Step one: Establish a need for a better pillow.

Now that I don't spend the majority of my day in an ergonomically maximized cubicle, I need to be more aware of my neck. Massage therapy is hard on the body - it's truly the blue collar job of the healthcare industry - but after a few months I seemed to be taking it especially hard. My neck and shoulders were in constant distress, and no amount of self-massage or chiropractic adjustments could do the trick.

A lot of my clients come to me with tight muscles in their neck. It's a common problem. Much of the cause comes from posture, emotional stress, or just day to day living, but quite a bit of it stems from the physical strain placed on the neck when sleeping. Unfortunately, the way we sleep and the pillows we use are often contrary to what our body needs.

It took some time, but what I had been telling clients about sleep started to ring true to my own situation. Here I was, waking up every morning in pain. Maybe it wasn't me; maybe the real problem was with my pillow.

Step two: Accept that a decent pillow is not a luxury item.

I had never thought about my pillow much, but I should have. My pillow was at least three years old, and it hadn't been great quality to begin with. It was an inexpensive means to a predicable end: I was going to fall asleep every night no matter what, so the quality of my pillow wasn't a big deal, right? Wrong.

Quick: Think about your pillow. How old is it? What is it made of? Does it support your neck? Is there an appreciable difference between sleeping on your pillow and sleeping directly on your mattress?

If you're unsure of what a better pillow would do, try this tonight when you get in bed: roll up a hand towel and place it under your neck for extra support. How do you feel in the morning? Is your neck less sore? Did you sleep better?

Step two point five: Stop sleeping face-down.

Granted, the pillow under the neck trick doesn't work for stomach sleepers. Are you a stomach sleeper? Don't be.

Think about your neck for a moment. It's most comfortable in a neutral position, neither rotated nor bent, right? Think about the position of your body in when you sleep on your stomach. Your neck is stuck in rotation for 6-8 hours at a time! It's no surprise your muscles can be so angry in the morning.

I was a stomach sleeper until last year, after I found myself constantly berated by teachers at massage school. How did I finally break the habit? Training. I'd lie in bed on my side right up until I was about to fall asleep, at which point I'd flip onto my stomach. After a few months I had made myself comfortable enough with lying on my side that I could last the night. Trust me, it's a challenge worth taking.

Step three: Weigh your options.

Now that you've verbalized your problem, it's time to find a solution. Take a look at what's out there. Honestly, there are a ton of pillow types nowadays, so you may have to sift through quite a bit to find what works best for your neck and your budget. The internet has a wealth of information and good deals, but I suggest going to at least one store first to get a feel for your options.

As for me, I wound up spending a good bit of money on a memory foam contour pillow. But it wasn't a splurge, it was an investment in my health. The difference in neck support (and subsequent sleep quality and tension relief) is enormous.

Sleep is supposed to be relaxing, replenishing. If you wake up sore, something's not right. Maybe your best bet for now is to stick with a rolled-up towel for neck support, and put that top quality pillow on your wish list. But even that extra little effort will go a long way to help make your sleep as restful as possible.

Perhaps you've noticed the new little "like" button on this website. That's right, friends, I (that is, the professional side of me) now I have a Facebook presence! So if you're also on Facebook, please "like" me - not only will I keep you up-to-date with new blog entries, but I'll also be offering exclusive deals and discounts just for my Facebook fans.

I'm naturally drawn to kids, although I can't completely explain why. I just like them a lot. If I meet a mother and child, I'll usually spend most of the interaction earning the kid's trust.

Up until mid-way through college, working with kids was the only way I earned money. Babysitter, figure skating instructor, camp counselor, tutor, friend and human jungle gym. Ok, not all of these positions were things to put on a resume, but I wouldn't have traded them for anything. And now that I'm a massage professional, I have even more to offer kids than being a board game partner or swing pusher.

Something I was taught awhile back: You can never compliment a child too much. There's no such thing as unnecessary flattery, telling a child too often that he or she is beautiful or smart or a rockstar. Likewise, what I've learned for myself is that you can't give a child too much caring, physical contact. The more times you hug a kid or hold her hand or pick him up and spin him around, the better.

(And bear with me for a second - I'm going to completely disregard the obvious issue of good touch and bad touch. Assume for the sake of this entry that everything I say refers to welcomed, non-sexual touch.)

The benefits of touch are true for adults, but they're true tenfold for kids. Relaxation, internal balance, and a positive self-image, not to mention the warm and fuzzy feeling that someone cares about you. Kids grow and mature at an insanely fast rate, so supportive care is essential to a good outcome.

Since frequent, caring, touch and massage are important for kids on a general scale, it's easy to imagine the benefits derived from massage for children who do need extra care. This need can come in all sorts of packages: young athletes who need to keep their muscles strong and healthy so that there aren't problems later on. A child who reacts to a stressful environment (at school, at home) with physical tension, resulting in headaches and stomachaches. An active kid who needs to reduce scar tissue after a broken leg or regain range of motion in a sprained ankle. Children who need help managing a lifelong illness or condition such as autism, ADHD, or cancer. The benefits of massage in any of these cases are too great to be overlooked.

When I tell people that I specialize in pediatric massage, it always takes them a moment to understand. I don't think that anyone would ever disagree that massage could be beneficial for children, but it just isn't something they had ever considered. My goal is to change that. I want massages to be a part of every child's (probably very, very busy) schedule, as regular as a haircut and as important as a check-up.

Trigger points: tiny spots on a muscle that can cause an awful lot of pain.

I talk about trigger points all the time. I love trigger points. I don't love having them - and believe me, I've had whole bunch of them - but I love that they exist. They're a simple answer to one of life's most frustrating questions: why am I in pain?

(...and I'm talking about physical pain, obviously.)

What's with the name? Well, a trigger is an event that causes another event. Imagine, if you will, a line of dominos. Pushing over the first domino is the trigger event. Each domino topples over, and the fall of the last domino is the final event. Do these events happen in the same place? No. The final fall might be several feet away from the trigger.

When it comes to the body, trigger points are "hyperirritable spots on the muscle fibers". To put it simply: if you poke a trigger point, it hurts more than it should. And, like the domino metaphor implies, these trigger points can result in pain elsewhere on the body, a spill-over from the main site. This is commonly known as "referred pain".

Take, for example, shoulder pain. It's a common problem, especially among those who sit at a desk for long periods of time. Pain can manifest in multipie places - pain at the rotator cuff, pain at the front of the shoulder, pain at the top of the arm. Common sense would tell you that the pain stems directly from the muscles in that area. Just massage where where it hurts, and the pain will go away. Right?

Wrong. Well, the pain might go away for a while. Massage is great at providing immediate relief. But most of this shoulder pain is actually due to trigger points in the neck. If these points don't get treated, the pain is doomed to return.

The best part about trigger points is that they run on a similar pattern in everybody. Specific trigger points will refer pain in predicable ways. Shoulder pain comes from trigger points at the front of the neck; head pain comes from trigger points at the back of the neck or the jaw. Because these points are mappable (and yes, there are "maps" available), my job as a massage therapist becomes a sort of espionage mission - find the trigger points, attack them, and make them disappear.

As you can imagine, Trigger Point therapy is not a relaxation massage. The best method to get rid of trigger points is with direct compression - pressing (softly) onto the points until they release, which usually takes multiple sessions. It requires the client to be an active participant in the treatment, both in communication during the session and in modifying activities and poor posture habits to keep the trigger points from returning.

No one should have to live in pain, especially when a solution might be as easy as a massage treatment. If you or someone you know could benefit from Trigger Point therapy, don't hesitate to recommend it.

This Saturday, I'll be working at EcoPalooza in NE Portland.

From the website:

What is EcoPalooza?

Ecopalooza is a free summer concert event, taking place on August 7, 2010, at Fernhill Park in Portland, Oregon with the theme of raising environmental awareness and conservation while promoting alternative energy sources.

The solar powered stage by Sustainable Waves is an exciting pollution free power technology that will yield zero energy consumption from the city of Portland. It is an excellent example of using an emerging and viable alternative energy source.

EcoPalooza will also be raising funds for two local non-profits: Minority information Outreach and Friends of Trees.

You can find me in the medical tent with my clinic, Grain Integrative Health. I'll be there from 2pm-6pm giving free chair massages. Free acupuncture will also be available. Hope you can stop by!

I've massaged CEOs. I've massaged children and teens. At my volunteer job, I regularly give massages to the homeless and those who are just starting to take care of themselves.

What's the difference between these populations? As far as I'm concerned, nothing. What matters are just the individual differences between each person - muscle use, stress level, goals for massage. Someone running a 500-person company can hold tension in exactly the same way as someone who doesn't know where her next meal will come from. Pain, adhesions, trigger points: these things don't discriminate based on someone's social status.

I love massage because I'm able to help people regardless of who they are.

Just as I treat everyone equally across jobs and income and life choices, I'm also no longer part of any hierarchy. Sure, I'm a professional. I went to school and trained in massage. But there's no corporate ladder for me to climb or bosses to report to. I work alongside doctors, but I work with them, not under them. We all have different roles to play for our clients and patients (many of whom we share), and each of these roles are important.

I love massage because I have a unique role in people's lives.