Indrani, her parents and brother.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes … remember that exercise set to music? It was popular when I was in grade school and we had to follow the Kennedy program for exercise. For you youngsters, President Kennedy determined that we all needed to be more active in school and developed a plan to get kids more active. We exercised, climbed ropes, played dodgeball — and some of us were good at it and some of us sucked. Nevertheless, we moved and exercised.
I digress. This week I went to see Dr. Ryan Lee at Mind and Body Clinic here in Webster City. I thought I’d have him take a look at my knee that has been bothering me again. Turns out the femur is rotated. The top of the femur should fit into the knee about in the middle, mine has rotated to the side. Which would explain the pain and inability to use it properly. So over the course of the next several weeks, he will do adjustments and I will do exercises to strengthen the muscles and ligaments. Dr. Lee also worked on my middle back (where stress from work sits), my neck (from looking at my cell phone so much), and hips.
Even more interesting was the conversation we had about the connection of the mind and the body. With mom’s death, a busy work schedule and more writing my stress levels are much higher. There is a definite connection with the mind and the body – we discussed stress relief, medication, meditation and more.
My friend Israel Smith is working with his daughter on a fundraising project and shared this link: http://therootcause.com.au/movie It raises funds for Indrani’s project to build schools in Uganda and you get to watch “That Sugar Movie”. I’ve mentioned before about going sugar free, and this movie is pushing me much closer to doing just that. Why not watch the movie tonight and help a 9 year old raise funds for school?
Finally — I’ve been on this wellness path for over a year now. It seems that each day is a struggle, and I’m not getting much of anywhere. After a conversation with a friend, I realize that’s just not true. It took me 40 years to get to this point (adult years) and to learn all the wrong stuff to do to take better care of my health. Now I’m learning the right things to do – and doing them – and Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’ve got to be able to live with the actions I take on this journey, so doing them slowly and finding out what works and what I can stay committed to is vital to my well being.
Dr. Ryan was right — it is mind and body that must work together!