinking that amount of water means they either get fluid retention or they are often in the loo. Water is absorbed and retained better when you put a crystal or two of Celtic or Himalayan salt on the tongue first, let it dissolve in your mouth, before you drink a glass of water.  What does this have to do with being a massage therapist? Many years ago I had a client visit me who was struggling to walk up hills and climb ladders. When I massaged their legs, I found lots of little tight knots, especially in their calf muscles. I asked if they include salt in their diet and found out that they only occasionally used table salt. So I suggested they start having Himalayan or Celtic salt daily (up to ½ teaspoon) and drink more water. After 2-3 slow, deep massages on their legs to release all the knots, and increasing their salt intake, they experienced considerable relief. Take a look at the links below for more information about salt and water.
https://www.wideopeneats.com/12-different-types-salt-use/ https://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutrition/gain-mass/diet-911-add-salt-strength https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm6fmiG4SAc&t=1097s Note: If you are not sure about using salt – please check with a qualified naturopath. Elayne is a massage therapist. Click here to book a massage. Photo by Stefan Johnson and Amanda Perez on Unsplash
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Take a look at my courses coming up over the next few months....
I am aiming to travel overseas at the end of this year, so if you have any outstanding massage vouchers please book in by the end of April. There are lots of courses on offer this year - something for everyone - so please read this email right to the end.
Beginner's Massage Courses: I am offering two separate weekends for this course - 1/2 April or 29/30 April for full details click here. Advanced Massage Course: Once you have completed the beginners course you might want to learn some deeper massage techniques. The Advanced Massage Course is on the 13/14 May. Click here for information. Crystal Healing Course: This one day course on the 27th May is for complete beginners or people wishing to develop their intuitive/healing skills and work with crystals. Click here. Massage for Couples: If you wish to deepen intimacy between you and your partner through massage - this weekend is for you. I teach basic massage but there is also the opportunity to learn aspects of sensual massage, communication and skills around creating a deeper connection. Click here. Weightloss without a Diet Course: I have had lots of requests for my Weightloss without a Diet class so I am running it again, starting straight after Easter. The course runs for 8 weeks either Tuesday nights or Thursday mornings. For more details click here. Chi Kung Classes restarting in May: Tao Basic: Stretch and Smile - Tuesday mornings for 8 weeks Tao Basic: Breathe - Thursday nights for 8 weeks Tao of Healing Love weekend 30 June (evening) 1/2 July For more details click here My New Address: Massage in Nelson has moved to 55 Tasman Street, The Wood, Nelson. I have two late nights - one on Monday and the other on Wednesday. The first session is $70 and if you rebook within 30 days the next session is $55 for a one hour massage. It gets busy at this time of the year, so book a week ahead to avoid disappointment or send me a txt for a time. Gift vouchers are available too.  Throughout the year animals and plants respond to the seasons. In spring the sap rises in the trees, there is new growth, flowers, nesting, birthing of new life. Everything is warming and expanding! Summer is hot and fully expanded. Its a time to have fun, enjoy life and have plenty. Autumn is cooling and condensing. Everything is ripe and ready for harvest. Food and nuts are gathered and stored, in readiness for winter. The trees loose their leaves and animals make their winter home. Winter is cold and contracted. It is time to batten down the hatches and hibernate. To slow down, rest, contemplate and dream. There is a natural flow of energy which we humans seem to be too busy to notice - for if we did we could definately harness it and use it for our betterment.  How do we harness the energy of autumn? Autumn is a time of gathering, storing, releasing and reflection. On a practical level we harvest our crops, tidy up the garden, prune back the plants, secure the home in preparation for the winter months. We would also get out the winter clothes and bedding, stack the wood and preserve our food. Emotionally, autumn is the time to release hurts, grieve our losses and process emotional experiences. We can only do this when all our physical needs are met (and this comes through the summer season). A full harvest means that we can be satisfied with life, and when there is plenty, its easy to let go and release the past. We can release the emotional charge from the past and keep the wisdom of the experiences we have had throughout the year. Autumn is the time when we are naturally more sensitive. To our environment - knowing the right time to harvest, being aware of the weather so our harvest doesn't get ruined, and there is a push to preserve and store our food. We are emotionally more sensitive too, with the end of the warm summer weather there can be a slight feeling of grief that all the fun and play is over. Fortunately, we also naturally have a stronger sense of courage and honesty at this time, and a sense of pride. This helps us to express ourselves and let the past go. Having loving friends and family around us at this time is very helpful, so creating a gathering to celebrate this season is a wonderful way to feel supported.
When we reflect on our lives in Autumn, appreciate what we have and release what no longer serves us, then we become open to inspiration and vision which arrives in the winter.  One of the reasons we are more prone to anxiety these days, is that we are constantly on an emotional roller coaster – stimulated by movies, social media, television and books with emotive stories. On one hand each one of these activities can give us some “time out” at the end of the day, on the other hand, it is important to note that our over-stimulated mind and emotions absorb it all and the constant input actually "adds" to the overall stress. For example: if you watch a movie about a predator and you are involved in the story, your body cannot differentiate between the pretend story and real life. If you feel frightened whilst watching the movie, or your hair goes up on the back of your neck, you feel cold, sweaty or upset; then your emotional system is on! This means your adrenal glands are pumping the hormones that make the body to go into fight and flight mode. (Check out my deep breathing practice to reverse the affects of adrenal gland hormones) Likewise if you see or read something that is really sad (I get triggered and cry every time I watch the movie Whale Rider), and you feel like crying, you are also having an emotional reaction which is affecting the chemistry in your body. All this is fine if you are not over-anxious, but it is not okay if your system is already in overdrive. Our thinking and emotions are affected by the chemicals in our body: food, drugs, our own hormones, and toxins in the environment all have an affect on our mental and emotional health. For example, when I had my son, I did not sleep well (as is usual if you have babies!) and also had a lot of financial stress as my husband was made redundant. Eventually this lead to the break down of my health and I became fatigued. It was when I changed my diet, learnt how to relax and sleep, rebalance the chemistry in my body that I started to emotionally/mentally feel better again..  So, take some time out from movies,social media, books and TV. You could:
Please note that these blogs are from a lay person and not a counsellor, psychologist or medical professional. If you think you have severe anxiety or depression, you should consult with a professional. Click here for my Worry and Anxiety resource page To book a session with Elayne click here  Did you know that there is a direct relationship with our breathing pattern and stress/worry/anxiety or fear? And that it can work both ways? When we are fearful or anxious, our breathing pattern and posture changes - this puts us in fight or flight mode. When we relax our bodies and breathe deep, we go into relax mode. Here is what happens when we get stressed: 1. Our shoulders go up around our ears 2. Often our jaw tightens 3. We take short (sometimes fast) breaths in our upper lungs - or we hardly breathe at all! 4. Our thinking moves to the reptilian brain which triggers off our flight/fight response read more. The good news is that we can change this pattern, just by doing the opposite of the above...  1. Relax the shoulders and let them drop 2. Relax the jaw, puff out the cheeks and blow out through the mouth (like a horse blowing through its lips) 3. Breathe deep tummy breaths, filling it like a balloon - exhale extra slow 4. The thinking moves to the hypothalamus which controls the relaxation response Its an interesting thing that even when we are not stressed or fearful, we can still breathe shallow breaths in the upper chest. To some degree the body still thinks we are stressed, even though we are not! If we have had a long period of stress, our body gets trained into being "on the edge" all the time - it stays in the fight/flight mode. Luckily we can un-train the body and this is done through breath work. Click here for two different techniques for breathing. Below is a poster with tips for releasing stress. Also some links to other websites for breath work.  Other blogs related to breathing and anxiety:
http://www.anxietycoach.com/breathingexercise.html Please note that these blogs are from a lay person and not a counsellor, psychologist or medical professional. If you think you have severe anxiety or depression, you should consult with a professional. Click here for my Worry and Anxiety resource page  There are times in our lives when we get either very busy or stressed. Our whole system seems to get revved up, and we spend most of our days in our head. We can feel
I have noticed that how I feel depends a lot on where I place my attention. If I keep focusing on the bad/stressful things, then I tend to become more emotional and stressed. If I focus on what feels good, over time, I get more good going!  A quick way to to unwind is to notice that there are moments of okayness. Not every moment is bad or hectic. One of my practices was to take a deep breath and say to myself: “in this moment I’m okay”. Or “in this moment I feel alright”. By noticing when I feel lighter, okay, awake, calm, peaceful and DRAWING MY ATTENTION to it, I realised that things weren’t bad all the time. It gives me a sense of relief! The more I appreciate the periods of okayness, the longer they get! Elayne is a trained Aromatherapist and Bodyworker. This blog is written from her personal experience - she is a layperson and not a medical practitioner. If you have on-going stress and anxiety it is recommended that you seek professional assistance.
To book a session click here. For additional blogs, resources and information on stress and anxiety click here.  Take a moment to listen to your thoughts about yourself.
How you feel about your body? Your state of health? Do you like the way you look? Many people would say: I am too fat, too thin, too short, dumpy, stupid.... and so it goes on. This week I saw a three minute video about a woman who hated her body. It struck a chord with me... I realised that I quite often verbally beat myself up! I want to share this video with you - it's about a woman who chose to look differently about her body. Click here to look at this video (it is a promotional video but the message is well worth hearing). So often when I work with people, I get a sense that they don't like their body, or the part that is hurting them. For some it is their hormonal system because they can't conceive a baby, or it makes them moody, or menopausal. For others it is their "pain in the neck" or "pain in their butt". I have noticed there is a kind of tension that sits in the body, and it appears when we go on a negative self talk rampage. Many a client will tell you that during a session I have asked them to breathe deeply and SMILE into their body. To appreciate it - after all the body still keeps working, even if we have a poor diet, bad posture, don't move enough, laugh enough, play enough. This is the analogy I give to my clients about our self talk: Let us pretend you work in a factory. You have been there a long time and some of the machinery is a bit unpredictable, which affects your output. Boss A comes in. This person is always grumpy with you, telling you what is wrong, making you feel useless, picking holes in you, yelling sometimes. How do you feel? Do you shrink down? Do you dread Boss A? Would you grumble and complain outside of work? Would you even want to go to work? And if you had a good idea about how to make things better, would you tell this Boss? Probably not. Boss B comes in. This person really likes you. They praise you for your work, despite the difficult circumstances you are working in. They tell you what they appreciate about you, admire you. How do you feel now? Stand up tall? Feel proud and appreciated? Do you look forward to showing up at work? Would you be willing to share with this Boss any of your good ideas for improvement? Yes, because they are likely to be well received. I believe it is like this with our body. When we berate it, it shrinks, constricts and gets tense. When we love and appreciate it, it softens, relaxes, gives us feedback, and tells us what it wants. Every cell in the body is connected. If I were to stamp hard on your toe, every part of your body would know about it, right? So it only stands to reason that when we are internally beating ourselves up, the body responds. I have noticed that when I really care and speak highly about my body to my body, a type of new wiring happens. I get ideas how to look after it, I make different choices about my health and activities. How do we love our bodies?: 1. Talk to it in a loving/caring manner (even if it hurts) 2. Ask it to tell you what it needs and imagine getting wired up - painful body part to the brain - so that the information/inspiration can come to you on how to help it 3. To consciously do caring things for your body... have a bath, do a relaxation exercise, take a walk, have a nourishing meal. To download a FREE audio on the Inner Smile Visualisation click here. Click here for my Women's Rejuvenation Chi Kung Class this Saturday.  LEARN THE ANCIENT TRADITION OF PLANT MEDICINE: Amy is a medical herbalist who has worked in the ancient tradition of plant medicine. She has a science degree in indigenous healing and botany and also worked with Susan Weed. She is offering an apprenticeship in Auckland over 4 long weekends up until the end of the year. This is a rare chance to work with a gifted medicine woman! For further details go to http://plantrhythms.co.nz/
The course runs over four long weekends in Auckland 3rd Oct, 21st Oct, 7 Nov, 5 Dec. Cost $2900 Contact Amy plantrhythms@gmail.com Here is what one of her students has to say: "I heard about Plant Rhythyms through a friend of mine. I really wanted to learn more about plants but in a different way than I had been previously taught, getting to know plants on a energetic level was something I was very curious about so I decided to travel to Auckland from Wellington once a month and experience something new. I really enjoyed Amy as our teacher she has such a gift working with plants and I feel so blessed she is able to share it with us. It was magic to experience going on a shamanic journey into the plant world I have learnt so much and I am now using the skills I have learnt in my own natural products. I would recommend this course to anyone with a interest in learning about the different things you can do with plants it has really opened my eyes."
Testimonials:
Thank you for a fantastic weekend Elayne. Just what I needed and in such a beautiful location with fabulous women! Venue was great for the soul .... beautiful, peaceful and uplifting with great facilities and accommodation. Great group of woman ... lots of fun and laughter. Learned heaps but enjoyed the light hearted approach. Fantastic food made with lots of love. Massage experience to die for. Venue great for the soul. The teaching was clear and easy to follow - the circle allowing good viewing for following the moves. Thank you for organizing a fabulous weekend- lovely company, great food and a wonderful introduction to women's Qi Gong. Elayne's Pamper Weekend was relaxing, enjoyable and educational. It was so lovely to be in the company of conscious, fun loving women. I feel like I have a new circle of friends. I had tried learning women's Qi Gong from a book before and it felt very disciplined and difficult to figure out if I was doing the exercises correctly. I find Elayne's teaching style easy to pick up, clear and enjoyable, she adds a delightful joy to learning. I would recommend this retreat to anyone wanting to meet open minded people, refresh and rejuvenate themselves and enjoy good food and good company in a beautiful setting. I would thoroughly recommend this amazing woman's pamper weekend. You will not be disappointed with the richness of the teaching the energy and the knowledge that Elayne shares with kindness, and her joy for life that will touch and inspire you. I can't wait for the next one! Everything was wonderful - communicating with nature, our being, your essence and all the wonderful energy from other wonderful women. Running in nature, the bird life, early morning swims, sauna's and spa's with conversations full of fun and laughter and making new friends xc Being inspired by JOY! |
AuthorElayne Lane is an instructor of the Universal Healing Tao. She has been teaching and doing bodywork in excess of 20 years. Categories
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Elayne Lane is a qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist. She is also qualified in Massage, Aromatherapy, Reiki, Kinesiology and Chi Nei Tsang
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386 Trafalgar Street
Nelson South Nelson New Zealand Cellphone: 021 221 1949 Sign up for Elayne's Healing Newsletter or contact Elayne. |