Entries by Robert Gardner

Is it good for you?

I see this time and again and everyone and I mean everyone has opinions about what is good for someone and not good. All things in moderation including excess. America is a different place. The mix of cultures, people and food makes for a melting pot that’s never existed. In cultures 300 years ago you […]

Corn Dogs

Years ago I returned home to my wife and her kids were in town. I took a small vacation to Oregon and was nervous about looking through the fridge to see what she’d been feeding them. I put lots of care and attention into food being a cook and foodie for years. It means alot […]

Keeping cool in style

We don’t use central a/c in our home. Let me repeat that as you gasp at our 40th 100F degree in a row. We don’t use central a/c in our home. There are a variety of reasons for this but it really changes how we interact with the outside world and our environment. In working […]

Ma Roller

I was introduced to the Ma roller years ago by a friend in the yoga community. It doesn’t look very exciting, just a wooden dowel with some knobs on it. It is the most effective tool for back pain I’ve found. The Ma roller is a remarkably simply tool that most wouldn’t consider. It’s a […]

Neti pot

A neti pot is a small teapot like tool you use to clean out your nose and lower sinuses. I was introduced to it years ago after reading about their use in yoga for breathing exercises. You fill the neti with a mix of water, sea salt and a little baking soda to soften the […]

Sleep and naps

I rarely get a full weekend off anymore. In the past year I can remember maybe 2 weekends that I had off with no clients and no major work to be taken care of. Working saturdays at the chiropractors office means that saturdays are a full day with clients and a yoga class. Every saturday […]

hospice and gardening

Years ago I found out my uncle had been diagnosed with cancer. I’d just moved away to Pennsylvania to go to massage school and based on his prognosis, I’d just make it home in time to say goodbye. When I finished school I of course bolted home and went to my mothers to see family […]

beans and legumes

Beans are a wonderful food that seems overlooked in the American diet. Not only are they nutritionally dense but also provide ample fiber and diversity to meals. They’re full of vitamins and complex carbohydrates and every study I can find says they should be added to our diet. They’re inexpensive, easy to grow and make […]

Thai Yoga Massage pt. 2

Thai massage has it’s own story. As with any story, the best one wins. The best story is that Dr. Zhivago created traditional Thai massage while he was the Buddha’s doctor. Along with Buddhism, Thai massage spread into Thailand from nothern India. There the work was preserved by monks who used it to aid their […]

Thai Yoga Massage

Living in an area where this bodywork isn’t common I feel it’s necessary to work to educate massage therapists and the public on this healing path. I’ve been a massage therapist for 9 years and worked with Thai Yoga Massage for 7 or so of those years. Even after all this time the work is […]

healing quickly

Healing and working with your body takes time. Once you’ve been injured the time it takes depends on a large number of variables from nature to nurture. In a popular yoga book I read it recommended that someone with severe low back pain work on it maybe for 12 years. Upon reading that I found […]

making change

A client asked me recently to write an article about how to make health changes that will stick. The two main areas this involves usually include diet and exercise. Most of the clients I see wind up discussing their exercise regimens and lifestyles with me. People have a wide range of physical aptitude and activity […]