Accomplishing the “Impossible”

This morning I received a message from one of my personal heroes that included a quote from one of his. The quote is “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” said by Nelson Mandela. Sitting at my desk this morning, I started thinking about how that really is true. Every one of us has obstacles to overcome, goals to achieve and dreams that may come true one day, if and only if the stars align in such a way to make them possible.

As women, we are faced with obstacles every day of our lives. Depending on where you grew up, it may have been “women are supposed to…” or “you can’t do that because only BOYS do that” or even “nice girls don’t…” Maybe your messages were less about your gender and more about the color of your skin, your race, you wealth (or lack of) or sexuality. Think about all of the times that you didn’t listen to or heed those words. I know that the times I didn’t do “what I was supposed to do” resulted in success, some failure but overall, incredible learnings. And every single time I took my own path, I gained just a little bit more confidence that I was on the right path and that I could handle just about anything that came my way. Now I definitely benefit from a kind of privilege that not everyone enjoys so I KNOW that my path has been easier than that of many others. But what we all have in common is the doubt that we’ll be successful in the trails we’re blazing. It is only after we have tried that we can turn the “impossible” into the “possible.”  And if that attempt results in failure, we take what we learned and try again and again and again, making adjustments along the way.

So the next time you find yourself at a crossroad, feeling like you should give up or knowing what needs to be done but you are afraid to do it, jump forward--step out and take a leap of faith. Make that emotional investment in yourself and find the courage (even if it’s just a tiny bit) to move forward. One day you’ll look back with confidence and see all the impossible things that YOU have done.

Have a great day!!

Butterflies in Winter

It’s not Spring yet but wouldn’t it be great if we could import some signs of Spring into these cold days of Winter? Well, I stumbled upon a way of doing this as I was multitasking the other day---relaxing, doing a hobby that I love, learning a new technique and trying to enter a contest! I’ve written before about how I learned how to make soap last Spring and that I “soaped” as a way of dealing with my grief over losing Dad. Now, I’m taking it to a higher level and learning some advanced techniques.

Along the way, I discovered the Soap Challenge Club, hosted by Great Cakes Soapworks. For the third time, I entered the contest, which is designed to teach new soaping techniques but THIS TIME I actually finished my project in time to blog about it and upload the link for my entry! This month’s challenge is the Butterfly Swirl, an advanced technique that is very tricky and can be quite frustrating. The idea behind it is that the soaper (that would be me) creates a design in a loaf of soap using various colorants, a “hangar tool” which allows the swirling to happen and a technique that is just right. What’s supposed to happen is that once the soap is unmolded and cut into bars, two of the bars will fit together in such a way that the resulting image will be that of a butterfly. Sounds SO EASY right? WRONG!!! I tried this a couple of times before finding a couple of soaps that would give me the design. Here are a some pictures from my final effort.

This is what a (fancy) loaf of soap looks like once it has hardened in the mold and is ready to cut. I started out with all the raw ingredients to make the soap (in this case, coconut oil, shea butter, water, aloe, silk and sodium hydroxide) and then mixed in a gorgeous cherry fragrance oil called Black Cherry Bomb from Nature’s Garden. The swirl on the top is not the Butterfly Swirl but is a nice little decoration for the finished bar. Here are a couple of close ups of the top design:

I know it looks really fancy, but the top design was really easy. The inside design is the problem. Once I got the soap put together with all of the ingredients (not including the fragrance oil and the colors), I blended the soap until it got slightly thick. So far, so good. This is where a lot of things can go awry (and we haven’t even gotten to the design yet!). Normally, I wouldn’t use a fragrance oil that I had not yet tested in soap but I wanted to try something that wouldn’t discolor this particular soap (some fragrances change the soap color) AND that smelled like Spring to me. Since I have a LOT (and I mean A LOT!!!) of fragrance oils on hand, I researched each oil that interested me to see how it performed for others. I finally settled on the Black Cherry Bomb fragrance, which is strong and heavenly! The biggest risk, besides discoloration, is that a fragrance oil will harden the soap before I could get the swirling done. Fortunately, Black Cherry Bomb behaved beautifully!

Next is the color. I decided to do a white base color with four swirling colors. I used three colors from Nurture Soap Supplies (Pink Vibrance, Blue Vibrance and Yellow Vibrance) and then a smidgen of black (Brambleberry’s Black Mica). Once I got the colors mixed and incorporated into the various parts of the soap. I used my hangar tool to swirl away! For this particular recipe, I was able to unmold the soap after about 24 hours and then I cut it into bars. Now the trick of the Butterfly Swirl was to find two bars that I could put together to form a butterfly. Fortunately, I was able to find several combinations. I also took it a step further and put four bars together to form really huge butterflies!  Here are the results!

Two Bar butterfly

Four Bar Butterfly

Four Bar Butterfly

It may have taken me several tries, but I finally did it! Learning this technique was a lot of fun and I will definitely be doing more Butterfly Swirls in an attempt to perfect it. The great thing, though, is that not only do I have tons of soap (as in I have a whole separate batch of attempts that I didn’t even show) to give away within 4-6 weeks but my office smells just like cherries. That’s the way to get into Spring!

For the Love of Linen

This week has been crazy! Even though we had the day off on Monday, I spent plenty of time on a couple of work projects in preparation for the rest of the week. Fortunately, I was able to get some relaxation in as well.

As I've written about before, I am in love with bubble baths. A good bubble bath relaxes me and puts me in a great mood for the rest of the evening. I do have to say, though, I have definitely been re-thinking my stance on bath towels. It used to be that I'd reach for any one of the thick towels in my linen closet but I've become less enamored with them (too heavy, sometimes don't air dry well, etc). Well, at Christmas, my husband purchased two sets of linen towels for me and now I am hooked!

Photo via

"Why linen?" you ask? Here's the deal: linen is absorbent, dries quickly, feels luxurious and doesn't take up a ton of space on the closet shelf. It's also not heavy, which I really like. Hubby giifted me with the goodlinens Diamond Weave towels that he found on the website The Grommet (you MUST check it out!). I absolutely LOVE these towels and now they are all I use. I'm never caught with a damp towel because these dry so fast. And you know how those thick towels can sometimes smell not so good (like musty smells never leave them no matter how much you wash and dry them)? Yeah...that doesn't happen with my goodlinen towels. So check them out!

Photo via

Besides the natural color of the Diamond Weave, they also have a couple of other patterns which I will be sure to try out (and you should too). One of the other things I love about this towel is that it's made by a small business and I love supporting artisans. 

Love these towels! goodlinens, you have a new fan for life!!!

Ages of Beauty rating:: *****

Looking Forward to 2015 (or Thank Goodness 2014 is Over)!

It's no secret that 2014 was a tough year. A year ago, I was enjoying sunny skies and warm weather as I visited my parents at their winter home in Naples, FL. Little did I know that within 4 months, the worlds of all of my family members would be turned inside out as each of us navigated the new territory that only the death of a parent can reveal. Life as we knew it had changed forever.

Dad's death had far reaching consequences. For me, it meant deep sadness and mourning, of course, but also impacted just about all of my close relationships in some way. Along the way, two of my girlfriends lost their mothers as did my sister in law. During that time, I "failed" as a friend as I was unable to provide them with support due to my own grief. I lost touch with quite a few friends and am just now reaching out again. The stress and strain has been overwhelming at times and something had to "give." That something was this blog. 

But now it's a New Year and it's time to get things back on track! From a career perspective, 2014 was awesome---full of some pretty intense challenges and stress for sure but also promotions, success and record setting sales for me and my team. Over the last couple of days, I've been reflecting on what I'd like to accomplish this year at a high level. Here are a couple of highlights.

Getting More of What I Need

This sounds slightly loaded but it's really about getting back on track with what I need to feel my best. For me, that means regular exercise and taking time for myself, doing activites that relieve stress---music, crafts, writing, and learning new things in addition to doing the job I love. Despite being very extroverted, I definitely do need "alone time" and I've gotten so little of it this past year. That is going to change in 2015!

Spend More Time at the Beach 

I don't need to go to a tropical island (although I plan to visit at least one this year) but there's something about being near the water. It's so relaxing and calming. Heck, I even love heading to the Outer Banks in the middle of winter! It's cold and often windy, but the impact on my mood is exactly the same. Love it!

Help Someone Help Themself

For years, I've looked for opportunities to help people. Sometimes that means giving money anonymously, other times it's volunteering my time or helping a friend to look at a situation from a different perspective. I'm not sure what that the plan is for 2015 but I'm open to the possibilities.

So here's to 2015! More to come---I'm back!!

The Love of a Dog

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.
It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.”
― John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog

The other day, as I was perusing Face Book, I noticed that a co-worker of mine had just adopted a golden retriever puppy. This was a big step for her as she had had to put down her beloved thirteen year old golden, who finally lost his battle with cancer. She told me that she was finally “ready” and I knew exactly what she meant. Losing a dog is like losing a friend or family member. The grief cuts deep and, at times, one feels like it will be impossible to get over. But, with time, the jagged edges are filed down and with those edges go the sorrow we feel for losing our best friends.

Josh

This year, in addition to losing my father, we also lost my parents’ dog, Josh. It was sudden and unexpected but at 13 years old, Josh had developed a fast moving cancer. He had his breakfast one morning as normal and within hours he was gone. We loved Josh and he loved us and our lives are better for knowing him.

Bentley

Bailey

These days, I count my dogs, Bentley and Bailey, among my best friends. They cheerfully greet me when I return from my trips, from journeys to the grocery store and even from the next room after leaving them for ten minutes---their excitement never wanes! And today, another friend of mine sent me a link to the You Tube video, below, “So God Made A Dog.” You owe it to yourself to view it. This video says all we need to know about Man’s Best Friend.”

Quick!!! What Would You Take?

Today I had an entirely different subject in mind for a blog post but due to a situation beyond my control last night, I thought I’d switch it up a little. My Mom, who has moved into assisted living nearby, got up in the middle of the night one evening last week and fell. She fractured her hip, which is a very serious injury for anyone, let alone an 86 year old. Mom has had some difficulty adjusting to living alone after Dad passed away (she’s never lived alone in her life), which is understandable, and the stress of it all has caused the “sundowners syndrome” to raise its ugly head. Mom’s last night in the hospital was last night and she was terrified so I ended up spending the night at her side.

The hospital staff was very accommodating and understanding. They had a lounge chair/recliner brought into the room and it was actually quite comfortable (a nice surprise!). Because I left the house quickly and had some work to do, I already had my iPhone, iPad and laptop with me (the hospital has free wireless internet).  I also was able to call my husband to quickly bring a few items before it was time to go to sleep, thus the inspiration for this post. My goal was to bring him the most important things that 1. he could easily find in the house; 2. would ensure my comfort and 3. could fit into a small bag. Here’s my list:

iPhone and iPad Power Cords

Let’s face it---who among us can live without our electronic devices? Enough said.

Ear Plugs

A must for any hospital stay! I already had a ton of them at home because I wear them every night. Anyone who sleeps next to a snorer knows what I mean (and even someone like me who sleeps with a cpap wearing reformed snorer). Hospitals are noisy places with alarms going off, machines vibrating and phones ringing.

Toothbrush and Toothpaste

These are pretty much a given. I hate morning breath and didn’t want to subject the public to mine so there you go.

Deoderant

Away from home with no available shower equals potential stink. Not only do I not want people to smell me, I don’t want to smell me either.

Comb

A comb or pick to brush out my thick head of hair works well when paired with the pony tail holder. It’s enough to get me out of the hospital in the morning and home without too much of a mess. At least that’s what I told myself this morning!

Salicylic Acid Toner and Cotton Pads

The hospital had some decent facial soap that I used in the last evening and this morning. An abbreviated routine had to contain my acid-based toner. My husband was able to pick out my home made toner among the various lotions and potions on my vanity. A little bit of home is nice to have at the hospital.

Pajamas

No hospital gowns for me!! My Karen Neuberger PJs kept me in comfort all night!

A Pair of Underwear

Obviously.

A Tshirt for tomorrow

I wear the Lands End long sleeve V neck t shirts year ‘round. They go with everything and are comfortable. My husband brought me a yellow one that I paired with the navy pants that I wore to the hospital. Comfort city!

Two Pain Killer Tablets for My Back

No matter how “comfortable” the recliner was, my back was killing me this morning. The two pain pills that my husband brought me left me as good as new!

So what would you pack in a hurry? Would any of my choices make your list?

A Sudsy Kind of Therapy

I’ve gotten all kinds of practice lately dealing with stress. Right now it’s coming at me from all sides and honestly, sometimes I do my best work during challenging times. Since creating things, whether it’s sales, a strong sales team, a process at work or something that my friends and family can eat/drink/use, seems to ground me, it was time for a new project!

A little over a month ago, I started making soap. Yep, soap! Real, honest to goodness, handmade, oil and lye, feel good, smell good SOAP!!! I already had the cosmetic formulation bug (which I’m still loving) and this seemed like a good tangent to follow. My very first batch, a triple butter soap, just finished its  minimum four week cure and I’ve already started giving it away to friends and family. Reports back say that it’s luxurious, lovely and nothing like they’ve ever washed with (in a good way!). I’ve also been using a bar and I just love it! Of course, one of my guilty pleasures is handmade soap so I knew what to expect. I have to say, though, that it’s so rewarding that I can make something so practical and personal for my loved ones to enjoy!

Making real soap is surprisingly easy. Not only are handmade soaps fun to make but they are extremely gentle to the skin. And more than one person who has used one of my bars was surprised that it was made with oil and lye. A big misconception seems to remain that “lye soap” is harsh and dangerous. Nope…the only way to make soap is by using three required ingredients: oil, water and sodium hydroxide (lye). The chemical process of turning those three ingredients into soap is called “saponification.” And if the ingredient calculations are correct (which is really easy to calculate using any number of available “soap calculators” on the internet), all of the lye is used up, leaving you with a lovely, moisturizing bar of pure soap!

My first bars are kind of rustic looking but over the past month and a half, I have produced some pretty cool looking, dare I say “pretty” soaps (I’ll eventually post pictures). Most of them are still curing and I can’t wait to give them away!

If you’re interested in learning more about how to make soap, check out the following resources:

• Soap Queen Blog: http://www.soapqueen.com/
• Miller’s Homemade Soap Page: http://www.millersoap.com/
• The Dish: http://www.thedishforum.com/forum/

I made the soap above using an all inclusive kit from Essential Depot. Here’s a link for the kit to make “Bonnie’s Triple Butter Soap:” http://www.essentialdepot.com/servlet/the-560/Bonnie%27s-Triple-Butter--dsh-/Detail

You can find Bonnie’s (Good Earth Spa) You Tube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/EdentiaFarms.

I purchase my supplies all over the internet but some of my favorite vendors are:

• Brambleberry: http://www.brambleberry.com/
• Essential Depot: http://www.essentialdepot.com/
• Wholesale Supplies: http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/

If you decide to get into soaping, you’ll find that it’s not only relaxing but also rewarding as you brighten other peoples days with a gift of handmade soap!

Great Memories Brought to You by Bobbi Brown’s “Beach”

When I was a little girl, my family spent three weeks every summer at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. As did many of my parents’ friends, we rented a cottage on the inner sound area (my Mom called it the “lagoon”) and spent hours running around with other kids, swimming, boating and just generally reveling in the joy and freedom that went along with the season. Those memories are precious and fill me with a sense of nostalgia---the sites, sounds, tastes and smells of the beach. My brothers and I still reminisce about those days and it really makes me happy.

Now that I’m older and have my own “place at the beach,” life isn’t quite as simple as it was then (when I was eight years old!) and I can’t get to the beach as often as I like. I am, however, quickly taken back to those days every time I spray Bobbi Brown’s Beach eau de parfum. I LOVE this fragrance and it immediately reminds me of suntan lotion, salty waves and sunny days on the sand.

Unlike a lot of beachy-type fragrances, Beach isn’t a cloying, sickly sweet combination of coconut and pineapple. This beach scent is clean, dry, salty and almost earthy. It IS the beach! The fragrance is described as a mixture of sand, jasmine, sea spray and mandarin. Despite its floral notes, I think it actually works as a unisex scent. Reminiscent of Coppertone Suntan Lotion (which is, without a doubt, the main reason this perfume tends to bring back those nostalgic memories), it’s soft and clean rather than chemical and harsh. For me, this scent lasts throughout the day and is a staple for me throughout the spring and summer.

This lovely scent is available in perfume, body oil, lotion, a scrub and also shower gel. You can find the perfume for about $70, wherever Bobbi Brown products are sold.

I love this scent so much that I’m sourcing a scented fragrance oil to put in hand made soap! Will definitely let you know how that turn out!

Ages of Beauty rating: *****

Do You See What I See???

Let’s face it…one of the biggest pains in the a** about hitting forty is that pretty soon, you’ll enter the wonderful world of reading glasses! It starts when you start having to hold a restaurant menu at arms length to read the fine print. Then that no longer works and you tilt your head back and raising your eyebrows to try and gain that last fraction of an inch in hopes of reading that label on your pill bottle (yeah---you know what I mean---you all of a sudden have to start taking “pills”, am I right???!!!). If you’re me, you get the bad news at your next optometrist appointment that what you really need is not only reading glasses (for when you’re wearing contacts) but also PROGRESSIVE LENSES (a nice, gentle way to say “bi-focals”)!!! OK…I digress…let’s get back to talking about readers!!!

So when you’re experiencing this calamity for the first time, all you can remember is those TV commercials with “old” people who buy ugly reading glasses at the local drugstore. “If I have to suffer this indignity,” you reason, “at least they could maybe be cute!!!” Well, guess what…they can!!! Since I started wearing reading glasses about five years ago, I’ve made it my business to find cute, affordable readers and recently, I’ve purchased a number (ok…many) of cute styles at two websites: Readers.com and Readerstoreonline.com. Now I have readers to wear with just about any color and to match any mood or outfit!!!

Readers.Com Sophie Readers

Some of my favorite reading glasses are the Sophie readers available at Readers.com. These glasses are seriously cute and add a huge style point to my look. Yes, I’m nuts and I purchased all six shades. Fortunately, it seems like Readers.com is always running sales and I think that when I bought them, they were on sale for around $10 per pair. I’ve worn the heck out of them this winter and these babies are a cute way to get a punch of color into your day. My favorites so far are the pink and coral!

Because I am an obsessive freak sometimes (most of the time), I couldn’t let my order go without buying a few more readers with sass. In the picture above, I’m wearing the Journey, a Wayfarer-styled reader that looks like wood! Seriously! These glasses are so cute and cool looking. Unless you pick them up and look closely, you actually will think you’re wearing wooden glasses. A nice surprise!!!

And finally, the Ethel in red leopard, which I picked because they have the same name as my paternal grandmother (who passed when I was a year old) who kicked a** and took names, just like these readers do! These divas are priced right at $15.95!

Last but not least are the readers above, from Readerstoreonline.com. The style above, is called Soho, and they are available in two colors (I bought both) for $39.95 a pair. Although I don’t have them fully on my face and am looking “over” them rather than “thru” them, I have thought about putting “preogressive” (ahem) lenses in this pair because I love them so much. You won’t believe how I found these…this shows what a geek I am…I love sci fi and started watching the TV show “Arrow” (because my gay husband John Barrowman plays “Malcolm Merlin” in that show) and noticed a pretty actress playing the character “Felicity Smoak.” Well, really, I noticed Felicity’s stylish glasses and had to have them! A little internet searching lead me to the Soho, which are apparently the exact frames that the costumers on the show use for Felicity’s look. Here’s a picture of the actress, Emily Bett Rickards, in the Sohos:

Cute, huh? Anyway, I got them in both the Black and Brown/Black and Red colors. Love these glasses!!

Are you wearing reading glasses? What are your favorites? Do you use them to punctuate your style? Do tell!!!

What a Difference A Week Makes!!!

The weather this winter has been crazy!!! I just think, a week and a half ago, my “home office” looked like this:

For two and a half weeks, as I was overseeing my parents’ care in their Florida winter home, I made one of the outside patios my office away from home. Almost every day, the sky was clear, the air warm and the breeze was light.

Today was my first full day in my “real” home office after that two and a half week period plus a week long business trip. Here was this morning’s scene outside of my office window:

Quite a difference, huh??!! It just makes me happy that I can appreciate where I am in the moment. I won’t miss the snow and the bitterly cold weather, though. Spring, here I come!!!

Getting Back to My Routine

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that my life has gotten a little crazy and that I haven’t been posting as much as I usually do. It’s been a very challenging couple of months but I’m happy to report that my father has had his surgery and with a little bit of luck, will be on the mend very shortly! My brothers have been helping by spending time in Florida with Mom and Dad and I have resumed (temporarily) my life in Virginia and my life back on the road.I will be going back to Florida in about two weeks but, for now, I’m back to my old routine!

Despite being a bit “out of sorts,” I did manage to try a lot of new products and even take on some DIY projects. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to do any writing but that all changes this week! Here are a couple of things I have been working on:

• Testing and full review of the new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes
• Since smudging and flaking mascara are huge pet peeves of mine, I’ve made a big effort testing just about every waterproof/smudge proof drugstore mascara I can find. So far, I’ve tried over 20, with about five “winners” found. Over the weekend, I purchased probably ten more mascaras to try. Hopefully there will be some good ones in that bunch as well!
• I’ve created a salicylic acid based toner that I like very much.
• I had an unfortunate run-in with an ingredient that my skin didn’t like and developed a mild case of contact dermatitis. That lead to researching allergic reactions and I’m working on a post covering that subject.
• I’m working on learning how to formulate shampoos and have research various surfactant systems. I’ve even tried my hand at creating my first shampoo!
• Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve formulated my own mineral makeup and have tried it out for wear ability.
• I’ve made several lotions.
• I’ve formulated a cuticle cream.
• I’ve tried several new drugstore blushes that I like just as much as some of my former favorites.
• Mink eyelashes have made it into my collection and I’m anxious to tell you about them!
• There are several new eye shadows that I’ve tried and will be writing about soon.
• I’ve discovered several new drugstore eyeliners that look pretty promising.
• Lots more skin care and makeup to tell you about!

I really have tried to incorporate what I love to do into the routine I adopted. Now it’s time to get back to business and share what I learned!

Thanks for sticking with me during this difficult time. Looking forward to writing and posting more this week. :)

Scenes From My Week

It's been quite a week for me with lots of change and opportunity. I thought I'd end the week with a peek into my week!

Two old friends.

My desk.

Trying out the Marc Jacobs 'Lolita' palette.

I never really get to unpack.

Another week, another flight

Looking Up!

A Room With A View

Travel Essentials

A New Company, A New Opportunity!

Lots of work!! 

Erik Weihenmayer---AMAZING!!

Hurts So Good!

Photo via

Do you ever notice that some part of your body (neck, shoulder, back, legs, etc) just plain hurts? Lately, for me, I notice it when I’m laying in bed at night, the muscles around my shoulder blades ache and feel like they are playing tug of war which each other. It’s almost as if there’s a rubber band connecting the two across my back and there’s a building pressure, as if they are struggling to keep from being pulled together. The next morning, I usually have specific pain points around my right shoulder blade, neck and near my spine. These knots are the result of “over use,” meaning repetitive motions that (for me) result from working on the computer. I put in long hours at my desk, in hotel rooms, airports and even on the couch at night as I write blog posts or catch up on more work from my “day job.” This has been going on for years and I’d deal with it by finding Bentley’s (my sweet golden retriever and you can see his beautiful face by clicking here) tennis ball, placing it under the knots as I rolled around on the floor in an attempt to “massage out” the pain. Other times, I’d frantically call around my town, trying (mostly in vain) to schedule a last minute massage appointment. Finally, I’ve been able to make regular massage a part of my routine.

Photo via

Within the past two months, I’ve had several massages while on the road. One time it was a very expensive deep tissue massage at a spa attached to a well known, high end hotel and the other was at a beautiful resort in a different state. Both lasted about an hour and really relieved my pain, only to have it recur within a week, as the long hours (and travel) continued. After this six week stint of weekly travel, I decided that I finally had to do something about the situation. Mr. Google helped narrow down my choices for massage and I was amazed how the local landscape had changed since I had last looked for massage services three years before. For the first time, I was able to find companies that made this therapy available to people from all walks of life! Prior to this point, I did not schedule regular massages due to the cost (I’ve paid up to $200 for an hour massage when I was desperate for relief and that’s just not sustainable). Things were definitely looking up! After researching a few firms, I booked a massage at my local Massage Envy.

Red arrows point out my problem areas

My first introduction to Massage Envy and my therapist, Calvin, was very impressive. The facility was clean, the staff professional and better still, Calvin proved to be an awesome massage therapist! After spending a good deal of time going over the questionnaire I filled out when I arrived and then listening to my needs, we got to work. Calvin explained that the overuse injury (the knots) I described in my neck and shoulders is very common with people like me. Working on the computer, travel, long hours, etc can really wreak havoc on one’s body. My problem areas included the scalene and sternocleidomastoid muscles in my neck and a whole host of muscles in my back, particularly on the right side (scapular area, rhomboids, traps, etc). Since I signed up for a deep tissue massage, the focus was getting the knots out and Calvin did a great job. I was in bad shape but he changed the pressure as needed and due to his experience, he was literally able to pinpoint the problem areas with a single touch. As I asked, he “dug deep” in those areas (or at least as deep as I could stand) and by the end of the hour, I felt a thousand times better! It literally “hurt so good!” As a result, I signed up for Massage Envy’s package, which includes a low monthly payment on one massage, and then discounts on subsequent massages during the month. Before leaving, I made my next appointment for about a week and a half later.

At the next appointment, my pain points weren't nearly as bad as when I walked in for my first massage. Calvin concentrated on the same areas but this time, he also did more with my fore arms and hands. Wow! It immediately became clear that the muscles in my right hand and arm are much tighter and more strained than the left. Regular massage has definitely been working for me and my neck and back are so much more comfortable now. I’m going about twice a month but will not hesitate to go more if I need to.

Since beginning this process, I’ve also vowed to take better care of myself between massages. Part of that means getting up from the desk regularly and stretching my neck and shoulder muscles so that they don’t get so bound up. I’ve taken some pictures of the routine so I can pass it along to you. Do these stretches and you will go a long way in preventing knots and pain.

Stretch #1
Stand in a doorway, placing  your hand above your head on the door jamb. Lean forward, stretching the upper shoulder. Hold the position for 10-15 seconds.

Slide your hand down the door jamb so that your hand is roughly next to your ear. Lean forward to stretch and hold for 10-15 seconds.

Slide the elbow back so that it points straight out. Again, lean forward and stretch, holding the position for 10-15 seconds.

Slide the hand down the door jamb so that it is roughly straight and below the waist. Stretch forward and hold the position for 10-15 seconds. Repeat entire stretch on the opposite side.

Stretch #2

With the palm facing out, bend at the elbow and place the back of the hand along the lower back. If you’re wearing pants, tuck the hand into the waist band.

Place the opposite hand on the top of the head and gently pull the head toward the shoulder, stretching out the neck and the muscles in the shoulder blade area. Repeat entire stretch on the opposite side.

Stretch #3
Drop the elbow behind the heard, pulling down on the elbow with the opposite hand so that a stretch is felt in the shoulder. Repeat on the opposite side.



Stretch #4
Pull the arm across the body and hold with the opposite arm. Stretch. Repeat with the opposite side.

These stretches work really well for me between massages. Do you have any tips to reduce knots in the back and shoulders? Do you get regular massages?