Spencer Relief Technique

Energy and Healing...

Sometimes life spins out of control. These past months since taking my position with Northwestern, my schedule is that of a crazy persons. Spiraling, spinning, so fast that my back began to hurt. Full-time work in my profession consists of 25 hours a week. I never have been a therapist who  complies with that guideline. Not complying is the reason my resume reads in the manner it does. There is however a reason that standard exists.

Last month I generated some news from my Mother. The 'news' transmitted was that her last x-ray reflected something. The 'something' was two spots in the upper lobes of her lungs; one on the right and one on the left. That presentation is usually typical of breast cancer metastasis. Interesting thing was however, that no one bothered to call to advise of that 'something' reflected! They just phoned to schedule an appointment for a subsequent scan. Mom was not real happy about that, so she flatly responded she would not go! You are probably questioning why. Well, she is highly allergic to iodine. Even when they know in advance of an iodine injection (iodine enables contrast to the film), and pump her body full of antihistamines and yes, my favorite thing, steroids, her body will still respond adversely.

Initially, I was remaining positive. My knee jerk reaction was a feeling that it was only a 'blip' in the film. My Mom typically is not so lucky when something resurfaces, as my daughter reminded me. My nerves began to feel the pressure of the pending outcome.

Yes, I was working a lot. I basically was working four jobs with teaching, maintaining my practices and NW. Crazy, but I love it! It was all good until I began worrying about my Mom.
Even though I was working on my back ~ I was still having pain in my lumbar. Very atypical, to say the least.

I began paying attention, despite my state of exhaustion, to the moments I was stressed and feel the emotional 'stress' collect in the area that hurt. One day a new energy worker at the Center for Integrative Medicine, Ryan, who is certified in Healing Touch, performed a treatment. http://www.healingtouchinternational.org/index.php
Immediately, I felt relief! Throughout the day once I left the center at Northwestern and returned home, more relief arrived until the pain was gone!

I remembered about somatic energy storing places in the muscle tissue. That recollection led me to a client who I discussed in an earlier post. DB who walked into my office with the assistance of a cane.

Well, I have been working with DB for about six months now. I was still treating him twice weekly, which I was questioning. What he was experiencing from a pain level compared to what I felt beneath my fingers just did not resonate. I was questioning why on easy activities he would lapse. Not typical again.

As with most of my seasoned clients, I know what is occurring in their lives. DB has been in a marriage, which most of the time brings little joy. I asked that he pay attention in their moments of discord to where the 'emotional stress' collects. I told him what I figured out from my most recent experience, so he could understand my thought process.

It was indeed the trials with his wife that were creating his remaining symptoms of pain, in his lower back, on the right side. It will be the right, if you are right dominant typically.

Energy work is where massage was a decade ago. When I studied a similar technique in Norway, I was amazed at all I witnessed. When I practice it myself on my client population, I am reminded of how amazing of a practice it truly is. There is no proof within the scientific community supporting why it works.  Therefore, it should not work by scientific standards.

It leads me to recant all of the scientists however, who came first, like Einstein. There still are some theories of his that remain unproven. All we know though is that they do work. So, why are practices like massage and energy work so highly discounted as to their efficacy?

Science of Procrastination

Each and every day I think of my blog. I think how long it has been since posting anything new. I am reminded monthly when I pay the fee for the site! However, my schedule has been that of a crazy woman.

I landed my dream job with Northwestern Memorial Hospitals Physician Group in the Center for Integrative Medicine. There is indeed something to be said about being immersed in an environment where they 'get' what one does. It is also an honor to have been accepted out of a candidacy pool of fifty.

My practice at the Board of Trade is rocking. I also resumed teaching. I still maintain my private practice. So basically when it is all said and done I am working four jobs! This is what I worked my tail off over the last (almost) six years. Be careful what you ask for.

My favorite class, Contemporary Health Issues, I recently lectured on procrastination. More specifically the stress that accompanies procrastinating. I am not stressed, just really tired!

So, I wanted to check in and let you know procrastination will not keep me away. I aspire to get better with blogging. As I inform my students one can do whatever they set their mind to. It truly is nothing more than effective time management ~ discipline. Time management. Okay! So I aspire to manage my time again. Yes, procrastination is indeed a science. Those who have it mastered are brilliant...

Be well. Happy Spring!

Snow Distorted in Chicago...

NAC or N~Acetyl~Cysteine

My best girlfriend is a pharmacist. Most of the time we are as different as night and day in our approaches and thinking. If I have been over at my web designer and friend, Stephan's house, Susan will say, "Take an antihistamine Lori. You are not going to feel better until you do." See, Stephan and Juls have a cat. And, my body does not respond well to their dander. They are indeed my Nemesis, outside dust and mold that is!

Okay, okay. Yeah, right. I will. But, I don't... ;-)

Recently, I thought I had a cold shared and extended to me by my favorite little man. My grandson, Tristan. The symptoms presented on the day before Christmas eve. By Christmas I was not feeling real well. By Friday I knew by the way my lungs were feeling that it was not a cold any longer, but that it advanced to Bronchitis.

I was doing so much Echinacea Elder root tea, organic honey, Breathe Easy intertwined amidst the Echinacea ~ that my immune system would have been recovered. I also knew at the stage it was that I needed antibiotics. Ugh! Antibiotics... From not doing antibiotics or synthetic medication that much throughout the course of my life, my body does not like when I introduce them. I viewed it though as my only alternative.

So, I took them. Subsequent to ingesting all of the Z pack (five days worth) the congestion still was not expelling from my lungs. I missed an entire week of work and, those that know me, know I must be contagious to not do what I love most ~ my work.

Susan said, "You need a cough suppressant and mucinex."

"I know. Okay, okay. You can give me that stuff, but you know me. I will not take it, so there really is no point! I will find something natural."

"I know you will," Susan replied and gave me a little chuckle.

I knew I was no longer contagious, so I returned to work. I asked Dr. Silbert at the board what he recommended. He in turn provided the NAC. Doc questioned the fact that I never heard of it! He provided some trials and information sent with me to read. Well, I read what he provided and have been researching it ever since.

It has such a vast coverage within the body and, across a broad spectrum of pathologies. Fascinating. Here is one that speaks to its efficacy in trials with Breast Cancer published through pubmed which is a source used by doctors and medical professionals overall. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1615662

NAC is kept in stock for Acetaminophen overdose in hospitals. They also recommend that after every instance of aspirin consumption that you take NAC to counter its effects. http://www.futurescience.com/nac.html

It has been a while since finding a new supplement that I was really impressed with or, compelled to take. I really do not take supplements any longer based on the consumption of my Mona Vie juice ~ that is until I discovered NAC.

It is recommended however, that when ingesting N~Acetylcysteine that you take three times the amount of cysteine in Vitamin C. The reason is to offset a potential of oxidized cysteine which, can lead to kidney stones.

The myriad of trials and significance of this supplement are too many to list. I suggest you research it yourself. This supplement however, reinforces my belief that any pathogen that has the potential to stress our immune system has something natural to help it do its job; to give it a boost.

On closing, I want to mention something you may not be aware. Whenever you ingest antibiotics be certain to take Probiotics (live culture) acidophilus. Acidophilus is the good flora (or bacteria) the body contains. Taking antibiotics removes the good flora in our system, so you need to replace that bacteria, otherwise, it weakens the immune system.

I would suggest that if you take something as potent as a Z Pack (Zythromicin) that you take at least a months supply of the probiotics. This will engender balance of the flora systemically.

Best Way to Flush Toxins Out of the System?

My brother, Larry, after discovering he could tag my book through Amazon, decided I needed to participate in an online health forum. So, being the sister I am I decided to heed my older brothers advice. The subject was how do you flush toxins out of your body?

The first thing with online forums, I learned, is they take more of your time than blogging! Thus the reason I have not made any new entries to my blog! The other is people are extremely zealous in their beliefs. I imagine I could be categorized the same. However, there is a lot to be learned about participation in forums. Did you know you can be 'flamed?' This means that basically the community turns against you if your beliefs contradict that of the leader. I view that as a pack type of mentality and, it is, right?

So, after several days of participating I have been slowly weaning myself away from the forum. My dear friend Stephan of Pax Rodentia Studios http://www.paxrodentia.com/ (if you need a brilliant web, or media designer, he is definitely your man)  pointed out the way words can translate within these forums; similar to how things translate in email, which is not always the way we intended. ;-)

The question at the time led me to try and educate as I always do, about, good ole H2O! Water. You must admit it has been several posts, if not many more since you have heard me mention water. It is true though. The problem is probably ninety percent of the population is dehydrated. Water, becoming hydrated and maintaing hydration is still the best and most unobtrusive means to flush out toxins. I remain open, maybe, to some other means, but then again I never have trialed anything else, so I cannot speak to the process. However, people who experienced the Master Cleanse and various other cleansing protocols swear they never have felt better. Perhaps I should try one. I am sequestered.

It is a New Year. I did learn through the forum though that something I was told long ago was false. I told the person that called me on it that I stand corrected. I will share that misinformation with you. I believed, as did many, that John Wayne died with 40 pounds of fecal matter in his colon. It is believed Elvis Presely had died with 60 pounds!

Well, John Wayne died of colon cancer, but they never performed an autopsy. There was no need because he died from cancer. Therefore, there is no way this statement could be true! Elvis Preselys' state had to do primarily with his drug use. So, both are incorrect statements. Here is the link to the snopes site to attest to this: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/fecalcolon.asp

With all that said, I still believe that if you feed your body properly it will take care of itself. If you follow a diet that is rich in saturated fats, processed foods, high intake of soda, sugar and caffeine, then most likely you will need to consider doing something like a colon cleanse. So perhaps the message is to pay attention to what you place in your body to provide its fuel.

Happy New Year! I wish you all the best, always. May everything that finds strength in your heart present in this New Year. lls

P.S. The new pictures posted in my photo album are from my friend, Paul Natkin. If you are unfamiliar with the depth and breadth of Paul's gifts check out his web site: http://www.natkin.net/

I am beyond blessed for the people that surround my life. Paul graciously extended his services to me, just because. I am grateful, beyond, for his time and gift!

Happy Holidays...

The best Christmas gift I could have received was for my book to go live. Well, it has and is available for purchase through the Authorhouse website: http://www.authorhouse.com/bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=48011

It was pretty cool to place the title of my book and perform a Google search. Three sites came up! One is a company out of the UK called Take2. The other was Authorhouse in the United Kingdom, so my friends across the sea can also acquire a copy! http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/BookStore/BookStoreSearchResults~SearchType~bis~SearchBisacCode~HEA000000-1.aspx

The third was Amazon (which Amazon will be live in 30 to 45 days, as will all the other retail environments)!

I find it interesting how people will spend money frivolously, but hesitate to spend money on themselves for their care, mainly on clinical massage. It is something I am faced with a lot. People feel they are not getting well quick enough. But, when the relief comes and, it returns because they have gone against my advice, a shot seems to be the main pursuit...

Cortisone. What an interesting drug! In my pursuit of learning more about this drug I hear pieces here and there. The latest is that it deteriorates the muscle tissue; supposedly it actually eats away at the cells. I find it frustrating that something that wreaks such havoc, although sometimes providing temporary relief still finds its way in the marketplace.

At the Board of Trade, the doctor I rent my space from has led me to a doctor, who I am hoping will help to answer my questions. I will keep you posted.

In the coming New Year my wish is simple. I wish for peace. I wish for love to find its way into everyone's hearts. I wish for the gift of forgiveness to weave itself in to the heart of America; forgiveness for nothing more than ignorance and conditioning which perpetuates war and, hate. Life is too short to not have understanding of differences or to forgive, truly...

Merry Christmas! Be well and be safe. Be kind, be authentic and be true.

Frozen Shoulder??? Really, Cortisone is all that works? Hmm...

I discovered this morning that my book will be 'live' in two weeks from today! Live means it will be available for acquisition at the Authorhouse book site. In 30 to 45 days it will be available for purchase on line through various retail outlets like Barnes and Noble, Border's and Amazon. I decided to perform some research on Good Morning America for the possibility of being on the show. This was something that was implanted through a friend of mines wife who is in public relations.

When at the site, more specifically the health component of the site, I came upon an article about frozen shoulders. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/wireStory?id=3978923

Prior to moving to San Antonio I was working a lot of large scaled shows. Chair massage is challenging because, I am the type of therapist that when someone is in front of me, I want them to experience my technique. It is difficult to impose good body mechanics all day long for weeks when performing deep tissue work, on a chair. I ended up with a frozen shoulder. The pain was excruciating. I was unable to move, let alone raise my arm!

I did what I always do when something presents; I go see my colleague and friend El. She worked it out over a period of three weeks. Instantly however, my range of motion improved and the pain began to subside to where it was tolerable enough to work.

When I was residing in San Antonio I did a fair amount of on-call work with an Osteopath. My population was chronic patients, mostly patients who were suffering from Fibromyalgia. I had a woman however who was suffering from a frozen shoulder. She had been to see a host of professionals, with no relief. By the time she reached me her faith and trust was about depleted. I educated her. I stuck my finger in her armpit and began addressing her subscapularis, which the easiest way to address it is through the armpit.

D had relief. The further I advanced in my questioning the more angry or disheartened I became. The outgrowth of emotion was from all the specialists reconciling that a steroid injection was the only cure. I asked her if anyone had ever gone into her armpit, as I was. "No," she responded.

When I was done working on her, I flew into Ren's office (the doctor) and basically asked him to contact the Orthopaed to question why no one thought to address her subscap. He naturally would not go there, but upon questioning just said the reason no one had was because, they, are not me!

Well, I told him that is ridiculous. Everyone knows subscapularis is one of the main culprits behind a frozen shoulder. When I read the article today from Good Morning America I realized even further how we truly are a society immersed in masks! What I would like to throw out there, is if one does not know the cause of something, how can one treat it successfully?

I decided to write GMA an email to provide a different solution. We shall see what comes. With a 2000 word limit I had to choose my words carefully, enough to just peak an interest. Hopefully, they will research me and call to speak further on what I know about the condition.

The article made me begin to question our medical community, yet again. But, I know it is really not their fault. It is just difficult to understand something which truly has received very little attention.(fascia)

To quote something in the article it reads like this: Why the mystery? Nobody knows just what triggers frozen shoulder. It seems to strike out of the blue.

It seems to strike out of the blue, because it is a cumulative process. It being defined as toxins in the muscle fiber, knots, build~up or trigger points. However you slice it ~ it all comes up the same. But if you introduce steroids to the site what actually occurs biophysically to the muscle tissue? No one really seems to be able to answer that question for me, not even my best friend who is a brilliant pharmacist. I know they say the injection goes directly to the joint capsule, but, that is definitely not what I feel beneath my fingertips. That is also not what new evidence suggests based on the information we were presented at the Fascia Research Congress (noted in my November blog), and a bit more extensively in my book.

My client who I spoke about in several of my blogs also had a frozen shoulder. JM when I saw him today does not have pain there any longer. He can actually move his arm again and, guess what? He is not a woman. He is young. He did not resolve it with a cortisone injection!

A friend raised an ideal scenario in relation to the sale of my book. 1 million copies sold over a period of four years! I never for a moment considered selling so many copies of my book. I never thought about it because, I wrote my book to educate the masses. Why? Because I am beyond burnt out on the way things are handled. For everything there is a shot or a pill. Shots and pills do not work. They are a mask. A mask. A mask. A mask.

Human Nature & Pain...

It is human nature, when we have been in a chronic state, and begin to feel better that we will over extend ourselves in activity (at some point). I tell my clients of the nature component after they have re-injured themselves to try and make them feel better. It does not matter that I explained this phenomenon many times before. It will not stop them! It is indeed human nature!

Yesterday, one of my clients who walked in using a cane upon our initial visit, decided to shovel snow. He informed me that he heard my voice after he engaged in the activity. After, I exclaimed, why? He did not know why, only that the snow needed to be shoveled.

Pain is indeed an interesting phenomenon. The way it cycles; the way it eventually moves out of the body, once all the toxins have been removed from the muscle tissue. The way each individual, although paralleled with all those who have come before, move in and out of the pain cycle.

But short of following someone around everyday, all you can do, as a practitioner, is educate. Even when one educates at the level I do, people are still going to do what they need to do as individuals. Most of the time they do not even think for a moment ~ until after. The after thought is an outgrowth of the pain's return.

People are fallible. That is all and everything.

7 Best Kept Secrets...

Dream: Envision: Create and, just be...

Everything I have wanted throughout my life, I have created. My friends acknowledge this fact and are often amazed. I really do not think much about it. I guess I never really have because, in my eyes it is simple. Well, perhaps simple is not the proper verbiage. It is my adage and belief of Quantum Physics.

Two days ago I received the galley for my book. For two days and probably for the first time in my life ~ I was amazed and really proud! Looking at my words on the paper with Brad's illustrations, an assigned ISBN number, a copyright insignia page... A real book. My book! My goal to reach the masses will soon be a reality. I can hardly wait!

Now if I could only become so lucky in my personal life...

7 Best Kept Secrets to Painless Aging will be in print, the publishing house informed me, by the end of January. I know this book will inspire people to facilitate change. How I know this I do not really know. It is just a sense I have because of the way the book materialized. Where it was when it was first written to now is night and day. But my experience in visualization engenders a profound trust.

Life is a matter of time and patience. Sometimes it is difficult to retain that patience. When the difficulty comes, trust has to take over. Trust. Trust that everything is as it should be. Trust that everything will present when it is time. It is time... I trust!

Thanksgiving...

One of the things I love most about my work is my clients. There are days when I consider doing something else; something that has more consistency financially. Then one of my clients will extend something that serves as a reminder that I am meant to do exactly what I do!

The bulk of my demographic consists of men. I do not know why that is, perhaps it is as obvious as just being female. As a friend told me once he just likes the energy of women better, which is why he prefers having a woman massage him. It makes sense.

Recently, I bought two tickets to see Billy Joel on December 1st. I really wanted to go because, Billy Joel is one of my all time favorite piano players. I never saw him perform. So, I bought two tickets, some things presented personally and I tried to sell them at cost. I listed them on Stub Hub. I sent out a mass mail, as did my daughter to advise of the sale. We both had some nibbles, but everyone had something going on that Saturday evening.

One of my clients also tried selling them. He also came close, but they did not sell. So J called to extend giving me the money for the tickets as his Christmas gift! I was floored really, as I thought how generous of an extension that is. J was adamant based on how much money I save him, because I do not charge him my typical rate.

We went back and forth until finally he informed me that I was taking the gift; that was that and then he hung up on me! The entire day I laughed because, it was very cute the way he handled it.

I am indeed blessed because the bulk of my clients I would choose time and again as a friend. They are kind. They are generous. They are full of heart. And they remind me why I rise each day to do my work.

It does not take a holiday like Thanksgiving to remind me how fortunate I am. But I am indeed fortunate.

I told J when I was extended a gift of a natural lighting lamp ~ that when something is extended we need to be receptive. We need to allow the person to give whatever they are offering with grace. Sometimes, well actually most of the time that is difficult (for me).

Each moment is a work in progress. I decided (even though I have not told him yet) that I will accept his generous offer. And in times like these I know it is God speaking through my clients to remind me that I am exactly where I am meant to be. Thanks J!