The joy of H.I.I.T.

I've been leading a class at the YMCA for several months now. Every Tuesday 9:30-10:30 we meditate. I call it a meditation because the workout is so intense you have to focus, block everything out, and get it done. One minute intervals of cardio, plyometrics, or strength training. It feels good to feel alive. I feels great to have the hardest part of your day done and have gotten stronger because of it. Cheers to burpees, planks, squat thrusters, and squat jumps! Keeping me honest.

Room with a view

Every time I listen to this I can pick out the mistakes and also... how much my guitar skills can improve. I guess its good to know where you need improvement.

This song has been haunting my mind this winter. It sounds so amazing with the added in harmonies. My voice has been trained for stronger more aggressive singing so it is more difficult to put forth a subdued delicate sound. When I was making this video I found myself pulling back and when it got delicate it almost brought me to tears. Odd and wonderful how music is such a lovely language.

Also... you can see the blue striped shirt is one of my favorites as in both of my recent videos it is my chosen attire. :-)

Cheers-
H

Acupuncture/Cupping

Last time I had acupuncture it was before Fiona was born. I as needled for  peace, relaxation, well-being, and a smooth labor. (LOL... smooth labor WHAT IS THAT?) Just kidding but labor is called labor for a reason. Okay back to the topic at hand. My recent appointment in healing and being balanced and learning and growing.... expansion.

A patient discussed her acupuncturist and how he discussed working with other practitioners and has almost achieved his doctorate status. She mentioned a few key words that peaked my interest. 1. That he used pulse and tongue diagnosis. This is an aspect of acupuncture that I didn't learn in my 100 hour barely brush the surface clinical elective in chiropractic school. This means this guy is the real deal.. or studying to be so I decided...Let's find out.

So I got his info from her texted him saying.. Hello this is Dr. Kline I'm ____ 's chiropractor. I'd like to find out more of how you practice. Lets do a trade?"

I'm pretty straight forward. No need to beat around. The only way to know a person in the field is to experience their craft. Understand their finesse and experience their bedside manner and knowledge.

Anyway...
Here is a shot of the accupuncture. This was my second visit. The first visit I was face up and had more needles in my arms and lower legs and feet. This was to focus more on the upper back/shoulder dysfunction that has been a companion of mine for the last... year.

 Yes I have a tattoo on my back. Yes it hurt. Not sure if its done. Probably not as I have not stopped living and I will probably have stories to document and maybe it is done. Not sure. ?

Back to the acupuncture. I did 30 min of rest while these little magic needles did their work.

Then... the cupping.

He used calendula oil to create a barrier with the skin and then applied several cups. They are glass and he uses a little plunger to pull air out and it pulls the skin up into the cup. This allows the adhesions in the fascia to break down so the muscles can move smoothly underneath. It also pulls out toxins. It felt like a very deep therapeutic massage. There were only some moments when the pressure in the pull was too much. Similar to having to tell the massage therapist to lighten the pressure.
The process was complete when I had these awesome circular cup marks to show for it... AND my shoulder/upper back has sooo much more mobility than it did. Usually the beginning of the day all was well rage of motion was good as the day went on muscles tightened (Dave enter M.A.T. diagnosis here LOL)
Dr. J says my adjustment is holding much better.

Going forward I have 3 or 4 more weeks of acupuncture/cupping as well as M.A.T., chiropractic, yoga, lymphatic breathing and specific nutrients we have called SHLDR.. (shoulder :-)) formula nourishing the organs and tissue in the area of the shoulder/ribs/thoracic outlet and making sure nutritional deficiency is not the to get this dysfunction finally out of my muscle memory. Perhaps its time to break through that plateau I keep hitting. As of right now I have more range of motion in bringing my shoulder to my left ear than I have in consecutive nights than I have in over a year. Previous to this it would improve for a couple days and then I'd sleep on it or do something and it would tighten back up. Yoga would loosen it during the practice but as the tissue cooled it would tighten. Probably the adhesions or scar tissue or some sort of motor dysfunction causing tightness. It hasn't been from lack of trying and I have made slow progress  .? Anyway I'm presently optimistic that this tightness is on its way out and full ROM is going to be the norm again.

Many cultures use cupping for therapeutic benefits. I had a patient today from The Ukraine and she said they do it at home by using small cups and using a match to create the negative air pull for colds and healing. Don't think I'll be using that on Fiona or Jesse anytime soon but.. for me I'll going to see this through with Mr. (almost Dr.) Greg Golden and hopefully in the few short weeks we can forego the cups and stick to (tehe) the needles. Except for the one in my left ankle that one I didn't like... it was.. angry (which means I probably need it again.)

The question is... in the long run... or the short I don't care does this benefit my being the answer is yes. I do over all feel better. I feel more peaceful, I feel more rooted, I feel more open... balanced. and my chiropractor says she sees a positive benefit in my body holding its structural alignment. IS acupuncture something I would suggest for everyone??? Hmmm. no. but I am new to it. I would suggest chiropractic, nutrition modified for you, massage therapy,  and yoga for everyone! but... acupuncture. Some are afraid of needles. Personally I am more afraid of what dysfunction does to the structure and function of the body. Sometimes that dysfunction has a structural root, a nutritional root, or an emotional root. Body work addresses all three of these components and its an ongoing study as we are always putting (hopefully) our best foot forward.

Stay warm out there-
Dr. Heidi

Wiksten Tank

My second sewing project.

The first was the curtains for our bathroom. I think they turned out great! They have their flaws but the lines are straight. There was some looping in the thread but at the time I didn't know what to do to remedy this so I left it.

I added yellow and grey accents in the form of towels, bath mat, a candle and a print that is now hanging above the towel rod. Sunshine color does a body good.

I spent as much time undoing sewing as I did sewing this project! Seriously. I learned so much about the machine I have and threading and how to use a seam ripper and why all the tools for sewing exist. Like most projects. Having the right tools is key. Also, having well maintained tools is necessary too.

I inherited the machine I am using from my MIL. x0x0x0x0! It had a little cleaning needed. (Which I didn't figure out until the stitches were.... wrong!)

Okay so I'm certain you want to see photos.

I got this fabric from Joann's on sale (always buy sale at Joann's) (they also have a great app with coupons)

So I got this heart fabric because Fiona... and I are super into hearts lately. :-) SO much so that in honor of my little love I got this.

Its a super cute Tiny Heart tattoo. (Enter Photo bomb by Starbucks! LOVE! YUM!)

Okay back to the sewing.

At first I was going to do the neck and arm lining in the accent fabric but I decided to save that fabric for my next project of making something for Fiona.

I purchased the pattern here Wiksten Tank Pattern

It said it was great for a beginner. Other sewists reported they could bust one of these babys out in a couple hours. Well don't think that was how long it took me. This took HOURS and HOURS. (Remember the whole sew and unsew part. YUP.) Learning. Phew.

Pumped to open this new way of being creative. :-)

I can't take a photo of the finished project now because its in my closet and Jesse is sleeping. He was up all night with Fiona. :-( Poor guy. So I'll add this photo to the pre neck and arm finishing. Then I will post a photo of the finished project with me in it later. As you best be knowing I'm going to be wearing that shirt TODAY! :-)

Alright here are the photos of my ensemble today. Love that this tank can layer, dress down or up.

Next project a dress for F.

Geranium Dress

It has more advanced skills but, I've got the motivation and youtube. :-)

As an aside another project Jesse and I worked on together was this canvas for over the fireplace.

We used yellow, grey blue, and white. Piled the paint on and moved it around using our old insurance cards. It has a fun texture and depth to it. I got the idea from west elm here.
west elm art

Okay remember that coffee that was in the background of the earlier photo. Yes.! Well its in the blood stream and I'm all jazzed up. LOL.

Peace out Y'all :-)
Have a lovely day.

Have yourself a Merry LIttle Christmas

Still continuing to practice guitar. What a beautiful song. A little slow in parts next year it will be even better. :-)

When push comes to shove

What an adventure. House hunting, house finding, house inspecting, finance approving, negotiating...phew! How can a person want to sell their house but do nothing to work with the person who wants to buy the house. I'm not sure how I feel about this adventure and what lessons it brings. Most of all I'm disappointed. There is a reason realtors are a part of real estate transactions. There are emotions attached to the structures we call home. Strong emotions. Those of a life lived and those of a life planned. So where do you draw the line? When do you decide to say no. For some it is right away. They know exactly how far they will go (or not go) and they stick to it. Others analyze, weigh it out, make a decision and bit by bit come to a conclusion that feels best. I would say realtors have a hard job. I'm glad to have many realtor friends and have a new respect for what you do. It is a rare occasion when a patient comes into my office and doesn't want to follow the treatment plan but wants to feel better and when that happens... I tell them my office is not a quick fix stop it takes time to heal the tissue and gain rehabilitation from the stress that caused the changes in their body creating inflammation and pain. I help them fit their healing desires into their lifestyle. Sometimes its a compromise. Sometimes they have to go elsewhere to get a more aggressive treatment. Sometimes we do a little of both. Correspondingly when selling a home a seller can set their bar and stick to it. This is the experience we just had. The sellers would not budge on... anything and had unrealistic goals. We finally decided to call time of death when they would not even address safety issues such as radon, lead pain, and minor faulty wiring. Really???
I tried to gain perspective... looking from their point of view. All I could gain was... it was time to move on. We were not the buyers for this home... and that is okay because there will always be another house and I strongly dislike feeling taken advantage of. So... bye bye house may you do well in your future with the current owners because it seems as if they are pretending they want to sell.

When push comes to shove. Get out of the way and let the person shove against themselves and the obstacles they create. Simplify.

OH LA La

I'm sure most can relate to being a care giver and not being able to take the discomfort away from a loved one. I hear this from patients in reference to their parents, partners, and children. This past week was a meditation in just being a companion through a journey of healing. Fiona's body did all the right things... fever, vomiting, swelling, redness. All we could do is be with her. Rock her back to sleep, rub her belly, and give lots and lots of hugs. It was a challenge to keep my fear in check as to what could be the cause. Sometimes because of my training in physiology and biochemistry it is easy to list out all the possibilities and not have the reasoning to rule the obvious far-out-there options due to the fact that it is my daughter who is in discomfort. The pricelessness came in having the skill set to examine her nutrition points and check for her needing an adjustment daily. One day it was her low back that needed adjusted, then her C1 vertebra (common when fighting a virus), and also her upper back. Throughout the week her URT stress point flared up, then her SPL stress point (both are different immune points), then her challenge stress point (constipation due to so much sweating from the virus and some vomiting.). I could watch her body work through fighting. What an amazing feat our bodies go through daily to maintain homeostasis.
Today she is on her second nap (as she requested... she says "bed") and has asked for some solid foods as well as a couple back to back episodes of Daniel Tiger. (We just ordered her a Daniel Tiger T shirt from PBS. I'm sure she will want to wear it EVERY DAY!!!
It is a challenge to be with a loved one who is fighting, healing... as we all are in varying degrees everyday. Sometimes in the office patients get better very quickly... sometimes it takes more time, more diligence, more work... sometimes we can only get so far. What a life lesson. One to be practiced over and over. Enjoy the now. Kiss your children. Open your heart. Be patient. Smile. Breathe.

For my mental health I most often turn to a book titled "Not so Big Life" and read wherever it lands me. Today my take away is.

 One of the most difficult skills to develop is the ability to say no

when you know that's what the situation requires. 

When you listen to what your body and your intuition are telling you

and when you slow down a bit so that you can be more engaged, 

tasks that seemed stultifying when you were overtaxed can reveal

themselves to be of a very different character. They can be stimulating 

and enthralling when you are well rested and in a more peaceful state of mind

and thus in a higher or more open state of being. It's not the task that is the problem;

its the speed at which you are trying to do it and the lack or presence as you engage.

Nothing is worth jeopardizing your health for. Nothing.

-Sarah Susanka

So today... the dishes need done, the tub cleaned out, laundry folded, grass mowed, toys picked up, food supply replenished. However, none of that is going to happen because today we are going to recoup. We need naps, we need snuggles, and we need each other. Family.