Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Who is CranioSacral Therapy For?

Who is CranioSacral Therapy for?
People may come for CranioSacral Therapy because they have acute physical problems like headaches or bad backs, or long-standing problems both physical and emotional. Others come for ongoing support in their busy lives and for help to meet life’s challenges.
Because it is so gentle and non-invasive, CranioSacral Therapy is suitable for everyone from newborns to the elderly. Mothers and babies often come for problems associated with difficult or traumatic births. Letting go of tension and fear held in the body enables both to settle into calmness.

CranioSacral Therapy supports your body’s innate ability to balance, restore and heal itself, as well as helping to reduce stress and build your underlying energy. The practitioner senses tensions in the body and helps them to release in a supported and comfortable way. During or after a session you may feel calm and energized, with increased clarity of mind and a feeling of well being.
Jeannette Raskin is located at Family First Chiropractic 142 Erickson Dr, Red Deer, T4R 2C3 403-347-3261

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Vision Board

 Vision Board
A vision board is like creating a role model, but instead of someone else, it is like creating a role model of your best self. A vision board is a board, created by you, that reminds you of the person that you want to become in the future. It can portray goals that you have for your social life, your romantic life, your professional life, it can be whatever you want. But it should create the image of the all-encompassing person you desire to be. This may seem like an empty gesture, but often can yield real results by allowing you to better visualize the small steps you need to take to work toward a goal by seeing it every day. You will never outperform your picture of yourself, so it is important to keep updating a positive picture of the person you want to be.
Here's how that works:
STEP 1:
Look through your favorite magazine or journal. Find images that you connect to. Or, have a specific image or goal in mind? You can simply search for that image on Google Images. Find images that give concreteness to the adjectives you want to be described as. Want to be more family-oriented? Find pictures that demonstrate the relationship you want to have with your kids. Want to find your dream man/woman? Find images that exemplify the qualities you want them to have. Cut all of these images out and paste them on a poster board. Or if you want to go digital, you can create a Pinterest board or use an app like Posterino. Look at others' vision boards to find inspiration as well. It can be as simple as Googling "vision boards" or checking out Pinterest. You may find a quote or an image that you find inspiring yourself, and desire to use it. The image above is an example of a vision board. The focus is on interests: fitness, family, and motivation. Positive images pair with uplifting and action-oriented phrases.
There are even specific apps for making vision boards. Dreamitalive.com not only features a place to create vision boards, but also allows you to connect with like-minded people to use as mentors and team members on the journey. Mind Movies is a way to animate your vision board and thus make it even more engaging. Mind Movies is an online vision board creator that allows you to combine your uplifting images with powerful affirmations and motivating music to produce an inspiring three-minute video. The movement and music can help create the kind of inspired emotion that may be difficult for some just looking at a board. They are also easy to share with others, if you want to get friends and family in on your goals. Mind Movies also offers their own videos as inspirational guides that offer steps to achieve different dreams. Some of the popular ones they feature are: "Attracting Health," "Attracting Wealth," and "Attracting Spirituality.
Step 2: 
Put this board in a place that you will see it FOR SURE. Like, a lot. Make it your home page on the Internet. Put it next to your bed. Put it on the refrigerator. I don't care, just make sure you see it a lot, so much that you don't even think about it anymore.
Step 3: 
Stop thinking about it. Let it become simply part of the things you see every day. This way, your brain gets accustomed to it. Vision boards are all about emotion. "Just seeing my vision board for a few seconds in the morning whilst brushing my teeth, I'm immediately reminded of what is really important in my life and how grateful I am for the life that I have already created," states Martyn Anstey. He continues: "It can catch me just as I am about to go to a business meeting, and just seeing one word, one image, completely changes my day." When making your vision board, focus on images and words that will get this type of reaction; you want your brain to wake up, and realize the way to the things it wants.

Step 4: 
Live your life, but be aware and be active. Vision boards are not going to do all the heavy lifting for you; they are simply there to help you notice the possibilities that are right there for you, and to realize the potentialities within yourself to reach these goals. Many vision board proponents purport to have completely forgotten about a vision board until much later, realizing that they had attracted into their lives exactly what we were looking for, to an odd specificity. Vision boards help make all of the jumbled, abstract feelings in your head into a foreseeable future. If you're skeptical about making a vision board yourself, ask what you really have to lose by trying it. Not really much. But perhaps it makes you more in tune to the repercussions of your choices and how they align with getting what you want. 
Dr Elton Clemence is taking new patients at Family First Chiropractic. 403-347-3261 142 Erickson Dr Red Deer T4R 2C3

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Take Care of Yourself. 5 Tips anyone can do

Take Care of yourself….How? 5 tips anyone can do.

You've heard people say, "You need to take care of yourself." And somehow that is supposed to fix everything?

When you are a massage therapist, your work is to help people take care of themselves. Massage therapists encourage people to take care of themselves, too. The question is HOW?

When taking care of one's self, here is a few key points:

1. Get adequate sleep - most people need between 6-9 hours of sleep per nite. People try to function on 3-4 hours of sleep, but this inhibits tissue repair and depletes the immune system among other things.

2. Stay active - take a walk instead of a drive to the mail box, or park further away from stores an walk a few dozen extra steps. Build in activities that get you out in the sun for 15-30 minutes minimum per day. Both vitamin D and exercise help to improve your mood.

3. Take your vitamins/nutrients- whether in food, bodily soaking, liquid or powder/pill form, when you are stressed your electrolytes and other essential nutrients get used. For example, go rock climbing in a gym for an hour or two with no breakfast....you will be ravenous by the time you are done because of all the calories/nutrients you consume in that one short hour or so.

4. Eat appropriately for your daily activities -massaging is a high calorie drain nearly the same as rock climbing or other exercise. For everyone, and especially therapists, eat a good breakfast high in un-greasy protein to diminish your sugar cravings, set aside time to eat a good lunch and you will be prepared for a light dinner (so you don't feel like gorging right before bed).

5. Take time to smell the roses - when you are stressed, the body is acting like it is running from a tiger (or some animal that is trying to eat you). Your body is in fight or flight mode....

This is the equivalent to running a marathon all day every day - your body will begin to give out after a while of running full out all the time.

When stuck in fight or flight, the mind is reviewing the situation and looking for escape as if you were faced with a tiger chasing/cornering you. This is the 'racing mind' when you try to sleep. Its a fabulous function if you were to actually be faced with a tiger, because you wouldn't want to be caught napping by the hungry tiger (you probably wouldn't wake up too happy when the tiger takes a leg). But when its a test, a bill, or a paper due, its an imaginary tiger and won't actually kill you, but your body still reacts the same...

Do what you can to resolve the situation, set a timeline or accomplish what can be done today and make a To Do list for what is waiting on tomorrow. Once everything that can be done is...

Smelling flowers and enjoying scenery, relaxed conversation, massage, down-time will help reduce that stress or take you out of fight or flight.

So schedule your massage and Take Care of yourself.

All of our staff and practitioners at Family First Chiropractic and wellness are here to help you through your journey, please call us a 403-347-3261 to book an appointment today.