By Carroll Willis
 I don't know about you but when I go for a massage I expect the massage therapist to use their hands, fingers and maybe even their elbows to loosen my stress-laden muscles. There is nothing more delightful than an experienced pair of hands that helps to expunge all of the bad stuff from my body that causes me to become tense, anxious and, perhaps, a bit unpleasant to be around sometimes.
I still vividly remember a visit with a physical therapist for a problem that I was having with a disk in my neck. The disk was pinching a nerve which was causing pain in my neck, back and arm. A particularly annoying area was near my shoulder above my shoulder blade. As I sat in a massage chair, the therapist used her elbow to dig right into the affected area with a force that caused some serious discomfort. But when I left that morning, the pain was almost gone. Now that was massage!
Recently, I was introduced to the concept of Reiki. I was reading up on the various forms of
massage therapy and, quite frequently, Reiki was listed as a therapeutic option or as part of the curriculum at a massage school. Further reading about Reiki has caused me to question references to Reiki in the same context as massage. In fact, I began to wonder why Reiki was included in references to massage at all. And I'm not the only one.
Massage is generally defined as "the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for therapeutic purposes, healing or relaxation." I would think that "manipulation" is the operative word here. The practice of Reiki takes a quite different approach. Like Shiatsu massage, Reiki seeks to balance "ki" or "life force energy" within the body. The theory, according to ancient Oriental philosophy, is that if this energy is out of balance in the body, or is depleted, then an individual becomes susceptible to physical and emotional ailments. Practitioners of Reiki seek to channel energy into their clients in a manner that corrects imbalances and promotes healing.
However, based on the prescribed methods of practicing Reiki, there is no "manipulation" involved. In fact, in some cases, there is not even actual touch involved in Reiki treatments. That would certainly present a conflict between the generally accepted definition of massage and the practice of Reiki.
Reiki, as practiced today, was developed by Dr. Mikao Usui, a minister and head of a Christian school in Japan. His students had asked him how Jesus healed. Usui did not have the answer but became fixated on discovering how Jesus had cured the ill and infirmed. ( I guess "because he was the Son of God" does not qualify as an acceptable answer.)
Dr. Usui spent years studying in Christian schools, Buddhist monasteries and temples. He found no answer to the healing question until he embarked on a 21 day fast. At the end of the fast he apparently had a revelatory experience that showed him the methods he had sought to understand. He then set about on a healing ministry. Eventually, he shared his knowledge with Dr. Chujiro Hyashi who, in turn shared the knowledge with Mrs. Hawayo Takata who trained 22 Reiki Masters who then shared the knowledge with thousands of others.
Essentially, Reiki transfers energy from the Reiki practitioner to the patient. Actually, Reiki teaches that the patient draws this energy from the practitioner thus giving the patient an active role and ultimate responsibility for their own healing. The energy is then realigned and balanced and harmony is restored in the body.
Though it is not a religion there is a great deal of spirituality at work in Reiki. God or a Universal Life Force is acknowledged and recognized as the source of all life energy. Though there are specific principles involved in Reiki, the actual methods are quite similar to the "laying on of hands" practiced by faith healers of many religious denominations. But "laying on of hands" is not quite the same as "the manipulation of soft tissue" required to be defined as massage.
There are a couple of issues here. First, massage as a stand alone practice, has struggled to be recognized by the medical establishment as a legitimate form of therapy and healing. Under the auspices of physical therapy, massage is readily accepted and practiced to restore muscular function and to assist in the rehabilitative process. However, there is the view by many that massage therapy is somewhat of a "mongrel" healing application with touches of mainstream medicine, alternative medicine, holistic, health, New Age cultism, sexual indulgence and mystical fakery. The simple fact is the "the manipulation of soft tissue" has been proven and is accepted as a healing modality. It is the desire to include any healing avocation that involves touch, or even the close proximity of hand to body, under the heading of massage that creates confusion and causes suspicion.
Scientists and doctors have dismissed Reiki as a placebo that encourages patients to feel better because they are supposed to feel better. Other questions about the motivation of practitioners is the fact that Dr. Usui, the founder of Reiki, determined that there must be an "energy exchange" between Reiki healer and Reiki patient to invest the patient in the healing process. This investment is monetary in most cases and is a core principle of Reiki.
Another problem with Reiki being considered a form of massage is that some states require that practitioners of Reiki be licensed as massage therapists. Many Reiki practitioners dispute this categorization specifically because of the distinction between Reiki and massage as stated in the definitions presented earlier in this article.
So, Reiki has a bit of a schizophrenic personality. On the one hand, courses teaching Reiki are offered in many massage schools. On the other hand, many practitioners themselves don't consider themselves massage therapists. So, far be it from me to try and settle this dispute in one article. Reiki may or may not be a truly effective form of healing. All I know is that I still have difficulty categorizing Reiki as massage. I think there may be some "manipulation" of the definition of massage required to justify the inclusion of Reiki.
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Health
Proven (and ONLY PROVEN!!!) Mens Health Supplements
By panto
 Men! Are you tired? Lost your edge, sense of vitality, your mojo? Does sex feel like work, or maybe it doesn't work out anymore? Is your mood ho-hum? Have you put on a gut even though you don't seem to be eating any more? Well chances are you are experiencing less than ideal levels of testosterone and/or human growth hormone (HGH).
After thinking about this for a while and toying with the idea of obtaining illegal testosterone and/or HGH medications, I decided to have a look on the Internet and see what I could do to raise my levels naturally.
So off I go to Google and tried a few search terms and bang! millions of pages dedicated to the subject. Most of this information of course was from advertisers trying to sell you their product with claims of incredible gains in sex drive, libido, penis size, muscle strength and let me tell you the price of some of these miracle products would break the bank very quickly.
What did I do? I went about getting the ingredients that went into these supplements and research each and every one of them individually. Are there good supplements that provide many of the individual ingredients in one convenient treatment? possibly but many of the products are proprietary and won't give you the the amounts of ingredients which it is made up of and the ones that do, do they use a standardized extract? who knows. Also the all-in-one treatment in most cases do not contain enough of one ingredient to have any positive effect. Luckily along the way I found out the reason you should not inject or take testosterone/HGH supplements. It reduces the ability of your body to produce its own; very bad! In fact the main side effect of supplementing with testosterone is that the testicles stop producing and shrink! yes shrivel up; very bad!
That was back in early 2009, after researching on the Internet via medical journals, university studies, credible anecdotal evidence I came up with a shortlist of around 30 supplements (yes! this was the shortlist) along with effective dosages (that was a feat in itself) I purchased from the Internet and tried various supplements, in many cases I ordered a supplement, and only through further research it was debunked, so I also ended up with a batch of unused useless supplements.
So with further research and trying supplements I ended up with the products listed. I have absolutely no doubt that these supplements will have a positive effect on health, well-being and life. They are either clinically proven, have years of backed up anecdotal evidence and also (very important if you need to watch the dollars a bit) the best value on the Internet. I don't know what else to say except - This stuff works!
The effects you should expect? improvement in sexual function, increased vitality, more muscle, improved health, greater mental agility - basically it will be the best you have felt in years.
Forget endless internet searches and dubious information. I believe this list will benefit any man looking for an increase in energy, increased quality of erections and a healthier more vibrant libido. The results wont be spectacular as claimed on many websites but it IS very noticeable.
The supplements presented here concentrate on: Increasing free testosterone Increasing human growth hormone Increasing blood flow, particularly the genitals
Testosterone
Testosterone, has potential to prevent degenerative conditions. Both men and women can benefit greatly from it. Low testosterone levels in men are responsible for the men's physical and mental decline. Adding testosterone can change the course of male andropause, the male version of women's menopause. Besides being an aphrodisiac, testosterone improves men's emotional state. Depression may be the effects of low testosterone levels. Doctors treat depressed men with antidepressants, which could lower testosterone levels further. Middle age spread is also a result of low testosterone levels. This can lead to increased risk of Type II Diabetes. The benefits of natural supplementation is that testosterone isn't added to the system but rather increases your bodies ability to produce more of it naturally. Whilst there are cases where testosterone should be added to the system, natural methods should be tried. Adding testosterone to your system shuts down the bodies own ability to produce it. Because the testicles produces the main bulk of testosterone, one of the side effects of adding testosterone to the system is shrinking testicles as they shut down production.
Human Growth Hormone
Lack of Human Growth Hormone can lead to a number of health related problems. The level of this hormone decreases and leads to aging and associated ailments. Some symptoms related to the deficiency of human growth hormone is you feel that skin has lost elasticity and has become thinner and drier. You can also notice fine wrinkles especially around the face and eyes. Due to the lack of human growth hormone the energy level in the body is affected and you feel lethargic. Also many bone related problems are created like osteoporosis and rheumatic arthritis etc. Loss of sexual potency is a major problem faced by many men. Fat increases and accumulates around the belly, waist, thighs, hips etc and trying to get rid of this can be a problem, even muscles lose strength and mass. Adding pure growth hormone is the same as described above for testosterone. The bodies ability to produce its own will be compromised, so it is best to stimulate the body to produce more of its own.
Blood Flow
Supplements which increase blood flow will greatly enhance a physical problem with erections. L-arginine (there are some others but L-Arginine is the must have) has been used for erectile dysfunction. Like the drug Viagra, L-arginine enhances the action of nitric oxide, which relaxes muscles surrounding blood vessels supplying the penis. Blood vessels in the penis then dilate, increasing blood flow, which can maintain an erection. Viagra blocks an enzyme called PDE5 which destroys nitric oxide and L-arginine is used to make nitric oxide. In one study, 50 men with erectile dysfunction took either 5 grams of L-arginine per day or a placebo. After six weeks, more men in the L-arginine group had an improvement compared to those taking the placebo.
The only thing I have NOT shown here is protein. This is the number one need to ensure the effectiveness of the supplements listed. You could go for a protein powder but just as effective is to get a decent serving of protein on a daily basis through lean red meat, eggs, poultry etc. The requirement of this cannot be understated, get some protein!!Well this is it. My shortlist of supplements, along with suggested dosages, which should be a staple of any man looking for increased energy, vitality and libido.
Warning!!!: You may find less expensive supplements, but be careful, they should be extracts or standardized for active ingredients. Eg: you can find Tongkat Ali (the most expensive supplement) much cheaper in the form of pure plant ground into capsules, this will be useless, you would need to take 40 or 50 capsules to equate to an extracted version. I have made some notes related to dosage which explains more....
http://www.cheap-health-supplements.com
All the details are here including links to purchase the ACTUAL products I use.
http://www.cheap-health-supplements.com
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