Day 279

Thoughts: Today I had ART by Dr. John M Ruddy, D.C.!

Dr John Ruddy is a Chiropractor. D.D. Palmer founded chiropractic in the 1890s and his son B.J. Palmer helped to expand it in the early 20th century. Throughout its history it has been controversial. For most of its existence, chiropractic has battled with mainstream medicine, sustained by ideas such as subluxation that are not based on solid science. The American Medical Association called chiropractic an "unscientific cult"and boycotted it until losing an antitrust case in 1987. This is the same company that makes billions of dollars yearly to sell you chemo treatments or use mercury in vaccinations.

Today I chatted with John and he shares his world with us:

What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts which is based upon the understanding that good health depends, in part, upon a normally functioning nervous system (especially the spine, and the nerves extending from the spine to all parts of the body). "Chiropractic" comes from the Greek word Chiropraktikos, meaning "effective treatment by hand." Chiropractic stresses the idea that the cause of many disease processes begins with the body's inability to adapt to its environment.
It looks to address these diseases not by the use of drugs and chemicals, but by locating and adjusting a musculoskeletal area of the body which is functioning improperly.

Previous to going to visit Dr Ruddy I experienced tension in my neck and my head from holding my head out forward and my legs were uneven; I was not aware of this! One session with Dr Ruddy and he straightened me out - realigned me! Immediately I felt the pressure relieved and felt light and even. I visit him every two weeks now as I slowly slip back into the muscle memory of unbalanced alignment and on the visits he pops me back into place in less than 20 minutes!

What is Active Release Techniques (ART) ?

ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.

How do overuse conditions occur?
Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:

• acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc),
• accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
• not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia).

Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.

What is an ART treatment like?
ART is a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.

These treatment protocols - over 500 specific moves - are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.

Dr John Ruddy has a clinic at Big Al's Family Fitness. Ph: 516-730-5043

Challenges: Work and play are the same thing! ;)

Triumphs: Your next interaction with another human will affect them for the rest of their lives even if subconsciously. That person’s life trajectory would forever be changed by that interaction. It would affect the way that person interacts with the next person they meet one way or the other…You would have set off a chain react...ion in motion that would reverberate across the world...You matter that much:) - Sanusi Umar

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: A banana smoothie! Created with almond milk, honey, cinnamon and bananas!



Food fest 2: Buckwheat pancakes with chocolate sauce and peanut butter! Yum :) Created with buckwheat, water, honey, cocao, agave syrup and crushed peanuts!



Food fest 3: A white flesh nectarine.

Food fest 4: Some cherries.

Food fest 5: Some Lentil Veggie and Potato Pie that I made a couple of days ago! Created with olive oil, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, lentils, potatoes, coconut oil and egg.

Recipe: The recipe for Banana Smoothie, Buckwheat Pancakes with Chocolate and Peanut Butter, and Lentil Veggie and Potato Pie are available on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.org

Exercise: A bike ride to the supermarket and 20 minutes dancing to my favourite chill beach music :)

86 days to go!!!