As always, I approach new things with a little skepticism. I think this is a wise protective mechanism. So today, I was deliberately testing the waters after my first spinal touch treatment. I taught my one-hour spin class, then lifted for 30 minutes, then stretched for 10 minutes. I made little mental notes of how everything felt, tucked them away in that region of my brain labeled, "For Blog Post."
Cycling felt great. My lower back felt a bit tight as usual, but better than expected after Wednesday's mishap. I avoided the kettle bells, naturally, and stuck to a routine I knew wouldn't bother my sacral spine. The workout felt great-- and by "great", I mean, I lunged till I couldn't breathe, push-upped till near-collapse, and repped till I felt the burn. Love the burn. I stuck to 2 rounds of my routine instead of 3-4 for the sake of time & for the sake of my healing body. Stretching was where I felt the difference. My spinal twists felt free-er; my straddle stretch felt wider & easier; my chest stretch-- wow, could hardly feel a stretch! I hung through the doorway as usual, but instead of that pulling, resistive tug in the pecs & anterior delts, I felt . . . almost nothing. It wasn't enough of a stretch. This gave me great hope that certain yoga poses I have felt just aren't built for my body (like forearm backbends & cowface arms) may actually become a possibility. (I'll keep you posted . . .)
Almost 48 hours post-treatment, and I'm feeling great. Not 100%, but better than I've felt in a good long time. This is timely, for the hubby returns from a work trip tonight-- I'm sure he'll appreciate my, ahem, good mood and flexibility ;)
Some other interesting observations:
1.) When Judy instructed the hot bath post-treatment for 17.5 minutes, she explained that 17.5 minutes is half of 35 minutes, which is the duration of the tide rising and falling. She said 17.5 minutes releases the toxins, but after that, you start absorbing it back in. This is why, according to her, you are pruny when you get out of the bath around 15 minutes, but not pruny if you get out between 20-30 minutes. I had never noticed this phenomena, so today I tested it (without meaning to). I got in my hot tub this morning (granted, she explained the epsom salt makes the release more effective; chlorine, not so much. Still, the pruniness factor shouldn't be affected I presume.) The jets stopped at 15 minutes; I lingered for a minute, then got out & quickly went up to shower. Upon entering the shower, I realized that, yes, indeed, my fingers were pruny. I tried to recall if they're always pruny when I get out of the hot tub, & I decided they usually are NOT. This is because I typically stay in much longer. As with any experiment, you must test several subjects & perform multiple tries, so I will keep assessing this. Try it yourself & let me know you're discoveries ;)
2.) Because I still have 3 chiropractic treatments left on my account, I asked Judy if I should still do regular adjustments. She smiled before she responded, said she treats a lot of chiropractors. I, too, have been leery of chiropractic. Only because I've used it in the past with the result that my body returns to status quo after treatments. As a student of the human body, I one day had the aha moment that muscles are to bones what braces are to teeth-- you can't put braces on teeth for a day and expect them to stay put. But keep them on for years, and adjust as you go, and wear a retainer for life, and they may stay put. If a chiropractor pops your bones into place, but your muscles are decidedly against the adjustment, of course they will return where the muscles want them to go. So I quit the chiro for years & focused on strength training, stretching, and yoga alignment classes to try to get results. It partially worked. As soon as Judy said, "Well, muscles control the bones," I knew she was the real thing! She also explained that after more treatments of spinal touch, chiropractic doesn't even really work. She explained that the cracking noise they make isn't actually the bones but rather the rigidness of the spaces in between, & that with spinal touch, which works with soft tissue, those spaces become too mobile and soft, as they should be. A chiropractor will try to crack you & nothing will happen. It's scary to think of how rigid my intervertebral spaces are, especially in my cervical spine-- my neck is CRUNCHY! So this will be another aspect I plan to test. I want to go through a few treatments of spinal touch, then return to the chiropractor and . . . listen. I would love if the crunch was gone.
3.) Most importantly to me, she said I may even notice my metabolism improve, because as the soft tissue relaxes, and the bones & joints settle where they should be, it creates plentiful space for the organs & they function better. Blood flows better, allowing everything to function better. Time will tell if this is true. Some of you may know, I've been battling my metabolism since my first bodybuilding comp. I'm not sure if it was the extreme diet, too much cardio, post-comp binging, turning 35-- who knows-- but my metabolism has been sluggish, weight loss painfully & impossibly difficult. I wanted to get bloodwork done to test everything, but when I heard the cost was over $6000, I declined to follow through. On my own, I decided to supplement with more iron, but I'm wondering if my T3 levels (thyroid) are too low. I'm researching ways to test this on my own, such as quit steady-state cardio for 2 weeks & see if I can actually shed a pound or two. I already know the calories in, calories out is not mathematically working for me. Sadly, marathon training may have contributed to my metabolic woes, according to an article I just read. Goes back to steady-state cardio. So we'll see . . . The metabolism claim stands to be tested. I can say, for the past 2 days my appetite has not been as ravenous as usual, despite my normal activity levels. Not sure if this is a result of the spinal touch or just me being off sugar for 2 weeks straight.
Is it just me, or is it fascinating to use your own body for science experiments? Had a chat with a friend today whose wife does brain research using MRI; he said they often need test subjects & I said, sign me up! I think it's healthy to want to know everything about the inside and outside workings of your body-- it's all yours & the only one you've got! Stay educated.
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