It’s just perfect to highlight Austin’s local T-shirt company Under Pressure, because this month I made homemade t-shirts with my Little Sister (through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Texas). We had such a blast! Michaels Arts & Craft store was the supplier of our goods- bright neon green t-shirts, some iron on pink skulls (which are on the back of our t-shirts) & some good old block lettering! With our materials and iron, we ended up with these fabulous final products you see in the photo! I’ve been mentoring this sweet girl for over a year now (we just had our anniversary in June) & we have had NON stop fun! From kite flying and t-shirt making to swim lessons and math tutoring we continue to create fun times. This experience continues to transform my life, as it has hers. It’s been amazing to introduce her to a plethora of new experiences. Now that I know about Under Pressure, maybe I’ll have to get some special t-shirts made by them so we can continue to be twinkies in t-shirts!

By: Barbara Hey

A massage works in wonderful ways, easing stress and pain, calming the nervous system, increasing circulation, loosening tight muscles, stimulating internal organs, and enhancing skin. The multiplicity of physiological responses sends a simple, clear message to the mind: Massage feels good. Of course, you want to hold on to that just-had-a-massage feeling — total body relaxation, muscles relaxed and at ease, and fluid movement restored — for as long as possible.

But how long that bliss lasts depends on the state of your body. If you’re suffering from chronic pain or recovering from injury, then it may take more sessions and perhaps different modalities before optimal health is restored.

If massage is part of your regular health regimen, then it’s more likely the effects will endure. In other words, the effects of massage are cumulative, like any healthy habit. The more often you get a massage, the greater and longer-lasting the benefits.

Exercise Working out can also help maintain the benefits of massage, and this habit should be continually cultivated. However, if you’re receiving massage therapy to help speed muscle strain recovery, you may need to ease up on the exercise for a while and give the body time to heal — particularly if you’re recovering from a strenuous body-pummeling training regimen. “You don’t want to over-work your body,” says Kallil. That is, if running is taking a toll, try something more gentle and meditative such as swimming, walking, or tai chi.

Diet Finally, since you’ve just rid the body of toxins, support the body’s renewed state by adhering to a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, which will continue the detoxification process. Lay off the espresso and all adrenaline-challenges for a time — which would short-circuit relaxation anyway — and enjoy the calm.

The benefits of massage are many, including: increasing circulation, allowing the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, stimulating lymph flow and boosting immunity, relaxing overused or tight muscles, increasing joint mobility and range of motion, reducing recovery time after strenuous workouts or surgery, and relieving back pain and migraines, just to name a few.

According to Patrick Wroblewski, a Boulder, Colorado-based structural integration practitioner, “Good posture is a dynamic, working awareness of how gravity is coming down through the body.” In other words, just as the body moves and changes throughout the day, so should posture.

Proper posture means the body is aligned so that all the muscles work as they were designed to. On the other hand, poor posture leads to inefficient movement, causing the muscles to have to do extra work. For instance, if the head isn’t resting correctly on top of the neck and spine but hovers over the chest instead, the muscles at the back of the neck have to remain contracted to hold the head up.

Wroblewski also recommends movement education, an umbrella term that includes many types of bodywork, such as Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Hellerwork, and Trager Approach. Movement education advocates that one’s body structure and movements can get stuck in habitual, unhealthy patterns. Movement education unwinds the patterns and teaches the body, as well as the mind, anew. This is done through a series of sessions where practitioners may use hands-on manipulation to teach the student different, more efficient ways to move, sit, stand, reach, bend, lift and walk. Ultimately, this balances the body and allows energy to move freely.

Movement education techniques may be especially beneficial for people suffering from chronic difficulties, but also for anyone trying to achieve higher levels of physical and mental wellness.

Eat a Complexion-Conscious Diet Foods rich in beta-carotene — such as spinach, apricots, peaches, sweet potatoes, and carrots — provide the raw materials for the body to produce vitamin A, essential for cell growth. Citrus, tomatoes, and berries contain vitamin C needed for collagen production, and protein-rich foods such as lean red meat, chicken, and fish are also necessary for healthy collagen. Avocados, nuts, and whole grains contain high concentrations of vitamin E, which has been shown to protect the skin against pollutants.

A balanced diet of whole grains, protein, and fresh vegetables and fruits provides the body with what it needs to grow strong, clear skin.

Maintain a Regular Exercise Routine Exercise promotes circulation as well as healthy perspiration. Skin cells need adequate circulation to reproduce, and perspiring helps the skin eliminate waste and flushes the skin and body of toxins. Of course, regular exercise is an important part of a general health routine, and our skin reaps the benefits. The American Heart Association recommends 30-60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, or cycling several times a week.

Avoid Cigarette Smoke Smoking causes premature aging by robbing the cells of life-giving oxygen. Smoking triples the risk of squamous cell skin cancer, and being around smokers can produce the same effects. Also, the habitual act of drawing on a cigarette puckers the lips, producing wrinkles around the mouth. There’s no getting around it: Smoking hastens aging for the face and body.

Drink Tea We’ve heard about the battle between bad free radicals, which damage cells, and good antioxidants, which neutralize them. Green tea has long been known as a potent source of antioxidants. While black tea also contains antioxidants, an even better choice is red tea or rooibos. A caffeine-free herb from South Africa, rooibos contains an even heftier dose of antioxidants than green tea. Possessing a rich, brewed flavor, red tea also has been shown to balance blood-sugar levels and nourish the liver — both essential for healthy skin.

• Genetics. The genes that control the stress response keep most people on a fairly even keel, only occasionally priming the body for fight or flight. Overactive or underactive stress responses may stem from slight differences in these genes.
• Life experiences. Strong stress reactions sometimes can be traced to early environmental factors. People who were exposed to extremely stressful events as children, such as neglect or abuse, tend to be particularly vulnerable to stress as adults.

You may have some friends who seem laid-back about almost everything and others who react strongly at the slightest stress. Most reactions to life stressors fall somewhere between those extremes.

Learning to React to Life Stressors in a Healthy Way Stressful events are a fact of life. And you may not be able to change your current situation.

But you can take steps to manage the impact these events have on you. You can learn to identify what stresses you out, how to take control of some stress-inducing circumstances, and how to take care of yourself physically and emotionally in the face of stressful situations.

Stress management strategies may include:

• Exercise
• Relaxation techniques
• Fostering healthy friendships
• Getting plenty of sleep
• Professional counseling or psychotherapy

And don’t forget feet and hands. The feet, hidden by socks and boots all winter long, often go neglected this time of year and need attention, but the most obvious casualties of winter are the hands. Exposed to the elements and the subject of frequent hand-washing during the cold and flu season, hands can turn to rawhide just as holiday parties go into full swing — not an elegant look for holding onto a champagne flute. You can treat hands and feet to regular spa treatments to exfoliate dead skin cells, and paraffin treatments to replenish and moisturize.