Soul Runnings

I feel like I have been raised from the dead.  Today is exactly two weeks since I injured my low back. I feel like I have been to hell and back.  I am not even usually a drama queen or a whiner. But I am glad to be back. I saw my doctor today. She confirmed my notion that I sprained a back muscle (since she was a PA, she said nothing about subluxating my sacroiliac joint. We will leave that to the chiropractors). Speaking of chiropractors, I had a stellar massage on Wednesday.  Gifted to me by one of my adult piano students.  She had sports massage training and has worked with chiropractors. I cannot say the massage was that enjoyable. But it produced results. In fact, when I was an LMT, I would tell my clients to drink a ton of extra water following their massage. Because deep massage releases toxins into the bloodstream. That is what they taught us in massage school. And I can confirm this after Wednesday.  I felt like I had come down with the ...

In my library office. Still in pain, but alive and kicking! Happy Election Day! I am so glad this will be over soon.  Just like my back pain! I am so glad I voted as soon as I got my ballot. Would not want to be shufflin in to drop it off today! I am still shufflin along. I had a nice hot shower and a good stretching session this morning. And I lost another pound! Always looking for the rainbow in the dark clouds, I am! But today is actually a gorgeous, warm day in Portland. Last time I checked it was 68 degrees! I still have a reduced appetite.  Praise God for that! And I am continuing to take advantage of it. Here is my food plan for today: Breakfast:  10:00 a.m. 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/4 cup pinto beans, 1 fried egg, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, canned peaches, kim chee and peppermint tea. Lunch: 1:00 p.m. I know, it looks kind of disgusting. Those "Pumjabi Vegetables" and one sausage link. Actually quite tasty!  Plus cottage ch...

Still struggling with this back pain I was planning on teaching today, but I am still very stiff and sore. I am hoping one more day on ice does the trick. I realize that at a certain point, bed rest does more harm than good. But I am not at that certain point yet. Some good news. One of my piano student's moms is an LMT. I asked her if I could schedule a massage with her.  She said she is booked, but she purchased a one hour massage for me with one of her co-workers! Now if I can just last until Wednesday, relief is in sight! More good news: My scathingly brilliant plan of taking advantage of my reduced appetite and eating less is paying off  I lost yet another pound overnight! Here is my eating plan for the day: Breakfast: 10:00 a.m- 1/8 cup home fries, 1 piece bacon, 1 Tablespoon kim chee, 1 Tablespoon pickled red onions, tea and V-8 juice. Noon: one glass water Lunch: 4:00 p.m.- 1/2 cup Brown rice, 1/2 cup pinto...

Oh, how I have missed my blog! Unfortunately, I was not off on an exotic vacation. I was mostly on ice. Still dealing with this back pain. But today I woke up feeling a bit better.  The weird thing is that I think I am healed, and I go back to my normal routine and then the next day I can barely move. There are many painful lessons that I am learning during this adventure. First of all, I need to be kinder, gentler and more patient with myself.  You may have noticed I am an all or nothing type. I have been called bipolar, mercurial (kind of like that one!), passionate, flighty....Oh how people do love to label! But that is human nature. I fight labeling, categorizing and judging every step of the way. But I am guilty too. When I started this blog over a year and a half ago, I was focused on daily exercise.   I was also trying to lift myself spiritually. But my focus was exercise. I was determined to stop procrastinating, work out everday, thus whipping my ...

Feeling a bit better today. This is slow progress. I must remember about the getting older thing! I  am traveling slowly. And with an ice pack. I plan on stopping at the gym after my teaching tonight for a hot tub soak.  Tomorrow I hope to go in for some light cardio and stretching. Oh to be able to walk carefree again!  It has been almost a week since I injured my pesky SI joint. I hope never again! I do believe I need to be working harder on my core after this adventure. Doing research. I had a cute moment with two of my young piano students. They are brothers. And it really had nothing to do with piano. Last week I asked them about their costumes for Halloween.  Kids love to talk about their Halloween costumes. And of course the week after Halloween, I always ask how much candy they got. But lately I have been subtly (ok not so subtly!) hinting with all of my students that I love chocolate. And I, an adult piano teacher NEVER get any Halloween candy....

At home all day today.  As a sidenote, the above pics show why I normally do not blog at home. My daughter was having a hoot photobombing me. I cannot remember then last time was that I stayed home all day. The only time I went outside was when I let Honey Dawg out. And I just waited on the deck for her. My back pain is getting slightly better. But after reading about sacroiliac pain, it seems the best remedy is rest and ice. So I have been resting and icing, icing and resting all day long. I may have to stay away from the gym for a few more days.  It kills me, but I need to make sure I do not reinjure. On the plus side, I feel very calm.  And I am getting a lot of housework done. Very slowwwwly. I am resisting the urge to do much stretching. I think that is where I went wrong when I first injured it. I was overstretching in an attempt to "fix it".  In the words of my wise mother, "rest, ice and do not mess with it!" ...

Oy the pain! I think going to the horse races and then handing out candy and helping with the pirate ring toss game at my kids church Halloween carnival was the straw that broke this ol' camel's back! I hurt all over. Especially in my low back.  I remember when I was an LMT many moons ago. My first job was in a chiropractic clinic. Some of the older patients would come in and say "I've got a hitch in my getalong". Now I know what they mean. I can handle pain. But it is the fear that it is not going to get better that worries me. I don't want to take pain pills. I did a little Ibuprofen and aspirin. But they only make my stomach hurt. It is especially uncomfortable sitting.  So playing the piano for choir practice tonight is out.  I went to the gym and just sat in the hot tub. I did a little walking outside. And stretching.  But even that little exhausted me. I stopped here at the library to write this blog. And then I'm heading home to put ...