A Lovely Day

                Today I woke up in my normal groggy fashion. It seems that I am no longer quite the morning person. I ate some breakfast, cleaned the house a bit, and stepped outside to enjoy the perfect weather. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. I gave a couple massages in the afternoon. I got to eat my lunch outside on a patio while reading. You can't beat reading outside on a nice day. It made me long for a hammock and a big shade tree. 

              I was also able to pamper my mother a little today. I treated her and myself to pedicures and manicures (I must sadly report I've already chipped my nail polish). My mom is an awesome person who does far too little for herself. We had a great time chatting and enjoying time with each other. 

             So nothing brilliant or earth shattering to post, but I guess I just want to say today was beautiful and I have a great mom.

 

Unplugged

          So it is quite obvious that I don't often post here. One reason being is that I don't feel like I have much to say. The other is that I tend to forget I even have a blog... ahem. So I would like to focus a little on how good it can be to unplug once in a while.
          A trait that has become more and more prevalent in our society is that of always being connected. We are constantly being bombarded with emails, texts, videos, facebook, and so on. I don't consider it a bad thing to be able to stay in contact with friends, or have information easily accessible. However, I think there is a certain amount of damage this influx of stimulus has caused. We have become creatures of instant gratification. We want everything now, right this second as I'm asking for it. We become frustrated when our internet connection is slow, or feel as if the world will end if the network crashes. I admit to feeling this way. However, there was a day a few weeks ago where I forgot my phone at home. At first I kinda freaked. But I just realized the worst that would happen is I'd miss a call and have to call someone back. It really felt nice to not being so easily reached. I felt like I could actually relax a little.
           I'm no doctor or someone with a PhD who can tell you how this constant flow of info affects people's brain waves. But I do know how frustrating it is when a person's cell goes off during a session and they want to answer it. I actually gave a chair massage to someone who spent the whole time texting. I just don't see how it can be good for us to be so bound up in technology. Another side effect I've seen is how people are forgetting how to interact with others. I've seen couples at dinner sitting across the table from each other totally ignoring each other because they are on their phones.
            I'm not anti-technology, not even close. I'm not saying everyone is plugged in 24-7. I actually have several friends who really dislike cellphones or laptops. But I am saying that in general, we can't seem to function without some device or other strapped to our ear. So to anyone who reads this I offer a challenge. Pick ONE day in the next week. Or if that's just not possible (I know job requirements and needing to be able to be reached by family etc), start with one hour. No phone and no computer. Find something else to do with your time. You might just find you enjoy time without updates and tweets.
There is a really beautiful world out there. We should enjoy it a little more.

It has been quite a while since I last posted. Sadly, Christmas is now over. My husband and I had a great time playing games with family and friends. Part of me wishes it had been a white Christmas. There is just something about snow that makes Christmas more magical. The more practical part of my brain was glad it didn't snow. I'm not fond of driving in snow. My dog however LOVES snow. This was her last year after we got a good foot of snow.

So I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Have a safe and wonderful New Years!

Take a deep, slow breath

I continue to find it amazing how underestimated breathing is. It has an incredible impact on one's body, mind, and dare I say spirit. Sometimes all it takes to release stress it taking a few deep breaths. Just breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Actually focus on the feeling of the air entering your body. Feel it fill up your lungs and, if it helps, imagine the yucky stuff of the day, the stress, exiting the body when you blow the air out. People might find this a little too new age or whatever. But what it comes down to is this: breathing is a necessary action for your body. We all know this, but do we really think about it? It's an action that happens without thought. When you are stressed it affects how you breath and thus, intake oxygen. Taking the time to reset your breathing can help the body to release some tension and let you breath more naturally. It also helps to just not think about whatever is stressing you out. Taking a step back and breathing can be the best thing to do at times. It's helpful even when not stressed. It's a good way to just... be.

A Weekend of Blues and Bikes

       This weekend was both the Roots n' Blues and BBQ Festival and also the MS150. So Friday night I got to spend time with my husband listening to fantastic music and eat really good food at Bleu. Railroad Earth was probably my favorite band. We just lounged in Peace Park and enjoyed the night. Saturday Susan (a business partner) and I worked the VIP tent at Roots doing chair massage. Since the VIP tent was right next to one of the stages we were entertained by more great music. The weather was lovely. It rained a few times but never very hard or for very long. I tried really hard to stick around and listen to more wonderful music but by six o'clock I was so worn out. So I was a wuss and went home and vegetated.
        The MS150 was both Saturday and Sunday, but I only worked it today. It is such a fun event to work. People come from all over to bike and raise money to help fight MS. It was pretty slow, which was fine. I got to sit and enjoy the company of therapists I don't see often. Again, the weather was balmy with a nice breeze. So it was a busy but good weekend. I was really looking forward to taking pictures at Roots, but alas I left my SD card at home so my camera was useless... oh well. Maybe next year.

Tensi... what?

           I have begun reading Thomas Myers' articles entitled the Body 3 (or the Body Cubed). It's a facinating look at the structure of the human body. You soon realize that we take so much for granted. He stesses something called "tensegrity".
So what is tenesgrity?

To quote Richard Buckminster Fuller (exerpt from Synergetics, p. 372)
          "The word 'tensegrity' is an invention: a contraction of 'tensional integrity.' Tensegrity describes a structural-relationship principal in which structural shape is guarenteed by the finitely closed, comprehensively continuous, tensional behaviors of the system and not by the discontinuous and exclusively local compressional member behaviors. Tensegrity provides the ability to yield increasingly without ultimately breaking or coming asunder." 

          Again I ask, what does that mean? Think of the structures like the Arch in St. Louis, it is held together souly by the compression of all it's parts. However, it is a moving object. There is the ability to absorb shock- thus preventing it from breaking apart. Now apply that principle to the human structure. We are made up of bones, muscles, and connective tissues. We are able to absorb massive amounts of stress and gravity. Bascially what I'm attempting to say, and how Myers looks at the body is that you cannot separate out the parts. Each part is dependent on the other. If there is undue strain or injury in one area it stands to reason it would affect others.

            We take our bodies for granted. We have forgotten to look at it as a whole structure. Look at the body as more of an arcitectural creation. It makes you appreciate the fact that we can stand up, let alone function.

Leaf One

Today was Labor Day and what a beautiful day it was. I spent the day enjoying the weather and time with my husband. I also spent time playing with my terribly cute dog. The brothers-in-law visited for a while as well.