Re-Boot Camp for the Soul is designed to give you a much needed break from all your stressors in a pristine, beautiful setting in Paradise Valley, Montana.  This 3-day retreat will be the most relaxed you will ever be and a chance to re-assess your life while having fun in the process.  This experience will include everything from fly fishing instruction, my signature water massage & stretching therapies to panning for gold on the banks of the Yellowstone river.  All our activities are designed to get you back in touch with yourself in order to enhance your life going forward. Askdrfrancs.com has the itinerary, prices and dates of this paradigm shifting event.

World's Largest Flower of Life Sculpture

To eat properly in a sea of misinformation is confusing and frustrating for many people.  I believe the no-fat and low-fat scam perpetrated on the American public was classic misinformation.  Usually the 1st ingredient in these no fat products is sugar which turns to fat once ingested.  The fear of fat is based on flawed 70′s science not 2012 science! Sugars and improper carbohydrates such as breads, pastas and other high glycemic foods are the real enemy.  The outdated belief of all calories being created equal is completely misguided.  The quality of the food you eat has everything to do with the finished product (i.e. your cells) which make up you!  Last week on the Fried on Business radio show  (which I’m the voice of Health & Wellness), I was informed by a gastric bypass surgeon that 65 specific diseases are directly attributable to obesity.  That’s just obesity. I think the majority but certainly not all of our maladies are at least, in part, due to what we eat.  Food IS information and when the food is processed, laden with chemicals, microwaved, stripped of essential nutrients and otherwise adulterated, your body getting the equivalent of computer spam.

My favorite computer analogy is Garbage In = Garbage Out.  Flawed data will lead to incorrect conclusions.  Considering our brains are still the greatest computers ever made, why would we give it flawed information?

What happens inside your body?  The sugar stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin in order to move the sugar out of the blood into the tissues.  The sugar drops while the adrenal glands produce adrenaline, a stressor to the body, to keep the sugar levels from going too low.  It becomes a roller coaster ride if sugar is routinely consumed.  Much like the high of a drug which wears off necessitating more, the initial rush of energy wanes and the craving for something sweet returns.  Overconsumption burns out the insulin producing cells in the pancreas while exhausting the adrenal glands which are already overworked from daily stress.

The result?  Diabetes has become a national epidemic. 79 million Americans are pre-diabetic and an estimated 25 million already have it and don’t know it.  The next blog will explain why sugar and starch also makes you fat.  If this isn’t bad enough, sugars also contribute to altered behavior.  High energy manic episodes can be followed by crushing fatigue and depression.  Being irritable and cranky are probably a result of poor dietary choices more than a personality defect.  ADD and ADHD especially in children can be directly related to a sweet tooth.  So before you try out the newest anti-depressant, examine your diet.

• Pain Relief through assisted stretching, massage & bodywork
• Nutritional Healing helping to reverse degenerative disorders
• Weight Loss without extreme exercise or dieting
• Flower Essences for Emotional balancing
• Montana wild-crafted herbal medicines
• AquaStretch Kinetics- Weightless stretching in warm water
• AquaBliss- Therapist assisted weightless stretching, movement & massage
• Active Isolated Stretching classes
• Wild Edible & Medicinal Herb Wilderness Walks

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www.aquabliss.net

www. Askdrfrancs.com

One of the greatest challenges massage therapists face is keeping their own bodies healthy.  Low back issues, foot pain, repetitive use, carpal tunnel and thoracic outlet syndrome, are some of the potential insults to a busy therapist’s body.  Let’s face it, giving massages all day requires a lot of physical effort.  Stretching and strengthening exercises are important to help you withstand the rigors of our profession.  Consequently, I have developed two different therapies to be done in the water addressing these concerns.

AquaBliss is designed to eliminate the strain on your body, while treating your client to a body and mind expanding experience.   Very little physical effort is required, but the effects on your client can be life changing.  My book, AquaBliss: The Zero-Gravity Solution, with instructional DVD, illustrate the method and theory behind it.

The second therapy is called Aqua Stretch Kinetics or A.S.K., developed specifically with the therapist in mind.  Many therapists are so busy working on their clients that they forget to stretch themselves.  A.S.K. takes many of the concepts of Aaron Mattes’ Active Isolated Stretching and transposes them into the water.  A.I.S. has been incredibly effective for me and my clients.  So why not take this technique to another level, getting in the pool and using specific floats to eliminate gravity and then stretch?

Two of the most important concepts in these therapies are weightlessness and warm water.  By eliminating gravity, the body expands measurably, taking pressure off the joints and opening the tissues.  The weightlessness allows the muscles to stretch in a safe and often pain-free manner.   Anyone, from an elite athlete to a geriatric person, can benefit.

In regards to caring for yourself, Aqua Stretch Kinetics has the potential to easily open your body better than anything I have ever experienced.  Many of my clients claim, “It’s easier than Yoga, but the same results.”  I have worked on many people who have been injured practicing yoga.  I think a certain amount of strength and flexibility is important before entering into a yoga regimen.  Bikram Yoga takes place in a room heated to over 100 degrees, which is on the right track but uncomfortably hot.  Instead, immerse yourself in comfortably warm (low 90’s) water, use specific floats and stretch in a zero-gravity environment. The body cooperates in a manner that is startling.  A.S.K., I believe, is the easiest, most efficient, safest and least painful way to stretch ever devised.

My  A.S.K.  DVD shows you all the specific stretches that can be done in the pool or hot tub. Also included on the menu is an extended list of sports and the most important muscles to stretch concerning that sport.  Different pathologies such as low back pain, carpal tunnel and hip pain have their own button on the menu.  Once you become adept with these stretches, you can teach your clients how to use them.  I offer classes in Paradise Valley, Montana in the summer and Miami in the winter.

Dr. Victor Francs  L.M.T., Ph.D.