Going with the flow is my nature. Floating on the wind, sometimes gently landing for a time to indulge in something that peaks my interest. I spend just enough time here before launching back into the stream of air lifting me to the next stop on my journey.
I’m more of a reflection type goal setter, what happened over the last twelve months - what about that do I want more of or to expand on.
The year started with pushing my limits in the outdoors, taking a AIARE 1 Avalanche Course, and skiing my heart out. Knowing my way around the winter landscape makes the cold winters much more engaging and brighter.
Spring sprung and with it time in the garden, planting and growing, tending to leafy friends in the backyard with April.
We had a witchy ceremony with crystals and good intentions for my dear friend Kates birthday. Friendship has been my greatest joy in the last few years. Deep, soulful connections with women who laugh and light up with each other. Many nights of karaoke, singing messages of love and friendship is music to my ears, even if its out of tune.
Even in Spring the winter joys can be found on sides of mountains. We skinned up and skied down Mt. St. Helens.
I got to take my two loves across the boarder to Canada. An outdoorsy adventure filled with steamy hot-springs and uncompleted hikes. The magic was in the turn around when the snow line was lower than anticipated - finding a key on the earth we picked it up and made the long journey back down to the trails beginning. We found a young couple jovially making their way down to the carpark. We inquired if they were missing a key, and sure enough it was the key to the car they borrowed from a friend. Its moments like that when you realize how much strife was saved by turning around, picking up the key, asking the questions. Small actions for the better.
Then I turned thirty. I love my thirties. It was a cosmic space age themed birthday party which has permeated into the theme of my life. Cosmic.
Summer rolled around and with it the spinning tires of my beloved bike events. I bounced all around Eastern Oregon. Several trips to the Wallowa Mountains in Joseph Oregon, indulging in the outdoors and doing my best to assist my wonderful cyclists on their journey.
I got handy and built a patio in my back yard.
Fall brought much change. Hindsight is twenty-twenty and I now see I was struggling with symptoms of burnout. Managing a business, finding balance, and general feelings of striving for something more, worrying too much about future stuff. I enrolled in classes at PCC with the intention of pursing Nursing School. Whoa. That was all encompassing and a total distraction from addressing what was really causing this need to change. And many times I have learned my lessons in the pursuit of something else only to realize I was on someone else’s path. I lost sight of my wants, dreams, and desires, and when I got my hands back on my original vision I could drift back to nourishing them.
I took the much needed three-week holiday to New Zealand. Even as I write that line I inhale all the sweetness of the adventure and exhale a smile. I feel lighter. Renewed and re-centered I move forward into this new year, taking with me lessons from the past and come away with this list to propel me through the winds of twenty-nineteen.
Wear out or rust out.
At Waywest we believe movement is the secret to vitality.
When we talk about movement, its whatever movement feels good to you. From a gentle walk around town to the long slog up a mountainside. We value the varying degrees of movement all of you adventurous souls are up to, and we will meet you wherever you are.
You can see we don’t necessarily mean you have to be an athlete for our massage to be beneficial, thats why we use the term Active Lifestyle instead of Sports Massage.
A lot of our active lifestyle folks are indeed athletes. We work with rock climbers, mountaineers, cyclists, runners, backpackers etc and we love to push our bodies in those ways as well.
But a lot of the active lifestyle work we do is for those of you with repetitive movement in your job and daily life. Think of nurses, parents with small children, hair stylists, those of you working on your house projects and gardens..see what we mean?
On the flip side, some of you have sedentary jobs: sitting at desks, driving around town etc. And you yearn to feel less stiff in your movement when you transition from work to play. This is another example of the goals for an active lifestyle. We want you help you feel the best you can in your body.
To us, an active lifestyle is a variety of adventures big and small.
Welcome my fellow stressed humans!
None of us are immune, but we all handle the tense times differently. I thought it would be helpful to share the steps I take to stay on top of the stress mountain in my life. You may be surprised, but even massage therapists can't always get in to see their favorite bodyworker for a mini-escape the moment some stress goes down.
When things are feeling chaotic, out of your control, and just legit bonkers its easy to get wrapped up in the moment. Remove yourself from the constant swirling craziness just for even a minute. Take a big breath and sigh it out. Giving yourself a timeout can work wonders, it worked when we were toddlers, why not now?
This shouldn't come as a surprise, but I like to be outside. And turns out, nature has stress reducing effects on us humans. The trees, the sky, the songs that the birds sing. Its a wonderful distraction for anything stressful. I love the book The Nature Fix for some insight as to why being outside can calm you down so much.
Getting my heart pumping and my blood flowing. The gym, a trail, just some pushups or jumping jacks, a brisk walk around the block. The ultimate quick fix to stress. *You may need to schedule a massage after you've overdone it with the push ups.
Sometimes the stress is all up in my head, a worrying situation that is looping in the mind. So I give myself a different ear worm to distract and it works out. Sometimes the messages in music are enough to shake me out of my stressful thought loop. Check out our Waywest Spotify playlists for relaxing.
This is has been my cure for road rage. I used to walk to work when I lived in the neighborhood, but now I'm one of those people who spend almost an hour every day in the car (OMG!). Irritability with traffic, news feeling frustrating, and the top hits on the radio weren't cutting it. I needed a change so I downloaded an audiobook out of boredom and the effects of listening to a story have totally transformed my driving experience. Stress way less.
Have you tried essential oils? Lavender quells the stress for me. I keep some in my bag and every once in a while I just take a hit off the ole bottle and let the switch flip and it helps.
Mom, friends, my dog, the walls.. sometimes just saying whats stressing me out takes the power away from it and I can move on.
To me, animal time is the stress cure all. I have fantasized about creating a massage space that is also an animal sanctuary. Just imagine, you could cuddle furry friends before and after massages, or maybe a sweet kitty could curl up on your belly while you get your temples massaged... The dream.
9. Down with the screen.
Maybe this correlates to my nature time, but looking at memes, responding to emails, and getting lost in the instagram/facebook blackhole are little stress pools that can be avoided. Setting screen time works for me to manage stress around time and other feelings that crop up from the blessing/curse of social media.
That is such a buzz-wordy new age way to phrase it, but damn if they aren't right. You mad, be glad.. Listing what I'm thankful for in my life on a regular basis combats the stress. Doing this before you're stressed makes it that much easier to stay out of the state of stress.
Example: "I'm so grateful for my job, I get to make people feel better everyday, I am thankful for my clients, for the light they bring to the office and my life.." And just writing that I connected to the serious joy that work brings me and I can't wait to get in there! Thank you!
Hope some of these practices help find their way into your stress less routine, and if not make sure to book a massage in advance to help combat the stress out there!
We care about a lot of things big and small, but body hair isn't on our list.
We want you to know that there is no need to apologize for not shaving your legs or having hair there at all.
"If you're not worried about my leg hair, then what are you thinking about?"
When we're working our mind is on making sure we are applying pressure at the right depth, feeling the constancy of muscle tissue on the right compared to the left, noticing the attachments of Gastrocnemius and its relationship to the Soleous muscle, and whether it could be the culprit to the pain you have when you point your toes.
We want you to feel at ease during your massage sessions.
We want the ambiance to make you feel comfortable and able to let go of stress.
We want to give you the best massage you've ever had.
What do you wear when it comes to massage?
When I work on the full back, I fold the drape down at the hips. If you’re wearing a bra, I’ll work around it. If you’re wearing a tank top or shorts or long johns, I’ll work through it. I know plenty of very effective massage techniques that can be administered over clothing. If I feel I can’t effectively treat your issue through the clothing you’ve chosen to wear, I’ll tell you, and we’ll figure out another approach.