Solstice!

One of my very favorite days of the year — the summer solstice — began at 10pm (PDT) last night, ushering in the season of sunshine, cannonballs, fireflies, swimsuits, BBQs, skinny dipping, meals outside, nostalgia, and yes, health.  Solstice celebrations are underway around the world, as Scandinavians sing, dance, and fill their bellies with herring and vodka…Europeans host bonfires and sprint naked around town…and New Yorkers head to Times Square to bust out a few sun salutations.

Now widely known as a party holiday, in ancient times, the solstice was an essential part of well-being (associated with agriculture + growth).  I feel a sense of renewal every time the seasons change, but for me, this feeling is the strongest during the summer solstice when the sunshine on my back gives me a sense of optimism and hope and excitement and even peace.  These quarterly milestones are a natural time to make a few commitments (some of mine include: eat dinner outside every night we can, train for and complete a half-ironman, master a forearm stand, teach the kids how to swim, rise early, get enough sleep, and make an annual summer pilgrimage to the Midwest, focus on impact at work)…if you’re into that commitment thing.

If you take a few minutes to think about your commitments today, here are a few questions to consider.  And beyond these, I’d love to hear what other questions come up with!

• What could spice up my workout regimen?  Trying a new class?  Picking up a new sport?  Finding a training partner?  Signing up for an organized event?
• What foods make me feel good?  Not just for a second, but for the whole day.  How can I get more of those into my diet?
• Are there times during the day when it’s easiest for me to focus?  How can I shift my day to do the most important things then?
• Who are the most important people in my life, and am I seeing them often enough?  If not, how can I see more of them?
• Am I doing something every day to help another person?  If not, how can I bring more attention to this?
• How well does my work — where I work, what I do, and who I work with — align with my life purpose/mission?  If it feels misaligned, what’s one think I can do to make a change?
• Do I have something to look forward to during the next few months?  If not, could I get something on the calendar?
• Where am I stuck, and how might I get UNSTUCK?

What are you doing to celebrate the solstice?  Are you committing to anything new during the season of the sun?

Personalizing Your Health

I recently learned about WellnessFX, a San Francisco based start-up focused on “bringing personalized health data directly to the hands of consumers, conveniently and superbly.”  Testing cholesterol, thyroid function, liver + kidney health, nutrition + electrolytes, basic inflammation, performance hormones, and metabolic hormones — and then helping you interpret your personalized data — WellnessFX ambitiously sets out to empower people with actionable insights they can use to improve their health.   Pricing ranges from $29 – $529, depending on what you’re having tested.  I’m intrigued enough to give this a shot; if you’ve by chance had a WellnessFX screening, I’d love to hear your thoughts about whether it added value and which package to choose.  And stay tuned for a future post once I’ve had the screening done.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share something I came across as I was exploring the company.  They created a free e-book called “10 Small Steps to Wellness.”  The ten they chose are interesting — I love some of them (#s 2, 3, 5, 6, 7), but I think a few of them would be far from my personal top 10 small steps (i.e., I’d never bring weights on a business trip…I think a bit of dirt is good for you….I’m not sold that supplements are necessary/good for you…and I think I’d argue to flat out eliminate heavy drinking, versus just drink water to compensate).  Nonetheless, seeing someone else’s list is always a great catalyst to think about what might be on yours.  Here’s the list from WellnessFX:

What’s in your top 10 that’s not included in this list?  And if you’d like to write your own wellfesto (a collection of your commitments), please send it my way, and I’ll beautify it and post it!

Healing Hands

Massage has been around for thousands of years — in fact, drawings in the Egyptian Tomb of Akmanthor dating back to BC 2330 depict two men having massage work done on their hands and feet.  But it took until the mid-19th century for it to become popular in the U.S. (early practice was based on learnings from a Swedish physician), and interestingly, massage wasn’t formally included as a medical offering for U.S. Olympic athletes until the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

And even today, massage (at least “medical massage”) isn’t totally mainstream.  Despite having a Canadian husband who grew up thinking massage was a normal part of preventive health — especially for athletes — I often find myself avoiding it…telling myself it’s too expensive, too luxurious, too selfish, and resorting to it only after an ugly and painful problem has arisen.  I’ve been thinking about this lately because I’ve “resorted” to having some work done both in the clinic and on my own (using a foam roller) to deal with some nagging tendon issues (peroneal + achilles).  It’s amazing and has already made a big difference in terms of my muscle tension and tendon stress.  And beyond the muscle benefits, any medical site will tell you that massage can help with anxiety, digestive disorders, fertility, fibromyalgia, headaches, insomnia, nerve pain,  joint pain, and stress.

So if you don’t get regular massage, take a minute to think about whether it might be something you want to include as part of your broader commitment to well-being.  To help answer the most basic questions, here’s a bit of advice from my cousin, Sarah Wilkinson, a massage therapist and owner of Take Time for Yourself Massage in Minneapolis:

• How often do people need to get massage to experience the benefits?  Everyone is different, and the answer to this questions really depends on each person’s own personal situation and what they are trying to accomplish.  Someone in pain — for example jaw pain or hip pain — may come weekly for a month in order to relieve the pain; whereas someone working with stress relief may come bi-weekly or monthly.

• What’s the most important question for people to ask if they’re looking for a massage therapist?  A therapist/client relationship is like any other one — people need to be able to communicate with each other comfortably.  The intimacy of massage means that personal referrals/word-of-mouth often work best.  Once you choose someone to work with, there are a few important things to be clear about early: how much pressure you like, whether you like to talk during your sessions ,whether you like music, etc.

• Any specific advice for athletes?  It’s important for athletes to see a massage therapist familiar with their sport and muscle groups used.  I see a lot of bikers and runners, so I’m very very familiar with the leg muscles and gluteus.  For athletes, massage is a great way to help maintain their bodies so they can continue doing what they love.

• What do you love about being a massage therapist?  I love having a “job” that shifts people into a better state of being.  I really enjoy the trust people have during their sacred time with me to just be who they are and talk about issues that are troubling them.  One of my clients always tells me she does her best thinking on my table.  I have the honor of working with many women on their journey to motherhood, which can be a hard time for some.  Helping them is one of my favorite parts of my work.  There is nothing better.

So, in Sarah’s words, think about taking some time for yourself this month (and if you’re in Minneapolis, you should go see her)!

Do you think of massage as a luxury, or core to getting and staying well?  If you get massage, what do you love about it?  And if you don’t, why not?