Author: Stephanie Jackson
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Touchy Topic Tuesday: How To Hobble Your Ankle Without Falling Down
Update on the crippled ankle: last weekend I used a foam roller on the spot where my hamstrings attach to my ischial tuberosity–the butt bone–and my ankle joint cracked. It’s been getting gradually better ever since. The first thing I do every day is foam-roller that same spot, because it seizes up overnight. So, how…
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Touchy Topic Tuesday: Is ‘Tapping’ For Real?
Full disclosure: I just did this. Three times. I felt like a real fool. But I’ve had an inflamed ankle for way too long now, especially considering that my job is to relieve problems like chronically inflamed ankles. I know what’s causing it. I got into this line of work partly because of first-hand experience…
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Touchy Topic Tuesday: What About This Four-Cups-of-Coffee Bombshell?
It’s been all over the news: a study published last week in Mayo Clinic Proceedings indicates that drinking more than four cups of coffee a day may be hazardous to your health, particularly if you are under 55. The researchers found that younger men who passed the 28-cup weekly threshold – which works out to…
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What To Do When Pain Disturbs Your Sleep
So many of my clients know the drill. Pain wakes you up, you sleep badly, the pain gets worse because you haven’t slept well. Talk about negative feedback loops! It can make you desperate. Web MD has a great checklist for helping yourself sleep better when you’re struggling with the pain/lousy sleep cycle: Cut back…
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The Traps of Treating Pain
Doctors admit that there are sometimes few good options for treating chronic pain: Doctors hate pain. Let me count the ways. We hate it because we are (mostly) kindhearted and hate to see people suffer. We hate it because it is invisible, cannot be measured or monitored, and varies wildly and unpredictably from person to…
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The Five Stages of Healing (Bodyworker Edition)
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Like a lot of other practitioners, I tend to suffer from bodyworker machismo. I spend my days treating other people’s pain, and ignoring my own. Which is exactly what I advise my clients not to do. Recently, I hurt my foot. The technical description of what I did was tearing the plantar fascia on my…
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3 Quick Tips to Melt Stress, Boost Energy, and Enjoy the Holidays
What if I told you the Secrets to Stress Management, Time Management, and Improving your Health were all FREE, already exist inside of you, AND are inspired by ancient Eastern wisdom? Sounds too good to be true, eh? Then, what if I told you I could teach you these secrets in less than 2 minutes…
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Why Einstein Was a Genius: He Did Brain Push-Ups
Why Einstein Was a Genius – ScienceNOW. Although the brain, weighing 1230 grams, is only average in size, several regions feature additional convolutions and folds rarely seen in other subjects. For example, the regions on the left side of the brain that facilitate sensory inputs into, and motor control of, the face and tongue are…
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Ben Affleck’s Hidden Power of Healing
Recently, I had a four-hour layover in Times Square. I was taking the bus up north to visit family, one of whom is critically ill, and my stress level was seismic. Times Square is not a restorative locale at the best of times; after ducking into Le Pain Quotidien for an overpriced lunch, and unwilling…
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Foam Roller Therapy: Why It’s Awesome
Practical Bodywork is thrilled to bring you this guest post by Jesse James Retherford of TAO-Fit.com. Anyone who knows me is aware that I am a huge advocate of foam roller therapy, and for a good reason: it works. In my personal and professional life I have found that foam roller therapy is an incredibly valuable practice. It…