Love in the out-of-doors

I love, in capital letters, Oak Hill Park: sky and clouds and farmland and prairie grasses waving in the breeze -- plus a hilly one-point-seven-five mile trail through it all.  You can remember things are going to be okay on that trail.  As we speak I hear my Oak Hill favorite -- the red winged blackbird.  Oh, but what about the Queen Anne’s Lace?  And wait, there's the thistle with a purple flower on top that opens like a little milk weed that I just realized today.  Certainly some sage somewhere in time has said Exercise in the big wide Open is the best antidote for anxiety.  Have a wonderful wonderful everyone!

It really was a strawberry moon

It really was a strawberry moon last week.  I was lying on the floor with my legs over a pillow when the clouds parted and I could see that the moon was pink.  It was 4 a.m. and I watched until the sun came up.  Thank you, universe, for the view!

All this transpired because when I went to roll over in the middle of the night some muscle in my neck wouldn’t let me turn.  It was one more issue I had in a week of too much sitting.  Who would think too much sitting could be so hard on the body, but if you don’t stretch the muscles of the hips, those muscles foreshorten and create problems all the way up to the neck.  Pay attention next time you sit all day long.  How is your neck the next morning?

If I’d been in the mood to do much I would’ve needled myself at a few locations on my hands and feet (they really don’t hurt) to open the channel that acts upon the spine and neck.  Sometimes I forget to tell people that acupuncture points on the extremities affect other parts of the body.  But since I felt so limited in motion I instead slid to the floor and propped my legs over pillows. 

If you find yourself in need you can do it too:  Grab a pile of pillows.  Get yourself on the floor.  Make sure the pillows are high and strong enough to completely support your legs, so that you are not holding or exerting yourself in any way.  You have to be able to let your body go.  Then stay in that position a while so that the small muscles that attach around the tailbone can relax.  If they can relax, so can everything else along the spine.  And breathe.  Here’s a selfie from that night.

But enough about me.  How are you?

I understand you

I pulled a muscle in my rump today chasing my cat who was up to no good.  Here I was thinking I’d go for a walk, and instead am hobbling and unable to bend over. Every injury or health issue I sustain is a gift for clients, because from that moment on I completely and totally understand how badly it feels and how urgently they want relief.   So this is what I did. 

Cupping! Yes, the Michael Phelps treatment which is, incidentally, one of the tools of Chinese medicine, has been around thousands of years, and is something all acupuncturists do.  So I situated myself and cupped my gluteus and hamstring muscles.  Not easy!  Next I took the rounded edge of a spoon and scraped the area red.  This is called gua sha and is another very old technique that removes inflammation and toxicity from the tissue. I worry that I am hurting people when I do it, so it was interesting to see it felt fine.  Now I am sitting on ice, and in a little while I’ll insert a few needles to open the meridians and rest the area on a castor oil pack.  Castor oil is a great healing agent and also reduces inflammation.  I guess we’ll see how I do in the morning.  I’ll keep you posted!

Oh ya, I'll take it.

Oak Hill Park on Friday is full of red winged black birds, the ones whose song is like that click clack sound you make to hurry up a horse, mixed with a trill.  They alight on tall breezy weeds you think would topple under the weight.  If just those birds and their sound and the wide-open space at Oak Hill weren’t enough to wipe away some blues, then… oh wow, here comes the sun!  It’s not full-throated yet but…I’ll take it.

Rain notwithstanding, it’s been a good week for acupuncture, and that’s the usual story with acupuncture.  A new client with years of a burning ulcer called to say he was feeling pretty darn good and looking forward to the next session.  Treatments helped others to feel revitalized, be relieved of body aches, keep sinuses clear, and hold anxiety at bay.  My practitioner friends no doubt have similar stories because acupuncture is so effective so much of the time.

I used to give my dad treatments--not that he wanted them, I must be honest! Here’s a picture of him, Bob Hyde, circa 1944. This was probably somewhere in Belgium or France, before or after the Battle of the Bulge, in which he fought.  I’ve never owned a flag, but I hung one up for this weekend.  After I got the bracket in place, when everything in the neighborhood quieted down, I sat and watched it for a bit.  There’s something poignant about a flag moving in the breeze.  

I hope you all have a meaningful memorial day.

The Thread that Connects Us

I was driving on a country road busy with vehicles going too fast for wildlife, when I saw a small dark thing ahead of me, in front of an oncoming truck.  At first I thought it was a dried leaf blowing until I caught sight of little legs flying and realized it was a mouse or a mole, trying to cross the road.  I was transfixed as I watched what seemed likely to happen, when, amazingly, this tiny beast got to the other side.  I was so happy.  Against all speeding, merciless odds, it made it!  Isn’t it funny how little things can make the heart feel big? 

That same day I started a new client who has many physical difficulties.  The experience of being allowed into another person’s life is a privilege that gets my heart every time.  There’s not a single one of us who doesn’t have some anguish, physical or emotional, and that hardship is a thread that connects us all.  The experience of seeing how treatment helped that person reminded me yet again that acupuncture can be a powerful tool for healing.   

So are small but powerful things that we can do ourselves, like breathing and simple movement.

Here’s one:  hum.   Inhale slowly and gently, filling your belly and chest, then exhale s-l-o-w-l-y with a hum.  Find a steady pitch that you can feel at your sternum and hum for as long as your exhale lasts.  This vibrates the thyroid and the thymus gland behind the sternum, and the heart!   When you’re in the car, hum.  And if you’re home, close your eyes while you do this.  Do it for five minutes as often as you can.  See if it makes you happier.  It’s just a little thing, but it can do so much.

Two terrific locations.

I'm happy as a clam to be part of @Nature's Touch Massage and Wellness Center in Medina Ohio and to work with such skilled and knowledgable massage therapists and yoga instructors. Thank you so much to Debbie Kacic for making me a part of such a class act. You can find me and my acupuncture practice there on Wednesdays and Fridays, and experience excellent massage there every day.

The rest of the week I am delighted to still be working at Coveny Chiropractic in the Milltown area of Wooster.  Rachel Coveny is a top notch chiropractor and educator and Wendy Hooley is an excellent massotherapist.  I value my exposure to both of them.

I'm so lucky to be associated with all of these people.  Massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, yoga, qi gong -- there are many ways we can heal from injury and keep ourselves well.