Bodywork Etiquette

Bodywork Etiquette

Guidelines To Help You Get The Most Out Of Your Session

By Karrie Osborn

Originally published in Body Sense magazine, Autumn/Winter Copyright 2008. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.

Most massage aficionados remember the trepidation that came with their first massage. What should I expect? Will I have to take off my clothes? How much do I tip?

For relative newcomers to massage, the prospect of those first visits and their unknowns can be unnerving. Here are some basic bodywork etiquette guidelines to help you get the most out of your session, create a healthy client-therapist relationship, and address some of those unknowns.


Punctuality = Full Session
There's nothing worse than rushing into your massage appointment five minutes late. Not only is it nerve-racking, but it also eats into your valuable massage minutes. Do your best to be on time, and when possible, early. On-time clients start the massage more relaxed and focused, getting them that much closer to a place of healing calm.

When scheduling at a spa, most guests are asked to arrive early so they can prepare for their session and stow away belongings in the locker room. Arriving early enough also allows you time to enjoy the facility's amenities, such as a steam room, before the scheduled service begins. New massage clients are also asked to arrive a bit early to fill out health history intake forms.

If you do get held up in traffic and arrive late to your appointment, the therapist will probably not be able to give you a full session. Plan on the session staying on schedule, even if you aren't. Sometimes therapists will extend extra time if there are no appointments after yours, but don't count on it. Respect your therapist's time, call if you're going to be late, and understand that your session must end on time, regardless of when you arrived.

When it comes to cancellations, most spas and private practitioners require a 24-hour notice to avoid fees. Outside of an emergency situation, last-minute cancellations or missed appointments usually result in paying a percentage, or all, of the scheduled massage fee. Your therapist earmarked that hour for you and likely turned away other clients who could have benefited from that time. Every situation is different, so check with your therapist about his or her specific cancellation policy, then honor it.


Honor Your Body
Some people have a hard time even considering massage because they are so unhappy with their body. Primarily a female issue, poor body image can be extremely damaging, leading to eating disorders in many cases and negatively affecting the way people live. While it's hard to imagine that getting naked and lying on a massage table will make the situation any better for those dealing with self-esteem or body image issues, massage therapy and bodywork can do wonders.

According to bodyworker Merrill DeVito, massage helps integrate body and mind again, allowing clients to see things from different perspectives, bringing them back into awareness of their body, and showing them what it means to listen to their body. Bodywork can help mend the body-mind chasm that is created through self-hate, bringing the two pieces back together in a peaceful, healthy union.
Massage therapists and bodyworkers not only have advanced knowledge of tissues and structure, they also have a great appreciation for the human body as a whole, no matter its shape or size. "Massage therapists and bodyworkers don't look at their clients as fat, thin, ugly, or beautiful, but rather see the person as a joy and a privilege with which to work," says spa consultant Charles Wiltsie. Whether working with a 350-pound woman on the massage table or a 100-pound man, massage therapists see bodies as bodies.


Shower Up
While most guidelines recommend showering before your massage, it's important to note that many therapists work with clients in less-than-hygienic conditions. Throughout the summer, you'll find massage therapists at cycling events, road races, and even triathlons. A weary cyclist staggering into the massage therapy tent at the end of an exhausting day's ride hardly smells like roses. For massage volunteers who work with the homeless population, judgment is not passed on those non-showered bodies either.

That said, if you find that your feet have endured a long sweaty day and you're just about to go in for your massage, take a moment to stop in the restroom first and wipe them down. And, if you're able to shower beforehand and wash away the grime and energy of the day's events, do so.


Consider Confidentiality
Even though massage therapists aren't medical doctors, nor are they held to the same doctor-patient privilege, they do hold their knowledge of you, your issues, and your sessions in confidence. If for some reason your therapist needs to confer with your primary or referring physician, he or she will have you fill out the proper release paperwork beforehand. That same confidence prevents therapists from talking with you about your friend's recent stone massage or what your husband discussed during his last session. So, make it easier for all, and don't ask.


Get It Your Way
If there's one thing that will make your massage both more enjoyable and more beneficial, it's communicating with your therapist. If the room is too warm, if the bolster under your legs isn't in the right spot, if the music is driving you batty--whatever the issue--let your therapist know right away so you can get back to the business of enjoying your massage. "By all means, you should speak up about anything that diminishes your enjoyment of, or ability to focus on, your session," says Nina McIntosh, massage ethics expert and author of The Educated Heart. Wiltsie agrees. "Communication is key to getting your needs met," he says. Clients must take the lead and let therapists know if a particular treatment or something else within the session is making them uncomfortable.

Your therapist will occasionally check in with you during your session, checking on pressure and making sure you're doing okay. Be sure and let the therapist know if you're not feeling well, if that spot on your calf is too tender, or even if you can't hold your need for a bathroom break any longer.


Sobriety, Please
In resort settings, it can be especially hard to step away from icy margaritas on the beach to make that afternoon spa appointment. But the last thing you want is to be "tipsy" on the massage table. There are several downsides to being under the influence during a massage, the most important being how alcohol plays havoc with the body's systems. Combine that with the increased circulation from massage and you have increased absorption rates, potentially making you nauseous or outright "losing-my-cookies" sick. That's no fun and a waste of good massage time and money. In fact, many massage therapists will refuse to work on clients who are intoxicated. Leave the alcohol for another time. Water, before and after a therapeutic massage, is what the body really wants.


Nope, Won't Find That Here
It's unfortunate that massage therapists even have to address this subject, but they do. So the answer to late-night callers is, "No, we don't give happy endings. No, you may not pleasure yourself. Therapeutic massage has nothing to do with sex."
If a misinformed client somehow ends up in the massage room of a professional therapist and asks for something other than therapeutic massage, they will be asked to leave. Flirting, inappropriate touching, and sexual innuendos will not be tolerated. Keep the relationship professional and above board and your therapist will be a valuable member of your healthcare team.


You're Human
The body can have a lot of responses to therapeutic massage. While avoiding food at least one hour before your massage will help, there's still the chance that you'll have tummy gurgles or even pass gas. It's okay. As the body relaxes and systems get moving, the body can play all kinds of tricks. Your therapist has seen it all, yet sees well beyond those kinds of issues.

For men, there's even a possibility that massage will cause an erection--a common response to nervous system activation. "It rarely occurs, but if it does, don't panic," says massage therapist and author Robert Chute. "Therapists know that this is a physiological reaction and will treat the situation accordingly." He says the therapist might try to redirect your attention with a shift in the focus of the work, maybe altering pressure or moving to a different area of the body. Don't worry, Chute says, "Your unintended erection, and any embarrassment, will soon pass."


Time To Wake Up
While your therapist would like nothing more than to let you slumber after your massage, other massage clients will be arriving soon and the room must be readied for them. So when your therapist ends the massage and says, "Our session is over. Take your time getting up," they are really saying, "Take your time getting up, but please don't take a nap."

They are also reminding you to take a moment as you come back to the here and now. Carefully sit up, allowing your body enough time to readjust. Go too fast and your body will knock you for a dizzying loop. Also, be careful not to slip getting off the massage table, especially if your therapist used oil on your feet.


Tipping Tips
When it comes to gratuities, most experts say it's ultimately the client's decision whether or not to tip. Like in other service industries, providing a tip is usually done in response to excellent service. In considering this, it's important to note that many therapists who work in spas earn only a small percentage of what you've paid for their services. For these therapists, tips are an important part of their income. According to CNNMoney.com, the tipping norm for massage and bodywork services is 15-20 percent. Tips, however, are usually not accepted for massage performed in a medical environment.

Unsure what to do? Ask if tipping is customary and what is the policy. This is especially important when booking at spas, according to the Day Spa Association, as tips might already be included in the service price. Be sure to get clarification on fees and services at the time of booking.

Karrie Osborn is contributing editor for Body Sense magazine. Contact her at karrie@abmp.com.

What a Shaman Sees in A Mental Hospital

http://earthweareone.com/what-a-shaman-sees-in-a-mental-hospital/

The Shamanic View of Mental Illness

Malidoma Patrice Somé

In the shamanic view, mental illness signals “the birth of a healer,” explains Malidoma Patrice Somé.  Thus, mental disorders are spiritual emergencies, spiritual crises, and need to be regarded as such to aid the healer in being born.
What those in the West view as mental illness, the Dagara people regard as “good news from the other world.”  The person going through the crisis has been chosen as a medium for a message to the community that needs to be communicated from the spirit realm.  “Mental disorder, behavioral disorder of all kinds, signal the fact that two obviously incompatible energies have merged into the same field,” says Dr. Somé.  These disturbances result when the person does not get assistance in dealing with the presence of the energy from the spirit realm.
One of the things Dr. Somé encountered when he first came to the United States in 1980 for graduate study was how this country deals with mental illness.  When a fellow student was sent to a mental institute due to “nervous depression,” Dr. Somé went to visit him.
“I was so shocked.  That was the first time I was brought face to face with what is done here to people exhibiting the same symptoms I’ve seen in my village.”  What struck Dr. Somé was that the attention given to such symptoms was based on pathology, on the idea that the condition is something that needs to stop.  This was in complete opposition to the way his culture views such a situation.  As he looked around the stark ward at the patients, some in straitjackets, some zoned out on medications, others screaming, he observed to himself, “So this is how the healers who are attempting to be born are treated in this culture.  What a loss!  What a loss that a person who is finally being aligned with a power from the other world is just being wasted.”
Another way to say this, which may make more sense to the Western mind, is that we in the West are not trained in how to deal or even taught to acknowledge the existence of psychic phenomena, the spiritual world.  In fact, psychic abilities are denigrated.  When energies from the spiritual world emerge in a Western psyche, that individual is completely unequipped to integrate them or even recognize what is happening.  The result can be terrifying.  Without the proper context for and assistance in dealing with the breakthrough from another level of reality, for all practical purposes, the person is insane.  Heavy dosing with anti-psychotic drugs compounds the problem and prevents the integration that could lead to soul development and growth in the individual who has received these energies.
On the mental ward, Dr Somé saw a lot of “beings” hanging around the patients, “entities” that are invisible to most people but that shamans and psychics are able to see.  “They were causing the crisis in these people,” he says.  It appeared to him that these beings were trying to get the medications and their effects out of the bodies of the people the beings were trying to merge with, and were increasing the patients’ pain in the process.  “The beings were acting almost like some kind of excavator in the energy field of people.  They were really fierce about that.  The people they were doing that to were just screaming and yelling,” he said.  He couldn’t stay in that environment and had to leave.
In the Dagara tradition, the community helps the person reconcile the energies of both worlds–”the world of the spirit that he or she is merged with, and the village and community.”  That person is able then to serve as a bridge between the worlds and help the living with information and healing they need.  Thus, the spiritual crisis ends with the birth of another healer.  “The other world’s relationship with our world is one of sponsorship,” Dr. Somé explains.  “More often than not, the knowledge and skills that arise from this kind of merger are a knowledge or a skill that is provided directly from the other world.”
The beings who were increasing the pain of the inmates on the mental hospital ward were actually attempting to merge with the inmates in order to get messages through to this world.  The people they had chosen to merge with were getting no assistance in learning how to be a bridge between the worlds and the beings’ attempts to merge were thwarted.  The result was the sustaining of the initial disorder of energy and the aborting of the birth of a healer.
“The Western culture has consistently ignored the birth of the healer,” states Dr. Somé.  “Consequently, there will be a tendency from the other world to keep trying as many people as possible in an attempt to get somebody’s attention.  They have to try harder.”  The spirits are drawn to people whose senses have not been anesthetized.  “The sensitivity is pretty much read as an invitation to come in,” he notes.
Those who develop so-called mental disorders are those who are sensitive, which is viewed in Western culture as oversensitivity.  Indigenous cultures don’t see it that way and, as a result, sensitive people don’t experience themselves as overly sensitive.  In the West, “it is the overload of the culture they’re in that is just wrecking them,” observes Dr. Somé.  The frenetic pace, the bombardment of the senses, and the violent energy that characterize Western culture can overwhelm sensitive people.

Schizophrenia and Foreign Energy
With schizophrenia, there is a special “receptivity to a flow of images and information, which cannot be controlled,” stated Dr. Somé.  “When this kind of rush occurs at a time that is not personally chosen, and particularly when it comes with images that are scary and contradictory, the person goes into a frenzy.”
What is required in this situation is first to separate the person’s energy from the extraneous foreign energies, by using shamanic practice (what is known as a “sweep”) to clear the latter out of the individual’s aura.  With the clearing of their energy field, the person no longer picks up a flood of information and so no longer has a reason to be scared and disturbed, explains Dr. Somé.
Then it is possible to help the person align with the energy of the spirit being attempting to come through from the other world and give birth to the healer.  The blockage of that emergence is what creates problems.  “The energy of the healer is a high-voltage energy,” he observes.  “When it is blocked, it just burns up the person.  It’s like a short-circuit.  Fuses are blowing.  This is why it can be really scary, and I understand why this culture prefers to confine these people.  Here they are yelling and screaming, and they’re put into a straitjacket.  That’s a sad image.”  Again, the shamanic approach is to work on aligning the energies so there is no blockage, “fuses” aren’t blowing, and the person can become the healer they are meant to be.
It needs to be noted at this point, however, that not all of the spirit beings that enter a person’s energetic field are there for the purposes of promoting healing.  There are negative energies as well, which are undesirable presences in the aura.  In those cases, the shamanic approach is to remove them from the aura, rather than work to align the discordant energies.

Alex:  Crazy in the USA, Healer in Africa
To test his belief that the shamanic view of mental illness holds true in the Western world as well as in indigenous cultures, Dr. Somé took a mental patient back to Africa with him, to his village.  “I was prompted by my own curiosity to find out whether there’s truth in the universality that mental illness could be connected with an alignment with a being from another world,” says Dr. Somé.
Alex was an 18-year-old American who had suffered a psychotic break when he was 14.  He had hallucinations, was suicidal, and went through cycles of dangerously severe depression.  He was in a mental hospital and had been given a lot of drugs, but nothing was helping.  “The parents had done everything–unsuccessfully,” says Dr. Somé.  “They didn’t know what else to do.”
With their permission, Dr. Somé took their son to Africa.  “After eight months there, Alex had become quite normal, Dr. Somé reports.  He was even able to participate with healers in the business of healing; sitting with them all day long and helping them, assisting them in what they were doing with their clients . . . . He spent about four years in my village.”  Alex stayed by choice, not because he needed more healing.  He felt, “much safer in the village than in America.”
To bring his energy and that of the being from the spiritual realm into alignment, Alex went through a shamanic ritual designed for that purpose, although it was slightly different from the one used with the Dagara people.  “He wasn’t born in the village, so something else applied.  But the result was similar, even though the ritual was not literally the same,” explains Dr. Somé.  The fact that aligning the energy worked to heal Alex demonstrated to Dr. Somé that the connection between other beings and mental illness is indeed universal.
After the ritual, Alex began to share the messages that the spirit being had for this world.  Unfortunately, the people he was talking to didn’t speak English (Dr. Somé was away at that point).  The whole experience led, however, to Alex’s going to college to study psychology.  He returned to the United States after four years because “he discovered that all the things that he needed to do had been done, and he could then move on with his life.”
The last that Dr. Somé heard was that Alex was in graduate school in psychology at Harvard.  No one had thought he would ever be able to complete undergraduate studies, much less get an advanced degree.
Dr. Somé sums up what Alex’s mental illness was all about:  “He was reaching out.  It was an emergency call.  His job and his purpose was to be a healer.  He said no one was paying attention to that.”
After seeing how well the shamanic approach worked for Alex, Dr. Somé concluded that spirit beings are just as much an issue in the West as in his community in Africa.  “Yet the question still remains, the answer to this problem must be found here, instead of having to go all the way overseas to seek the answer.  There has to be a way in which a little bit of attention beyond the pathology of this whole experience leads to the possibility of coming up with the proper ritual to help people.

Longing for Spiritual Connection
A common thread that Dr. Somé has noticed in “mental” disorders in the West is “a very ancient ancestral energy that has been placed in stasis, that finally is coming out in the person.”  His job then is to trace it back, to go back in time to discover what that spirit is.  In most cases, the spirit is connected to nature, especially with mountains or big rivers, he says.
In the case of mountains, as an example to explain the phenomenon, “it’s a spirit of the mountain that is walking side by side with the person and, as a result, creating a time-space distortion that is affecting the person caught in it.”  What is needed is a merger or alignment of the two energies, “so the person and the mountain spirit become one.”  Again, the shaman conducts a specific ritual to bring about this alignment.
Dr. Somé believes that he encounters this situation so often in the United States because “most of the fabric of this country is made up of the energy of the machine, and the result of that is the disconnection and the severing of the past.  You can run from the past, but you can’t hide from it.”  The ancestral spirit of the natural world comes visiting.  “It’s not so much what the spirit wants as it is what the person wants,” he says.  “The spirit sees in us a call for something grand, something that will make life meaningful, and so the spirit is responding to that.”
That call, which we don’t even know we are making, reflects “a strong longing for a profound connection, a connection that transcends materialism and possession of things and moves into a tangible cosmic dimension.  Most of this longing is unconscious, but for spirits, conscious or unconscious doesn’t make any difference.”  They respond to either.
As part of the ritual to merge the mountain and human energy, those who are receiving the “mountain energy” are sent to a mountain area of their choice, where they pick up a stone that calls to them.  They bring that stone back for the rest of the ritual and then keep it as a companion; some even carry it around with them.  “The presence of the stone does a lot in tuning the perceptive ability of the person,” notes Dr. Somé.  “They receive all kinds of information that they can make use of, so it’s like they get some tangible guidance from the other world as to how to live their life.”
When it is the “river energy,” those being called go to the river and, after speaking to the river spirit, find a water stone to bring back for the same kind of ritual as with the mountain spirit.
“People think something extraordinary must be done in an extraordinary situation like this,” he says.  That’s not usually the case.  Sometimes it is as simple as carrying a stone.

A Sacred Ritual Approach to Mental Illness
One of the gifts a shaman can bring to the Western world is to help people rediscover ritual, which is so sadly lacking.  “The abandonment of ritual can be devastating.  From the spiritual view, ritual is inevitable and necessary if one is to live,” Dr. Somé writes in Ritual:  Power, Healing, and Community. “To say that ritual is needed in the industrialized world is an understatement.  We have seen in my own people that it is probably impossible to live a sane life without it.”
Dr. Somé did not feel that the rituals from his traditional village could simply be transferred to the West, so over his years of shamanic work here, he has designed rituals that meet the very different needs of this culture.  Although the rituals change according to the individual or the group involved, he finds that there is a need for certain rituals in general.
One of these involves helping people discover that their distress is coming from the fact that they are “called by beings from the other world to cooperate with them in doing healing work.”  Ritual allows them to move out of the distress and accept that calling.
Another ritual need relates to initiation.  In indigenous cultures all over the world, young people are initiated into adulthood when they reach a certain age.  The lack of such initiation in the West is part of the crisis that people are in here, says Dr. Somé.  He urges communities to bring together “the creative juices of people who have had this kind of experience, in an attempt to come up with some kind of an alternative ritual that would at least begin to put a dent in this kind of crisis.”
Another ritual that repeatedly speaks to the needs of those coming to him for help entails making a bonfire, and then putting into the bonfire “items that are symbolic of issues carried inside the individuals . . . It might be the issues of anger and frustration against an ancestor who has left a legacy of murder and enslavement or anything, things that the descendant has to live with,” he explains.  “If these are approached as things that are blocking the human imagination, the person’s life purpose, and even the person’s view of life as something that can improve, then it makes sense to begin thinking in terms of how to turn that blockage into a roadway that can lead to something more creative and more fulfilling.”
The example of issues with an ancestors touches on rituals designed by Dr. Somé that address a serious dysfunction in Western society and in the process “trigger enlightenment” in participants.  These are ancestral rituals, and the dysfunction they are aimed at is the mass turning-of-the-back on ancestors.  Some of the spirits trying to come through, as described earlier, may be “ancestors who want to merge with a descendant in an attempt to heal what they weren’t able to do while in their physical body.”
“Unless the relationship between the living and the dead is in balance, chaos ensues,” he says.  “The Dagara believe that, if such an imbalance exists, it is the duty of the living to heal their ancestors.  If these ancestors are not healed, their sick energy will haunt the souls and psyches of those who are responsible for helping them.”  The rituals focus on healing the relationship with our ancestors, both specific issues of an individual ancestor and the larger cultural issues contained in our past.  Dr. Somé has seen extraordinary healing occur at these rituals.
Taking a sacred ritual approach to mental illness rather than regarding the person as a pathological case gives the person affected–and indeed the community at large–the opportunity to begin looking at it from that vantage point too, which leads to “a whole plethora of opportunities and ritual initiative that can be very, very beneficial to everyone present,” states. Dr. Somé.

The Shamanic View of Mental Illness
by Stephanie Marohn (featuring Malidoma Patrice Somé)
(Excerpted from The Natural Medicine Guide to Schizophrenia,
pages 178-189, or The Natural Medicine Guide to Bi-polar Disorder)

10 Natural Ways to Relax and Rejuvenate

10 Natural Ways to Relax and Rejuvenate

Easy Ways to Manage Stress and Build Immunity

By Monique N. Gilbert

Originally published in Massage Bodywork magazine, April/May 2005.
Copyright 2005. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.


Protecting the immune system and managing stress are vital aspects of living longer, feeling younger, and being healthy. Here are 10 ways to reduce stress, boost your immune system, and slow down the hands of time.

Physical activity. Regular exercise -- whether it's walking or dancing -- strengthens your cardiovascular system, heart, muscles, and bones. It also stimulates the release of endorphins; improves mental functioning, concentration/attention, and cognitive performance; and lowers cholesterol, blood pressure, cortisol, and other stress hormones.

Yoga and stretching. The slow movements and controlled postures of yoga improve muscle strength, flexibility, balance, circulation, mental focus, and calmness.

Hand hygiene. The most effective measure in preventing the spread of germs is good hand hygiene. Washing your hands as soon as you come home, and always before you eat, greatly reduces your exposure to bacterial and viral infections. Carry alcohol-based hand wipes to control exposures away from home.

Laughter and humor. There is truth to the saying that laughter is the best medicine. Laughing reduces stress hormones like adrenaline (epinephrine) and cortisol and benefits the immune system.

High nutrient diet. Eat foods rich in antioxidants (strawberries, oranges, tomatoes), omega-3 fatty acids (walnuts, salmon, soybeans), and folate (dark green, leafy vegetables). Antioxidants neutralize molecules that can cause heart disease, cancer, and premature aging. Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular-enhancing, and immune-regulating properties. Folate prevents age-related cognitive decline, ensures DNA integrity (important during
pregnancy), and promotes healthy red blood cells.

Music. Listening to your favorite music is a great method of reducing stress and relieving anxiety.

Sleep. Sound sleep has a profound impact on stress
levels, immune function, and disease resistance. Your body and immune system do most of their repairs during sleep, so strive to get in seven to eight hours each night.

Positive thinking. Optimism can counteract the negative impact stress, tension, and anxiety have on your immune system and well-being. Often it is how you perceive things that determine if you get overwhelmed, both mentally and physically.

Tea. Regularly drinking green and black teas throughout the day can help strengthen your immune system and your body's ability to fight off germs and infections.

Hydrotherapy. Relaxing in a hot bath relieves sormuscles and joints, reduces stress and tension, and promotes sleep. Add music, soft lighting, and scented oils to create a spa experience in the privacy of your own home.

Monique N. Gilbert, B.Sc., is a health, nutrition and lifestyle coach, certified personal trainer/fitness counselor, and author of Virtues of Soy: A Practical Health Guide and Cookbook. She has offered guidance in natural health, nutrition, fitness, and stress management since 1989. Contact her at www.moniquengilbert.com.

10 Tips to Enrich Your Life - Easy Options to Enhance Well-Being

10 Tips to Enrich Your Life

Easy Options to Enhance Well-Being

By Jacqueline Sidman

Originally published in Massage Bodywork magazine, February/March 2005.
Copyright 2005. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved.

We all feel stress from time to time, and many of our lifestyle habits don't support us in our journey along a healthier path. Here are 10 lifestyle changes that will help you become more relaxed and increase your overall feeling of well-being.

1. Have a power breakfast. Eat oatmeal or other hot cereals or wheat toast with apple butter or low-sugar jam. Replace your coffee with herbal tea. Some people skip breakfast, saying they are not hungry or they don't have time. Eat anyway. Bodies are like engines -- they need fuel. This "new" breakfast will keep you alert and relaxed all morning.

2. Avoid fruit lunches. Fruit quickly raises and then drops your blood sugar. Eat some protein and vegetables instead, like last night's leftover grilled chicken and mixed vegetables, or try a salad with tuna.

3. Take three deep breaths before you eat to increase your body's supply of oxygen, relax, and help you digest your food. You'll eat slower and give your body a chance to know it is full. This will benefit your waistline and your stress level.

4. Cut back on coffee, tea, and cola drinks. The caffeine in these beverages makes you jittery and causes dehydration by taking more liquid from your system than they put in. Try herbal teas instead, and drink plenty of water to cleanse and hydrate your system.

5. Watch for the mid-afternoon "slump" -- a result of low blood sugar from eating a lunch too high in sugar. To feel really refreshed, pass up the candy bar and cola and balance fruit with healthy protein and vegetables and a cup of herbal tea.

6. Prioritize your tasks. The One-Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard suggests you separate your tasks into three categories. Things on the "A" list are "must-do." Things left for the "B" list are important, but can wait, and items left for the "C" list can probably be eliminated altogether. Applaud yourself when you are able to cross items off.

7. Designate the end of work time and the beginning of personal time by performing a ritual, such as locking your desk drawer and turning off your office light. If we don't separate the dimensions of our lives, we become resentful and stressed because we feel like we never leave work.

8. Do something relaxing every day. We all need some "me time." Listen to your favorite music on the commute home from work, engage in your favorite hobby at least a half hour a day, take an evening walk, or just soak in the tub.

9. Exercise daily so it becomes a healthy habit. Even walking for 20 to 30 minutes per day creates a calm mind and a healthy body. Choose a form of exercise you enjoy -- dancing, tennis, aerobics, or bike riding. Remember, exercise gives your mind a vacation.

10. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Getting enough rest is essential. Most people need between six to eight hours of sleep to counteract stress and rejuvenate the mind and body.

Jacqueline Sidman, Ph.D., is a life coach and author of Instant Inner Peace. She has more than 15 years of experience helping others overcome life challenges. For more information, call 949/251-9550 or visit www.sidmansolution.com.

Original posted at: http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/832/10-Tips-to-Enrich-Your-Life