How many hours a day do you sit? If you are like most Americans, it’s too much. U.S. adults spend, on average, between 4.5 and 5 hours a day sitting.[1] Those who sit more than 11 hours per day have a 40%higher risk of chronic diseases than those who sit fewer than 4 hours per day.[2

A recent article in the New York Times, “The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley,” describes how Esther Gokhale teaches the geeks and executives in Silicon Valley techniques for maintaining better posture. Changing simple behaviors, such as slouching in a C curve verses sitting up relaxed on your sits bones, makes a huge difference.

You need more than good ergonomic furniture. You need to adjust that furniture to fit your body so that there is no strain. Realize that body size and structure vary, what works for your co-worker will probably be different for you. Before buying an expensive ergonomic chair, test drive it. A good office furniture store will guarantee the fit. If after a few days, it doesn’t feel good, try another chair.

Some bodies are so tight and misaligned that postural adjustments, exercise, standard physical therapy and chiropractic adjustments will not work. Those bodies need their soft tissue to be released. The chronic fascial adhesions (or, as I often call it, gristle or scar tissue) from a history of stress, injuries and poor posture needs releasing and realigning--more than a standard massage.

Once you have a new structure, move it. “The more still [you are], the higher [your] risk of chronic diseases.”[3] Sitting “for an extended period of time, your body starts to shut down at the metabolic level,” says Marc Hamilton, PhD, associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri.[4] It’s not just how you sit, it’s how long you sit. You can have the best posture, but still freeze up because you’re not moving. Research shows that an athlete is worse off if she sits all day compared to a nonathletic person who gets up and moves regularly.

Some people are solving this problem by getting stand-up desks and work stations. A client of mine has had one for 4 months and swears by it. “I’m at my computer about 6 hours of my 8-hour day. Since I got the standing desk, I have so much more energy, and I know it’s because I’m standing straighter and breathing better. I don’t get home exhausted anymore. I have a high stool, so I sit if my feet get tired, but as the months have passed I’ve used it less and less. I have a lot less back discomfort, too.” Stand-up desks are inexpensive. If you want to drop a lot of cash, though, you can always join the latest craze: get a desk that has an attached treadmill. NPR recently did a story on that progression of the office space.⁵

The British Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that each hour spent watching television after the age of 25 reduces your life expectancy by nearly 22 minutes. To put this into perspective, the authors compared it to smoking – each cigarette reduces your life expectancy by about 11 minutes.[5] To heal and prevent chronic problems – get the best furniture for your body, release your chronic tension, learn from someone who understands natural posture what posture is best for you and move.

Owen Marcus, MA Certified Advanced Rolfer, with 33 yrs experience www.align.org.  Call if you have questions: 265.8440. This article and many more health and wellness articles are at the blog: www.sandpointwellnesscouncil.com. Go to the blog to ask questions or add your comments on any article.

Now that our luscious warm weather has arrived I am beginning to see in my massage practice the rise of quite scruffy, scaly feet, calluses, cracked skin around the heels, imbedded dirt, and toenail fungus.  Left untreated such foot conditions can lead to more serious problems such as fungal spread and loss of toenails.  Foot fungus and toenail fungus can cause inflammation, swelling, pain, yellowing of the nails as well as thickening and/or crumbling of the nails.

Some causes may be due to wearing synthetic socks, having feet daily in moist environments such as shower rooms in gyms and spas, repeatedly wearing damp or sweaty shoes, low immune function or abnormal pH on the skin of the affected area.

Several effective home remedies exist but most importantly one needs to follow good foot hygiene.  Keep handy a special foot brush or loufah sponge, a pumice stone, and a cuticle stick to clean under and around nails.  Use these tools daily in your shower and your feet should be socially acceptable all summer.

Some of the easiest remedies listed here are from Top 10 Home Remedies found at www.top10homeremedies.com.

1.  White vinegar and Listerine in a 50/50 mixture.  Listerine has strong antiseptic properties.  Soak feet two or three times daily.
2. Pure Tea Tree Oil.  Place 20-25 drops in warm water and soak feet three times a day.
3. Garlic oil and white vinegar.  Mix a 50/50 solution, apply to toenails and cover with socks.  You can make your own solution by crushing a clove of garlic and mixing with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Let this mixture sit for 24 hours before applying.
4. Orange oil.  Apply this daily all around toes and nails.  Leave on for one hour.  Watch for any signs of sensitivity as orange oil may cause an allergic reaction for some people.
5. Oregano Oil.   This oil is antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antibacterial.  Mix 2 drops of oregano oil with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and apply.  Results may take about 3 weeks but will be worth the daily effort.
6. Lemon juice.  Apply fresh lemon juice directly to affected areas and leave on for 10-15 minutes.  Then rinse in warm water.

If applying these pure essential oils to scaly and cracked skin, dilute it first with olive oil, grapeseed oil, or almond oil.  Essential oils are strong and direct application to skin may cause serious problem.  The olive oil will soften the skin while the few drops of oil will do the antifungal work for you.

These ideas should help relieve the discomfort of any fungal infestation.  Be sure to keep your shoes clean and make sure they are completely dry before wearing again. Having nice soft feet will be much appreciated by your massage therapists.

Krystle Shapiro, LMT, MSHN owns Touchstone Therapeutic Massage and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at (208) 290-6760.

There are many physicians in town who specialize.  Some are board certified in family medicine, internal medicine, chronic pain, or orthopedics.  Physical therapists also specialize.  There are therapists in town that specialize in aquatics, geriatrics, pediatrics, work hardening, sports, joint replacements, and chronic pain.  Personally, I have no treadmill, bike, or any other type of sports equipment.  I specialize in joint and soft tissue mobilization usually of the cervical or lumbar spine.  I  also treat shoulders and have a special interest in coccyx or tailbone injuries.

Cranio-sacral Therapy is a treatment modality that uses the force of a nickel, 5g, to release fascial restrictions within the skull following trauma or prolonged dental procedures and is very effective for treatment of vertigo, TMJ, headache, migraine, and concussion.  Visceral Manipulation is also a gentle technique that releases fascial restrictions around the organs.  This may occur following abdominal or pelvic trauma, infection, or following surgery.  Women’s Health is advanced training for urinary and fecal incontinence.  This treatment is also used for men who have had their prostate removed.  Research shows  they will be incontinent for 6 months following surgery, but will have better outcomes if they receive pelvic floor muscle training prior to surgery.

It is also important to consider the setting in which you want to be treated.  Many therapists treat in an open gym setting which is great for athletes or patients with joint replacements.  Some  patients, however, would prefer to be treated by the same therapists each time in a wellness center environment.  I recently had two patients who reported to me last week that this was the case.

When choosing a therapists don’t be shy about interviewing them.  Many therapists now have websites that you can visit to get information about schooling and specialty area.  Call and talk to the therapists, inquire about their schooling, and how much continuing education they take.  Also remember that Idaho has “direct access”.  This means that you can go directly to your PT of choice without going to the MD first, except for Medicare.  Also, if your doctor suggests one clinic, you can still go to the clinic of your choice.

For questions about choosing the correct PT to fit your needs, call Mary Boyd, MS, PT at 290-5575.  Mary is a member of the Sandpoint Wellness Council and owner of Mountain View Physical Therapy.

Chronic stress can lead to our brains getting into a rut and causes us to oftentimes repeat dysfunctional behaviors such as overreacting or arguing with imaginary others in the bathroom mirror over challenges or emotional traumas we feel we face.  Chronic stress initiates a response cascading a stress hormone release into the bloodstream and this lowers our brain function in order to meet the needs for addressing the “fight or flight” response our bodies require.  High levels of stress chemistry, especially cortisol, damages the hippocampus, a brain structure responsible in making memory, in turning short term memory into long term memory as well as affecting our emotions connected to our experiences.  In David Perlmutter’s book, Power Up Your Brain, The Neuroscience of Enlightenment, he reports the following important information regarding this stressful condition affecting the brain:  “Research using animals has shown that an elevated level of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a protective brain hormone, increased by such activities as calorie reduction, fasting, and mental and physical exercise [and] imparts a high level of protection for the hippocampus making it resistant to damage from elevated cortisol . . .”

Research also associates that higher levels of cortisol from stressful situations increase with age and has been seen in Alzheimer’s patients.  Reducing these levels has been an important focus for researchers as to how to reduce the level of cortisol production that can damage the hippocampus.  The catch-22 is that the hippocampus controls the adrenal glands’ production of cortisol-potentially damaging itself. What is a body supposed to do then?

The key appears to be in protecting the hippocampus to reduce its signal to the adrenal glands to produce cortisol in stressful situations.  Research has discovered that when positive and loving experiences occur early in life, the hippocampus becomes less sensitive to the effects of cortisol, thus not overreacting during higher stress situations later in life.  Early positive and loving experiences develop a “set point” in the hippocampus that tends to last throughout life.

If, however, one’s life experience has been more traumatic from early years forward, it is still possible to reset the set point sensitivity of the hippocampus.  As stated above, it is important to initiate the BDNF hormone release as a protection and to stand back from one’s experiences and try to see it from a different perspective.  See how it can teach you something, see the positive that could come out of it helping you to change something in your life or remove troubling people or events that create the chronic stress in the first place.

By changing one’s perceptions and using the lessons received, the hippocampus begins to establish new nerve (neural) networks.  A person does not need to be forever tied to earlier stressful situations that damaged the hippocampus.  Our brains are capable of change, of adapting, and of evolving new perceptions.  We just have to give it a boost to do so by making active choices to increase BDNF and reducing our stressful situations; maybe not easy but always possible.

Krystle Shapiro owns Touchstone Massage Therapies and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at (208) 290-6760.

For many years we have all enjoyed using a microwave oven to warm or cook our foods.  Today research is beginning to reveal the damaging effects this type of cooking is having with the quality of the food, especially for fats and proteins that causes them to become more difficult to absorb.  Great health requires great absorption of a wide variety of essential nutrients we must consume daily.  Food molecules, each with a distinctive shape and length, become altered in the microwaving process.  Nutrient receptors on our cells that await the proper raw materials to pass by for their utilization will not recognize these altered molecules.

Water molecules contain oxygen which reacts most sensitively to microwaving.  The heat generated in microwaves creates a friction on the cellular water, and it is this rapid action that tears apart the molecules deforming them. With microwaving, the heat is generated within the food cells and radiates outward.  With conventional cooking methods, heat is conducted from the outside to the inside.  Raising food temperatures slowly and steadily maintains most of the food nutrient integrity.

Another important concern about microwaving foods focuses on the use of soft plastic containers.  Such containers leach chemicals in the plastic into the foods.  This sets up the opportunity for excessive free radicals (those unstable molecules that cause cellular damage) to build up.

Many mothers may be warming their babies’ bottles in the microwave.  This alters the amino acids in the proteins and becomes non-nourishing for the babies. Baby formula should never be heated in the microwave.

When I first learned this important information, I purchased several small pans to warm my food or cook small portions.  This proved to not take that much longer than microwaving, and I felt my food was healthier.  I now only use my microwave to heat up the rice bags that warm my feet at night!  I also discovered that my toaster oven cooks very well, and since it is smaller than the oven, uses less energy.

For those people quite used to using a microwave, this information will not be that welcomed.  But understanding the importance of lowering free radical damage that causes myriad inflammatory conditions in the body and can lead to damage to our brains, the concession to no longer use a microwave oven seems a positive step for improving one’s health and longevity.  I didn’t like giving it up either, but because I listened to the incoming research on microwaves, I feel my food and how I prepare it now makes all my cells happier.

Krystle Shapiro owns Touchstone Integrated Health Therapies and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at (208) 290-6760.

This is a touchy subject that can be embarrassing for people to talk about. But it is a wide-spread problem. Physicians write more than one million prescriptions for laxatives each year, costing over $700 million.  And more than 400,000 people are hospitalized each year in the United States because of untreated constipation.

We are familiar with the common causes of constipation: poor diet, low fiber, inadequate water, large amounts of dairy and wheat products, and we can’t forget stress. Over time constipation can lead to colon problems such as episodes of diarrhea, a distended abdomen and irritable bowel syndrome.

More people are becoming aware of the importance of what they eat when it comes to their colon’s health. Processed foods devoid of vital nutrients and fiber clog your colon. Over time the incomplete digested foods begin to cake the walls of the colon much like a pipe junking up. Shifting to a diet high in natural fiber and low in the foods we’ve grown to love will often resolve the constipation.

Exercise and drinking up to two quarts of water a day may turn around the constipation. It is easy to understand how giving your body more liquid and movement will aid in regular bowel movements. Many will tell you that you should have two bowel movements per day. That will be impossible without lubricating, moving, and properly feeding your colon.

When all else doesn’t work

One of the common symptoms that clients bring to me is chronic constipation. I’ve seen this over and over again in the 30 years I’ve been practicing. Inevitably, all these clients are tense throughout much of their bodies and particularly in their abdomens. Often their stomachs feel as firm as their chests. But unlike the chests, they don’t move with the breath.

Many of these men and women improved their diets, increased their water intake, exercised, and did yoga, and took probiotics (healthy bacteria that helps digestion) while a few tried colonics (a deeper enema). Yet in spite of all their efforts their constipation remained because of their tense abdomens.

Once their abdomen releases all that tension, the constipation usually disappears quickly (particularly because they did all the right things). When you think about it, if you compress a hose, the flow through that hose will be restricted; when you compress the colon with tension the flow through that colon becomes restricted. It as if someone is sitting on your gut.

I commonly hear from these Rolfing clients that their first few bowel movements after the release yields old, impacted fecal matter. The released colon frees what was impacted on its walls.  Structure affects functions. A relaxed colon works as it’s meant to work.

Owen Marcus, MA Certified Advanced Rolfer, www.align.org, with 33 yrs experience – call if you have questions: 265.8440.

I read an interesting idea about our brains and a technique to improve our moods from John B. Arden, Ph.D in his book “Rewire Your Brain.”   With so much distressing information coming at us each day and frustrations mounting as we face our challenges, I thought you would enjoy this idea.

As background, different areas of our brains record and store incoming information from our experiences.  The prefrontal cortex (PFC) at the front of our brains enables us to develop “complex cognitive, behavioral, and emotional capacities.”  The orbital frontal cortex (OFC) lies just behind our eyes and is responsible for processing emotions.  There are differences, however, in the left and right hemispheres of our brains.  The right prefrontal cortex “helps develop foresight and get the gist of what is happening in a given situation . . . helps you make plans, stay on course toward your overall goal, and understand metaphor.”  The left prefrontal cortex “helps you focus on the details of individual events.”

The orbital frontal cortex strengthens when close, trusting, and supportive relationships develop and this in turn helps us have more control over our emotions.  The right side of our brains activates the left side of our bodies and the left side activates the right side of our bodies.  The idea I am going to share with you informs us how to get out of a bad mood by using this information about how the right and left OFC can influence our moods.

Nerve pathways in our head come downward to our facial muscles and return back to the cortex.  “If you contract the muscles on the right side of your face, that activates your left hemisphere, which creates the likelihood of a positive emotional bias.  In contrast, if you contract the muscles on the left side of your face, that activates your right hemisphere, which creates the likelihood of a negative bias” (61).

Earlier this week I was in a “snit” over some petty little occurrence but was off and running with my negative emotion about it.  I then tried this technique of contracting my right facial muscles.  It seemed in no time I was feeling lighthearted and giggling.  I spent a good deal of time figuring out how to contract one side of my face.  I finally realized if I did a strong “wink” movement, I was achieving the desired contraction.  It worked!  I was over the snit and having a good day.

I now think I will be face watching when I see people upset to see if the left side of their face appears tighter than the right.  I will be interested to know if you find this technique works for you too.

Krystle Shapiro, LMT, MSHN, owns Touchstone Massage Therapies and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at 208/290-6760.  Please visit sandpointwellnesscouncil.com to review articles by all council members.

The joy of tasting food is something we all look forward to experiencing.  For some people, however, food allergies and sensitivities can interfere with this joy creating barriers to selecting certain favorite foods.  Signs and symptoms of food allergies may include sneezing, itching, headaches, digestive disturbances, sleep irregularities, concentration problems, and ongoing fatigue.  Two foods creating most of the problems are milk products and grains such as wheat with its gluten content. Gluten in wheat and casein in milk are proteins many people find difficult to digest.  Eating these foods creates many discomforts.

Other problematic foods might be the nightshade family.  These include tomatoes, potatoes (but not sweet potatoes), peppers, and eggplant.  These foods may cause sore, painful joints that could lead to arthritis.  Citrus fruits may cause allergies for some.  Yeast containing foods such as vinegar, barley malt, alcoholic beverages, commercial pickles, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and aged cheeses may lead to chronic yeast infections if ingested regularly according to Sally Fallon in her book Nourishing Traditions.

Low levels of certain vitamins and minerals as well as low or high levels of hydrochloric acid in the stomach may contribute to sensitivities and/or allergies.  Consuming mainly cooked foods can lead to depletion of vital enzymes needed for efficient digestion and nutrient availability to cells.  Lack of eating a variety of foods, but rather eating mostly the same things every day can also lead to nutrient deficiency and may contribute to adrenal exhaustion especially if one consumes too much sugar and caffeine daily.  Adrenal dysfunction caused by improper foods as well as a high level of stress can lead to adrenal exhaustion.

To determine if you suffer from food allergies, keep a journal of foods you eat and record how you feel.  This will help you identify offending foods.  Then eliminate those foods for at least 4 days or longer.  Then introduce one at a time on an empty stomach.  Sally Fallon suggests you take your pulse before eating the food, then check your pulse after to see if you have an immediate rise in number of beats per minute.  If so, you most likely have an allergy to that food.  Continue this process with all foods you think might be causing you problems.  Eliminating these foods should bring you relief.

Expand your food choices to include lots of fruits and vegetables, especially the deeply colored ones like berries, plums, carrots, and yams and increase your intake of dark leafy greens.  Eat raw food often to obtain those vital enzymes so important for digestion.  Improving one’s diet in this way will bring benefits of more energy, clearer skin, shinier hair, stronger nails, clearer vision, improved sleep, and a more positive outlook.

Krystle Shapiro, LMT, MSHN owns Touchstone Massage Therapies and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at 208/290-6760.

As we begin to recognize the signs of aging, we also begin to worry about the health of our brains.  We worry that we might be seeing the signs of mental decline when we forget names and faces, where we put our keys or glasses, or sometimes feel confused over things we were never confused about before.  Most of these concerns become normal as we age and the forgetfulness or confusion is soon overcome.  Since most people of a certain age all experience it, humor is usually the best way to address it.

Our brains have responsibility for a huge task list.  It receives stimuli from many sources and makes an interpretation.  Neurotransmitters from the brain (chemical messengers) are released and this causes a signaling to the hypothalamus that releases its chemicals and this in turn notifies the pituitary gland that then releases chemicals notifying the adrenal glands to respond to the stimuli.  All five of our senses may be involved, and if the experience becomes important enough, the brain then records the experience in several places.  Brain mapping has determined locations in the brain recording movement, smell, language, motivation and planning, vision, and our emotions.  These records are all connected by synaptic junctions-unions of nerve cells establishing the memory pathways.  Repetitive experiences keep these connections active and strong and enables a proper chemical cascade to flow efficiently.

A key factor to healthy brain function is a process called methylation.  Methylation provides balance for the brain’s many neurotransmitters, for  hormonal release, and for other essential biochemical processes.  It is critical for mental health, concentration, mood, and the ability to deal with stress.  Poor methylation has been linked to a number of mental states and conditions such as depression, memory loss, and losing touch with reality.

Another key factor centers on one’s level of homocysteine, a troublesome amino acid associated with a number of degenerative diseases.  Ingesting adequate amounts of Vitamins B12 (500 mcg), B6 (50 mg), and folic acid (400 mcg) enables methyl groups to form keeping brain chemistry in balance.  Most importantly, nutrients provide the raw materials needed for proper methylation and for keeping homocysteine levels in proportion.

Methylation friendly nutrients include eggs, almonds, whole grains, soybeans, spinach, bananas, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, cold water fish, and beets. These provide the B-vitamins and folic acid as well as zinc.

Consuming a whole foods diet with lots of colorful foods, grains, and legumes and refraining from white flour, pasta, rice and processed foods all support excellent methylation processes.  Improving lifestyle choices by lowering or eliminating smoking, alcohol, and caffeine help.  Increasing the number of minutes each week for exercise and fresh air will provide tremendous benefits as well for healthy brain function.  These few steps can help prevent the early onset of brain dysfunctions we all worry about as we age.

Krystle Shapiro, LMT, MSHN owns Touchstone Massage Therapies and Nutrition Plus!  She can be reached at (208) 290-6760.

Many people today are sharing conversations about how to take better care of themselves and improve their health.  Every day we read in newspapers and magazines about the rising numbers of people suffering from various cancers, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and especially the rise in obesity in young people.  And we then ask ourselves, “How is this happening in our society so rich in access to information?”

Every day we are exposed to thousands of industrial chemicals and pollutants in our air, water, and food sources.  Manufacturing, slaughterhouse, and pharmaceutical contamination occurs more often so we must become savvy consumers.  It becomes necessary to understand the importance of how our bodies detoxify these pollutants and choosing detox protocols on a regular basis so that we may avoid poor health and disease.

The body has two main pathways to detoxify unwanted materials.   When too much pollution enters the body, these processes slow down or become dysfunctional.  When this happens, chemical reactions begin to occur within our vast mixture of chemical compounds all competing for vital nutrients for breakdown, assimilation, absorption, and/or elimination. This can oftentimes create more volatile combinations that hold the potential for damaging healthy cells and ultimately causing disease situations.

Supporting detoxification pathways becomes an important routine endeavor by each person not only as prevention, but for assisting the body when overtaxation of these pathways has begun.  You will know when this occurs when you feel undue fatigue, digestive discomfort, aches and pains, headaches, and the like.

An effective way to assist your body with detoxification is to receive massage therapy on a regular basis.  Specialty massage protocols such as Swedish massage for general relaxation (repair processes begin with good relaxation), deep tissue massage for moving stagnant and trapped interstitial fluids out of muscles and joints, hot stone massage for dilating vessel systems to improve fluid flow and elimination, and lymphatic drainage massage for overall clearing of waste fluids through lymph vessels as well as for specific retention regions are positive choices that assist our detox pathways and our immune system.  Another great way to help your body detox is to sweat:  far infrared saunas are one of the best ways to sweat, but also cardio workouts that break a sweat or steam or moist saunas assist in the endeavor.

What is most important is that we take care of ourselves every day because of the onslaught of pollution we cannot control.  Choosing a method of detoxification regularly makes a big difference in improving your chances of having a healthy body and extending your lifespan.  Adjusting dietary habits to eliminate as much as possible unnecessary harmful ingredients and processed foods improves all endeavors.

Krystle Shapiro owns Touchstone Massage Therapies and Nutrition Plus! She can be reached at 208/290-6760.

Photo by The Library of Congress