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Swedish Massage Makes a Great Holiday Gift

Believe it or not, the holidays are here! That means you are probably thinking about purchasing the best gift of all for someone special in your life: a massage gift card! Perhaps you regularly receive massage, and know how wonderful it is, and want to share that. Or maybe someone you care about has had a stressful year, and could really use some rest and relaxation. Whatever the reason, massage is a great gift!

When selecting a massage for someone other than yourself, I would suggest keeping it simple and choosing a Swedish massage. Swedish massage is a classic, and it is what most people think of when they think of massage. It is perfect for someone who has never had a massage before, or who does not get massage very often.

Swedish massage can be light or firm in pressure, and covers the whole body: back, legs, arms, face, head, and neck. At the client’s request, a therapist can focus on a specific area of the body, and customize the massage to the client’s needs. The therapist will undrape each area as they work on it, and redrape the area afterwards, and the massage table is heated, ensuring the client stays nice and cozy! The massage is done with oil, and the strokes are gliding, kneading, friction, tapping, and vibration. The therapist may use some or all of these strokes to release muscle tension and produce a state of relaxation. This is a great introduction to massage!

For someone new to massage, I would suggest a 60 minute Swedish as an ideal amount of time, although longer or shorter sessions are available.

I hope this helps you in selecting massage as a gift this holiday season, and all year! Have a happy holiday!

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A point of view that acknowledges the facts and remains completely neutral
A point of view that degrades our or others’ experience of the situation (e.g., by subtracting personal power and adding blame, resentment, shame, victimization, guilt, etc.)
A point of view that enhances the situation for oneself and/or others (e.g., by spotting opportunity, expressing gratitude, remaining open, etc.)

The purpose of a drama fast is to promote the choice of viewpoints that fall into categories one and three. Every human has the ability to regard whatever life brings us in an inner atmosphere of light – meaning, illumination, weightlessness, and clarity. This isn’t to say we should never experience sadness or anger, but that we can experience these emotions without shutting down or letting them override our power of choice. Experienced in our inner light, negative thoughts and emotions don’t damage us, and the natural impulse of contraction they tend to cause is usually brief and followed by an expansion. Taking a fast from drama is about responsibility (not blame) – owning the way you shape your own experience of life and the effect you have on others. We don’t usually consciously intend to degrade our experiences, but the urge to be dramatic is sometimes so insidious we don’t notice it. It frequently arises when things don’t go the way we want them to (whether it’s simply the flow of our day or the overall socio-politco-environmental trajectory of the planet). While disappointment feels like an energetic slump, turning it into a drama – even if it means we’re the victim – brings a certain dynamism to it and makes it a better story that enrolls us and others. During a drama fast, try to catch yourself falling in this habit and focus your attention instead on being a master of cleanness (stick to the facts, don’t share dirt), focusing on the good, and finding solutions. Though it may not always seem possible, the simplest solution is to just let it go. Letting go of an upset isn’t always a matter of saying, “I’m letting this go,” and then you’re done with it permanently. You must be committed to letting it go. If you notice you’ve picked up the upset again, just purposefully let it go again without analyzing it. It’s not just a benefit to you; it’s actually a valuable community service. Drama is often used to identify unfavorable things about others to either help us feel superior by comparison, or to distract others from noticing our own flaws. But have you noticed that the folks who never engage in drama tend to exude calm and confidence? While one might think that the calm and confidence are a prerequisite to not being dramatic, it’s really a choice anyone can make at any time: “I choose not to degrade my own – or others’ – experiences.” Fasting from drama means changing your inner conversation, noticing when you're indulging in drama, and choosing cleanness again. The same goes for outer conversations. Before you share, you can always ask yourself, is it true? is it necessary? is it kind? And finally, what is my purpose? What can you do when conversing with someone who is “revving up the drama”? If you feel you can’t be in their presence without getting wrapped up in it, you may just have to excuse yourself. While it may feel unsupportive, staying and validating or even feeding their drama won’t really serve them. If you’re up for staying, you can enhance the situation compassionately. Here are some approaches to try:

What happens when you become a neutralizing container for their experience, listening without feeding it?
What happens when you practice being the embodiment of calm clarity?
What happens when you remind them of their power to choose their perspective?
When happens when you gently ask them to give you the facts without any interpretation?
What happens when you simply see them as their highest Self, rising above this story?
What happens when you remind and redirect them to the path they were on before the drama derailed them?

Imagine how the world could change if we practiced this. Let’s all do this for a single day. If you like how it goes, consider devoting another day. Be well, Peter [post_title] => The Drama Fast: A Tough but Rewarding Cleanse [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => the-drama-fast-a-tough-but-rewarding-cleanse [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-10-22 21:45:03 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-10-22 21:45:03 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8371 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8396 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2021-11-19 20:37:18 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-11-19 20:37:18 [post_content] => I believe we need about 364 more celebrations of Thanksgiving in a year, and not because we need more reasons to overeat and watch football. Giving thanks is good for us. Need some proven reasons? Here they are.

It makes you happier. Numerous studies have shown that expressing gratitude, journaling about what we're grateful for, and paying attention to the good things in our lives makes us feel more happy.
It improves your relationships. Being aware of what we’re thankful for makes us more helpful and understanding. People who express gratitude for their partner feel more positively about that person. They also tend to feel more comfortable about expressing relationship concerns (so they can get worked out!).
It increases your self-esteem. A practice of feeling appreciative for our live circumstances tends to make us feel better about ourselves.
It reduces depression and anxiety. Simply taking the time to write about what they were grateful for resulted in lower rates of depression and anxiety in study participants – even 12 weeks later.
It enhances brain function. Gratitude exercises have been shown to cause a lasting activation of a part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex, associated with higher thought and increased sensitivity.
It makes you appear more trustworthy to others. When someone regularly expresses gratitude, others interpret this to indicate they are trustworthy and this strengthens social connections.
It makes you more resilient. When we focus on what we’re thankful for, even during times of hardship, it reinforces feelings of self-trust and helps us to remember the blessings that can’t be lost or taken away.
It expands the spiritual dimension of your life. Gratitude practices tend to strengthen our spiritual connection, probably because they prompt us to listen, look, and feel more deeply. They may attune us to a benevolent higher power that’s looking out for us, give us perspective of the path we’re on, and help us to see the goodness in what seems unfortunate on the surface.
It makes you more generous. When we routinely express gratitude, we’re less self-centered and more giving.
It lowers blood pressure, enhances your sleep, increases your likelihood of exercising, and improves overall health. Don’t put all your eggs in this basket, but regular expressions of gratitude support modest physical health gains.
It diminishes the weight of your burdens. Focusing on what we appreciate has the simultaneous effect of lessening the intensity of whatever we’re struggling with.

Besides whatever special gains a gratitude practice may have, I feel there’s one main reason to do it, and that’s because life is a gift and each of us has the power to choose how we relate to it. Expressing gratitude is an act of cutting through the illusions that tell us otherwise. It’s about fiercely claiming this truth. It’s about claiming your light and shining it brightly. Among many other things, I am grateful for all of you who have supported us. I’m grateful to have this forum to explore topics of depth in health, nature, and spirituality. And I’m grateful to be able to do my work in this way and have a positive impact on others’ lives. Be well, Peter [post_title] => Focus on the Good [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => focus-on-the-good [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-11-23 04:26:07 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-11-23 04:26:07 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8396 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 4 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8337 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2021-08-27 21:17:15 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-08-27 21:17:15 [post_content] => This time last year we were in the midst of the covid crisis, a race crisis, and an intense presidential race. I wrote that a good plan and a strong foundation in your values and purpose would help you feel more stable, clear, and capable of navigating upcoming uncertainty. (And I explained how the Dreambook is an ideal tool for this.) A year later, circumstances are a bit different, but my message hasn’t changed. Even if covid and climate change were gone, uncertainty is always a constant. So, while it’s impossible to know what the next moment will bring, who you are is a variable you can control. The Dreambook began from my and Briana’s desire to create a life organization system that helps people prioritize wellness and personal growth. But as we began writing it, we realized that the system needed to begin with orienting users to their true selves. Your plans will be limited if you don’t know what your starting point is, what kind of potential you have, and what your “soul drives” are. So the book opens with questions designed to illuminate…

who you are
where you are in life
what kind of person you want to be
what’s most important to you
what gives you satisfaction
the gifts, values, and purpose you’re here to share
what growth might look like

Besides filling out this part of the Dreambook, I encourage you to meditate on who you would be if you had no fear, if there were no judgment (from others or yourself), and if you had unlimited grace, strength, patience, vision, wisdom, kindness, and love at your disposal. Who would you be if you let your Highest Self sit in the driver’s seat? Clarify this image of yourself. Write about it. Visualize it. When you remember, and especially in challenging moments, ask yourself, “How would Highest Self behave in this situation?” Embody this essence to the best of your ability. You don’t have to be a saint; just remember and trust in what’s possible for you, and steer gently in that direction. The rest of the Dreambook is about helping you to live as this best version of yourself. Follow the prompts to check in throughout the week and each day. Schedule your life in a way that honors the insights you discovered through the self-awareness processes. Every day is full of opportunities to demonstrate that you ARE your Highest Self. There’s no way to get around the fact that the next moment is always uncertain, but you can reside in the certainty of who you choose to be. This essential work will yield a palpable experience of self-trust that means a tremendous amount in a topsy-turvy world. Be well, Peter [post_title] => You are the Certainty in Uncertain Times [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => you-are-the-certainty-in-uncertain-times [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-08-27 21:39:52 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-08-27 21:39:52 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8337 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) ) [post_count] => 3 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 8371 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2021-10-22 21:45:03 [post_date_gmt] => 2021-10-22 21:45:03 [post_content] => (This is an “oldie but goodie” that went out in the Dragontree newsletter 15 years ago.) Part of The Dragontree’s mission statement is, “To seed our community with centered, peaceful, and healthy people.” For those who wish to actively pursue this goal, one of the most challenging and life-changing assignments is a “drama fast.” We suggest you try it for single day to begin. Our social programming, through family, community, and media, teaches us some useful things – such as how to relate to other people and be productive in the world – and some not so useful things – such as how to generate and spread drama. The world tells us in many ways that there is something to be gained by dramatizing our life circumstances. You can feel the energy in it. So, the idea of a life without the drama might sound boring or even inhuman. But in most cases the dramatization of reality (which often means focusing on conflict) degrades our experiences. The true and rich facts of our lives are rendered into black and white through dramatization. We lose resolution and gain resistance and negative judgment. Perhaps more detrimental than the negative judgement is the way our dramas disempower us by causing us to surrender our vision and power of choice. Our greatest, most fundamental power is to choose our point of view about life. Our lives, no matter how great or tragic by society’s standards, are ultimately only ours to judge. If you’ve ever met a person who is simply imperturbable, who’s able to stay hopeful and positive no matter what, you’ve known someone who fully embraces their power of choice. For any given situation, we can choose a wide range of viewpoints. The situation doesn’t dictate our response. These viewpoints can be distilled to three basic categories:

A point of view that acknowledges the facts and remains completely neutral
A point of view that degrades our or others’ experience of the situation (e.g., by subtracting personal power and adding blame, resentment, shame, victimization, guilt, etc.)
A point of view that enhances the situation for oneself and/or others (e.g., by spotting opportunity, expressing gratitude, remaining open, etc.)

The purpose of a drama fast is to promote the choice of viewpoints that fall into categories one and three. Every human has the ability to regard whatever life brings us in an inner atmosphere of light – meaning, illumination, weightlessness, and clarity. This isn’t to say we should never experience sadness or anger, but that we can experience these emotions without shutting down or letting them override our power of choice. Experienced in our inner light, negative thoughts and emotions don’t damage us, and the natural impulse of contraction they tend to cause is usually brief and followed by an expansion. Taking a fast from drama is about responsibility (not blame) – owning the way you shape your own experience of life and the effect you have on others. We don’t usually consciously intend to degrade our experiences, but the urge to be dramatic is sometimes so insidious we don’t notice it. It frequently arises when things don’t go the way we want them to (whether it’s simply the flow of our day or the overall socio-politco-environmental trajectory of the planet). While disappointment feels like an energetic slump, turning it into a drama – even if it means we’re the victim – brings a certain dynamism to it and makes it a better story that enrolls us and others. During a drama fast, try to catch yourself falling in this habit and focus your attention instead on being a master of cleanness (stick to the facts, don’t share dirt), focusing on the good, and finding solutions. Though it may not always seem possible, the simplest solution is to just let it go. Letting go of an upset isn’t always a matter of saying, “I’m letting this go,” and then you’re done with it permanently. You must be committed to letting it go. If you notice you’ve picked up the upset again, just purposefully let it go again without analyzing it. It’s not just a benefit to you; it’s actually a valuable community service. Drama is often used to identify unfavorable things about others to either help us feel superior by comparison, or to distract others from noticing our own flaws. But have you noticed that the folks who never engage in drama tend to exude calm and confidence? While one might think that the calm and confidence are a prerequisite to not being dramatic, it’s really a choice anyone can make at any time: “I choose not to degrade my own – or others’ – experiences.” Fasting from drama means changing your inner conversation, noticing when you're indulging in drama, and choosing cleanness again. The same goes for outer conversations. Before you share, you can always ask yourself, is it true? is it necessary? is it kind? And finally, what is my purpose? What can you do when conversing with someone who is “revving up the drama”? If you feel you can’t be in their presence without getting wrapped up in it, you may just have to excuse yourself. While it may feel unsupportive, staying and validating or even feeding their drama won’t really serve them. If you’re up for staying, you can enhance the situation compassionately. Here are some approaches to try:

What happens when you become a neutralizing container for their experience, listening without feeding it?
What happens when you practice being the embodiment of calm clarity?
What happens when you remind them of their power to choose their perspective?
When happens when you gently ask them to give you the facts without any interpretation?
What happens when you simply see them as their highest Self, rising above this story?
What happens when you remind and redirect them to the path they were on before the drama derailed them?

Imagine how the world could change if we practiced this. Let’s all do this for a single day. If you like how it goes, consider devoting another day. Be well, Peter [post_title] => The Drama Fast: A Tough but Rewarding Cleanse [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => the-drama-fast-a-tough-but-rewarding-cleanse [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2021-10-22 21:45:03 [post_modified_gmt] => 2021-10-22 21:45:03 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://thedragontree.com/?p=8371 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw [webinar_id] => 0 ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 105 [max_num_pages] => 3 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => 1 [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => 1 [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 52d5accafed1008fae6fbccc6433a7d0 [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) )

You may also be interested in:

The Drama Fast: A Tough but Rewarding Cleanse

Focus on the Good

You are the Certainty in Uncertain Times

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