Cough…cough…choke…choke…sniff…sniff…what is that I am smelling?! Have you encountered a client or practitioner who made you wonder the same thing? It is difficult to work with someone who offers a less than pleasing aroma. As professionals, it is important for us to remember that scents can and do disturb some and the worst of them hinder the experience for everyone. When I taught at the massage school, we had a class entitled Health and Hygiene. I was always amazed by the number of students that would rush out for a smoke immediately following the discussion of that topic! It is up to us to be mindful of what we eat (smells come through our skin), wear or do that will “smelly up” the experience for our clients. Honestly, I don’t care how wonderful a therapist is, if the offer an offensive odor, I want out of there.

Please remember to use care and be respectful of clients and other practitioners, and frankly EVERYONE else. Personal hygiene is a high priority when dealing with the public. Overuse of colognes, perfumes, certain herbs, vegetables (ie. onions, garlic, chives), spices and cigarettes or alcohol, can create that unpleasant environment. If you are the massage client, the same applies to you! So…clean up your act and make sure you are smelling like roses. 

…I want to be a part of it, New York, New York…Hopefully, this little clip will be visable to you.  It was shot at my office on Monday and appeared on one of the local channels, WKBW channel 7, an ABC affiliate here in town (yes, I am in NY).

This is my lead-in to spreading the news about your business.  Hands down, the very best way to let others know about you is word of mouth.  Suzie tells Mary, Mary tells Joe and so on, and pretty soon a large group of people know about you and the wonderful work you do!  Entire business are predicated on the concept of word-of-mouth marketing.  Just look at BNI (Business Network International).  What started out as a group of business men meeting to help eachother promote themselves over breakfasts in California, has grown into a multinational, billion dollar industry.  I belonged to a local chapter for many years as well as serving as a regional director for BNI for a time.  My connection to WKBW came from a media company owner/ business friend I met at my meeting, who introduced me to her friend who worked in television, who brought KB to my attention.  It was really that simple and yet, that complex.  The simplicity is obvious in the meeting and getting to know other individuals who can believe in you enough to help share your vision and message.  The complexity comes in to play in the carrying out of the “word spreading”.  Relationships are predicated on getting to know the other person and their business, goals and dreams, and seeing how you can best help them achieve theirs, as they assist you in achieving yours.  One needs to look at every opportunity for the other individuals to make an impact.  Who needs to know about this business, who can be helped by it, and how do we make that happen.  The “warm introduction” beats the heck out of the “cold call” any day.  It is about creating a connection of trust and confidence, and building upon that.  Once those connections are made, it is incombant on the business owner to carry out on their promise to do what they say they are going to do, when they say they are going to do it, to solidify the good will of creating the relationship.  That being done, the next relationship sets spark to the next and so on.  If you take nothing else away from this article, take the need and desire to build relationships, not sales.  Enjoy what you do and share it with the world.

 

She grew up watching Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best.  Dad heads off to work in his shirt and tie, the children to school neat, clean and tidy.  Mom stayed home, cooking, cleaning, running her family home, all while wearing her pearls and a dress.  Plenty of everything existed; food, clothing, shelter all on what dad brought home…oh, did I mention, she grew up…

Life as we know it now is so very far from that vision of Utopia that we once perceived.  Homes now must routinely function with a two parent income.  The majority of mothers in America do not have the choice of whether or not they wish to work;  that has become a right of privilege.  I consider myself very lucky to be able to run my own business, rather than work for someone else.  I have not always been in this position.  As a registered nurse, I have worked in a vareity of settings, but always for some “entity” other than myself.  I did not have the privilege of staying at home with my children; nurses work crazy hours.  WhenI opted for a career in massage therapy, I worked full-time and went to school full-time.  All the while, keeping my eye on the prize as it were.  Advanced education took me away for weeks or months at a time.  My children have grown with me in the lessons of a new Utopia.  I am pleased to say they have become amazing, caring, community-minded, forward thinking, respectful adults.  Their vision of Utopia is very different than that of the Leave It to Beaver age, and in many ways I am grateful that it has.

Seek your Utopia wherever you find it.  Grow, adapt and forge ahead.  Meet your life head on and look to your success as your prize.  Namaste.

Heart disease continues to be one of the most common areas of concern in 2008. For years, it has been the # 1 cause of death in the United States. So let’s hear some good news. In January of 2008, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) who monitors death rates found that since 1999, coronary heart disease and stroke death rates are down by 25.8 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively.

Such good news means it is time to look a little more closely to see where success happened and keep it going. Most of us are familiar with the risk factors that set up the opportunity for a life changing event to occur. These risk factors are still too high according the American Heart Association and some are actually going up.

Risk factor list for heart disease: 1. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome 2. High Blood Cholesterol and Other Lipids 3. High Blood Pressure 4. Overweight and Obesity 5. Physical Inactivity 6. Tobacco

The reduction in the death rates for heart disease and stroke equals approximately 160,000 lives saved in 2005 (the most recent year for which data is available) compared to 1999 statistics. Improved medications that address the prevention aspect of heart health and evidence-based practices have contributed to this reduction. While some of these advances are better discussed with the health care team, some are simple and equally as crucial to saving lives. Heeding the warning signs and getting to the hospital quickly make a big difference. If artery clogging cholesterol is a problem, getting coronary arteries checked can be timely management of the disease.

While it is everybody’s responsibility to make the lifestyle changes toward better health, there have been strides in our communities that have also made a difference. Clean indoor air legislation and government funded smoking cessation assistance has paid off.

Physical inactivity has been studied and studied and the rates for continued inactivity have changed very little even though the connection to serious health risk is reported in newspapers, magazine articles, TV shows and the internet. We are already seeing younger people with increased weight and the related concerns of developing disease from a lack of movement. Progress is happening but all Americans have to keep up the awareness and attention to getting up and walking, running, dancing or whatever type of exercise gets those calories burned. Be a role model or choose someone to be your best example.

If it is time to look at how to lower your risk and start being that example of change, then now is the time. Start by taking back your food preparation from strangers and make meals that are right for you.

Plan out a few meals and take a look at how and what kind of staples to keep in the house. There are many healthy choices that can be both convenient time savers and save money. If understanding the difference between healthy and unhealthy eating is confusing, start with the basics. The quality of the food is related to the number of preservatives, the kinds of fats and how much variety is eaten. Quantity of food is the bottom line for your bottom. Eating more calories than you burn up in a day is all about how much and how often you serve yourself. The dishes in the cupboard can be part of the understanding and the solution! Serve up what is a usual serving, and then measure it before you eat. Knowing the number of servings in a favorite dish or plate lets you take the lead with how to adjust your eating.

Just knowing the amount served and choosing between cutting back that portion and modifying it is a fix you control. Eating more than one serving of some things is usually fine. Knowing that a food with no fat does not mean it has no calories is to be ahead of the game. Bananas are a good high potassium food and a serving is about 100 calories. There are about 80 calories for the smaller ones and maybe 110 calories for the larger bananas. So go with the average since bananas come in different sizes. Try to buy smaller ones to keep the calories under control without having to count every calorie.

Your heart is not the only thing to benefit from healthy eating. Start to think about the big picture and what this healthy lifestyle really means. Consider the connections that can be made with family or friends when you prepare and eat together. What better excuse to strike up conversation with a teenager than working around a cutting board? Make the choices for all the other reasons besides improved health- better sleep, better fitting clothes, better attitude and more get up and go.

Your heart is in your hands.