Who is in charge?

When your leg breaks, who fixes it? Most think the doctor does. That is partially true... and also misguided. If the leg needs a splint or a cast, the doctor puts it in place. If the leg needs pins or plates to stabilize the bone, the doctor does that too. But who actually fixes it? Who actually rebuilds the bones? Who adheres the connective tissue together to allow your structure to be mobile again? That would be you. Or more specifically, your body.

The body is an amazing machine. It does millions and millions of things every day to keep you alive and enjoying life, and most of those things go completely unnoticed by the average person. When injured, the body begins a process to heal you. When seriously injured or sick, what usually happens is that doctors try and stabilize you in whatever method they can to allow your body the best chance to heal itself. There isn't a single treatment in existence that 100% heals you without the help of the body. And when they try they usually cause more significant side effects then the original problem.

They always say that the most contagious a sick person is is when they aren't showing symptoms. So that would suggest you are probably surrounded by sick people everyday. Why are you not sick everyday? Do you think it is because of all the vaccines you take? Or maybe because of all the alcohol based cleansers you drown your skin in? Or the consistent amount of Vitamin-C you shove into your body? None of the above. It is that your immune system is strong enough to prevent the viruses from taking hold and infecting your body. You're being attacked daily, but you are sick infrequently... at least if you are generally healthy. Surprised that those who smoke for a living get sicker more often and tike 5 times as long to kick the disease?

I've always found it silly that when we are around things that we discern as disgusting or unsanitary that that is when we are aware of bacteria and viruses. When you take the garbage out and get back inside, most people go straight to the sink and wash up. But if you were to go the car, drive to the store, buy groceries, drive home, and put the groceries away... how many of you would now wash your hands? The numbers would shock and scare most of you.

They've done research and studies on all the popular areas we touch but don't think of as being infested with bacteria. Places like the steering wheel of your car, a man's wallet, the bottom of a woman's purse, and every door to your house are all great places to house bacteria. In fact, bacteria is everywhere, including in the air we breathe!

Oh whatever will we do?!?!?!

It is simple in theory, difficult in practicality. Difficult only because most of us have been conditioned to live a unhealthy lifestyle and the addictions that have been created are very difficult to overcome. Your body needs very simple ingredients to live a life full of energy and limited sick and injury time. These ingredients are:

- Clean water

- Minerals, Vitamins, and Fuel (Carbohydrates)

*Which should be absorbed from healthy, fresh vegetables, fruits, and proper proteins and carbohydrates

- Exercise

- Oxygen

- An Alkalized pH system

- A limited stressful environment

- Consistent sleep

If you give the body these ingredients your life will be exponentially healthier then the average person in this country. But let's all come to reality. Not many people fit in the category that that is all they give their body. Many of us love sugars, fats, alcohol, quick foods, watching TV, and playing on the computer, just to name a few of our cultural and personal weaknesses.

So with the fact that we all have our own little devil on our shoulder winning many of the one-on-one battles with the little angel, what are some of the things that you can do to help your body to help you stay healthy?

1) The quickest way is to go as healthy as possible in the 6 items mentioned above.

2) You can also seek out natural healthcare practitioners who perform services like Sennin-So Shiatsu, Massage, Acupuncture, Reiki, and Reflexology. Practitioners like ourselves can help your body to kickstart its own healing ability. But don't rely on us like we are healing you, remember that it is ultimately your body that does the healing. We just give you a loving push.

3) Get involved with some sort of outdoor activities. Get away from your technology!

4) Breathe properly into your diaphragm! That means breathing into your nose and out your mouth, putting all air into your stomach (abdomen) and allowing your lungs to absorb the most oxygen possible. Shallow breathers have a ton of health problems and their inability to take proper breaths is one of their root causes.

5) Keep an eye on your pH by using pH strips you can get at health food stores. Antacids like Baking Soda are really useful in balancing your pH, as is cutting out sugars and limiting the wrong fruits and meats.

6) Work on realizing what stresses are real and what are a waste of time. A death in the family is a real stress. An idiot cutting you off on the road and making you angry... waste of time!!!

!!!Remember!!! Your body fixes you. It's what it is designed to do. When you are sick or hurt and it is chronic, it simply means you are not giving it the environment needed to sustain a healthy life, and as such the body cannot heal its injuries. Many of my clients DON'T balance their pH, or DON'T stop eating the wrong foods, or DON'T help their circulation in ways I suggest, and because of such they see me more often.

Take responsibility for your body! It's what it wants! After all, you're the only one truly responsible for you.

Stay Healthy, Happy, and Ready for Anything! -

Let it go!

Two monks travelled down a village road on their way to their monastery. As they moved past the busy villagers, an elderly woman was seen having difficulty crossing the road and its terrain. The taller monk went over to her, picked her up, and crossed the road with her in his arms. He put her down on the other side of the road and without blinking, turned toward his original direction and continued walking. His fellow brethren caught up with him and they both continue to walk in silence. For over an hour they walked without speaking.

Then, the shorter monk addressed his brother with a hushed tone. "You broke our sacred law, brother." The taller monk looked at him with confusion. "It is forbidden for us to acknowledge or interact with any woman for any reason. You went to that woman, picked her up and carried her across the street." Why?"

The taller monk's head shifted from his brothers face and turned facing his forward direction. "Brother, I only picked her up and helped her across the street. You are the one who's been carrying her for the last hour."


Have you ever been driving and suddenly someone cuts you off and/or drives by you going 20 miles per hour faster than everyone else? Has that incident ever left you angry and frustrated? Now imagine that same instant... what did the rest of your day, or at least the next few hours, end up like? Have you ever wondered why you get so agitated?

There are so many things, so many confrontations that hit us day in and day out, and it changes everything about who we are, even if for only a moment. A question I ask many of my clients is, "How are you feeling today?" I almost always get an answer that resembles, "Oh, I'm doing well." But most never realize that they haven't "let go" of the literal junk they've come into contact with throughout their day.

Whether it is a coworker who is always negative and loves spewing it all over your desk or lap, the negativity after negativity posted on the news every hour, the concerns with what you should eat or drink to keep from getting sick, how you should exercise to keep thin, what new gimmick concerning your health is true or false, or getting your finances down so you're not stressed about money, we are bombarded hourly by stress that change your entire body's chemical makeup. So far, it is pretty much impossible to duck and dodge from these stimuli.

Many of you who have seen me have had where I showed you how I can change the tension in your abdomen simply by having you visualize a peaceful environment, then turn it around and visualize a stressful situation to create tension and pain. It can go from tight and sensitive to relaxed and loose and back again within moments. Your brain dictates these things, but most have no clue that that is happening. It happens in less then a second. If you let the junk in, it loves to take hold and make a home in you and sometimes it takes a long time to get it out, if it ever does leave.

I will work on clients and out of nowhere they'll start to cry. Now many of you will laughingly point out that this is a sensitive treatment and that is why they are crying. It is sensitive, but the crying literally takes my clients by surprise. This is because it is an emotional release, one of the deepest types of healing your body can go through. I am literally yanking out the stress you've allowed to corrupt you, or I'm allowing you to push it out. When this happens, you can start to cry (you can also laugh) and you don't know why you are doing it. It is the same thing when someone goes to a psychiatrist and has a "break through" and that client just unleashes emotion like an atomic bomb. To release this emotion and energy is so important to your body's healing process. I have clients whose body fights me with the fury of an army because the stagnation of emotion and negativity has taken hold and isn't interested in letting go.

The fact that it is there is entirely your fault... and not your fault at the same time. I mention to my clients that many things they feel are the result of neglecting their body's needs, but to not beat themselves up for it, since many people are in the same boat. It is your charge to make sure you are healthy. It isn't my job to make you healthy, but yours. All I do is clean you out and give you direction. If you do not take responsibility for your life, you will NEVER get to the health that will allow you to feel and look younger then you could ever imagine. And it starts with your mind set.

Be happy. That's it. Be happy. So simple of a concept that it seems ridiculous.

Let's take the original scenario of the idiot who cut you off while driving. You can look at it as, "Hey you @#$%! Why don't you @#$% slow down, you @#$% $%^&!!!!!!! And with that you'll be messed up all day... if you're lucky.

OR

You can say to yourself. "Wow. That guy's a little out of control. Thankfully he didn't hit me or anyone around me. I hope he doesn't hurt anyone." And throw him literally out of your mind. In less than 1 minute you should have completely forgotten about him. His actions should hold no purpose in your day. Just like the monk who helped the woman across the street. It was his brother that couldn't let go of her, and he never touched her.

And if you feel that you just can't let the driver go for what he did, ask yourself what positives will come out of you screaming at him? What are you going to do? Are you going to follow him until he stops and let him know he needs to be more careful? Do you think that he'll listen to you, apologize, and change his ways? I'd bet money that he'd laugh, think you were crazy to follow him to say such a thing, probably give you the finger, and spin out getting away from you, laughing the whole way down the street. In general, it takes serious scenarios for people like that to change, if they ever do. You can't help everyone, nor are you safe from idiots like that. Just look at the positives through all scenarios, like:

-He didn't hit you.
-If he did hit you, then at least you aren't hurt badly.
-If you are hurt badly, then at least you didn't die.
-If you died, then your problems are pretty much gone.

Worst case scenario leaves you with no problems. Now yes, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm not exaggerating when I say look at the positives in every scenario and you'll feel much better through life. Don't hang around or listen to negative people because those people feel obligated to pull everyone down with them. It's like a virus or disease. If anything, try and help them by being positive. If they don't want it, wish them well and move on.

Everyday you have the opportunity to change your life for the better, or you can allow the world around you to treat you like a punching bag. It is your choice. What I can promise you is that the tension in your neck and shoulders, your reoccurring headaches, your digestive problems, and so on have roots. Those roots are being thrown at you daily. Don't allow them to take hold and your symptoms WILL NOT appear.

Take charge. Only you can do it.

Stay Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Anything.

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone has a safe and eventful Halloween.

Remember, with Fall here and Summer gone, you will experience a change in temperature as well as other atmospheric changes. These changes will lead to changes in your circulatory system, so if anything is off... you'll know very quickly. Keep your pH balanced, (7.4 is your body's optimal level), and stay hydrated.

Stay Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Anything.

Summer is ending

I hope everyone has had a happy summer. I know the weather hasn't been the most helpful, whether it has been super hot or you haven't seen much of the sun at all. Just remember, no matter how bad the weather might be now, it can always get worse so enjoy even the shortest moments of rays shooting through the clouds or even the most brief relief from scorching temperatures. During weather changes nature loves to mess around with your circulatory system, so don't be surprised if your bad knee starts acting up, or your back feels a little off. Keep active, hydrated, and balance that pH.

Recently I have seen an influx of clients and one of the constants is the fact that so few are balancing their pH. If you don't take that aspect of your life very seriously, it will be very difficult to achieve the kind of health that many are hoping for. I will have someone come to me and say that I helped their back and it felt great for a month, but then it started to act up again. Then as I work on them they are very sore. The first thing I ask them is how their diet and stress have been... which usually is answered with something in the ballpark of, "Oh, very stressed, and of course not eating the best.". So my next question is are they doing anything to balance the acidity that their stress and diet has created, and it is almost guaranteed that they will admit to forgetting about that "little" factor. Unfortunately it isn't so little.

Here is some reading you can look at that might interest you: http://www.mcvitamins.com/is-your-body-too-acid.htm

Take care of yourself and have a great fall. Fall is actually my favorite time of year. Weather stays simple in temperature, my birthday is in the end of the fall and it is a running start for all of the fun holidays. But I'm not going to lie when I say that I wont enjoy the rest of the summer while it is here.

Stay Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Anything.

But I exercise!

I had a client come in a while back that had never seen my nor had Sennin-So Shiatsu. He said that a friend of his referred him to me and that he was dealing with chronic back pain and it was only getting worse. He had been to multiple other practitioners with little relief. He did mention that as he exercised the back pain did slightly subside, but it was usually during cardio work outs, like swimming or running on the elliptical. He had a desk job where he sat for a ton of time throughout the day. Now this is something that my colleagues and I see all the time.

The one thing I try and explain to my clients is that muscle movement, in most cases that being your exercise, is what helps to stimulate stagnant blood and energy. When you wake up in the morning and you are all stiff, while you move around you literally start to stimulate that stagnation and the stiffness starts to subside. Stagnation always occurs around weakened areas. This being areas getting very little to no movement. Now a lot of the time I will say this to someone and they will state how they run three to four times a week or are always exercising, so if my "theory" is correct, why are they stagnating? The simple answer is that you don't exercise enough and you spend WAY too much time in stagnating positions. The number one stagnating position is sitting. There is nothing natural about the human body sitting for any long period of time. Not only are you moving a small percentage of your muscles, but you are also contracting many muscles to keep you upright and you are doing this for LONG periods of time. Anytime a muscle contracts around a joint it will impede the full amount of blood trying to pass it, allowing just a portion to get through. If you were moving around (running, climbing, swimming, jumping, etc.) you would create a pumping effect throughout your body. This effect would help to limit stagnant blood flow significantly.

Imagine this: Take our entire culture out. Take away cars, televisions, computers, couches, chairs, everything. Now you're out in nature trying to survive. What would you be doing? You'd be scavenging for food, hunting for food, fighting others for food, running from danger, always working, and if not working... sleeping and resting. This is the life of an animal in nature. These animals don't suffer from the same vascular and health problems we do. I always make the joke, "Have you ever heard of an obese Giraffe suffering of osteoporosis?".

With the client who came to see me, he also mentioned that he exercises plenty so he didn't think that what I said was the problem. That was until I hit a few areas around his hips that are ALWAYS stagnant for people because "people" in our culture all sit for long periods of time. Those areas I hit on him were very sensitive. When I was done working on him he couldn't believe the relief and range of motion differences. I've seen him now multiple times purely for maintenance and he's a believer.

I am always asked what can be done to limit the problems with stagnation. You must balance the pH of your body, that is always number 1 on the list. It is overlooked by darn near everyone. Keep it at an alkaline level, roughly 7.4, which is your body's natural pH. Remember: stress, unnatural food & drink, negativity, lack of movement, and poor breathing are examples of things that can quickly change your body's pH. Next you need to keep as active as possible. If you can ride a bike to work, do it. Not only will you save a ton on gas and car maintenance, let alone a car payment in general, but it will help keep the body moving. Though riding a bike still creates stagnant blood high up in the hip, it is better than driving a car everywhere. Also, don't be afraid to give yourself a massage. Rub areas around your hips, feet, ankles, and shoulders. These are very popular stagnant areas. You wont be doing the exact same relief that this shiatsu can do... but it sure is better than nothing.

Eliminate that stagnation! Give your heart a straight shot through the body. It'll thank you!

Stay Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Anything.

Important or not?

How important is your health to you?

Simple question. Extremely difficult to answer. Everyone would pretty much think the obvious would be to say, "It's very important!". But is it?

When I first learned Sennin-So Shiatsu, my Shiatsu Master talked to me about things that I never knew were that detrimental to my health. Most believe sugar is bad, and junk food is bad, and alcohol is bad, but many seem to have this weird belief that they'll know when they're approaching the threshold of some kind of red alert and they'll fix themselves before it gets to a serious stage. The sad thing is that most have to go through a very dangerous and traumatic health scare to get the hint. Sometimes... they're never given a second chance.

I have slowly changed things in my diet, slowly added things, slowly eliminated things, took different philosophies and thrown away old useless ones and my body feels so much better than it used to. It took sacrifice, and there are still sacrifices that I need to make. Is it fun to know that things like pizza, lasagna, hamburgers, hotdogs, burritos, beer, wine, milk, cheese, and anything fast food is doing horrible things to my body? The same horrible things that contributed to me having a blood clot that could have killed me 2 weeks into the life of my daughter? No, it isn't fun. Definitely a part of me wishes that I didn't know those things. But then I start to think about what it would be like if I was lying on the floor because a blood clot that I didn't know was there, had dislodged from my leg and now was stuck in my heart and I was having a massive heart attack. I began to think of not being able to watch Rayven, my daughter, walk down the aisle on her wedding day, not be there when she graduates high school, not be there when she has a child of her own, not be there when Julia, my wife, needed me the most. How important does pizza look now?

All the food mentioned above has the majority of us addicted to the sugar rush it creates. That's all. How many times do you eat that type of food, only to find yourself feeling sick later, or even frustrated that you couldn't win against your weak will power? So ask yourself, "How Important is Your Health?"

Do you want to travel? Do you want to see your children grow up? Do you want to see your grandchildren be born and even graduate high school and soon after start a family of their own? Do you want to run your own business, far into your life and live off the profits of your hard work? Do you want to help people? Do you want to see the Seattle Mariners win the World Series (you might need to be alive for 100 years for that one)?

The point is, you don't know pain until you have to endure it. You don't fully know fear until you've had it run through your veins. It is easy to ignore the threat of cancer, diabetes, blood clots, obesity, or even death if you have never experienced it so closely. But why ignore it until it comes knocking. You will never live forever, but you CAN live long into your life healthy, strong, and happy. Being healthy doesn't mean you have to be unhappy with life. So many people think that being healthy means eating "horrible vegetables" and doing boring exercises and focusing on things that are boring like learning how to breathe deeply and properly. If you were to ask those same people after they were diagnosed with Cancer or Diabetes, or laying in the hospital fighting for their life because of the inability for their weak body to fight simple infections, would they be willing to go back and make some changes? I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone say no.

But that is our culture. We are surrounded by outlets of "information" that seems to convince everyone that a simple pill will be created to cure cancer. A simple pill will be created to keep you thin and happy. A simple pill will be created for EVERYTHING. It isn't going to happen. But if you like living in ignorance, then I guess I'll never be able to help you.

So I offer what I know, what I preach, what I do, my hands, my energy, my will, my technique, to help you to live long, healthy, and happy. But only if your health is important to you! Because if it isn't... do you really think I can help you?

Stay Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Anything!

A Mighty Thank You!

Today I received something that really does matter to me. I was talking with one of the women that I work with. She is one of our amazing hair stylists that work in the salon that houses the same area my spa is in, and she grabbed me as I was walking by and said very sternly, "You know, I hear it day in and day out by so many of my clients who have seen you, that you have absolutely helped them in ways they didn't know possible! They say you have healed them!... And I tell them, I know!". This specific hair stylist had a nasty migraine one day, and I had about 15 minutes before my next client and told her to come with me. I was able to show her very quickly why she was having the migraine (a belt accessory that was literally cutting off her blood flow around her waste) and manually got her circulation moving again. In just a few minutes, her Migraine was gone and she has had something in common with many of my clients from then on. But to hear this from her mouth, not only about what my clients have said to her but for her to be so up front and admit her feelings too about her treatment... it means the world to me.

Many might not realize how important this is to me. Sennin-So Shiatsu has become somewhat of an obsession of mine. The reason is is that I have been taught amazing things. I have been given information and abilities that can enrich the lives of many of my clients. Things that so very few people know exist and even fewer can perform. What I do for a living is very serious to me. Your health is very important to me. The one thing that is tough about what I do is that I don't hear from many of my clients initially after the 1st treatment. Sometimes I will work on someone and they loved the treatment, especially after the body had started to correct itself after I worked on it, but they wont need to come in for quite some time or never let me know. So I'm never sure if they feel better, worse, halfway in between, or anything else. This art, as effective as it is RIGHT NOW, is still very new to me, and I have absolutely no problem admitting that. I have been doing it for 3 years, while my Shiatsu Master has been doing it over 50. And he says he learns things everyday. I have had to send clients to him when situations were presented to me that I felt I couldn't fix. There haven't been many, but they have happened. So it is important for me to know that you feel better. It strengthens what I do more than you could ever know.

To have someone come up to me and say that she hears so many of my clients rave about this shiatsu and the effects after it warms my heart to the highest degree. Many in my industry put their heart and soul into their work. Truthfully we are taught not to put too much energy into it, since it can be somewhat detrimental to our health. But when it is your passion, it is very difficult not to. If you read this, whether you've seen me, or someone else, and difference has been made in your life, please, don't be afraid to let us know. This is what I do for a living and knowing you feel better and that changes are being made in a good way really makes me very happy!

Stay Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Anything!