This morning I finally got a shipment I’ve been waiting for… some of my stuff has been at my parents’ house the past two months, but they finally got a chance to send it to me, and my foam roller arrived today.

I’m so excited, because now we have two… and up until now, Barry and I have been playing tug-of-war with the one we have.

Mine came as part of the Better Posture Guaranteed system from Jason Henderson; Barry ordered his from a fitness store online. But they’re both exactly the same.

And, in awe-inspiring synchronistic fashion, Jason sent mine to me in Toronto the same day Barry happened to order his. Neither of us knew the other was getting one, but we both love them.

The cool thing about mine is it came with two Better Posture Guaranteed DVDs hosted by Jason’s partner, Rob Smith. Because honestly, when you just look at these foam rollers, you think, “What the heck is this thing for?”

Here’s a video Jason took of me at JVAlert Live in June, where I’m demonstrating one of the moves:

And I said it was “awesome” in the video because that was truly my reaction when I tried it the first time, and Jason asked me to repeat it. I did because… well, it is awesome, and I’ll say it again: “It’s awesome!”

So, why do I like it so much?

>>> CONTINUE READING Rolling Your Way To Better Health…

Today Barry and I went to Ashland, Oregon, to see our Rolfers/coaches and to enjoy the day… something we haven’t been doing enough lately with all the work we’ve had to take care of.

To the right is a long shot of Ashland, showing the beautiful landscape and the quaint town nestled among the natural setting.

It was taken by photographer Christopher Briscoe, probably in the summer time, because now, of course, the trees are breathtaking shades of red, orange and yellow with just a bit of green left over (mainly the evergreens, since they remain… well, ever green!)

One of the world’s largest Shakespeare festivals is held here, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

What’s interesting to me on a personal level is my ex-husband grew up in Stratford, Ontario, home of another of the world’s largest and most respected Shakespeare festivals, which I visited many times over the years. Ashland reminds me a lot of Stratford because of the Shakespearean flavor the town has, and it seems a little strange to be so close once again to one of the world’s finest festivals in the genre.

But my ex hated Shakespeare, so I only ever went to the plays with school friends or my parents. Barry, on the other hand, likes culture, so he and I are planning to go to a play at the Oregon one together next year, which I see as a very romantic outing.

>>> CONTINUE READING Beauty and Healing in Ashland…

Last night I got one of Barry’s famous “Rolf-age” sessions… that’s part Rolfing, part massage, and as far as I know, it’s patented Barry Goss (and we made up the “Rolf-age” label, too).

I’m getting Rolfed professionally on Saturday, by Melanie Lancaster in Ashland, as Barry gets a session with her husband, Zeb Lancaster.

In fact, I’ve been Rolfed by Zeb twice myself… but this time he’s coming in specially for Barry on a Saturday, and we didn’t want to ask him to do back-to-back sessions. So I asked if his wife was available at the same time, and it worked out perfectly.

What does Rolfing do? Here’s the official word from Rolf.org:

Rolfing® Structural Integration is named after its founder Dr. Ida P. Rolf. Dr. Rolf began her inquiry more than fifty years ago, devoting her energy to creating a holistic system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organized the whole body in gravity.

Dr. Rolf discovered that she could achieve remarkable changes in posture and structure by manipulating the body’s myofascial system and eventually named her work Structural Integration.

“Rolfing” is the nickname that many clients and practitioners gave this work, and it is now a registered service mark in 27 countries.

Rolfing structural integration has the ability to dramatically alter a person’s posture and structure. Athletes, dancers, children, business professionals, and people from all walks of life have benefited from Rolfing. People seek Rolfing as a way to ease pain and chronic stress, and improve performance in their professional and daily activities. It’s estimated that more than 1 million people have received Rolfing work.

Research has demonstrated that Rolfing creates a more efficient use of the muscles, allows the body to conserve energy, and creates more economical and refined patterns of movement. Research also shows that Rolfing significantly reduces chronic stress and changes in the body structure. For example, a study showed that Rolfing significantly reduced the spinal curvature of subjects with lordosis (sway back); it also showed that Rolfing enhances neurological functioning.

But the way Barry does it (and he’s not a professional, but after over 50 Rolfing sessions definitely knows what he’s doing), he mixes the hard, constant pressure of Rolfing with the oil-enhanced rubbing of a Swedish massage.

Yes, it’s the best of both worlds… and incredibly relaxing.

>>> CONTINUE READING Refreshed and Remodeled…

Today I went to Donna Schmid, the massage therapist and meditation group leader who gave me my first Swedish massage last month, for a Shamanic healing session.

I had heard tell of Shamanic healing three or four times right before she mentioned it to me… and both of us knew that meant I was supposed to do it.

If you haven’t heard of it before, this video from the Holistic Shamanism blog gives a half-decent quick overview of Shamanic healing in general, although some audio would help the presentation:

Before beginning the session, Donna cautioned me that if I wrote about it, I had to be clear on the fact that the experience is different for every person.

There are many ways to perform Shamanic healing, and a good practitioner lets the client guide the session, which means no two sessions are alike.

I wish I could tell you it would be though, because my session was one of the most profound and soul-revealing journeys of my life.

>>> CONTINUE READING Shamanic Healing For A Soulful Journey…

I just posted an article on the LWL Worldwide blog about Jason Oman, and about our own mortality — or immortality.

Jason and I hung out with the other speakers in Atlanta a few months ago, when we both were presenters at Ken McArthur‘s “Get Your Product Done” event.

Last night Ken sent out an email to let people know that Jason had suffered a brain aneurysm, and was unconscious in hospital, waiting for surgery.

This morning I checked with Larry Benet, who also hung out with us that weekend (along with Harris Fellman, Simon Leung, Ben Mack and more…) and Larry said that Jason was heading into surgery later today.

He’s a young guy, and he’s accomplished a lot so far, with potential to accomplish a lot more… so hearing the news made me start asking myself a bunch of questions about life.

Read my post “Facing Our Own Mortality… Or Immortality” here.

And then please keep Jason in your hearts and minds.

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life,

Earlier today Barry and I went to see a husband-and-wife healing team in the nearby town of Talent, Oregon… chiropractor and Kinesiologist Tom Clunie, and magnetic healer Jessica Bryan.

For years I have been following a restrictive diet to keep digestive issues under control. It’s called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (or SCD) and was created by the late Elaine Gottschall, author of Breaking The Vicious Cycle, who I had the pleasure to meet several times, since by coincidence she used to live near Toronto where I was.

But a few months ago, when I was going through my initial life changes and transitioning from a 14-year marriage to a new relationship, and first dealing with the initial stress of that situation, the digestive issues started flaring up.

When it became clear that the diet alone was no longer working as well as it had, I decided to start experimenting with some of the foods I had previously avoided: mainly sugar, starch, and some dairy (and that small list includes bread, cereal, grains, potatoes, corn, pasta, rice and so forth… which, of course, meant almost all processed or pre-packaged food, all “junk food”, and more).

I have nothing against avoiding processed and packaged foods, which usually have far too many preservatives and additives to be good for us… but I wanted a little more flexibility if I still had to deal with the pain.

After all, if I’m living a Life Without Limits… why would I want so many restrictions?

>>> CONTINUE READING Muscles and Magnetics… Testing and Healing the New Age Way…

Today I had my first Swedish massage… you know, the kind where you get naked and get rubbed all over with oil.

I’ve had Rolfing done a few times, but Rolfing doesn’t usually use oil; being lubed up is an interesting feeling, and makes the hands glide more smoothly over your skin. (The point of Rolfing is not to use friction-based motion, so the oil isn’t really required).

Okay, I do have to clarify — Barry has massaged me several times with the whole oil production (and he has Rolfed me several times too)… but I’m talking about a professional massage where I actually paid someone to use their years of expertise and training and give me the best their magic fingers can deliver.

The masseuse was Donna Schmid, who also runs the meditation group we attended last week. And that actually allowed her to use her intuition and previous experience with me to pinpoint some incredible things.

>>> CONTINUE READING Oil Me Up… Relaxation Inside and Out…

We all know that physical problems you experience can affect us emotionally… when you’re in severe pain or are fighting an illness you get depressed, you get down, you might cry or ask, “why me?”

But did you know that emotional problems can also affect you physically?

And that some physical issues you might have right now could actually be caused by emotional blocks instead?

I just got up off the floor where I was listening to the best hypnotherapy CD I’ve ever experienced.

I’ve actually tested several of them lately… but this one really impressed me the most.

It was created by well-known clinical hypnotherapist and media personality, Wendi Friesen.

>>> CONTINUE READING Healing Physically and Emotionally…

I’m sitting here unwrapped… literally… except for a blanket from the couch (so I guess I’m actually wrapped).

The reason I’m not wearing any clothes is because I just had a massage/Rolfing session from Barry. Kind of like the epitome of pain and pleasure in life (Rolfing can be painful before the pleasure, while the oily Swedish part of the massage is just messy along with the pleasure).

“Don’t forget to breathe,” Barry kept reminding me, as I would tense up.

“Be in the moment and just enjoy it.”

When I took that advice to heart, I was able to enjoy both the physical sensations and the emotional sensations that go with it. Yes, when the physical body is worked, it releases emotional energies that were stuck as well.

>>> CONTINUE READING Don’t Forget to Breathe……

Today Barry and I went to the Psychic and Holistic Fair at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass, Oregon.

I’ve been to bigger events like this, as I used to live in Toronto (population: several million and growing) but it’s been a long time.

Many of the booths there featured psychics or tarot card readers giving readings to people on the spot, and those booths seemed quite popular; but for myself, I’m not all that interested in what someone else says I “should” or “shouldn’t” do, or what “should” or “shouldn’t” happen in my life, no matter where they tell me that information is coming from.

(I did an interview with Success Net’s Michael Angier, which is featured in the portal at Manifest Life, where we talked about the 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not should on thyself”)

But I was looking for a new alternative healing method, and decided to give Energy Balancing a try. The practitioner was Debrah Fisher, and she charged $15 for 15 minutes, $20 for 20 minutes, or $30 for 30 minutes to try it out.

>>> CONTINUE READING Energy Balancing for $1 a Minute…