Do you consider yourself to be in good health? What choices have you made to improve the way you live to be more healthy? (Author: Lee Currie)
Oh, such a timely question, as I glance at the lab requisition sitting next to my keyboard. The quick answer is YES, I do consider myself to be in good health. However. It has been an intersting year.
I spent the majority of 2012 trying to resolve back pain. I'm not talking about the gentle, I'm-getting-old pain that wears off after a shuffle to the coffee maker. I'm talking about pain that reduces you to tears, and results in MRIs, thousands of dollars in medical bills, and teary pleas to medical praticioners. I still have no answers. Well...that's not exactly true. I have a handful of answers that make perfect sense. I have degenerative disc disease. I had 9 pelvic fractures in 1999. I have dozens of tiny tumors in my spinal column that aren't cancerous, but must mean something. I had an injury in a 1/2 marathon in 2011 (literally 10 days after a car accident) that I tried to power through. I have answers, I just have no solutions. So, I continue to treat the symptoms with yoga & supplements & advil & heat & ice.
Fairly late in the year, I began seeing a naturopath. My complaint? "I just don't feel great." I wasn't sleeping well. I've gained 20lbs, and no amount of kale can take them off. I had done so much work on my mind (& emotions & sense of self), that taking care of my body fell by the wayside. Turns out? My body noticed. Seems that as a reaction to the extreme amount of stress, my body threw up a white flag, and shut down. So. We're working on that. Information is power, and I'm reading everything that I can get my hands on. I'm eating whole foods (still pescetarian, with no plans to return to meat). I'm sleeping...a lot. I'm being gentle with myself. I'm taking a host of supplements.
Here's to a healthier 2013!
Lee Currie is leading this fabulous Reverb12 project - a chance to reflect on 2012 before (or while) setting intentions for 2013.
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