Fox Valley Massage Therapy

11/10/2025

11/09/2025

For my clients, for everyone. I hope you know you are enough and we are all trying every day. ❤️

11/01/2025

Friendly reminder to set your clocks back one hour tonight! 😀

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween!!!

10/29/2025

The more you know! 😀

The way you sleep could be silently shaping your health. Studies now show that sleeping on your left side offers a wide range of benefits, from improved organ function to enhanced cognitive performance. It’s a simple adjustment that may have profound effects on your body and mind.

Sleeping on the left side facilitates lymphatic drainage, allowing the body to flush out toxins and maintain optimal immune function. It also reduces heartburn and acid reflux by preventing stomach contents from rising into the esophagus. Snoring is minimized, creating better airflow and improving sleep quality for both you and your partner.

Organ function is also enhanced. The spleen and liver work more efficiently on the left side, supporting detoxification and blo*d filtration. Blo*d circulation improves, delivering oxygen and nutrients more effectively to vital organs. The heart experiences less pressure, which may promote cardiovascular health over time. Even the brain benefits, enhanced circulation supports cognitive function, alertness, and memory consolidation during sleep.

Researchers emphasize that while other sleeping positions are acceptable, the left-side position aligns the body’s internal systems in a way that encourages detoxification, organ efficiency, and overall wellbeing. It’s a natural, non-invasive way to optimize health while you rest.

Reflecting on this, the science of sleep is clear: small adjustments can produce remarkable outcomes. Sleeping on your left side is more than comfort, it’s a strategy to support your immune system, cardiovascular health, digestion, and mental performance. By simply changing your sleep position, you may be taking a powerful step toward better long-term health.

Sleep is more than rest, it’s restoration. Align your body wisely, and you unlock benefits that ripple through every system, helping you wake up healthier, sharper, and more resilient every day.

10/28/2025

Wow! Now that’s thought provoking! 😀

“Don’t Retire from Life — Retire from Inaction”

Howard Tucker — neurologist, lawyer, and still practicing at 102 years old — once said something unforgettable:

“Retirement is the true enemy of longevity. The moment you stop working, stop learning, stop moving — you’re basically telling your body and mind they’re no longer needed. I walk five kilometers every day, snowshoe in winter, keep studying, and even earned my law degree at 67. My advice? Don’t retire from life. Retire from doing nothing.”

At an age when most people quietly fade into routine, Tucker keeps walking, reading, and contributing — not out of obligation, but out of belief. Because nothing corrodes the human spirit faster than idleness. Even the heart, if left unused, begins to rust.

Tucker isn’t a miracle. He’s a mirror — showing us what’s possible when purpose replaces passivity.

He reminds us:
That time is still on our side.
That meaning doesn’t expire.
That every step we take, every idea we chase, every moment we choose growth over comfort — we’re defying time itself.

So ask yourself:
What will you never retire from?

10/23/2025

With the change to fall weather, I just started drinking this tea and I can vouch it’s making a difference. For those if us who are sleep challenged, give it a try! 😴💤🛌

Drinking chamomile tea is an incredible way to calm the nervous system and have the deepest sleep of your life due to the presence of its active compound, apigenin, which binds to GABA receptors in the brain. This binding has a sedative effective, reducing anxiety and slowing down the nervous system to encourage drowsiness. Additionally, chamomile contains melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle.

To elaborate on the mechanisms of action:

📑GABA receptor modulation: APIGENIN, a key compound in chamomile, produces sedative effects by affecting GABA receptors. GABA is a neurotransmitter that calms the nervous system.

📑Neurotransmitter pathways: Chamomile influences other neurotransmitter pathways, including those for serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, which play roles in mood and anxiety.

📑Hypothalamaic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis: Some evidence suggests chamomile can modulate the HPA axis, a system that regulates the body’s stress response, reducing symptoms of anxiety over time.

EVIDENCE IN HUMAN STUDIES:

📑Reduced anxiety symptoms: A randomized, controlled trial found that chamomile extract was significantly more effective than a placebo in reducing overall anxiety symptom scores in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) after just 8 weeks of treatment.

📑Long-term effects: long-term use may lead to even better long-term benefits on psychological well-being and may help prolong the time to relapse of anxiety symptoms.

📑Well-tolerated: Chamomile has general been reported as well-tolerated in studies, with very few mild side effects.

PMID: 38784853, 21132119

10/17/2025

Happy Friday! Remember to ENJOY your weekend…the “stuff” isn’t going anywhere.

❤️😀

10/02/2025

Rolling a tennis ball under your glutes provides a self-administered, deep-tissue massage that releases tension in tight glute muscles and connective tissue, reducing pressure on the sciatic nerve, easing lower back pain by deactivating hyperactive nerves, and improving hip mobility by breaking down muscle adhesions and increasing blood flow and nutrient delivery. This technique works by applying focused pressure to trigger points, relaxing muscles, and promoting a natural release of endorphins to help relieve pain.

To elaborate:

RELEASING SCIATIC NERVE TENSION: The sciatic nerve runs near or under the piriformis muscle in the buttock. When the piriformis muscle becomes tight or spasms, it can compress the sciatic nerve, causing pain. Rolling a tennis ball into this muscle applies pressure to the trigger point, helping it to relax and release the tension on the nerve, thus alleviating sciatic pain.

RELIEVING LOWER BACK PAIN: The tennis ball massage can directly target and relax tense muscle and connective tissues in the lower back and buttocks. Increased blood flow delivers healing nutrients and oxygen to the areas, aiding muscle recovery and reducing pain signals. The massage also stimulates the release of endorphins, the body’s natural pain-relieving hormones, which helps to reduce the perception of pain. Also, by reducing muscle hyperactivity, the massage can decrease the number of pain signals sent to the brain from the lower back nerves.

IMPROVING HIP MOBILITY: The focused pressure from the tennis ball helps to break up adhesions and scar tissue in the gluteal muscles, which can restrict movement. By releasing built-up tension and adhesions, the muscles become more pliable, allowing for a greater range of motion in the hips. Improved blood flow and circulation facilitate the delivery of nutrients and the removal of waste products from the muscles, promoting greater flexibility and easier movement.

Read more (and find a video tutorial) here: https://www.rocketcitychiropractic.com/sciatic-pain-and-a-tennis-ball-what-they-have-in-common/