Get Energized

Feeling sluggish this season? try these all-natural remedies to RECHARGE your life and health.
by Trish Riley www.naturalhealthmag.com

Bodywork
Massage can help improveblood flow, allowing oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to travel more effectively. "We know that massage slows down heart rate, blood pressure, and the production of stress hormones," says Tiffany Field, Ph.D., founder and director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School ofMedicine and author of the forthcoming Complementary and Alternative Therapies (APA Books, 2007). Here are two types that can fortify energy-depleted bodies:

Shiatsu and Acupuncture
Two forms of bodywork that target the Chinese meridian system, or the 12 main channels through which energy circulates in the body, are shiatsu and acupuncture. Meridians are said to relate to major organs, and blockages in them are thought to lead to disease, emotional disorders, and fatigue, says Ted Thomas, a shiatsu therapist in Vancouver, Canada, and member of the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia (aobta.org). With shiatsu, a Japanese therapy, practitioners apply pressure-using hands, thumbs, fingers, and sometimes elbows and knees-to open blocked meridians. Acupuncture, which uses fine needles to target meridians, also fights fatigue. A 2006 Mayo Clinic study found that it significantly reduced fatigue and anxiety in patients with fibromyalgia. Homework:Rub both ears between the thumb and first finger for 20 to 30 seconds for instant energy. "All meridians go through the ears, so rubbing the ears stimulates the whole body," says Kona, Hawaii-based Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., medical director of Fibromyalgia & Fatigue Centers, Inc. A foot rub can have the same effect, he adds.