What's New in 2020

Mindful Movement Fridays

Will be a short and weekly post on what we are up to from what is going on at M.O.A. Living, to what we are pondering on, resources that are worth reading, videos worth watching and on things that can help in the pursuit of an enhance body and mind.

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We would like to express our farewell to Candice Ohrablo, for the 3 years of service with M.O.A. Living Inc., as a Thai Massage Practitioner to a Manual Osteopath. She will taking on Acupuncture for her next studies this coming new year.  Unfortunately, due to conflicting schedules, she will no longer be practicing at M.O.A. Living, as of January 1, 2020. We wish you all the best in your new venture Candice.  

We are in the process of looking for her replacement, as a Manual Osteopath in the next few weeks.  We will keep you posted once we have found the right fit. On that note we will also have new Massage Therapists and Personal Trainers that will be joining us in the following year. 

We have always envisioned a space that enables us to treat the body as effectively as possible to ensure enhanced performance. We hope to polish this method throughout the new year. 

In addition, we have an added service for 2020, we will be implementing direct billing in the next month and would like to invite anyone who would like to sign up. All we need is your policy number and insurance provider to set you up in our system.  We appreciate your patience as we move forward with this new service and would want to make the administrative part of health as minimal on your end. Allowing us to focus on your health and let us handle the rest. 

We wish you all the best for 2020, to epic adventures and memorable experiences. Cheers to all of you that make this life count. 

Keep it Balanced!

Garnet Santicruz

M.O.A. Living Wellness Clinic

Lose the Weight not your money from your Extended Benefits.

Being a trainer for over 15 + years has shown me the pattern of individuals going through a season of indulgence to later go through remorse by losing the pounds for the New Year. I myself gain the weight in the past for the holidays comes with a drink in one hand and a fork on the other. Sharing meals with people and connecting is what we do best during these times. The psychology of overeating presented in a journal placed overeating being equivalent to sex and drugs for the release of dopamine into an area of the Midbrain called the Nucleus Accumbens. The reward signal by food, usually in the form of sugar and carbohydrate, is worth repeating. Dopamine, essentially is the greatest reward when it comes to feeling good about ourselves. The imbalance of gaining the weight comes down to excess of food with not enough movement for the body to burn the energy. A study done in McMaster University in Ontario called HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) showed that 30 second bike sprints for a total of three minutes led to the same muscle cell adaptations as two hours of long, steady bike riding. Basically, the concept of movement can be minimal to help balance an imbalance system due to over indulgence.

Here is our solution:

Invest in time in blocking off at least 30 minutes per week to start in having a movement practice. In can look like this.

1. 30 minute training session followed by 30 minute massage/flexibility session. Your physiotherapy benefits can cover the training portion as long as it is under the care of Physiotherapist. Usually, something that is due to posture related like using a computer can be assisted by training your back and abs.

2. Drinking water with the same amount of alcoholic or sweet beverage to dilute the content. Of course limiting ourselves to 1-2 glasses would be helpful. Often I ask my client if the food they are about to ingest is something they work for? Our ancestors had to work for food and therefore obesity did not exist.

3. Revisit in a month and potentially add another day for training and journal each week to see what can be revised to improve.

4. What is your ‘WHY’? This is important and was eloquently spoken by Simon Sinek. We will continue to pursuit the wrong thing until we have fully committed to what overwrites our impulse to make wrong decisions. Our intentions must be clear to head in the direction with ‘Why’ as our compass. Here’s the video: Why?

Lose the weight and not your benefits. We work hard to have the life we live and letting your extended health care benefits go down the drain is a waste. Let us help you with what you already have to get you started in this journey in wellness. Here’s a link if you need to contact us: Book a Consultation

Thank you for making the time to read this!

Keep it Balanced,

Garnet Santicruz RMT, CPT, CMRP

Massage, Physio and Benefits by Ryan Hayes BSc, RMT

The end of the year is rapidly approaching. If your insurance coverage ends on December 31st it is a good idea to utilize your benefits before they expire and the new year begins. It is always a busy time of year so it is best not to wait until the last minute to book your appointments; you can conveniently schedule your appointments at MOA Living online. Year-end is also a good time to construct an outline of your health goals for 2020. You and your health should be one of your biggest priorities.

This plan doesn't have to be written in stone. However, having a comprehensive understanding of your benefits will allow you to maximize your coverage and optimize your health. At MOA Living there is now a physiotherapist available to help. While osteopathy and massage therapy can moderate, mitigate and mediate, physiotherapy has the capacity of being able to motivate people into the movement.

You are likely already familiar with the DOMP (osteopath), Candice, as well as the two Registered Massage Therapists, Ryan and Garnet. The onsite physiotherapist is available for initial assessment and treatment plan formulation. Garnet, Ryan, and Candice can then able to help you carry out the goals of the treatment plan in the MOA Living studio space. You can perform your physiotherapy exercise plan with hands-on help from your existing manual practitioner.

The body is a finely tuned machine. It doesn't take much to throw that machine out of balance. The body needs regular maintenance to keep it functioning optimally. An asymptomatic body does not mean a fully functioning body: this is why so many people throw out their backs by sneezing, reaching for the shampoo, or bending over to tie their shoes, for example. Take control of your health by actively and regularly coming in for an appointment.

A regular cycle of treatment will move your body from symptomatic to asymptomatic. People often refer to this asymptomatic stage as maintenance. Consider a different term: prevention. Osteopathy, massage therapy, and physiotherapy don't have to be only something you seek out when you are in pain. They should be a part of your healthy living activities such as either going to the gym, practicing yoga or going to spin class.

Feel free to speak with one of the MOA Living practitioners to assist in setting up your health goals plan for 2020. Everybody has a different lifestyle, different coverage, and different interests. It is imperative to tailor a plan for the individual. Why have only one practitioner in your corner when your insurance will allow you four or five? After all, they aren't benefits if you aren't using them.

Benefits of Acupuncture on Depression and Insomnia

By Peter SJ Lee, Registered Acupuncturist 

(Credit Fran_loablog)

Personally, I am more interested in alleviating psychoemotional conditions such as insomnia and depression. Not only are psychological and emotional conditions difficult to treat but also there are limited options available for them in modern medicine. Most of the treatments are through medications and they only alleviate the symptoms, ignoring the root cause of the problem, and inevitably have side effects. Also, each individual requires different types and dosages of medications, hence, making it impossible to treat everyone with one type of treatment. On the other hand, acupuncture does not have a limitation on who can or who cannot receive the treatment and is able to address both root and branches of a problem with minimal chances of side effects.

"Acupuncture can alleviate psychoemotional conditions such as insomnia and depression"

One of the most basic theories of acupuncture and traditional East Asian medicine is that everyone is different. By gathering relevant diagnostic information and with treatment plans tailored for each individual, acupuncture can alleviate psychoemotional conditions such as insomnia and depression.

Most people would acknowledge the importance of sleep. However, not many people realize just how many of the common main complaints come from not getting enough sleep. Insufficient amount of sleep will increase the risks of or directly lead to irritability, headaches, heart diseases, weight gain, poor vision, infection, gastrointestinal conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), depression, diabetes, and cancer. Sleep is extremely important to our overall health. Both the amount and quality of sleep is directly related to the physical and mental health.

In traditional East Asian medicine, insomnia is defined as a condition in which quantity and quality of sleep are decreased consistently for more than a month. Insomnia may be present in the form of one or more of the following: difficulty falling asleep, waking up easily throughout the night (Not from pain or full bladder), early awakening with difficulty going back to sleep, and dream-disturbed sleep. Insomnia may be due to multiple factors including pathogenic heat, overthinking, emotional frustration, and depression.

Nowadays, there are more scientific researches that study the effectiveness of acupuncture. Among many, in a research published in the Shanghai Journal of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, acupuncture was shown to be 90% effective in improving total sleep duration and sleep quality for patients with depression. Acupuncture treatments had similar clinical results and lowered the relapse rates just as much as antidepressants without any side effects. There were two groups; one being acupuncture group and the other being antidepressant medication (Mirtazapine) group. Total effective rate for acupuncture treatment was 90% while that of mirtazapine treatment was 92.5%. However, dizziness, drowsiness, vision changes, weight gain, increased appetite, and constipation were common in the medication group while acupuncture group did not experience any side effects.

In the research, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) was used to measure improvements. Within one month of the treatment, the acupuncture group showed 9.7% improvement and the medication group showed 15.9% improvement in the HAM-D score. Within three months of the treatment, the acupuncture group showed 36.2% improvement while the medication group showed 32.5% improvement.

"acupuncture improves total sleep duration and sleep quality significantly, which in return, reduced the relapse rate for depression and insomnia and improved overall health, both physically and mentally, without any side effects."

For three months, the acupuncture group received treatments every other day while the medication group were given 20 mg of mirtazapine tablets orally once a day. The point prescription for the acupuncture group consisted of primary acupuncture points, which addressed the depression and insomnia, and of secondary acupuncture points, which addressed differential diagnosis of each individual. The primary acupuncture points included a point on the wrist (Shenmen – HT-7), a point on the leg (Sanyinjiao – SP-6), and a point between the eyebrows (Yintang). The secondary acupuncture points, which were added to address the different needs of each individual, included a point on the foot (Taichong – LR-3) and a point on the leg (Yanglingquan – GB-34) if the other symptoms they had were liver related symptoms such as headache, irritability, and rib pain, or a point on the arm (Jianshi – PC-5), and a point on the leg (Zusanli – ST-36) if the other symptoms they had were spleen symptoms such as poor appetite, indigestion, vomiting, nausea, and epigastric or abdominal pain. The acupuncture needles were stimulated every 10 minutes and were retained for 30 minutes.

It was concluded that acupuncture improves total sleep duration and sleep quality significantly, which in return, reduced the relapse rate for depression and insomnia and improved overall health, both physically and mentally, without any side effects.

Another study, a single-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled research, concluded that acupuncture improves sleep and reduces insomnia when compared to sham acupuncture (random needling) and to a medication, estazolam. Acupuncture showed significantly superior results improving total sleep duration and sleep quality just like the previously mentioned research. The acupuncture point prescription in this research included few points on the head (Shenting – GV-24, Sishencong, and Baihui – GV-20), a point on the wrist (Shenmen – HT-7), and a point on the leg (Sanyinjiao – SP-6). The estazolam medication group experienced side effects such as daytime drowsiness.

In another research, acupuncture was shown to increase the bodily serotonin levels and the concentration of gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in cerebrospinal fluid. Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters which regulate cognitive function, mood, sleep, and appetite while GABA is another neurotransmitter which reduces the excitability of the neurons thereby calming them down. In this research, acupuncture was shown to have 93.3% total effective rate in the treatment of insomnia. The point prescription included a point on the head (Shenting – GV-24), a point on the wrist (Shenmen – HT-7), points on the leg (Sanyinjiao – SP-6 and Zusanli – ST-36), a point between the eyebrows (Yintang), and a point behind the ears (Anmian). The needles were retained for 45 minutes each session. Additionally, acupuncture points in the ear (Subcortex and Shenmen) were used with ear seeds (Vaccaria seeds covered with zinc oxide tape) rather than needles and patients were to stimulate them for few minutes each day.

'Acupuncture acts as a guide to lead the body in the right direction to the healthy state because where you are headed is more important than how fast you are moving.'

In conclusion, many modern day scientific researches are done to show the effectiveness of the ancient art of healing. The researches showed that acupuncture successfully increased total sleep duration and quality while decreasing daytime dysfunction and sleepiness with no side effects. As acupuncture is a nature way to treat our body, acupuncture took some time to show the results. For conditions like insomnia and depression, it is highly unlikely that there will be drastic improvements with one treatment. One research was as long as three months. Acupuncture simply cannot alleviate the symptoms as quickly as the medications because acupuncture does not add synthetic hormones into the system or chemically modify the human body. Unless a condition developed overnight, it will not disappear overnight as like how it takes time and effort to change a long-term habit.

Though our body knows how to heal itself, sometimes it is overwhelmed and does not know where to start or which direction to head to. Acupuncture acts as a guide to lead the body in the right direction to the healthy state because where you are headed is more important than how fast you are moving.

Peter SJ Lee is a Registered Acupuncturist and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner at M.O.A. Living Wellness

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References Kelman L, Rains JC (2005). Headache and Sleep: Examination of Sleep Patterns and Complaints in a Large Clinical Sample of Migraineurs. Meier-Ewert HK, Ridker PM, Rifai N, Regan MM, Price NJ (2004). Effects of Sleep Loss on C-reactive protein, an Inflammatory Marker of Cardiovascular Risk. Benedict C, Brooks SJ, O’Daly OG, Almen MS, Morell A (2012). Acute Sleep Deprivation enhances the Brain’s Reponse to Hedonic Food Stimuli: an fMRI Study. Orzel-Gryglewska J (2010). Consequences of Sleep Deprivation. C. A. Everson. (1993). Sustained Sleep Deprivation impairs Host Defense. American Journal of Physiology. Tauseef Ali. James Choe, Ahmed Awab, Theodore L Wagener (2013). Sleep, Immunity, and Inflammation in Gastrointestinal Disorder. World Journal of Gastroenterology. Baglioni C, Battagliese G, Feige B, Spiegelhaldar K (2011). Insomnia as a Predictor of Depression: A Meta-Analytic Evaluation of Longitudinal Epidemiological Studies. Ye GC & Yan H. (2014). Therapeutic Observation of Acupuncture for Depressive Insomnia. Shanghai Journal of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. 55(6) Lin-Peng Wang, Guo, Jing, Cun-Zhi Liu, Jie Zhang, Gui-Ling Wang, Jing-Hong, Yi, Jin-Lian cheng, and R. Musil. Efficacy of Acupuncture for Primary Insomnia: a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. Deutsche Zeitschrift fur Akupunktur 57, No. 4 (2014): 31-32 Wang H, Meng X.H, Zou W. (2014). Curative Effect of Acupuncture Therapy of Regulating Mentality combined with Auricular Point in the Treatment of Insomnia. Journal of Clinical Acupuncture and Moxibustion. 30(7).

What is Movement Kitchen? By Ivan Hui

Movement Kitchen is our take on an emerging way movers all over the world are starting to teach and practice physical expression. This new style of movement is essential for us to fully understand our bodies and reconnect with our natural movement patterns.

Many existing exercise and fitness trends revolve around isolated body parts and a mechanical view of how our muscles operate, without much insight into the other systems that our muscles are connected with. While isolation has its purpose, it fails to train our movements in a way that is natural, functional and useful for everyday.

Movement Kitchen is a way to reawaken our most basic and vital kinetic capabilities. Why? To better function in our day-to-day lives. Movement Kitchen will create benefits to tasks most of us do all the time: laundry, opening a door, going up or down stairs, walking the dog, playing with a kid, picking up a bag of groceries, and so on.

Not only will you move more efficiently, you’ll feel energized and more powerful. And unlike some forms of exercise that leave us feeling battered or worse, actually injured - you’ll notice chronic tension and pain can slowly resolve as your body starts to work again as a complete unit.

Of course, how we train depends on our intention and goals. Someone training for a triathlon has very a different training practice from someone training for martial arts. But everyone can benefit from a baseline of general movement and mobilization. Athletes who train in specific activities arguably need more generalized training to safeguard against injury by balancing out the repetitive motions they’ve been focusing on.

What’s up with the kitchen theme?

Movement is as crucial to human survival as food.

But it goes beyond just getting the daily recommended amount of nutrients. Once you start moving well, things can get pretty interesting. You can start cooking up new and exciting flavours of movement to explore.

We rarely ever want to eat tasteless food simply for the sake of staying alive. In a similar way, many people struggle with going to the gym when they think of exercise as something to drag themselves to do. 30 minutes of treadmill and repetitive machine exercises don’t truly capture the full human experience of what it means to move.

By learning movement in its natural, wholesome form, you’ll be able to create your own expression and add spices and flavours you enjoy. This translates to doing activities you actually like and hopefully some dancing mixed in as well.

With Movement Kitchen, we’ve boiled down some of the most crucial principles of how to move well. We’re inviting you into our kitchen to feel how moving the body can create greater awareness, not just physically but also in the mind and open up new opportunities in your life.

(Shoulder mobility exercise for improving posture and decreasing pain)

Follow us on instagram @moaliving or facebook @moaliving.

Live Better. Keep It Balanced. 

Movement is freedom. Adaptation is life.

(By Candice O.)

Self-defense and combat: an age-old marriage of survival and the need to overcome adversity.

There are times when normal day-to-day activities are limited due to factors such as injury, illness, or an unfavorable environment. In many situations the cause cannot be removed; as such, adaptation is crucial.

I was driven to learn self-defense as I was subject to a hostile environment. A couple of fellows at the office found favor in using foul language and chokeholds to shock and force their demands on the ladies in my department. Complaints and grievances were brushed away by the owner as ‘boyish mischief’ or “that’s the way they are”, or even worse “that’s just how they treat women”. My department endured this for months and the fellows increased the level of insults - becoming fouler each week.

Admittedly, after months of abuse, I lost my temper, I lost control - I kicked one of them in the shin and unleashed an angry tirade of words that lasted an hour. His face was pale and ashen, he beckoned to the ladies behind me for assist - they turned away. When I was done, I sat in my chair. I was dizzy and shaken, I felt hugs and heard applause from the women behind me.

The next morning I packed a box. I was going to be fired. The boss called me into his office. The door shut after me, on the speakerphone was the co-owner - laughing “Candice is 100 pounds dripping wet … no way she can do that… wah ha ha… that’s the best thing I’ve heard all week... ha ha ha!”.

My job was safe, but I was not. I felt malice in the air, but as a matter of principle, I had to stay.

I told my spouse that I needed to learn how to defend myself. Fortunately, my spouse had a teacher in mind that lived in our part of the city who had a similar background to us.

(Photo Credit @pedjasayaret1)

The next week, one bright September morning; I entered the realm of Krav Maga. It was an hour before class and the studio owner Sam met with us; he was soft spoken and sounded weary reclining on the gym sofa. The gym was located below ground. Walking down the vinyl stairs you reach a dimly lit glass paned wall, the smell of oiled leather combined with menthol, and lemon grass is faint but expected. Half the gym was covered in thick vinyl mats marked with well used body-sized indentations. The walls were dotted in multiple posters in multiple languages depicting seminars in Europe and tournaments both old and new.   

Class started shortly afterwards; the students filed into the gym; all the lights came on, Illuminating the bright red and blue boxing ring, the dozen heavy bags and knee bags hidden earlier, along with the loud patterns of the student uniforms. Sam emerged from his office in his own bright yellow uniform and barked his disdain at the tardiness of one of the students, a contrast to the Sam reclining on the couch a moment ago.

Sitting at the edge of the class I realized I could not move. Sam sat next to me “Are you scared” while he put little gloves on my hands. I nodded. “Come, stand, hit me as hard as you want - you will go down - get up and hit me again”. I swung and felt my centre, my body, being pulled down to the ground... it didn’t hurt. I got up and attacked over and over…each a little more harder than last. I was thrown to perhaps every corner of the gym, I simply got up and attacked again… moments later, the lesson was over.

The next Monday I excitedly mentioned to one of the ladies in my department that I was taking self-defense class and how great I felt. To my horror, word reached everyone in the company in a matter of hours. Surprisingly the fellows did not step foot in the office that week. If they did, they were polite and used civil language. That year I was made to sit at the boss' table during the annual year-end party while they bragged to their friends about this tiny female that beat up “that guy”. At that same party I had to use my new techniques to break up brawls and neutralize situations between drunken staff members.  

It has been 6 years that I have been training with Sam and also the most challenging, terrifying and fascinating 6 years, which more than likely moulded my healthcare practice today:

(Photo Credit: Tacofleur)

• Control is the first step, strength is the last:

Dealing with confrontation results in the instinctual reaction of fight or flight. The best case scenario is to shut down the confrontation by departing it immediately. However, retreat is not always an option. Control is the most important skill you can learn in any martial art as there are a few outcomes from a fight: you win, you lose, you could die, you could be severely injured, or you could be prosecuted for the injury or death of your attacker. Once you have gained control of an attack, it can be guided and subdued without damage to the attacker and the defender.

In Krav Maga every defense is at the same time an equal counter-attack.

For my practice, control is key: an injured joint, or muscle, is undergoing a state of instability from damage to a connected part. By carefully stabilizing the connected part, the joint, or muscle  will be able to function as it should.

• Knowing anatomy can only benefit your training and improve your outcome.

The body was designed to move and function in a specific way with multiple interconnected parts (each with their own range movement and capacity). If for example a joint is forcefully moved beyond its maximum there is a natural reflex that creates a lock to prevent breakage. One of the reflexes includes moving the entire body around the joint to prevent damage.

In Krav Maga, knowing the limitations of each joint can allow the defender to move the attacker using the joint's natural reflex.

This became a goal that I have pursued for a few years with anatomy studies and Osteopathy leading to hands on flexibility case studies in the gym, leading to a discovery of using the same knowledge to help flexibility problems and training injuries.

For my patients, knowing the limitations of each joint, the correct positioning of each interconnected part (nerves, blood, muscles, connecting parts) along with the knowledge of the movement involved assists with guiding each patient to reach their health goals.

• Multiple enemies may be present, and will attack given the opportunity:

Every year in Krav Maga - there is a test where you street-fight everyone in the class all at once. Each person will attack differently even if they are attack using the same technique. This is due to the difference of power, accuracy, height, stamina, and flexibility in the attacker.

As for my patients, every case is unique; the origin of pain for one patient may be different to the origin of pain for another patient with a similar case of pain. Pain has no boundaries, and can be present in many areas of the body  

Alongside my studies in Krav Maga, I also studied MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing), and Savate (Kickboxing), as my teacher also taught these disciplines. Learning multiple striking and grappling styles allowed me to be exposed hands-on to different methods of movement, maximum joint range of motion, and alternate training styles to better understand my patients.

Keep It Balanced,

Candice Ohrablo

MOA Living Wellness

Candice Ohrablo is a Manual Osteopath; Personal Trainer Specialist in Exercise Therapy and Practitioner of Thai Massage with a special interest for Impact injuries in combat sports. She is currently practicing at M.O.A. Living in Toronto. To schedule go on the "Book Now" icon for her availabilities.