STRESSED

Who isn't these days?

The pace of life is hectic...even if some of that is self-imposed and not mandatory. We are all juggling many responsibilities in our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, our stress management skills or coping mechanisms may not be adequate to protect us from the ravages of the stress in modern day life.

Like everything else, change comes only when we decide we want to change. The first step in successful stress relief is deciding to make a change in how we manage stress. Then it helps if we recognize what our stress buttons are and some aren't so obvious.

Stress isn't going to disappear even if we pretend it doesn't exist or that we are handling it just fine! And like any new skill, it will take some practice to perfect once we have chosen a tactic for our own stress relief.

Most "experts" rank meditation as one of the top five relaxation techniques. All agree that everyone can benefit from learning a relaxation technique. The choice is ours. It doesn't matter which one we opt for as long as it works for us and we practice it regularly.

To that end, Legacy Performance and Integrated Wellness Center has developed a few things we think are of tremendous help in dealing with stress that may cause loss in vibrancy and health.

Simple as 1•2•3 Stress Management:

Step 1: Be sure to eat clean, nutritious food. This is essential in building a body that can handle stress. We have created The Training Table at our Center. Our clients can come pick up an organic meal prepared by From Seeds To Table for take home or to enjoy after a training session. We also offer Recovery Shakes and Protein Smoothies along with Purely-B Grapefruit Juices (stress destroys the vitamins in the body, especially the B vitamins).

Step 2: Use the highest quality, most complete whole food supplements during times of extreme stress. This helps your body deal with the destructive aspects of stress until you are less stressed and your body can manage on its own. As crazy as life has become, everyone needs a good B vitamin, vitamin C, adrenal support and some help in blood sugar stabilization.

Step 3: Create some stillness in your life! DiscoverHealth says "Every day, devote a little time to take yourself out of the 'busyness'game. First, eliminate all forms of intrusion. Then close your eyes, breathe deeply and let your thoughts float downstream like a log carried by the river. You can practice meditation or relax in a hot bath with aromotherapy. When a thought comes up, just watch it float away."

To that end, The Legacy Center now has a Relaxation Room. This is a soothing, quiet space that encourages meditation. Relaxing tapes specifically for calming the mind are available as are pillows, throws, soft lighting...all for your use as you seek to calm and relax.

In addition, for almost a year, we have been sponsoring Guided Meditation evenings. This is usually planned for once a month and we bring Trudy Evans, C. H., into our Center to teach and lead participants through meditation techniques. These evenings have been extremely popular and Trudy will come to the Center to do a private session, if a client so desires.

Stress doesn't have to be a constant companion. Learn how to enjoy the moment, live in the now, control a mind that is running at 100 MPH. Learn how to maintain health and well-being while repairing the toll that stress can take on mind and body.

If you would like to experience how calm feels, contact us for an appointment. Our email is legacyperformwell@gmail.com or 214-843-1184.

www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress-management/MY00435/DSECTION= relaxation&2Dtechniques

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/stress-management/eight-ways-to-beat-stress2.htm

What the heck is ELDOA?

Do you want the simple answer or the complex one?

ELDOA is an acronym in French for Etirements Longitudinaux avex Decoaptation Osteo-Articulaire.

The English translations is LOADS...Longitudinal Osteo Articular Decoaptation Stretches.

(Now you are asking which answer is the simple one and which the complex, right?!)

We know that the human spine is a complicated and vital structure. Compression and articular blocks can cause pain, arthrosis, neurological pinching, disc compression and pathology, and articular lesions. ELDOA is a highly effective solution to these ailments.

An ELDOA technique puts the myofascial chains into tension around the point of a primary lesion, thus making the lesion point the center of decoaptive (separating) forces. This myofascial tension solicits a postural normalization of a particular joint, resulting in many benefits.

ELDOAs consist of very precise postures which target a specific articulation, providing relief from pain and recuperative balance. The advantage of learning these exercises is that they take only a minute each day to perform, while reducing pain and improving posture.

When I first became acquainted with ELDOA, I had pain radiating from my left glute down the outside of my left leg all the way to my ankle. I had "shrunk" from 5'6" to a little under 5'51/2". I had experienced what I called sciatic pain that actually kept me bed-ridden for several days. The pain was so excruciating that I could barely get into or out of bed and sitting down, even to go to the bathroom, was an ordeal.

I had never heard of ELDOA or of its creator, Guy Voyer, D.O., but I started doing L5/S1 (which creates space between the 5th lumbar disc and the 1st. sacral disc. I did this religiously, every night before bed, desperate for relief.

And I got it!

In just a few months, the pain completely disappeared. I am once again 5'6" and aspiring to become 5'8" (why not?). I have had the supreme good fortune to partner with Scott Herrera, who introduced me to ELDOA in the gym four and one half years ago. Through Scott, who is enrolled in Voyer's doctorial program, I met Guy and become a student of his work on ELDOA and Myo-fascial Stretching.

Legacy Performance and Integrated Wellness Center is doing ground-breaking work, integrating the ELDOA and MFS into performance and fitness programs with all our clients. It has helped our clients deal with pain and injury issues. Our semi-private training classes enable clients to work on their programs several times during the week as they continue to book one-on-one training sessions with us. The ELDOA program at Legacy is an indispensable component of our overall Wellness and Performance Programs.

It works.

LOCAL FOOD: THE REAL DEAL

It is a delicious irony that an article on "Top 10 Market Pointers" was in the same issue of the Dallas Morning News as "Watermelons exploding like land mines". If this doesn't reflect two ends of the food spectrum, I can't imagine what would.

"Top 10 Market Pointers", written by Kim Pierce, is a tip list on how to shop local farmers markets, from wine to milk, and covers every subtle nuance from what to bring (small-denomination bills and change and some flexibility!) to how to know what is in season and how "local" is defined.

"Watermelons exploding..." is an AP story straight from Beijing and has a great photo of huge burst melons in a greenhouse in China. Chinese farmers gave the watermelons overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather, "...creating what state media called fields of land mines."

The article went on to talk about widespread farming abuses in China. The "drug", as the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron is described, is not forbidden in China; it is also allowed in the U.S. on kiwi fruit and grapes. The gist of the article emphasizes that farmers in China use both legal and illegal chemicals in their fields and misuse pesticides and fertilizers.

I immediately recalled the horror many organic food shoppers felt last year when they read the back of the in-house frozen food labels at Whole Foods. Several of the products were grown in China. Not what those shoppers were expecting...or wanting on their dinner table.

So the dilemma seems to be an old one: do we believe what we wish to believe because it makes our life easier or do we take responsibility for our choices by doing the research required to be sure we are getting what we truly want. And who can you trust?

Local farmers markets have different rules, some insisting that produce be grown within a 150-mile radius while others allow vendors to mix local and imported in order to offer a wider variety of produce. Obviously, some things are impossible to grow locally, no matter where you live. And there are farms in every area that allow you to pick your own produce so you get to see exactly where your food is coming from. It's a fun way to involve your entire family and give the kids a lesson in how food ends up on the dinner table. Seeing baby lambs might necessitate some talk therapy when the Sunday rack of lamb is presented, so be prepared.

Bottom line is this: it may become increasingly more difficult to guarantee clean, organic food as more and more large companies hop on the consumer ground-swell for unprocessed, unpolluted food sources. Some education and vigilance on the part of the buyer will be required. Being healthy, as Paul Chek always says, is taking responsibility for one's choices.

In a world in which, bigger is considered better and faster is a financial no-brainer, there are always going to be companies and individuals thinking only of the bottom line. I believe that things can be done the right way, profitably, and I try to support those folks who are running their businesses within that model.

Here are some sites to help you navigate the "mine field" of good, clean food choices.

Bon Apetite!

www.westonaprice.org

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most/recent/the_truth_about_gluten?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dbb346

http://www.healingtalks.com/activism/health-food-industry-predators/health/food/industry-overtaken-by- corporate-predators/

www.pickyourown.org/TXharvestdates.htm

dallasnews.com/farmersmarkets

(for a map of area markets)

Check out our past blogs for Clean Restaurants in Dallas...there a alot of great places to get wild, grass fed, local and delicious!