September 2011 – We Only Get One Chance

SITTING AND SITTING AND SITTING…

I am not sure how this is happening… I have been out in practice for over 6 years talking to people about the challenges that sitting all day has on our health. Our culture tends towards jobs that are done in a seated position for long hours everyday…sometimes 8 or more hours…plus an hour drive to and from work. It is one of the most unhealthy and stressful positions for the body to be in. So right now, I have been sitting for almost 4 hours. I have taken three 5 minute breaks to walk around and move. I have another at least 21 hours to go over the next 3 days. I am not sure how this is going to work out.

When I look back to my days of being a doctorate student, we had 35 hours of mandatory attendance

(35 hours of mostly sitting) classroom work and another 15-30 hours of studying (mostly sitting as well) per week. Since graduation and now being in practice, I sit for a maximum amount of 20 minute periods at a time and usually more like 3-5 minutes. So my question is how am I at the chiropractic college and being required to sit for hours and hours and hours when this is the very place I learned how stressful sitting is on the spine and nerve system? Seems there should be some sort of a walking class, or standing desks or something here.

Thank goodness (insert sarcastic tone here) that I learned to sit long hours when I first started elementary school, and kept doing it for 12 years through school and another 10 years in college. Looking back, I have had enough training to know how to do this, however because I have so much more awareness about the body, bio mechanics and health, this is incredibly difficult. You may think that sitting stress has to do with just the low back…but sit long enough and it will effect the upper back, the neck, circulation and nerve supply to the glutes and lower extremities…and all kinds of other things. I understand why elementary classrooms are designed with seats and desks and requirements to stay in them for organization, but maybe…just maybe this is where all of our health problems start.

Our bodies were meant to move, they are designed that way and are happier when doing so. I am grateful that my classes are full of chiropractors and that I can get adjusted frequently when I am here. I also know that I was going to be needing some serious exercise to counter-act some of this stress which I have planned for and will make a priority.

Are you sitting all day? Are you taking actions to counteract those daily stresses? Switching jobs is a much bigger challenge than counter-acting the effects of that sitting job and long drive have on your spine and health…do yourself a favor and take this information into account when looking for after work activities. We only get one chance.

ATLANTA, GA

I am on my way to Atlanta, GA. It seems like a long time since I have spent any real time there. It is another home for me. I spent a few years in school there and am still quite connected with the LIFE Chiropractic College and many people that are involved at the school. One thing about Atlanta, I love the diversity. Have you been to Atlanta?

At one point I heard that 75% of the people that are in Atlanta are transplanted…mostly from the north. That makes for the city having an interesting personality of a northern feel with southern hospitality. This small town of Fenton is incredibly non-diverse…what would be the correct word for that? Homogeneous? I don’t know…but I know you get the point. When I moved home I was shocked at how far I had to drive for any culture…and not to mention cuisine. I tend to steer away from “American” food and do not care much for Italian either. I had to drive 30-45 minutes to get things like Thai, Sushi, Indian and Ethiopian food. Things are improving slowly but surely but I love being in Atlanta where you can find all kinds of fun food on every corner.

I lived in Atlanta at a really special time in my life. I began chiropractic college and was making the greatest life-long friends and learning and growing so much as a student, but more importantly as a person. It was a time when I began to focus inward and really look at what makes me me and how I got that way. With this amazing group of friends, we spent a lot of time in introspection. Seems we were all digging for answers to the same questions…What is life really all about? Why am I here? What is my purpose? How can I live in a peaceful way? How can I serve others? What do I want to manifest in my life? How can I become more healthy and whole? …and the late night conversations filled with philosophy, connection and laughter are really precious memories for me.

Atlanta was home of the first Cafe of LIFE office I had ever been to. Cafe of LIFE is not a franchise, it is more a concept of shifting chiropractic away from a medical setting. The day I walked into that Cafe, and the first adjustment I received from the chiropractor, changed my life forever. It was a pivotal moment that I will share the specifics of in a later blog in case you haven’t heard the story. My path to some deep core healing began in Atlanta, and entering the Cafe of LIFE that day was a catalyst for that.

So when I get back there, I become really nostalgic. All the sights and sounds and smells and feels take me back to a really sweet transitioning point in my life…and also the point when I learned what it means to SERVE. I will spend the weekend in seminar and reigniting my internal flame with laughter and community and the enjoyment of being back on the campus and in a place that taught me so much about me. Have an amazing weekend everyone!!!

I REMEMBER…

I remember this feeling. I am in a new house and a new bed and I have yet to move the rest of my furniture into the new place. Over the past couple days I have had some upper back stiffness and I feel really hunched over and locked up. I am sitting at my desk at my office Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic and trying to remember when I felt this last…and then it hit me…it was prior to the purchase of my Sleep Number bed.

I remember waking up for years feeling like I got hit by a truck while I was sleeping. I was (and am) working out, drinking lots of water, stretching and doing yoga on a continual basis and at that age (and this age), there is no way my body should have felt (and currently feel) like that. (I am not trying to be a commercial for Sleep Number by telling you all this.) I purchased my bed 2 years ago after stopping in a store on a recommendation of another chiropractor. Everything they were telling me was making sense and when I got it home and tried it for myself, I was really, really impressed and amazed with my ability to rest and feel rested in the morning. It is one of those things that after sleeping on it for so long, I had forgotten the difference…until the past 2.5 weeks.

The biggest challenge I have now is that my Sleep Number bed I have at home is a queen and my new master bedroom has a king and requires a king…so I am going to have to go and purchase a king Sleep Number in the very near future. People that come in and get adjusted at my chiropractic office ask me all the time what bed I recommend. I always give them my personal experience because what else can i possibly talk about besides what I have done myself.

We spend a third of our lives in bed and it is important to make an investment in the quality of sleep we get. How can we possibly move through our days and do what we need to do feeling like we got hit by a truck sometime during the night? Just for the record, there are many really good quality beds on the market. Everyone is slightly different and our bodies have different requirements when it comes to relaxation and sleep. The best advice I can give on sleep position is to make sure your spine is as neutral as possible…making sure there are no twists, extra stress or sagging occurring…and I am grateful to know what I need to do about this and where to go to return to happy sleeping!!!

LESSONS AND LESSONS AND LESSONS…DO THEY EVER STOP?

Guess what? No the lessons don’t ever stop. What i realize in life is if we don’t listen and learn the lesson the first time around, it is bigger and louder the next time, and bigger and louder the next time. Life is really grand…however I have been in a lot of transition for the past month or so and I am ready to go into coast mode for a bit and have some peace.

Some things I have learned lately…

-be patient

-keep exercising

-allow others into my personal space

-don’t take things personally

-don’t make assumptions

-I love a peaceful life

-sitting for hours starting at a body of water is very relaxing

-family is the greatest

-I am very passionate about assisting mothers in their birth process

-I am back home and can really feel my roots

-my body can function for 39 straight hours without rest

-when I lay down in my bed, let the day go

-even if I don’t feel like doing yoga, go anyways…that feeling will change

-parking my yoga mat in front of a heater really steps up my practice

-I am grateful for how and where I grew up

-saying a heart-felt deep “I’m sorry” is really powerful

-I love my book club

-people make mistakes in life…really BIG ones sometimes…and it is OK in the end

-I love my work work more and more every day

-friendships/relationships come and go

-sometimes it is best to let go, and sometime I need to hold on really tight

-Fenton is often a little too small for me

-I couldn’t live in Fenton without Ethos Yoga Studio so close

-I may give my right big toe to have a Trader Joe’s open in Fenton…and I am pretty sure there are a few that would join me

-I love fall

-I really want to go visit New Orleans again…without tropical storms next time

What have you learned lately?