head and shoulders

Another torture...er, uh...exercise that I do

involves me  being strapped into a belt attached to a line that's attached to those block weights that clang if you don't  have great control.

I take three big steps to one side then have to take the same number of steps to get back to my original position. Dr. Joe called them Big-Girl-Steps. He said if you take three big girl steps out you have to take the same number of steps to get back.

I hate that exercise.

It hurts me in places.

THAT'S the exercise I'll have to work on the hardest.

I may not like it but I'll get good at it.



When I was on the rocker board yesterday Dr. Joe told me I had a look on my face like I was surprised that I could actually do it.

"I'll take care of my head" I snapped defensively.

He said,

"Well could you take care of your shoulders too? They're tense and it's throwing you off balance."

I shook off the tension.

Stood up tall

and felt better.



My head?

Well, I guess I am surprised that I can do certain things.

If my confidence is lacking it's because I am not used to accomplishing things that involve my body being strong.

Confidence comes from doing.

Good thing I'm a doer.



*Lisa's Video Pick of the Day*

Gelatin, check.

Sugar, check.

Root vegetables, could use some more of those in my life.

Raw dairy, so very check.

Orange juice without pulp, check.

Pastured eggs, check.

Coconut oil, have it but don't use it enough.

And bamboo shoots? Must get some!

Coffee, on work days and only before 3pm.

click here or click below

Laughing Thru Pain

"Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions 

that can impact your body 

by bringing more stress 

into your system 

and decreasing your immunity. 

In contrast, 

positive thoughts actually release neuropeptides 

that help fight stress 

and potentially more-serious illnesses....

...Laughter may ease pain 

by causing the body

to produce its own natural painkillers. 

Laughter may also break the pain-spasm cycle 

common to some muscle disorders."

-  Mayo Clinic: Stress relief from laughter

When physical therapy was over today, I turned to Dr. Joe and asked, "Is that it?"

He said, "Haven't you had enough self-punishment for one day?"

I laughed. 

He gets me.

I may be his only patient that asks to do more than what's required of me.

We did all kinds of new scary things today.

I balanced on a rocker board.

I balanced to and fro 

then back and forth

doing 16 reps each way.

I was only required to do 15.

I did one extra just to show

Dr. Joe I was determined.

He already knew I was determined.

I stepped forward on one leg

with bended knee

onto a big blue cushy surface-y square.

Balancing in that position was hard enough,

but there was an added element.

I had to throw a giant yellow medicine ball

at a springboard and catch it 20 times

for each leg.

Dr. Joe held his arm out for support.

I wouldn't take it. I wanted to balance on my own.

I also did the recumbent stepper

and two directions of leg press.

Dr. Joe always hovers near me with his

student intern in tow.

They talk about TV and pop culture

(We both like The Office, Louie, 

True Blood, and edgy comedy).

He involves me and tells me funny stories.

He makes me laugh.

At one point he even asked me,

"Isn't it easier when I'm distracting you?"

Yep.

Much easier.

Even better when I'm laughing.

When I was on my third set of one of my leg presses he was doing a great job of making me laugh by repeating some German comedian's jokes from Twitter. I heard Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory come on the radio in the background. Gaga and that particular song are a source of strength for me. 

I almost told Dr. Joe to let me listen to the song so I could get through my reps,

but his stories were getting me through with a lot less pain than if he'd left me alone on the machine listening to music. 

The laughter made the pain better.

It was like my brain couldn't register the pain and the funny simultaneously. Focusing on the funny forced my brain to register less pain.

Why is there no laughter therapy in hospitals and nursing homes? 

Maybe if we could bill insurance for it or big pharma could profit from it...

like at the end of Monsters, Inc.

we'd have much less suffering in the world.

Imagine if I had some humorless drill sergeant-type yelling at me to push through the pain? I'd be suffering more.

I lucked out with Dr. Joe.

I hit the power ball.

*Lisa's Video Pick of the Day*

Whoa, you can manually pump a muscle to give it nutrients? I have so much to learn. I'm going to ask Dr. Joe to pump my psoas lol.

Now that I see Josh doing it, I see that Dr. Joe does something similar.

Similar but not nearly the same.

click here or click below

Toddling

Has anyone seen this Fwd? (click here)

A friend sent it to me

(and other of his ladyfriends)

thinking I'd find it funny.

I didn't.

It triggered me so badly

I cried every time I thought

about it for the rest of the day.

I've been wanting to blog about it

but every time I  start to

I think I'm overreacting

for being so god-awful insulted.

Maybe it is funny

and I'm just too sensitive in my

snapping turtle.

I need to let my ego settle before I

say anything more about it.

Just know, it's been weighing

heavily on my mind.



So for now, rather than be a snarky

humorless douche,

I'm going to talk about

being a toddler again...



I can't believe I have to learn to walk again.

My feet are so weak, Dr. Joe had to teach me

exercises to strengthen my arches.

We call them TV exercises.

I have to do them

while I sit and watch TV at night

(or sit anywhere for that matter).

They're really difficult.

It took me a few tries to get the

"form" just right.



When you have weakness in certain

body parts they're hard to control.



He didn't intend to give me those exercises.

We started with me at the barre

attempting to relevet (these are ballet terms.

Dr. Joe uses actual physiological terms).

I could hardly rise up on my toes.

I told him that I knew he couldn't see

my feet through the sneakers but

that I swore I was actually doing

the rises.



He told me to stop.

There was no point in doing an exercise

that I couldn't do effectively.

That's when he showed me the arch curls.

When I got up to walk afterward,

my arches were

burning from the new attention.

I walked back to the work table

like I had stepped in something icky.



Whenever he sees me in discomfort

he checks up to make sure it's

productive discomfort.

Soreness for soreness' sake

is not a mark of achievement.

Some pain is ok

as long as it's constructive.



I deeply, deeply appreciate that he works this way.

He works me hard but smart.

The smartness makes me willing

to work through the pain.



He sent me home with stretchy bands

with which to do my TV exercises.



I'll be watching my Joshua McKinley

and stretchy-banding my feet and lower

legs back into some sort of shape

tonight.



Talk about square one.

I'm a toddler again.

Well, I worked my way up from

toddling to running

once before.

No reason I can't do it again,

right?



*Lisa's Video Pick of the Day*

Josh Rubin is not a fan of cardio

for people like me.

Did I watch this one already?

Well, until I understand "catabolic"

and "anaerobic" I guess

I should watch it again.

click here or click below