giving chiropractors credit

I've had some pretty negative connotations of chiropractors. I think some of this comes from when I worked at The Marsh -- not just the open criticisms of chiropractors as "quacks," but also the fact that this cool center for balance and fitness had just about every wellness-oriented option available, from massage to a therapy pool to acupuncture and physical therapy ... but no chiropractor. I think I've also felt chiropractors' claims are a little too farfetched, too good to be true. I mean, can chiropractic really help all the conditions they say it can?? It's kinda like a late-night infomercial...you're intrigued enough to keep watching, but not enough to pay the money to try the latest, greatest product.

Despite reservations, I've visited a chiropractor at Park Nicollet a couple times in the past ten years, maybe a total of six or seven visits. He's great and has helped previous pain. But in the last couple years, I've started to experience a horrible recurring back pain. Every couple months, something will slip out of place in my upper back and cause the most awful pain. I can't drive, sleep, relax, can't turn my head. It's misery. When the pain is really bad, I can't fathom driving all the way to St. Louis Park to see Dr. Klein (it wasn't so bad when I lived in Uptown). So I've suffered through it, thinking it'll go away ... which it does after about a week. I kept thinking it would be great to have someone closer who could help with the pain, but I also haven't wanted to just pick out some new chiropractor that could be a "quack."

In April, back pain once again caused me to miss work, and I'm not sure why, but I finally decided to do something about it. Sure enough, by the time I found a chiropractor in our area and got scheduled for a new patient exam, most of the back pain had subsided. But I vowed to stick with it for awhile and see if there was a way to prevent this from happening in the future. I'm just so tired of feeling like my body is falling apart!

I'll try not to explain all the little details, but a few interesting things have happened:

• I found out that the back pain in my upper left back, the place that always felt "stuck" and like it was the root of my recurring back pain, is actually a rib! Apparently one of my spinal bones slips out of place exactly where the rib attaches to the spine. I never even knew such a thing could happen. Thankfully the rib is now back where it belongs!
• My xrays showed that T11 and T12 (two adjacent spinal bones) are not completely separated! This is likely a condition from birth; you can see where they "join" together at one end. I called my mom after the appointment where I learned this, and she said she has the same thing! I always knew I could blame her for everything, somehow.
• It's cool to look at the xrays, because you can clearly see how my spine curves in some unnatural ways. The chiropractor pointed out how I have twisted/rotated hips. I asked her how this kind of thing happens. She said it could be something I've had from birth or early childhood, or some sort of accident--they see this type of thing in people who have had side impact car crashes. And I thought -- "hmmm no car crashes, but how about that side impact bike accident where I fell incredibly hard directly on my right hip?" Interesting.
• At my first visit, the doctor had me face a wall, and she was looking at my spine from, like, six feet away. She said, "hmmm ... do you have knee problems?" I just about fell over from surprise, as I hadn't said anything about knee problems, thinking they were completely unrelated! I then launched into a crazed description of the years of knee pain, of the orthopedist telling me there's nothing they can do until I need knee replacements down the road, of a year spent with two different physical therapists. It occurred to me that the PTs had diagnosed hip muscle weakness and had focused on strengthening my hip muscles, but it never seemed to do much. Well, if my hips were rotated, then perhaps all the strengthening wasn't addressing part of the core problem?

So, I've been going to Dr. Belinda for just over three weeks, and I am shocked at the results. No back pain, which I expected. I didn't expect to have nearly all of my back/neck muscle tension go away. I'm so used to being stiff and sore I had forgotten what it felt like to not feel that way. And not only that ... but did you know that chiropractors can adjust knees?!? Between the hip adjustments and the knee adjustments, my knees feel stable and pain free. I can walk up and down stairs without feeling embarrassed and old, without feeling my knees wobble. It really is too good to be true, and I'm just waiting to pinch myself and wake up. I've been too disappointed in the past to automatically assume this type of pain-free living can last, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will!

Proud of my cuz, too!

My cousin Brooke just had this great write-up about her first year as head softball coach. Brooke, I'll have to make it a point to come see a game -- if I'm too late this year, then next year for sure!

So proud of my bro

Adam sent me this article today. He is the guy on the right in the (tiny) picture, and you'll notice that the article references "detectives." I am always so thankful and amazed that at the work he does.

What is it about nature?

Last night Matt and I went to the Arboretum—a last-minute decision to stop there quickly and see some of the spring ephemerals as well as the blooming magnolias that Matt saw last weekend.

We stopped first to admire some magnolias. I’ve never seen them blooming before, but they make you believe you just want to lay down and never leave. Merge yourself with the blossoms and know that you are in heaven.


Matt kept me moving, though, into the wildflower garden. What can I say? It was pure magic. There’s a little stream, and marsh marigolds, trilliums, and bluebells. I sat down to listen to the stream and started thinking – what is it about nature that feels so great? The smell (fresh and pungent)? Feel of the breeze and sun? Sight of the beautiful flowers? Sound of the trickling water? It’s none of these and all of these. This moment was the perfect example of the sum being greater than its parts. What nature gives us is nothing tangible; it’s more like a sense that every cell in your body recognizes that it has come home, that you belong. And those millions of happy cells are coursing healing, rejuvenating energy through your body.


This is why nature must be experienced, not just seen from a car. And even though I’ve included pictures, the pictures of course don’t do it justice. (Sorry, Matt, although I love nature photography it only captures a tiny fraction of the real experience!) It breaks my heart to think of how many Minnesotans have no clue what goes on in our forests. And knowing that so few of us understand nature—let alone live with it—and thinking about how powerful living with nature can be, I stood and looked at the hills of the arboretum and wondered about all the potential lying within us humans. Think about what we could be if we lived in harmony with nature, letting nature heal us and nurture us and empower us!

On the way back to the car we spotted cute little goslings, running after their parents with their miniscule little wings sticking out. We decided we had to go home to “our baby” (since of course dogs aren’t allowed into the arboretum!).

And what did we notice for the first time as we pulled around the corner in our neighborhood? A magnolia tree, blooming up against a neighbor’s house.

A week of "planning" and a restful weekend

I just had the most relaxing weekend, a spring-is-here, feels like I'm at the cabin weekend. My brother and his springer, Molly, came for a visit ... Matt showed off his culinary skills by cooking a shrimp and coconut milk stir-fry, Adam helped us haul some soil for one of the new garden beds, the dogs got to meet a new puppy in the neighborhood (who wore them both out within a matter of minutes!), Adam and I watched movies and talked, we spent all Sunday morning on the deck with the dogs and the newspaper, and then took the dogs for a walk into downtown Victoria.I was happy that Adam was also able to get in for a massage at my new favorite massage place, Balance Life in Waconia.

Adam, Molly, and Hannah relaxing in downtown Victoria.

When Adam and Molly left on Sunday, I spent the afternoon relaxing and reading on the front porch. I felt like I was on vacation! It was great to be able to truly relax - I usually have a problem letting go of my stress and anxiety (and endless to-do list). I'm loving watching everything around me come into place -- my fruit tree grafts have taken hold and new gardens are being built.

This relaxation and contentment was especially gratifying after a very stressful week at the American Planning Conference. I was thoroughly engaged in the conference -- I attended an afternoon session on AICP certification, led an orientation tour (this was particularly stressful since I'm not entirely comfortable with public speaking), schmoozed and networked endlessly, and attended several sessions on Monday and Tuesday. It would have been more sessions, but I also had to work nearly a full week as well, so found myself heading back to the office in the afternoons. I won't bore everyone with the details, but for people really interested in planning, you might want to check out The Planner Blog, which is filled with notes from many of the sessions. I will say that my favorite session was on Urban Agriculture, with speakers Wayne Roberts of Toronto's Food Policy Council and -- DRUMROLL -- Will Allen of Growing Power. Now, I read and talk a LOT about agricultural issues and thought I'd heard just about everything, but Will Allen is so shockingly inspirational it left me absolutely speechless. The conference was only a few days, but I had so much work to do leading up the conference, that it is a relief that it's over!