Came across this article the other day - I'm glad that research related to massage therapy is finally making it!

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5173939?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

This Easter Weekend is an exciting one! 

I sail boat race on a regular basis and my team has signed up for a race called the Southern Straits 

The race starts the morning of Friday April 18th 2014 at 10:30am and is planned to be finished sometime between Saturday morning and Saturday night. There are different courses: an inshore course, a short course, a medium course and a long course. I will be sailing in the short course. The course starts in West Vancouver, and from there we sail across the Southern Strait to Entrance Island, back across the Strait to Halibut Bank and then to Point Atkinson. There is no stopping: we sail in the day and night; in the sunshine or rain.

If you're at all interested in following my team, you totally can! There is a program that will be tracking all of the participating boats from the time we start, until the race is done! Click here and click on the link to get to the tracking page. From there you can select to see all the boats participating or you can select single boats or fleets. 

I hope you all have a great weekend.. if you're looking for a laugh or want to kill some time follow Team Silik! 

Jessica

Just recently I've experienced acute neck pain for the first time. I now know how it feels - it sucks. 

Here's the story of how it happened: 
A few friends and I went to watch some MMA fights (which were amazing - there was a KO in under 30 seconds for one fight!), and after the fights, we thought it would be a good idea to try get into the cage and get some photos. (The friends I was with were all involved in some type of martial arts/boxing so this sounded like a great idea.) So we go down to cage level and start talking to some of the people who were involved in the fights. Miraculously my friend and I got into the cage and start play sparring. 

We were probably in the cage for 45-60 seconds; maybe 90 seconds max. We went from play sparring to grappling on the ground. Eventually we were led out of the cage and the night went on. 

The next day I sat in a sailing seminar for 8 hours - with very poor posture. I know - "practice what you preach". Sometimes you just can't get comfortable when you have to sit for long periods of time. I understand that too. 

By Sunday afternoon I could barely move my neck in rotation or side bending (mainly to the left). I thought I could tough it out, but by bedtime my neck was throbbing and it was painful to even just lay down on my back. 

The treatment: 
Monday morning came, and I was able to get a massage, a chiropractic adjustment, and acupuncture - and then I had to work for 6 hours. By Tuesday morning I was 80% better. As the weeks have gone by, I am not 100%, but I'm almost there. 

The Lesson of the story:
Don't trust your friend who you're play sparring with to not "make it real". Always be on your guard and make sure you ground through your centre of gravity. 
Also - don't wait to get help. Because thinking that you can "tough it out" probably isn't the best idea. 

Thank-you alternative medicine!