As Larry explains, one  keys to learning how to stretch is to “concentrate past the pain”. Ironically, to really be Gumby you have to develop an iron will. While holding your stretch you might concentrate on your breath. While breathing, during your stretch, notice your body sensations  are almost always more uncomfortable when your inhaling. Pain in the body often reduces during the exhalation phase of breathing. Another key, do your stretching for at least 15 minutes a session, otherwise your wasting your time.

Larry does some exercise coaching, if your serious about getting more out of your body. His understanding of stretching is unique. This  is not a”Yoga” approach. To inquire about Larry’s unique training and what he can do for you drop him a line at …..lrryhurley@yahoo.com

When you are just beginning to feel under the weather is the time to go on the offensive.  Most bacteria and viruses don’t do well in an alkaline environment (the way your body chemistry is supposed to be). Unfortunately, many among us are too “acidic”; this actually promotes or encourages  these entities to find a home sweet home in your body. Let’s make them a bit more uncomfortable, shall we? 

Start drinking plenty of water,  adding just a spritz or two of juice from fresh lemons in each cup. Drink water at least once an hour while you’re feeling under the weather.  If you never drink water, don’t over do it. Onces of H2O is what your body needs, on average, say, 64 onces a day (8-80z. glasses). If you have a medical condition involving your kidneys, you need to consult your doctor as to how much water is appropriate. The water and lemon juice can begin to change your body more towards alkalinity, which makes you stronger and the germs weaker.

Also, this is  time to take your vitamins, like Vit-C, and minerals like zinc; both are stimulating to, and support  your immune system. The herb echinacea also stimulates the immune system to gear up. Your whole strategy early on is to prevent these pathogens from getting a grab hold. If you can hold them at bay for at least 3 days while your immune system gears up, the chances are you will beat your cold or flu before it really gets started.

If all that does not do the trick, I add some herbs and supplements that will directly attack these invaders. The list is long: I like garlic; high quality organic honey; oil of oregano; olive leaf extract;  cinnamon.

If you or a loved one are running a high fever  or  having difficulty breathing, please do consult your doctor.

 Google’s Massage therapists are treated with the kind of respect not often afforded in the “real” world, working no more than 12 hours a week. Contrast  that with Massage Envy’s sweatshop- like conditions and meager wages that take advantage of under-trained and undereducated recent “graduates”. I bring this up because Massage Envy does a lot of the “massage” business  but they don’t really provide  much steak, just the sizzle. So, it is not really massage you receive and, therefore, it is more a luxury then a real benefit to your health. Don’t take my word for it…….here is what others think! The Massage Envy ?  or this spa site.

 At Google, the therapists are well trained and represent what massage is really all about. Does the company you work for provide massage for employees?  No? Well maybe they ought to think about it, think outside the box!

As a massage therapist, I do “face lifts” all the time. Unlike the plastic surgeon, I don’t force a permanent look on your face. If you come in with a “long face”, I massage you in an upward direction, pulling the cheeks upward, relaxing your jaw muscles, removing that stress from around your eyes, and when I complete the massage, your “baby face”, that youthful appearance, has returned. You feel good, in an honestly healthy way. Instead, you could go the “plastic” way and construct a smile that lasts long after you have shed your mortal coil. What kind of “smile” are you going to opt for?

A few years back, Duke University Medical Center conducted  a study of men who had already had heart attacks. The researchers were monitoring  the patients’ hearts with a special imaging technique, asking questions, all while  videotaping facial expressions.

The scientist predicted that when they asked the patients questions that angered them (angry facial expression) it would have a negative effect on the heart. They did. Many patients experienced silent ischemic episodes; the left ventricle of their hearts partly collapsed which caused blood to be restricted to the heart. This could  easily precipitate another heart attack.

What surprised these researchers while correlating facial expressions, questions and heart monitoring, was that only one other facial expression gave rise to this silent ischemic episode- when the patient smiled! Not just any kind of smiles, but those fake smiles, the ones with no real enjoyment behind them.

When you smile you use the zygomaticus major muscles; it is what raises up the corners of your lips.  For the smile to be genuine, another muscle, orbicularis oculi, must also be engaged. This muscle, which circles around the eyes,  lifts our cheeks and creates the crow’s feet effect. 

So when you smile, smile from the heart, so to speak. Make it real, not painted on. Now for my most favorite expressive guy……Marcel Marceau!

A well- respected Massage Therapist, Art Riggs,  wrote  about deep tissue massage, near the end of the book, he suggested asking the client some questions before beginning the session. One question was, do you have some secondary gain from not getting better? He said that, of course, you can’t ask the client that directly, as the client would not want to hear such a question. Well too bad, maybe we ought to think about it? I mean, how many times do you promise yourself that you are going to make changes? Somehow, those changes never really happen, and you never really get better.

Let’s face facts, it is a whole lot easier giving up when you can tell yourself, “What can I do anyway?” So have a twinkie since everything  else is bad for you, right? Wrong

Perhaps you console yourself with some claptrap about it being all in the genes, and therefore, out of your control, or my favorite, I’m just getting older. As per the genes excuse, you might want to watch this Bruce Lipton video . As far as getting older, you will age much faster if you don’t take care of yourself.

Now, if you’re getting depressed, you are getting the wrong message, really, see the video. You are not destined to be sickly and can even reverse the aging process. So, do you really want to get better? Massage can, among other things, change your outlook on life, which makes it possible to make and sustain other healthy choices.

Do I have to strip down completely naked? Well, no, the golden rule for massage therapists to follow is to create a safe, friendly environment for their clients. I will massage you fully clothed, if you like; that has happened several times over my career and it’s not a problem. Many folks want to wear underwear, some like to go bare. Along those lines, trained therapists always “drape” their clients, so that the only areas exposed  are the ones being worked on. This protects your modesty, as well as keeping you comfortably warm. When it is time for you to disrobe, your therapist will leave the room, and will knock on the door before re-entering.

Am I supposed to tip? Generally, it is up to you. If your therapist did a great job and you feel wonderful and would like to tip, go ahead. When you’re  at a medical office and receiving massage for an injury or condition, usually no tip is anticipated.  If you go to one of those Massage Envious- type places where the therapists are new, under-trained, overworked and underpaid, you may feel a subtle pressure to tip whoever provided your rub. That kind of defeats the purpose of getting a  low price, discounted massage, right?

What about talking to the therapist while he or she is working? Before the massage is a good time to talk. Tell your therapist of any health conditions you have. Also, ask any questions regarding concerns about the massage. After the massage begins you can talk or remain silent, whatever is more relaxing for you. Talking may help dissipate any nervousness you might be feeling. If you’re feeling any pain during your massage session, you must speak up and inform your therapist so that he or she can make pressure adjustments. Don’t worry about offending the therapist. Good therapists always want feedback so they can improve their massage skills.

I will add more ?’s to the list, shortly. In the meantime, if you have a burning massage question, hopefully, I’ll provide a good answer. Sincerely, Abe Alpert CMT

What massage question do you have?

Over the years, I have literally given thousands of massages. When I’m working with a new client, being experienced, I will quickly  zoom in to locate a problem. Maybe, It’s a sore tendon near the elbow, or a spasm in the calf, or a small tear on the trapezius.  It could be anything. The client will say, “can you feel that?” Yes, sure I felt it. New clients are often surprised by the pains they “feel” with just a bit of prompting from a proficient therapist, we both then agree there is a problem. Massage is, at it’s best, an interactive therapy, it is not something I do to you, like paint your house.

 Here is the typical situation. Most of these body problems can be found near the surface, but the kicker is this, often, I feel other abnormalities deeper into fascia, of  which the client is unaware . At times, if I add some pressure to the spot, they might say “Whats that?” Other times, the person may sense something is off, but they don’t know what it is, or they are entirely unaware. So, now, I may perceive a situation that my client does not realize exists. So, is there a problem? Moreover, how do I go about working on it? 

Have you ever seen the Matrix movie;  the part about the red and blue pill? Well, it’s a metaphor for being conscious. Do you want to wake up,to your dream? The red pill is real, deep tissue massage; the blue is the blond babe or handsome hunk surface, simply fantasy fluff,  The Matrix scene.

Over the years, I have observed that the deeper the problem, literally, the more internalized it becomes, and the less the patient or client is aware of a problem ever existing in the first place.Essentially, the problem and the person merge together, now  it becomes difficult to separate the person from their “problem”.The original problem, left unresolved, creates new problems, which are just adaptations  that    come about to resolve  the original problem.  Each new adaptation creates another imbalance, which your body will try, yet again, to resolve by adaptation.  Eventually, you run out of adaptations, now you’re a hurting pup and you want some help with the pain.

 So, you’re just getting older?Yeah, I hear that bull all the time. Work on this stuff now and reap the benefits of a fully functional body, or wait, until you can’t take the pain any more. Get real….massage.  For an appointment contact

After I graduated  massage school and started working with real patients, I made the startling observation that working on what my clients described as the source of their pain yielded only temporary improvement;  they soon returned with the same symptoms. I came to the conclusion that the pain a person felt and the source  of the problem were not synonymous. For one, seldom was just one isolated muscle injured, as muscles work in collective groups,and hurting one meant hurting others as well. Moreover, the injuries that were presented  often represented the weakest link in a chain. When the trauma or accident occurred, that was the area predisposed to giving out. To do a “good” job, I had to treat the link, but also had to fix the fence. To be a better therapist, I had to re-think  my notions about our bodies.

 My original ideas came from the prevailing medical model, which viewed the body as a collection of parts. This idea is being replaced with better understanding. Yet, orthodox medicine still lags behind.

People are sometimes confused when trying to understand the human body. As a Therapist, I know all too well that we add to the problem by way of our explanations. Often, we will use the analogy that your body is like an automobile, it requires regular maintenance to perform at higher levels, that much is correct. However, the body is not like an automobile; .You just can’t remove and replace parts and expect everything to be like new. If you develop large gallstones, for example, and need to have your gallbladder removed, the absent organ will be missed, you will never digest fats the way you did before (before you manifested the problem). The consequences are too many to be listed here. Removing your tonsils increases your chances of developing cancer. That “new” hip will never be as good as the one God gave you. Not that long after your hip replacement, you can expect your back to start aching, and, like most folk, you probably won’t even make the connection between those two events. “Old” school medicine recognized only the most obvious connections. For example, originally, before they knew better, doctors who “cracked”  open chests, first identified the thymus organ and, because it appeared as shriveled up in adults, the organs were routinely removed. They soon learned that these  patients promptly died, so they stopped surgically removing the thymus. As it turns out, we do not have spare parts. Take note!

Unlike a car, the “parts” do not function independently. They work together! And the best news of all, your body can repair itself!  It does require your commitment, and a willingness to want to feel and be healthier. First, however, you need to realize that it is possible to actually get better. Regular massage, by a skilled therapist, can help a great deal! Contact Info

Of course,  18 year ago, when I began my career, the profession was much misunderstood,  many viewed massage as fluff, a luxury for the wealthy,  a palliative, or, at worst, a cover for prostitution. Today, the profession has advanced and made some inroads.  People are beginning to hear good things about the benefits of this old healing practice. At the same time, the popularity that many of us massage pioneers helped create is being lost in a flood of new under- trained, under- qualified recruits who through no fault of their own cannot meet the higher expectations of today’s informed client. The pressure to make big money has led to a decline in the quality of service provided. Substance and performance have given way to slick promos and empty promises.

Massage is more than what meets the eye. For Instance, each human body has it’s own unique topography. Each person has a quality of depth, composition, and complexity which is like  no other, and presents a different challenge.  Nowadays, the average massage therapist delivers a massage much the same way a house painter applies a coat of paint, uniformly, superficially, and repetitively, with no regard to the unique qualities of the individual. Witness the birth of “fast food” massage.

As it turns out, my editor’s bone of contention was my implying that women could not take care of themselves; that they were not independent. She also shared the page with her friend, who agreed with Miriam’s view.

Actually, I meant to say outright, women are not independent and cannot take care of themselves. While trying to disprove me, my editor’s friend actually proved my point. Her friend said “I can take care of myself…..”I get regular massages….And If Miriam’s friend were truly independent, she would not need anyone to provide any service, much less massage. I know, a number of readers of this post probably think I’m playing some sort of semantics game. But I’m not.  In a subtle way, Miriam’s friend is not  acknowledging the help she is receiving from her massage therapist and others who make her life bearable, even possible. Like the rest of us, men included, we are dependent on each other in every meaningful way, from cradle to coffin.

The failure to recognize this truth,  that we need each other, is the cause of much suffering and the reason why many fail to ask for needed help. When we act in truly inter-dependent ways, we advance everyone. When we act the illusion of complete independence, we tear the fabric of our society apart.

I thank my editor for bringing the matter to my attention.” No man is an island”