I just found out that most of my family members over the age of 50 have to deal with GERD - gastroesophageal reflux disease - and they all find it very uncomfortable and not much to be done about it aside from avoiding trigger foods. GERD mainly arises from putting too many of the wrong things in your mouth, so making smart choices now is the best prevention plan.

The sphincter between your esophagus and your stomach is supposed to regulate the flow of food. When it is in top-notch working condition, it lets food into the stomach but not back up. Unless you had a bad burrito or partied too hard last night. However, caffeine, alcohol, fried and fatty foods, tobacco, chocolate (so, you know, basically whatever vice you have, your sphincter gets off on it too) cause the sphincter to relax. Over time, this effect builds up and the sphincter becomes permanently weakened. Then every time you have a trigger food or drink, you will experience stomach acid and bile flowing back up into your esophagus. Eating a large meal and eating just before bed also place pressure on the sphincter and cause it to weaken. I should also mention that citrus and tomato products are known to cause heartburn, but since they have nutritional benefits, I would revert to the moderation rule.

[Ok, I can't find any good pictures that aren't copyrighted, but if you google 'esophageal sphincter' you will see a lot more than you thought you wanted!]

Most often, heartburn, a burning sensation in the chest and abdomen, will be the primary symptom. If you have difficulty swallowing, a lump in the throat, coughing, a dry mouth, or the taste of acid in your mouth, it would be a good idea to see a doctor. Because.....

GERD doesn't just cause discomfort. Acid has a bad reputation for a reason: it burns the s#$t out of things. Cool in science class. Not so cool when it's your esophagus. If you are constantly experiencing heartburn, the stomach acid is burning and damaging your esophagus, making it uncomfortable to swallow and either thinning the wall, or in some cases, burning a whole right through it. You will be in pain. You may bleed. You may begin to develop cancer (not as common. But your doctor will recommend regular endoscopy exams, and it probably won't be a ballgame to have a little camera down your throat on a regular basis).

Initial treatment involves taking antacids, to neutralize the stomach acid. Tums are good, and they'll give you a calcium boost as well. Unfortunately, overuse of these can cause constipation and diarrhea. There are also over-the-counter medications that can either reduce or block acid production. They take longer to be effective, so it is a good idea to take them before a meal if you know that you will be eating trigger foods. Pepcid AC and Prevacid 24 HR are good starting points when shopping for these. If you are experiencing symptoms >2-3 times a week, a doctor will be able to prescibe stronger things for you. Surgery is also an option, but it is not a cure.

If you can, neutralizing your diet will be gentler on your digestive system.

Hands down best blog post I've ever read. Yes, it is yoga-related but aside from the fact that it's a Hindu goddess, the story is something everyone can relate to. Mumford and Sons said it too - "I find strength in pain." It's life's greatest irony! In the long run, the worst things that happened to me are the best because they opened the most doors to welcome in new and better things.

I recently read someone's opinion that when a person gives you a book to read, they are asking you to look into their soul. I think it's the other way around - they are looking into your soul! I'm sure there is really a lot of both going on, depending on the people involved, the circumstances, and the book. Soooo that means that recommending books to read to one another is really an exchange on a whole other level. It's not just about a way to pass the time. It's a way to share the human condition.

Now is a great time to give this a go! Gift giving is rampant, people are off work or school, spending time indoors. Ask your friends for a book; they'll probably ask you for one. Just the other day my friend and I were talking about childhood books and found we shared a secret love for the same random tale...maybe you'll find that friendship goes a lot deeper than you thought...

And to all, a good night!

Smile as much as you gosh darn possibly can! Frowns are expensive for your body - not only do they use more muscles, but they generate stress, negative energy towards others, and then require more energy to reverse all of those things! When I see other people frown, I get more anxious just being around them.

Here's my rule of thumb (and yes, I do actually think before frowning...most of the time;)
How bad is this? Will I still be alive and not even changed that much from now? (Usually this answer is yes!) Then I choose not to frown.

Smile a little smile for me....

That was your crash course in muscles.

Muscles are the larger, fleshier part, red in the diagram. They are responsible for actual movement; this is where the impulse receptors are that lead to the firing and contraction. Muscles can change size, grow and shrink, become stronger or weaker. Tendons attach the muscles to the bones, and are not capable of changes in size. You are born with either shorter or longer tendons, which contributes to your ability to put on muscles mass. If your tendons are taking up the majority of the space, you will not be able to build as big of muscles. If your muscles are taking up most of the space, they have a lot of room to be able to grow. Tendons are 2% elastin, so they have some stretch. They kind of work like a spring during powerful movements. Ligaments are not stretchy at all and you don't want to mess with those guys.

I chose to write about this today because I have some mild tendonitis behind my knee at the moment. Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendon, and is caused by overuse. There isn't much you can do it for it, except give it the standard RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation), and be more careful with your training to help prevent recurrence. Generally, tendonitis is a problem for people who do the same activities over and over. Two of the times I've gotten it were from too much of the same activity too quickly, and with bad form.

You have to listen to your body and know your weaknesses. For me, I've got some foot problems, so I have to be really careful about running distances. My feet place extra strain on my leg muscles, so making the same motion over and over in bad form is going to give me problems. I also need to make sure I warm up my muscles properly if they're going to endure more strain than expected. Each person is different, so tune in to your body, say good morning, and see how you two can work this out.

I also think there's an interesting metaphor here: tendonitis results from doing the same thing too many times, or many times with bad form. I think you would see a similar pattern in communication and human conditions. Just sayin'.

Photo belongs to A.D.A.M Medical Encylopedia

This is the last weekend before Hanukkah, the Winter Solstice, Christmas, and well, I guess there is one more weekend before Kwanzaa but it's close! Let's get out there and celebrate!! Shop, swill, and make merry.

TGIJF
(Thank goodness it's a jolly Friday!)


courtesy of awkward family photos

DIY Counseling

Introduction: I totally support counseling. Finding a safe space to be able to talk without judgment, know your thoughts are contained between you and that person, organize yourself, and just have time to let go, well, everyone could use that. I think my life would be a zillion times calmer and more thoughtful if I could do that every week.

Reality Check: Counseling is resource-intensive. We're always running out of time and money, that's the game of life. I've also heard the argument made that that's what friends are for - helping youout with your problems.

Solution! A Wise Friend of mine told me that she can get to the root of any of her problems by asking herself Why? three times. The rule here is that you have to be willing to ask the hard questions, because Why? #3 will make you face something you don't like about yourself or the life you're building around you. Those things don't typically change over night, so when you start asking the questions, make sure you're ready for a few deep breaths at the end and remind yourself that life is a marathon rollercoaster.

Even now, I wanted to share a real, personal example, and the answers to the hard questions were too embarrassing to put on the internet, where you can never take things back! Here's a loose example to get you started. And don't write about it on the internet :)

I'm upset that Acquaintance and I can't get along.

Why do we fight?
Because I can't be nice to them, they don't deserve it, they aren't nice to me, they will take advantage of me, etc

Why can't I be nice to them?
Because I'm afraid of being a doormat, of not standing up for myself, that nothing will change.

Why am I afraid of being a doormat or if nothing changes?
Because that threatens my self esteem and what others may think of me.

And wahoo, that's not where your self esteem should come from!

Easier said than done, folks.

I will admit that I have spent a decent amount of time ogling this handless headstand [sorry, don't have the copyright! But you'll see a lot of other cool things there too :)], including emailing my yoga teacher, making her demo it on two separate occasions, and declaring that I was watching pure magic, not yoga. In my average bumpkin effort to justify my inability to stand on my head without my hands, I made the argument that some head shapes were at an advantage over others. Which is true! What is also true is that bones are constantly reshaping themselves to acclimate to the usage of the body, so theoretically you could grow yourself a headstand-friendly head. If indeed that is something you wanted, I can't make any promises about the fit of hats or hairdos after construction.

A more practical application of this is strong bones that are not at high risk of fracture...bones are constantly depositing calcium and growing new bones from their insides out. Older calcium is released into the blood stream when the body is calcium deficient. It's an ebb and flow, your bones adjust their calcium reserves to maintain a steady level of calcium in the bloodstream. In this process of taking in new material and letting go of the old, they strengthen, weaken, or shape themselves to help you do what you're doing. Since you probably don't know what a strong femur looks like compared to a weak femur (and neither do I!) I'll use a more easily visible example. Bunions are a fairly common feature on feet, a bony process sticking out next to the big toe. No one is born with these - they grow themselves after some time. Common causes include high heels and flat feet, because both of those impede the foot's ability to balance. The foot is struggling, so the bones decide to do something about it and make life easier.



This is happening in all of your bones, all the time, you just can't see it. Any kind of weight-bearing exercise )running, weight-lifting, push-ups, etc.) will force your bones to make themselves stronger. And then they are less likely to break! Usually this isn't a huge concern until later life, but certainly good to know!

Grrr!!! I heard the most frustrating thing in the news today. It said that schools were going to bring back soda and candy bars to the vending machines because kids weren't buying the milk, juice, and granola bars they put there in order to help fight childhood obesity. WHAT?!? Did someone really think they were helping kids make healthier lifestyle choices by choosing those foods over candy? Milk is cow's juice and not natural for the human body. It is not the worst thing you could put in your body, but it does not readily supply anything your body needs and instead plays a mean trick on your digestive system. Your body stopped producing the enzymes to process milk when you stopped needing to nurse from your mother. It can indeed continue to produce them, but it does not do so regularly and you can start up a nasty digestive problem if you are not prepared. Some people say that milk is a protein source, but it is a fairly negligible amount of protein compared to other things. You are being greatly deceived if you have consumed a bowl of cereal and thought you got enough protein for a meal. In reality, your protein : carbohydrates ratio is way out of whack in that meal and your muscles and brain will be running off the flour and sugar from the cereal instead of the protein they want. There is also a strong campaign that dairy provides calcium, and no one gets enough calcium. Broccoli and spinach provide more calcium than milk, and they don't give you the shits. Not to mention that most milk has its calcium and vitamin D added to it, it's not there naturally. Fruit juice equals sugar sans fiber. Eating a whole piece of fruit is good because you get all that crunchy fiber that helps you digest food at a pace your body can work with. Simply squeezing out the juice maximizes your calorie and sugar intake, and now at a rapid pace! Yes, it's good for vitamin C among other things, but that vitamin C is still present in the whole fruit that actually makes you feel full. All of this is assuming the juice being provided is 100% juice, not a juice cocktail, which are usually cheaper and more common.

Here is the nutritional information for a bottle of apple-banana juice, something I would definitely expect kids to drink. Notice that the serving size is 4 fl oz. This is what a wine pour at a restaurant is supposed to be, and I know we all complain about how tiny those are! In this tiny serving there are several calories, a decent amount of carbs and sugar, negligible amounts of anything else, although I will give credit for plenty of vitamin C. However, aside from the vitamin C, what is this product offering you? Nada.

The last choice being offered, granola bars, is simply an energy spike. It gained its reputation for being healthy because people engaged in long bouts of physical exercise would eat them. Protein takes awhile to be incorporated into the body, so if you have completely run out of energy, you need to eat a combo of protein for later and quick carbohydrates for now. If you are sitting in class and only moving your hand to write things down or pass notes to your neighbor, you don't need the quick carbohydrates, you need an energy source that is slower and more stable so you can pay attention without talking too much in class.

Dear schools, please think about what you are actually doing, not because the "Got Milk?" marketing campaign told you so.

Since I just wrote about control of external things, I have to share this quote! I'm reading The Alchemist, and the alchemist himself says that "anyone who interferes with the Personal Legend of another thing will never discover his own."

Continuing to break down the shoulder girdle...

We have the pectoralis major and minor muscles. Usually they're just referred to as your "pecs" and being that it's hard to isolate the two, that seems pretty reasonable. The pectoralis major is very large and fan-shaped, starting at the inner half of your clavicle, the sternum and the cartilage of the upper six ribs. It's pretty stable. It inserts into a groove on your humerus, so the major functions this muscle plays are in flexion (smaller angle) of your arm, bringing it in toward you, and rotating the arm toward you.




The pectoralis minor is much smaller and triangular-shaped. It sits just underneath the pectoralis major. It contracts in a different direction than the pec major, originating in the third, fourth, and fifth ribs and attaching to the coracoid process of your scapula. As the ribs do not move a lot, the pec minor serves to pull the point of the scapula downward and inward.

These muscles are extremely powerful!! They attach your arms to the front side of your body, so anything that you use your arms to move farther in front of you uses these muscles. Every time you pick up something. Muscles that get a lot of work also need to be stretched, or else they just get tight, painful and useless. Also, these muscles are in a very shortened position for most of the relaxed part of the day, particularly when you are on a computer. So now you REALLY need to stretch them.









There are a few ways you can go about this, and they're all pretty similar, but I suggest mixing it up to hit all the acute differences.

1) Stand in a doorframe and put your arms out at shoulder level. Hold on to the frame and lean forward.

2) Stand at a wall or lay facedown on the ground. Put one arm out either perpendicular to your body, or perpendicular with the elbow bent at a right angle. Then roll yourself away from the arm being stretched so your chest opens.

3) Stand and interlace your hands behind your back. Roll your shoulders back and reach your arms back as far as you can.

Lately I've been seeing the need to control all over the place. There are two types of control - there is control of the self, and control of the world around the self. The first type of control I admire, the second, I actually feel pity for. Bad, unfortunate things happen. It doesn't matter what you do, they will come. So when I see an overarching fear of these events, and absurd amounts of effort to protect oneself from them, I don't understand. All that results from that effort is that you've made yourself tired and unprepared to deal with the bad luck that will inevitably fall upon you. My apologies if this sounds harsh, because in reality I am quite the optimist and believe that bad eventually flows into even-better-than-before. However, I prefer to face my life head-on, and feel confident that I have the toolkit to deal with my challenges, and if I don't have that toolkit now, well than dammit I'm going to have that toolkit by the time this shit is over with! Make yourself feisty. No one messes with you. Set an example - don't go around pointing and poking and placing things where you think they should be so as not to bug you. Remember all that breathing stuff I wrote about, with your chest tall, and the humbleness of a warrior? Yeah, you probably forgot, but maybe now you'll use it.

The Seattle Freeze....being a Seattle native I think I've preferred to semi-deny its existence, but lately everyone seems to be mentioning it and every time I get embarrassed. In case you don't know, the Seattle Freeze is the idea that Seattlites are nice and polite, but have no real interest in actually being a friend or getting to know you. Umm, yeah, I guess I do notice this happen and have been bummed after meeting cool people and they have no interest in keeping the fun times going. Then this morning on the radio they mentioned a statistic that Seattle is one of the top two cities for number of single people. Gee, now I wonder why! So, I made a scientific discovery: Not being Friendly = Less Friends and Less Lovers. Fortunately, it's 100% obvious how to reverse that! Being Friendly - More Friends and More Lovers. [Maybe that doesn't appeal to you, that's ok, maybe you should move to the moon]. Friendliness, genuine friendliness, as in an interest in the other person's wellbeing and how their day is going, will only bring you more happiness. So easy!

Here is a great example of all this social mishmash: After a fun-run, some other people had shake weights, so my friend and I joined in the fun over a couple beers and there was a lot of laughter and shaking and it was really just a pretty fun time. We tried to exchange info with the shake weight owners, and they responded with a "who are you weirdos who want to hang out later" attitude. We never saw them again.

So shake on, Seattle. And other unfriendly people around the world!

Two days ago I attended a workshop about how to give physical adjustments in yoga. I'm not currently training to be a teacher, or any kind of professional in giving them, but as an avid receiver, I thought it would be really interesting to learn about what goes on in giving them. Going into it, I expected the teacher would point out various body parts, and how they can be positioned wrong and what it looks like when they are in proper alignment.

I got a whole lot more than that.

My daily life doesn't really require that I approach people without invitation and in a highly personal manner, so I don't usually think about what goes into that. During yoga practice, most people are in their own personal thoughts, and becoming aware of their body, and there is just a moment going on during the class. When a teacher comes up and touches you, and often it is somewhere you rarely get touched, say your tummy or your hips, we even got to the sternum and the sacrum, there is more than just physical contact going on. You enter someone's personal space, and there can be an exchange of energy there. And it's always different. Of course it's a given that every person is different, and their bodies are different, but I had never fully experienced this. Entering people's personal space has always been an isolated experience for me - when it happens it is not very often and never close together with different people. Throughout this class, I had the oppourtunity to adjust 10-12 different people. Your hands are on their body, they are trusting you, and then vice versa as I was being adjusted by them. The exchange of energy here was huge, and probably one of the best ways to really get to know yourself - what you are currently capable of and where you can go.

While I'm sure not everyone wants to sign up for a yoga workshop, I would definitely suggest opening yourself up to the human experience wherever possible, and seeing where it can take you. Any oppourtunity to get closer to people, in any setting, will reward and strengthen you.

I have been to a couple of short cancer survivorship panels, and the survivors are always very open about their experience. But you know, I don't think any amount of listening will ever get someone to a point where they can understand what a cancer patient is going through. Here is a short, imagery-laden perspective on  getting a cancer diagnosis.

“Cancer Winter”
By Marilyn Hacker

No body stops dreaming it’s twenty-five,

or twelve, or ten, when what is possible’s

a long road poplars curtain against loss, able

to swim the river, hike the culvert, drive

through the open portal, find the gold hive

dripping with liquid sweetness. Risible

fantasy, if, all the while, invisible

entropies block the roads, so you arrive

outside a ruin, where trees bald with blight

wane by a river drained to sluggish mud.

The setting sun looks terribly like blood.

The hovering swarm has nothing to forgive.

Your voice petitions the indifferent night:

“I don’t know how to die yet. Let me live.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Courtesy of The Yale UCL Medical Students Poetry Competition
Excerpted from “Winter Numbers: Poems by Marilyn Hacker” (c) 1994 by Marilyn Hacker. Used with permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

And I found all of this on the NY Times Well Blog.



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