Bruiser

The great thing about exercising outside with friends is... well, exercising outside with friends. The not-so-great thing? Mother Nature can be a fickle mistress, and today she was COLD. And I don't do well with cold.

But, off we went to punch and push and shiver. (I saw SNOW today!) I'm really enjoying my current boxing kick (I also like kickboxing), it is a great workout, and I get to release my aggression. Plus I look good in boxing gloves, or so I'm told (flattery will stop my flailing arms from punching toward your (general) direction (I'm still working on aim)). I am a little worried about getting carried away - I've been known to become obsessive with new hobbies and interests, and this boxing has really struck (ha!) a chord with me. I found myself wanting to punch not just Jon, our skilled and patient trainer (kellettfitness@gmail.com), but my two companions as well! PUNCH PUNCH! JAB! I'm a WARRIOR! Luckily Jon noticed my inflating sense of confidence, and gave me some tips on defense, despite my insistence that the "best defense is a good offense, LEFT, RIGHT, HOOK, LEFT!"

Apparently you can't just go punching people whenever you want. You either have to pay them, or have a really good reason. In the end, however, I just hope that we can all focus on getting fitter, healthier and happier, and that we can all get along. Since I am generally inclined toward lenity, I'm sure I'll soon stop pouncing on my workout companions and maybe up my yoga practice for balance (did I mention that we have a new Yoga instructor, Jen, teaching in our fabulous new studio Mondays at 6:00 pm?).

Also: I noticed a bruise on my arm this afternoon, and I felt proud - I've always said you haven't really participated in a sport until you've been injured doing it (and what do we do for injuries? Visit the chiropractor!). I even documented the contusion for you... then realized it was more likely from bashing into the freezer door while getting ice for our post work-out margaritas (I mean protein shakes!!). Irrespective, I'm injured, therefore I'm truly a boxer.

Back to punching and violence... well, I think deep down we all just want to be respected, loved, and occasionally jabbed (gently) by someone who cares...
Right?
Right.

Don't believe me

You all are a gullible bunch (do you know that it is the only word not listed in the dictionary? ha! ha!). I exclude myself from this group because I maintain a healthy (or annoying, depending on whom you ask) sense of skepticism; but unfortunately truthiness seems to be more popular than truism.
I am especially wary (read: i'm difficult!) about trusting 'experts' when it comes to my health. While not exactly a temple, my body is awfully important to me for working, playing and schlepping around my soul. I need it and it needs me (for now) and so I don't accept dubious sources of information easily.

I had written a long, preachy post concerning multi-vitamins, sunblock and modern medicine, but then realized that I was just espousing the type of advice I was warning you against. My thoughts came across more vituperative than I had intended. So I will foreshorten and recapitulate.
The world is full of "experts" who will gladly tell you what to do. Hear them, but don't listen to them. You are unique, you alone know what is best for you.

That said, always trust your chiropractor! :)


Don't trust me, trust yourself.
Don't believe me, believe in yourself.

The world is my gym

"Exercise" is a funny thing (funny ha ha and funny strange). Really, we shouldn't need to exercise; our cavemen and cavewomen ancestors didn't have gym memberships or Bosu balls (I really want a Bosu ball), and it is not just because they didn't have lululemon available - they were too busy chasing after Wooly Mammoths and Mastadons to be concerned with core strength development. And funny thing, you never saw a fat caveman, did you?
They were just ACTIVE.
But then the Mammoth went extinct, and we started eating pop-tarts instead of nuts and berries, and here we are - overweight, underactive, assuming that running like hamsters on a treadmill under fluorescent lighting for 20 minutes 3 times a week while eating low-fat-low-carb food-like substances will make us... healthy? Happy?
No.
Mix it up. Do things you NEVER thought you could do, like boxing, or hand-stand push-ups. Get outside. Move your body.
Laugh while doing it.
Or at the very least, have a laugh at ME, doing it.

Digging in the dirt

I LOVE spring. Especially early spring - I like tiny buds on trees, bits of green coming up through the earth, longer days, I like nice weather (don't you?)... and my garden. I'm amazed at how much I love to play in the dirt. The pride I feel when one of my plants grows, thrives, prospers... these are my babies and I find myself eschewing the age-old advice to talk to your plants (I'm told you are only crazy if they talk back!) but cooing at them. My tulips are simply precious, my forget-me-nots unforgettable, and my peonies are surely gifted. They grow so fast!

I've developed a passion for what I previously thought was the domain of little old ladies and hippies - seems I'm a little of both. I have a developed an awareness of the physical demands and skills required to effectively grow things - it is more than just digging holes and putting things in them. This can be back breaking work if you are not careful - but, a-ha, lucky for you, this gardener is a chiropractor, and I will share with you my gardening tips (so far... umm... water and sun are good and don't pull up 'weeds' until you are SURE they aren't young forget-me-nots - d'oh!) and some back-saving tips. And when my body complains that I'm paying more attention to my (darling!) baby rosebush (planted last year... and it lived!!!) than my lumbar spine, I will share this with you too, so you can learn from my mistakes. Do as I say, not as I do. Especially when I do kill my lilac bush by planting it in the shade. Sigh.

My body hasn't complained yet this season, though I've mostly just been clearing leaves and planting pansies. To protect my back, I find it best to get right down in the dirt. Trying to stay clean just hurts - squatting puts a lot of stress on the knees, and bending from the waist makes your back muscles work overtime just to keep you from face-planting in your plants. Sit or kneel, as you are able, and get as close to your work as you can. Don't stay in one position for too long, and take frequent breaks. Pace yourself - the season is just beginning!

Next up - your chiropractor plants a new lilac bush - this time in the sun!

Getting my hands on the internet.

The nice thing about a chiropractic practice is that it is fairly low-tech. Really, I need my hands. And a spine. Actually, any joint will do - a shoulder, a knee, a wrist... if I can move it with my hands, I'm in business. A table helps, as do various lotions and creams, and I don't know that I'd be very happy without Tina, my office manager, but really - give me some bones to move and my hands to move them with, and I'm a happy chiropractor.

In fact, for the lexophiles out there, the world chiropractic means 'done by hand'. I may use other modalities like ultrasound and acupuncture, but these are the warm-up act for my hands. There is something satisfying in this simplicity, that all I really need to do my job is with me all the time. My hands.

Which is why is was so surprised when it was suggested to me that I get a website, to describe my clinic and our services, to tell you the public, a bit about myself, the chiropractor. What's to tell? I have hands, I move joints with them, you feel better. But smarter people than I insisted that these internets were here to stay, and so www.russellhillchiropractic.com was born. Seven years later I'm still using the same old hands, but so much has progressed; websites, it seems, are not enough. The public wants to know what I think! When I think it!! Blogging, it seems, is where it's at.

So welcome to my blog, where this simple chiropractor will use her hands to connect with you in a different way.

Chiropractic progress!