Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC

Natural Food Preservation and the Fall of Corporatocracy

2011-09-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

This article appeared in the Sep 15, 2011 edition of the Bozone:

My sister and mom both visited at the height of our harvest season in August. They both helped me experiment with natural methods of food preservation, which include fermenting, sugaring, salting, drying, pickling, packing under oil and cold storage such as root cellaring/garden pits.

Humans survived our entire history using such methods. This knowledge that kept us alive for up to hundreds of thousands of years, allowing each of us to be here, has been virtually lost in the span of just a few generations with the availability of electricity and the advent of canning. Our modern energy grid supplies us with refrigeration and pre-made foods and we no longer need to think to ensure our food supply.

Beyond the obvious concern of losing our self-sufficiency through dependence on large corporations such as our energy companies, there is evidence our old methods of food preservation were actually healthier since they often do not kill plants’ natural enzymes and in some cases actually create new nutrients, vitamins, and beneficial intestinal bacteria like lactobacillus, as in the case of lacto-fermentation (eg raw sauerkraut, uncanned). These helpful bacteria and nutrients help keep digestion robust and our immune systems functioning properly - fighting cancer, autoimmune diseases and more. While modern methods like canning sterilize our food, making it “safe”, they offer less at the same time. Live bodies need live foods.

Packing beans in salt and fermenting fruit with my mom, I realized I did not have the ages-old benefit of asking an experienced person to pass on the ancient wisdom. Some pockets of insight remain, with books like “Preserving Food Without Canning or Freezing,” and while we experiment with reviving and create healthy and sustainable ways of living, we will need each other as resources, learning together.

As our carbon-culture peaks in the midst of what scientists are calling the “sixth great extinction,” there is even greater need to self-sustain. Not only are we facing the effects of global warming – we already toll more devastating natural catastrophes this year than ever before on the planet (and it’s only September) – we are undergoing a mass extinction on the planet comparable to the dinosaur extinction when most life ceased to exist. While our carbon output makes a hotter, wetter, and more dramatic climate (though drier in some places with higher evaporation rates) and challenges our agriculture systems, we face mass devastation of life on the planet - most significantly in our oceans - from overfishing, pollutants, and ph imbalances. Our planet and our human population are in grave peril. We are vulnerable, we have created this…and as ingenious and conscious human beings we also have the ability to create a sustainable world.

Here’s one step to take – try a recipe for lacto-fermented beans:

Very tightly pack beans in a glass jar. Intersperse salt and spices of choice, such as dill, garlic, celery seed, etc. Use about one tablespoon of salt per quart. The salt must be un-iodized. Sea salt works great – our regional source comes from the Great Salt Lake. Cover with spring water (if using tap water let it to sit uncovered for about a day to allow enzyme-killing chemicals like chlorine to evaporate). Tannins like black currant leaves are recommended to add crunch. I haven’t tried this but we might be able use pine needles here. Again, I am just learning…

Cover the beans with water, making sure they are all completely submerged. Cover the jar with a lid. Let it sit for a few days at room temperature. If it is bubbling, it is starting to ferment and working! Transfer it to a cool place. It should be ready in a few weeks and should last up to half a year. Use your own senses. Mold on the top can be scraped off, and I have read if a batch goes bad, it will be unquestionably evident by its horrid smell. If it looks like it will burst from gases, it may need a cooler place and/or a looser lid. Some people leave lacto-fermented foods uncovered. My own first batch of beans is fermenting well and I am about to try beets next! This recipe is not approved by the US (or any) government, which may make you more or less enticed to try it. Have fun! And share your experience with me or others!

Jenny LePage is a massage therapist and owner of Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC, an eco-friendly business downtown. She can be reached via www.bozemanmassagetherapy.com

Defining True Wealth: Priceless Traditions

2011-06-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

This article was printed in the June 15, 2011 issue of The Bozone:

Defining True Wealth: Priceless Traditions

This spring I was invited to a branding on my friends’ ranch. Brandings typically involve gatherings of family, friends and neighbors - weekends of work weaving community into the heart of the event. Friends from near and far joined together; John from Alaska shared salmon he caught himself, Mary Jo’s mom brought her famous hand-cured pickles, and Andrea who now lives in LA introduced her new boyfriend.

Brandings remind me of the time I spent in Mexico’s Copper Canyon leading trips with Outward Bound. The now-famed indigenous Tarajumara share similar practices, inviting friends from hundreds of miles away to work events (and yes, they run these distances). Communal plantings, harvestings, or house raisings involve debaucherous parties with tesquino (corn beer), the necessary work comingled with the best of social gatherings.

Rained out of the mushroom collecting we planned the day after branding, we shared stories by the fire. Lindsey told us about the 10-day process her grandmother takes to make her pickles, and we joked about how her grandfather guards the secrets of his hand-smoked sausage. We agreed it would be shame if they never pass on their wealth of knowledge.

As these shrinking pockets of culture living close to the land dwindle, with them we lose vast amounts of information and kinship humankind developed over millions of years. Our planetary population nearing 7 billion (up from 1 billion just 100 years ago), large-scale productions increasingly drive our economy. To live sustainably, real wealth must also be measured in traditions, lest we lose gifts like the pickle recipe brought to Montana from Wisconsin…and before then all the way back to the time cucumber first met dill and everyone aged their own vinegar in wooden barrels - and took the time to talk about it.

Preserving the land itself is vital. Walking around the ranch, we came across wild alliums (onion family), munching on spring garlic leaves and fresh scapes while contemplating the richness found in land that we hardly acknowledge in our mass focus on Wall Street, trading stocks and investing in “futures” without a real grounding to what lies beneath our very feet - dirt. That is, if we are still lucky enough to have soil to step on. I often talk with my friends about their efforts to move the whole ranch toward eco-friendly practices and the inhibiting challenges of doing this with a large-scale operation.

The market drives economics – but what drives the market? Us. All of Us. How do we drive our whole system to value vital practices? How do I make the time in my busy schedule to take a long weekend to help with a branding? I make the time. I grow a garden. I buy local food and organic clothing. I operate with eco-friendly business practices whenever I can on my new-business budget. I write this column discussing green topics. I study ancient healing arts, understanding that true health involves our natural relationship to the Earth. I connect with others who are helping to bring our planet into balance - hoping to ignite a fire for enough people to care and take action to make a difference. Ahem.

Jenny LePage is a massage therapist and owner of Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC, an eco-friendly business downtown. She can be reached via www.bozemanmassagetherapy.com.

Saving Seeds for our Future

2011-06-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

The following was posted in the June 1 edition of the "Bozone":

When I was a kid growing my first gardens, I would lie on the ground, cheek to the dirt, watching plants grow. Once I caught a bean seedling erupting from the ground! Another time, mesmerized by a dewdrop on a tomato flower tip, it popped open right before my eyes!

Plants are magic. This spring I have been eating lots of sprouts. I watch them grow and listen to them bursting open in their jars. The potential contained in each seed is profound. Two halves of a shell spread open into leaves, journeying into another cycle. When we eat them, we take that energy inside our bodies.

Humans have cultivated plants for ages. Our entire bounty of thousands of diverse foods is due to our ancestors favoring plants - and saving seeds. Studying sustainable agriculture in college, we wandered across the southwest desert over ancient farm fields. Nomadic people covered agave plants with rock piles for water containment and then left them for years until harvesting and roasting them in pits. Many of our first plants were cultivated ever so roughly, and eventually we developed complex farming systems.

For many reasons – feeding our huge human population, greed, power, etc – agriculture has turned into an unsustainable, toxic beast. We are losing much of our diversity of species by dangerously favoring only very few. Worse, the terminator gene is out there in both plant and animal worlds; offspring of these genetically modified oranisms (gmo’s) will no longer reproduce. We have to deal with many unnatural gmo’s, chemicals used in plant production, water issues, and high energy use in the transportation of food.

What can we do? Along with supporting our local organic farmers and becoming more informed, most of us can grow a garden. Even if it is a small lettuce box or herbs in a pot, it is a step in the right direction. Maybe we can venture into larger plots or community gardens. This year I am trying lentils, kamut, fava beans, soybeans, and quinoia – cold-hardy, nutritious crops that do not need to be watered after they germinate!

Once we grow our bounty, saving seeds is vital. We are just building our produce base here in southwest Montana. You may notice each year in the market new and exciting crops our farmers are experimenting with. This is how it has always been done. We are creating our own legacy in this bioregion. When we save the seeds from plants with desirable qualities, we create a wealth of food sources to pass down and fine-tune for generations. Many of us know that our indigenous cousins, the Native Americans, made decisions based on a 7-generation rule. If it will benefit 7 generations into the future, it is good. Though we are living in the midst of many bad decisions made before us and by us, we can change direction and create a sustainable situation on the planet. Just plant – and save - some seeds.

Jenny LePage is a massage therapist and owner of Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC, an eco-friendly business downtown. She can be reached via www.bozemanmassagetherapy.com

Living in Harmony with Nature

2011-05-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

The following was posted in the May 15 edition of the "Bozone".

Lately I have been vision questing via running - enjoying the warmer weather, feeling alive as spring unfolds and searching for answers to deep questions. Recently I went on a multi-hour run quest on and around the popular favorite Peet’s Hill. The spot is so simple and accessible, and still so wild. With a view of the mountains beyond and town below, the place offers powerful perspective.

I was drawn into the graveyard, a beautiful spot covered with a thicket of lovely trees. Feeling my dad’s death fresh in my heart and moving through big life transitions, visiting this spot helped remind me of the natural state of impermanence – and understand the precious nature of life. After running out my tears and pausing to pay respects, I wandered into the field just beyond the grave.

I found myself just 10 yards from two grazing deer. Maybe they sensed my raw and peaceful state; after an initial startle they returned to grazing. Captivated, I edged my way toward them playfully. They did the same. We became so close I would be among them if I took just a few more steps. As I did, the stone-still herd watching nearby rose and alerted the whole group to run. Those two lingered, looking back. One even remained for a minute, the two of us curiously meeting eyes, until it too finally fled.

These are the same animals I help my friends butcher every fall, whose lean local meat nourishes us throughout the year. I respect each life we take and feel connected to these creatures through eating them. Their life force allows mine to continue. This is the cycle of life and death that we are all part of, whether we are eating plants or animals.

I was so moved I wept again under the setting sun. It struck me that the web of life - this whole earth - is one integrated organism. The clouds and the mountains themselves are alive, just as indigenous cultures have always said - each tree and rock and bug a part of the whole. Including me. But I don’t entirely know our true place within this whole.

Under the rising moon, I made my way back to the trail. Something seemed so wrong about the blaring lights of the hospital, the paved town below and beautiful old trees carved around electric wires. Where the trail winds to the road I came across another deer – this one limping by the pavement, freshly hit by a fast-moving vehicle. I vowed then and there not to take one more step in the direction of devastating this planet or causing needless injury. I don’t know what the full picture of harmony looks like, but I am doing all I can to create it. I encourage all of us to all join together and find a way for humans to co-exist on the planet peacefully. It is, after all, a part of us, and therefore harm to one really is harm to all.

Jenny LePage is a massage therapist and owner of Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC, an eco-friendly business downtown. She can be reached via www.bozemanmassagetherapy.com

Green: A Shift in Consciousness

2011-05-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

The following was posted in the May 1 edition of the "Bozone".

At a recent Bioneers Conference, keynote speaker Paul Hawken offered his vision for the environmental movement. We need to look beyond the environment to social, political and economic movements - all are interconnected and cannot happen without one another. And ultimately, he boldly stated, we need a spiritual shift. Our very consciousness intertwines with all other things, and to really move forward, we need a critical mass of people to wake up.

In my Shiatsu training in massage school, we learned that any healing happens on all levels - Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual (PEMS). All things are connected, and to truly heal, one cannot treat just one level even if mainly addressing one. The same principle applies to our entire planet and way of life. When we talk about the green movement, really we are talking about a paradigm shift that includes all parts of us. And all of us. Not only do we need a shift in consciousness, but we need to shift our consciousness collectively. We are one species and one planet, already intertwined energetically whether we sense this or not. The meridian and other energy systems form webs within our bodies and without, connecting us all.

The planet itself is a giant energy point, connected with larger points and lines of energy in the galaxy and beyond. Yes, I know - whoa. We are swimming in a sea of energy – a matrix, so to speak – and everything we do, every thought, emotion, and action, affects everything else. The butterfly effect is applicable on all (PEMS) levels. It naturally follows that we help others and the planet when we see we are one. Like synergy in an ecosystem, when we join together we create a whole that is greater than the sum of its individual parts. The only way we can tap into our true power is collectively. Best of all, it is easy.

To start, take a simple breath this very moment. Remind yourself you are alive. We are animated, conscious stardust - literally! How wild, magic and profound!. Through this inner reflection, we can extend outward and realize how amazing it is that others are alive as well and that our entire ecosphere of life exists. Of course we want to heal it. Reaching out to others becomes easy with this awareness. Simply smiling at a neighbor, or even a stranger, can be surprisingly powerful. More effort creates more results.

A couple years ago I met my graphic designer while volunteering on an organic farm for our CSA, and likewise she met a massage therapist. She introduced me to a local eco-friendly printing company, and recently she handcrafted beautiful artwork highlighting green aspects of my business. By stepping into the world in a direction we believe in and connecting with others, many doors open, we inherently inspire each other, and all our lives deepen. This movement starts with each of us nurturing our own awareness and contains the power to strengthen infinitely when we join together.

Jenny LePage is a massage therapist and owner of Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC, an eco-friendly business downtown. She can be reached at www.bozemanmassagetherapy.com

Soon to be Revived...

2011-03-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

I promise I will post again soon - and regularly. The first year of a new business really is as busy as everyone says it is! Between finishing the signs (they're up since last week!), planning the opening party (stop in! Monday, March 21 on the spring equinox), contributing to two magazine articles in the past 2 months (AMTA's Massage Therapy Journal - THE feature article for eco-friendly business practices, and an article on the rotator cuff in Outside Bozeman due to print March 21) and bit by bit finishing the website, the schedule has been really full.

Check back soon!

Feature on Green Marketing TV

2010-09-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

This is so cool. Our business just got featured on Green Marketing TV for our green massage therapy practices. And I just stumbled across this! Click here to link directly to the original post.

Bozeman Massage Therapy, located in Bozeman, MT, offers a variety of massage services, including Deep Tissue Massage, Sports Massage, and Pregnancy Massage. Massage oils are based on 100% pure organic grapeseed oil and can include a customized mix of aromatherapy scents based on essential oils. The sheets are bamboo and organic cotton, and the office was built using green building materials such as recycled blue jean insulation and natural cork flooring.

Six Months

2010-09-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

Four for Three Special

(September Newsletter)

September already! Support yourself during this change of seasons with a massage (or four) to keep yourself in balance.

This month marks a landmark for Bozeman Massage Therapy. Six months ago the doors first opened in the new location. This first half year has been wonderful - and very demanding. The word I most often use when asked about the new business is "humbling". But all is on track and I absolutely love working in the beautiful new space.

To mark the occasion, I am once again offering one of the most popular specials: three massages for the price of four now until October 1. Add on to an existing series, give the gift of massage, or set yourself up for a monthly massage now until the end of the year. Enjoy.

Thank you for being part of such an amazing journey. When you choose to place your valued resources (time, money, and energy) into receiving a massage, you also support a socially and environmentally conscious business - benefiting yourself and the world at large. You can really feel good about that.

I look forward to seeing you again soon!

Sincerely,

Jenny

p.s. Thanks so much for your testimonial if you wrote one. You may still send one in any time if you would like yours to be included in the new website.

And now a sustainability update. As you know this business takes great measures to be earth (and people) friendly. New organic sheets are on the table: flannel, cotton, and hemp along with the current bamboo and fleece sheets. Share your favorite! Also, silky soft reusable bamboo hand towels are now in the bathroom, compostable trash bags are being tested, and beeswax candles are on order so the air you breath is toxin-free.

Published!

2010-06-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Check out another of the latest local publishings for Bozeman Massage Therapy:

"Bozeman Massage Therapy Launches Downtown"

June 1 B2B Section of Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Pages 4-5, Section "Comings and Goings". Fun!

Ta Dah!

2010-05-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Some pics of the finished space. "Finished" means a constant work in progress - though fully functional and wonderful as it is!

Renovations

2010-02-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

A few pics of the renovation progress:

The skylight in the treatment room - we're looking into roller shade options for sunny days and darker rooms!

A peek into the treatment room - not painted, floored or doored yet, but the walls are up! The sink will go right next to the shovel where the pipes are exposed.

Peering down the hall to the back entrance. Not visible here, the bathroom is just around the corner of the treatment room.

And the reception area. This is actually quite huge and I guarantee it will be serene and inviting with paint, floor furniture, artwork and lighting adjustments.

The clay paint has been ordered and the cork floor is on its way. Depending on the timing of the arrivals, the last bits of wall taping, the electrical covering, the final building inspection, and last of all, my fabulous contractor Tim Conlan to execute his master carpentry skills on the trim, the space should be ready in the next few weeks. The move in date is still planned for March 1, and even if though it should happen by then, there will likely be a few finishing touches extending into March.

Already, this space feels sweet and peaceful, perfect for massage.

Can't wait to start working in there!

Free Massage - Valentine's Day Special!

2010-02-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

Now until February 15: Free $20 with $100 gift certificate.

https://jenlepage1.boomtime.com/lgift

New Location Update - Plus a Few Ramblings

2010-01-27T13:35:00.000-08:00

If you don't know already, the office project is on the move! And though I am absolutely thrilled about the upcoming move, I admit I have noticed an increase in silvery white hair (that tend to stand vertically until they are a few inches long). Maybe it's part genetics and being in my 30's, but I have to wonder about the role of stress, and admit that I too am not immune to stress (even good stress!) even though I highly value and offer services promoting balance and self-care. I find myself easily empathizing with my busy clients, who tend to be most of them these days! Maybe the goal is not to have an easy life, but to find balance and ease within whatever life we are living, in our already very fast-paced culture. The challenge is not easy. All the more important to value this work, and create the perfect environment for it!

I sure do appreciate spending time doing massage when I let everything go and focus on YOU! I also immensely appreciate the offers of massage from massage therapist friends so I can tune into myself when I am putting so much energy outward - this work is both great to give, and great to receive.

And now, the official update: everything is lining up for a planned March opening. Between the lease, carpenter, electrician, plumber, designer, building maintenance manager, building permit, new business/merchant accounts, picking out materials and supplies, and finding ways to utilize offers of help for the project from friends, (plus so much more) it is all coming together beautifully. So much to coordinate! The plans are printed and all the construction should take place in February.

A few details. The space is perfect, small enough to squeeze affordably into a storefront Main Street location, yet big enough to feel spacious for a massage practice. Especially exciting is the new floor: cork. Warm, soft, environmentally friendly. One of the last steps, it may or may not make the March opening depending on the pace of the project (I'm working on being realistic and keeping the stress level low - at least working on it!), but it is one element I already adore. Also a perk: the skylight in the treatment room - delightful, allowing plants to thrive, and with an option to shade entirely for dark quiet sessions. A few wonderful artwork pieces are already lined up. Paint, rugs, and furniture, lighting and fixtures are still undecided and I am already grateful to my designer Susie Hoffman (envidesign.com) for her current and future recommendations.

I'll keep you posted!

2010-01-25T13:08:00.000-08:00

My friend Katie passed in late December. Below, a beautiful shot from her Memorial last weekend at the M. Bob (her husband) generously offered to pass on her massage supplies to me - you will feel a touch of Katie in the new office (planned for March) and hopefully catch a hint of the beautiful spirit of this adventurer, friend, and fellow massage therapist. Thanks for all your inspiration Katie! We love you and miss you.

Precious Life

2009-12-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Just last week my friend (and fellow massage therapist) Katie was told she has months to live. This unfortunate news, however, is a gift in itself; when I've seen her and talked with her since then, our conversations have taken a turn for the even more utterly real and genuine, and I am able to treasure each moment entirely and contemplate the very nature of life.

When I first heard the news, I asked Katie if she had any idea what to expect. As a fellow bodyworker, I knew Katie would be very aware of how her body would feel and function at the various stages of this terminal illness and tried my best to be supportive by simply talking frankly. She had been told her brain would go first. Less pain for her, we agreed. After bouts of fighting cancer over the past two years, her body has been massively challenged by the illness and the fight to treat it: chemotherapy, hysterectomy, radiation, brain surgery, and a slew of drugs. Her current profession on her own blog is listed as "chemical tester". Since the cancer spread from her ovaries to her brain and now her spinal fluid, she is finally quitting traditional medical treatment and trying to wrap her head around what this all means, especially the distinct possibility of dying soon. I don't mean to infer it is not possible Katie will heal from all this - you never know, miracles happen and my friend could be trading massages with me and showing me new mountain bike tips once again!

But I too am trying to wrap my head around the possibility of my friend passing. I feel incredibly sad about Katie's illness and potentially dying, and how all this affects her husband and especially her amazing little six year old son. In fact, I am crying as I write this. I have cried every day since hearing the latest bad news. I also find myself diving into the sage bowl, seizing this opportunity to extract the wisdom one can gain by paying close attention to the nature of death and inherently the value of human life. And really, I mean life. Katie is alive and present right now, and the future is uknown.

Both the diagnoses AND the unknown allow even more contemplation. Since Katie is still very present, she feels alive and is not ready to say goodbye to all the friends who want to come visit with her. She is STILL PRESENT. Perhaps she is even more present than ever, trying to get the most out of each moment she is alive.

Though her body is worsening from when I gave her a massage last week to taking her to coffee today, she is as present as I have ever seen her. Amidst a tube attached to her skull draining fluid from her brain to her stomach, bruises, stitches, swollen face, skinny body, bald head, being short on balance and eyesight and showing occasional memory blips and speech slurs, Katie maintained almost constant eye contact, focus in the present moment - and pure love. I felt like our morning was spent in a bubble of love. This sounds a little corny maybe, but spending time loving is more real than anything I know. Sometime I forget this and friends need to remind me through skating the edges of just being alive. Did I mention Katie also shared her usual sense of fun...she convinced me to eat doughnuts and mochas with her for lunch. Live a little, right? We even giggled through tears in the coffee shop, and somehow getting sugar in my eye after wiping away tears was hysterical. That's what friends are for.

So I contemplate what is important. I distinctly remember Katie's words as I lent her an elbow walking back to the car. "This is my moment." She realized there may be no better time than now to get all she can out of life. Anything that is still possible needs to happen now. So what to do? Be present, constantly present. She is being present and loving and appreciative, even amidst the sadness, pain, and inability to fully comprehend what is happening to her body.

She reminds me to do the same, because even though I have not been diagnosed with a terminal illness, I see that my time in this body in this human life is rare and precious and limited, as it is for all of us. I want to do the best I can with this opportunity - be present and loving and grateful amidst the painful, hard, and confusing parts. I won't say it's easy to do this, because life can be so painful at times that it is easy to get stuck in those parts. I appreciate Katie for giving me an opportunity to live a better life, reminding me to focus on the good, to love, be present, do all I can, and do it NOW.

Did I mention Katie completed two half triathlons this past summer between chemo and brain surgery? What a gift to know this amazing woman, and for that matter, to know all my friends and family, to have an amazing profession, to play in the mountains on skis and bikes and legs, to do all the things I enjoy doing, to love, to be present, to simply be alive. Thanks Katie.

I stole this pic from Katie's blog profile. She's on the left - what a badass!

Peace and Snow

2009-11-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

So it snowed about two feet in our lovely mountain town today. Though snow in November is not unprecedented in Bozeman, this much snow so early is unusual.

Not only was the snow an exceptionally deep fall for so early, it was very wet. Giant limbs were broken all over, lying in the street. The town looked like a shocked disaster zone, or a winter wonderland at its fullest, the snow heavy, thick, packed down, and blazing shimmering white. Cars crawled by and clients called to double check I would be able to make it to the office. People were skiing out front doors to the trails, and walking through town was practically a 5th class adventure with giant snow tunnels lining the streets and sidewalks. Mini-peak ascents were required just to climb over the edge of a plowed sidewalk to the cross the street. I kicked steps more than once. I may or may not have slipped and fallen.

On my early morning walk to work, I caught the bluebird sunrise (did I mention the bright blue sky today?) and would have skipped to the office, so stunned by the beauty beyond feeling shocked by the intensity of the storm, had all the streets and sidewalks not been covered with the initial layer of last night's storm - several inches of freezing rain. I picked my way through the thick, wet, slippery mess as quickly as safely possible.

Running just a few minutes late already, I was feeling a little stressed about the added time it was taking to get to work. I happened to walk past two young women trying to get their stuck car moving. Though conscious of the time, I could not pass someone in need on a day like today. Besides being in the aftermath of a serious storm, it was cold. I asked if they needed a hand, and right at the same time a young gentleman pulled over and asked the same. Before we unstuck her car, I took a look at the layer of varying degrees of frozen water from which she was trying to get unstuck, and I commented that her car should get out easily. Afterall, it was an SUV on a patch of not-that-bad looking ice and snow and slush. Really, not bad at all. I wondered why she was even stuck.

"But her car is two wheel drive," the woman standing next to me commented. "She just moved from Texas, and they don't need four wheel drive there."

"Ohhhhhh."

Roughly half a minute later we joined forces pushing and unstuck her car, and their grateful looks were so animated I could almost read their minds. "Whoa. Thanks. That was unbelievable. What a great place I just landed in."

Yes, this community is great. It was hard for both of us to take the time to stop and help, but none of us knew each other and we both did it in a heartbeat. But we are also fast paced in this town, like everywhere else. We two helpers almost immediately started running on our ways, back to our busy lives. For a moment though I stopped running around - simply doing what needed to be done, and what one must do if possible in our great little town - and remembered the ability to move slower, but only once I started running again, only after the pause. I needed that pause.

I love offering those pauses as part of the work I do. We all need it. I need it! Even as a massage therapist who must take time to be present during every session of the day, it is easy to lose sight of the stillness when I return to the rush of the world outside. We live in fast-paced times. Not only is our economic reality as a whole steadily shredding at the seams, the pace of our common livestyle and concurrent stress level is dazing. Exhausting. And so difficult to escape. It is so difficult to return to our simple present selves. And yet that return is so important.

Don't we all dream of putting our lives to purpose? Connecting meaningfully with others? Feeling stillness, relaxed, focused, peaceful, taking a breath and paying attention, for even just a few moments? Doesn't it feel good even just thinking about it? Breathe.

Providing all that is one reason I love the work I do. Massage is many things, and it is as complex perhaps as the massage therapist is skilled and involved. It is treatment for muskulo-skeletal issues, performance enhancer for athletes, post-operative prescription, a chance to relax. It is also a moment to one's self, given to opportunity to stop all else and simply be. That moment with the stuck women this morning felt like the moments I spend during massages simply being present with clients - listening to bodies and tuning in to tension, imbalance, and misalignment, doing what I can to help. I love those moments and feel grateful for the opportunity to gain - and give - so much. I love being simply present, and in turn I love offering an extended break from our fast-paced lives and the opportunity to turn inward.

Ah massage.

The Holiday Newsletter! Specials Inside.

2009-11-10T14:12:00.001-08:00

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Source: eepurl.com

Granite Peak!

2009-09-28T17:01:00.001-07:00

What does your massage therapist do in her free time? The past two weekends my partner and two of our friends have been taking advantage of our late warm weather by climbing a couple peaks. Just this morning we returned from a successful summit of Granite Peak, the highest peak in Montana and one of the most difficult of all the state high points to climb.

Our two days on the Froze-to-Death Plateau were, well...freezing. Double down jackets kept me warm, and in rare non-windy moments in the sun I peeled down to just one. Our water froze, even in the daytime. The cold temps and intense wind increased the challenges our bodies already felt from exertion at high altitude so we moved slower than we might have in fairer conditions.

A late September summit also meant shorter days, so after a pre-dawn start and then working hard to get to the peak and back down to the plateau in the afternoon, we still had to hike out about 10 miles mainly in the dark. While routefinding on the open alpine plateau in the moonlit evening was splendid, walking became difficult on the dark rocky trail that descends into the trees below. However, our challenge grew and our pace slowed because the four of us had only three headlamps between us. I won't admit who lost

her headlamp when taking off one of two hats in a moment of warmth just before sunset...

By the time we got down to Mystic Lake, some of our group lost steam (though not the same person in the group who lost her headlamp) and we bivied for a quick night of sleep. It was a treat to spend this morning hiking out through a corridor of turning aspens along West Rosebud Creek.

The Beartooth Mountains were gorgeous as always, and it was especially fun to be on a mountain I had wanted to climb since I first lived in Montana 9 years ago.

Fall Newsletter With Great Deals!

2009-09-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

Check out the most recent newsletter from Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC

Asian Bodywork Training

2009-08-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Last month, I completed a training in Asian Bodywork. This training was complementary to my previous Shiatsu training and helpful in expanding my understanding of the meridian system and Asian medicine in general.

During our training, we dove into Chinese Medicine history and philosophy and specifically explored a branch called Five Element Theory. This theory, as all Asian Medicine practices do, looks at the world as a circular or cyclical system as opposed to the linear approach of Western science and medicine. Balance is an ongoing goal, and in this way of thinking, each meridian has an effect on the others and all must be working optimally for the whole to function well. The chi, or energy, that flows through the meridians is our life force, and like faucets along the meridians, the meridian points can be opened or closed through hand, finger or needle pressure.

Chi flow creates our physical experience; when meridians are out of balance we may feel pain, illness, or emotional or other challenges. Working with the meridians allows optimal function for our entire being, whether it be mind, body or spirit.

We also learned gua sha, the practice of pulling toxins out of the body using a gentle flushing with a specific gua sha tool. This work can effect a large or small area, reduce physical pain, and help the whole person become more balanced. This technique, sometimes called "scraping", may produce red or purplish splotches on the body which may last a few hours to a couple of weeks. These markings are not painful, nor do they look quite like anything I have seen before; they are not quite bruises or abrasions. No skin is broken. They are the markings of the toxins (or blockages) leaving the body and are not harmful in themselves. Sometimes the timing or location of the visual effect may not be appropriate, and because of this, care will be taken to help any client choose if/where on the body this may be appropriate.

I asked our instructor, a local acupuncturist and teacher at the Five Elements Acupuncture School in Florida, if there is a way to aid clients' health without making them endure suffering (including visual red markings on their bodies or any discomfort related to any treatment in general). His answer was no. To release toxins or move chi blockages, sometimes we must become aware of them. This means we must actually experience their presence on some level while they move out of our bodies, even if it creates minor discomfort.

The effect of a gua sha treatment was valuable for each of the 15 participants (including a medical doctor) in the training regardless of a bit of red marking on our skin. Mine faded completely within a couple of days and the treatment helped me with chronic back pain. I actually loved it so much I have been searching for someone give me the treatment again!

Our training also included liniment application. If you have been to a massage session with me, you know I have been working with liniments for a couple of years. Their cooling or heating effects are evident in their physical sensation, and they also have a powerful ability to move chi in the body, therefore helping to alleviate pain and discomfort. This training tuned my skills in correct application of the liniments I already use and also introduced new ones.

Questions? Please ask. The more I learn about Asian medicine the more questions I have, and the more I learn the more I fall in love with the approach. This medicine bends my mind...and it works.

It works so well that I am planning on incorporating Acupuncture into my practice within the next five or so years...scheduled among future small children, business planning and implementation, many bodywork trainings including more Asian Medicine, Craniosacral Therapy beginning this fall and my current Aromatherapy Certification education, of course all of this intertwined with my own balance and self-care...

Base Training

2009-08-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

After spending years working for programs including Outward Bound and backpacking with immensely heavy instructor-packs, I suffered a significant repetitive-stress foot injury. A few years later, I was able to only slowly return to one of the highest-impact activities I enjoy: running.

In conjunction with receiving lots of massage and acupuncture focused on my injured first metatarsal (base of big toe), I recently began a training program to reintroduce running to my body at a pace it could handle.

Marathon runners swear by it and many trainers recommend Base Training. Base Training includes slowly building aerobic base by maintaining only a maximum optimal heartbeat (determined by age, usually around 150 beats per minute or generally a comfortable talking pace) during runs for a period of several months. It also gives the joints and ligaments time to adjust to the incremental impact of running.

Week one included walking for 4 minutes and running for 1 minute, repeated over 30-45 minutes. Two months later, I run 8 minutes and walk 1 minute, and after time my very simple-seeming training is paying off. Week 8 feels like as little effort as week 1, and my body has not presented any issues for two months.

Though base training takes patience, the overall effect for new, returning, and even seasoned runners looking for higher performance are literally amazing. I would even say the results are life changing. After feeling that running was unattainable for me, and now running for 3-4 times a week with just a few minutes of walking interspersed, I am immensely grateful for regaining this ability and hope for attaining much more (patiently, of course).

Ask me more, talk to a trainer, or check out the many resources on the Internet for developing your own plan.

Community

2009-08-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

As the business plan for Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC unfolds, community is a definite element in the mission.

Why is community important? This past month, while spending an afternoon volunteering at Field Day Farms as part of my CSA share exchange, I struck up an interesting conversation with a fellow volunteer, Amy, working with me in the field. We met near the cabbage, exchanging the usual introductions. Like most people I meet in Bozeman, we easily found connections between our friends and lives.

In between rows of heirloom squash carefully cultivated by our mutual friend, farm owner Mariann Van Den Elzen, we asked more about each other. Bent over the seedlings with an aching lower back, Amy was curious about my massage work; in need of a new logo and design for my marketing materials, I asked Amy more about her work.

Conversation moved with us to the celery field, and by the time we transplanted the last stalk we shared contact information and made a plan for future discussion. Amy is now busy working on my new logo and she is excited to receive some great bodywork from me.

Building community takes effort and has many benefits; supporting farmer friends who in turn feed us local, healthy, organically grown food, thereby creating a healthier environment for everyone in our community and world through ecologically sound farming practices...meeting others at events of mutual interest and sharing ourselves with each other, cultivating connections...supporting the work of others in our community and offering our services to those who need them...

Because community is important in so many ways - for our health, environment, economic advancement and even planetary well-being, not to mention limitless opportunity we find through each other - Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC is a business that prioritizes contribution to community.

Massage in Montana

2009-06-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

Late spring approaches summer in Montana. While cool showers move into sun-filled days, bikers test the drying trails, riders enjoy long days with horses, skiers chase the last of the snow, gardeners dive into planting fervor, hikers begin a new season of exploration, climbers finally get outside on real rock and boaters take advantage of the high waters. Runners have been running all along. School is out and the race is on to get the most of this season that is too special (and too short) to waste.

Spring/Summer is a great time for receiving massage to support the demands of long days of outdoor play and to recoup from the hectic energy of the season. Lately my practice is full with clients easing into summer sports and those already seeking refuge from the packed summer days. Schedule your massage online now at www.jennylepage.com.

Welcome to the Bozeman Massage Therapy Blog for up-to-date musings and information from Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC. I hope to see you on the table soon!