MoJo Wellness Therapies

A massage therapist shared this video on a bodyworker page and it's awesome! Just did it for my wrists.

Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) is where you engage the antagonist muscle first before stretching the muscle you're trying to stretch. Then you hold for two seconds with like two ounces of pressure, reset and repeat for about 8 times. This video was AMAZING, he did a great job explaining everything.

https://youtu.be/2l4v4V4k-oI?is=S2Pu7k1F4lLOg94w

📸: Neil Asher education

The "Fluid Dynamics" of Stress (A 2:00 AM Case Study) 🧠💧

The first picture shows the moment my body hit a wall.

After a few days of a heart cath for my mom and caring for a sick pup, I woke up at 2:00 AM feeling like food was trapped behind my sternum. I checked my ring data and saw the "red" flags: my Resting Heart Rate (RHR) was 15 bpm higher than my baseline.

My first thought? Indigestion. I know better than to reach for an antacid.

The Reality? I was experiencing the physiological cost of high-level stress.

When we are in "survival mode," our body makes two critical shifts:

1️⃣ Digestion hits "pause" as blood flow moves to our muscles and brain. This can also cause constipation.

2️⃣ Heart rate climbs because stress is physically dehydrating, lowering our blood volume.

Instead of reaching for a PPI (which can have systemic side effects with long-term use), I treated the cause, not the symptom. I used electrolytes (that I thought might keep me awake because of the b12 - it didn't) and vagus nerve resets to signal to my body that the "threat" was over.

The result? My heart rate stabilized, the "heartburn" vanished, and I actually got a few more hours of sleep before Shadow was ready for the park. 🐾🥎

In clinical massage and in life: Treat the cause, and the symptoms take care of themselves.

This. A million times, this. It's okay to be concerned about pain... it's what ignites the motivation to do something about it. But a body part that isn't performing its best is just a work in progress. Speak kindly to yourself in all things, and watch your body respond 😃

I was a dummy and failed to get a picture of my father's abdomen before I did the first scar release treatment with the Dolphin Neurostim... But here is a picture after his first treatment on the left, and after his second treatment on the right. An umbilical hernia scar from 1951. Pretty neat!

This is why I test all the way at the top to see where the compression of the nerve begins. Quit chasing the pain and get to the source. In school, massage therapists are taught to avoid an area of the neck as a danger zone... Yet that's where the anterior scalene hangs out. You can work in the area, but you have to practice clinical precision or you can do more harm than good.

The Fake Carpal Tunnel: Why Your Numb Fingers Are Actually a Neck Problem 🖐️⚡️

Do you wake up in the middle of the night with your hand completely "dead" or asleep? Do your fingers tingle, burn, or feel weak when you type on a keyboard, drive a car, or lift your arms above your head?

Most people immediately assume this is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. They buy a rigid wrist brace, take painkillers, or even schedule wrist surgery. But if the symptoms persist, or the numbness affects your entire hand and arm, the true entrapment site might be much higher up. Welcome to the structural blockade of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). Let’s analyze the 3D medical map above to see how bad posture is physically crushing your neurological cables.

[Getty Images: Illustration showing the Brachial Plexus nerve bundle originating in the neck and traveling down the arm to the fingers]

The Anatomy: The Neurological Highway
The Brachial Plexus is a massive, complex bundle of nerves (shown in bright yellow) that originates in your cervical spine (neck). These nerves weave down through a very tight anatomical doorway called the Thoracic Outlet—passing between your Scalene muscles (in your neck), underneath your collarbone, and beneath your Pectoralis Minor (upper chest muscle)—before traveling all the way down to power your fingertips.

The Biomechanics of the Crush
This intricate neurological pathway requires perfect skeletal alignment to remain open and safe. When you slump forward at a computer, your shoulders round heavily inward, and your head drifts forward (Tech Neck).

[Shutterstock: Close-up showing the chest and neck muscles physically shortening and clamping down]

This chronic slouched posture physically shortens and tightens the Scalene muscles in your neck and the Pec Minor in your chest. The anatomical doorway collapses entirely.

The Consequence: The Neurological Chokehold
The tightened muscles act exactly like scissors. They mechanically clamp down on the Brachial Plexus nerve bundle (the glowing red/white pressure points in the image) and compress the major blood vessels traveling to your arm.
Because the nerves are being violently choked at the root, the sensory signals misfire down the entire length of the cable. Your brain interprets this compression in your neck as a tingling, numb, or burning sensation in your fingers (the green arrow). You treat the wrist, but the fire is actually burning in your neck!

How to Break the Cycle

Open the Chest: You must physically stretch the Pectoralis Minor to open the pathway under the collarbone. Use a doorway stretch, keeping your elbow high to target the upper chest fibers.

Release the Scalenes: Gently stretch the side of your neck by tilting your ear to your shoulder to take the muscular pressure off the upper nerve roots.

Strengthen the Mid-Back: You must rebuild the muscles between your shoulder blades (Rhomboids) to permanently pull your shoulders back and keep the Thoracic Outlet wide open.

Stop bracing your wrist if the problem is your posture. Save this for your next anatomy study, and tag a desk worker! 👇