Massage Techniques - Wrap your hands around your feet with thumbs on the soles and fingers on the top of your foot. Start by making circular motions with your thumbs and cover the entire area of the heel, soles, ball, and toes.

- Next, use your thumbs to make long, deep strokes on the soles of your feet, moving upward from the heel to the ball. If you feel some soreness in one area, spend extra time there to soften it up.

- Don’t forget your toes! Spend a good 30 seconds or more on each toe. One at a time, rub and massage your toe all the way from the base to the tip. Use small circular motions and then long strokes from base to tip, and don’t forget in-between... more

Being a massage therapist, I know the power of touch. For the majority of my clients their favorite section of the massage is the feet. There are a few though that really cannot stand to have their feet even lightly touched. If you are like those very few clients, you may not want to read this post as it will teach you how to enjoy your very own foot massage. The detailed way that this is written is better than what I learned in massage school. The only thing that I would add to these steps is to put on some relaxing music before you start and also to remember to breathe deep to help internalize the relaxation response.

From www.lifescript.com

Even... more

Tomorrow I am foreseeing a sticky and uncomfortable evening with an in-law. This is nothing new and is actually the norm for the past 5 years. With some new developments within the last month though, I'm not really sure how things are going to play out.

I've decided to try out some of the coping strategies that I've been posting lately. Here is what I've been doing or what I will do:

Limit your participation in family celebrations. In years past, this coming up function would have required Herculean stamina as a short 2-3 hour visit would have been "rude" so we would stay at least 5 hours, including driving time would make it 6. Now, we will head out around the... more

4. Define 'On Time'

"Being on time is really respecting other people's time," Post says. "Communicate about what 'on time' means to you. It means different things to different people."

Post also advises to call if you're running late and check with the host first if you plan to arrive early. If you are the host, let family members know what time you would like them to arrive, rather than what time you plan to start the meal. Don't assume people will come early to help unless you ask them directly.

5. Avoid Re-Gifting

"You don't have to break the bank for a really nice gift," Post says. "The key is to find something the person will really like. Stay... more

As we're heading into the holiday weekend, here are some more ways to avoid some of the possible stress. The following hints are from www.webmd.com

1. Be Realistic

Post tells WebMD the first step toward enjoying the festivities is to set aside idealized images of how things should go. "Be realistic," she says. "Don't think anything is going to be perfect."

2. Anticipate Conflicts

"Plan ahead and try to be as calm as possible with other people," Post says. If you can anticipate the types of conflicts that are likely to come up, you can plan a response in advance. This can help avoid the knee-jerk reactions that... more

I can't think of too many things more stressful on couples than dealing with infertility. Add in the holidays and it can become unbearable. From www.about.com I found some helpful hints for couples to use during the holidays in coping with the extra pressure, regardless of fertility issues or not.

What The Two of You Can Do Eat healthy meals and drink plenty of water.

Watch how much caffeine you consume and try to cut back on it.

Make sure you discuss money and how much you both are comfortable spending on gifts.

Set a holiday budget together and stick to it.

Talk over your expectations of the holidays... more

One of my favorite traditions of this holiday season, or any season for that matter is the receiving, through snail mail, holiday cards. Is there anything better than finding a card or letter admist the bills and promotions? Not too many that I can think of anyway.

I even enjoy the Christmas letters that a lot of people have issues with. The sappy ones I have a laugh at and the honest ones I adore. And I especially enjoy any card with a family or child photo. Those are priceless. I have a client and a friend who still sends out her holiday card with her 3 kids on the front. And two of them are in college. I couldn't even imagine the planning that goes into that one. But... more

I found this wonderful advice from www.babymoon.com

1) Gather friends around. Go for a long walk with one, see a movie with another, have breakfast with a third. At a time like this, you have every right to call in the troops!

2) Different people need different mixes of distracting themselves and talking about it. Find people you can pour your heart out to, if that suits your style, but feel free to say "OK, let's do something else now".

3) Finding good distractions in this situation... more

This weekend Chris and I were driving somewhere and I mentioned that I thought that I had heard that an average person spends about 80 kcals per hour watching tv. He thought that there was no way that that number could be right. He estimated that there were a lot less kcals spend doing nothing.

Not one to really back off from something that I was pretty sure was true, I went to trusty google to see what I could find. And boy, did I find a treasure. I felt so much better about myself just reading through the list that I found. And no wonder why I was in such great shape when I was going out all of the time. Although, I wasn't dancing to "rock and roll" (who says that anymore?).

... more

As we are now in the swing of the holiday and party season for our family, I thought that I would like to share some tips that I received from my health insurance to help stave off the additional 5 to 10 pounds that many people gain from Thanksgiving and New Years. For us, party season starts a lot earlier because we have a ton of birthdays in the fall, starting in mid September, going all the way through late January. Some of the tip lists that I have read seem unrealistic, but I found most of these hints to be helpful. Especially since a healthy weight... more