And Now For Something Completely Different
Anyone who’s read my blog at all knows that I’ve been blathering on and on about my foot for quite a while. I had (have?) plantar fasciitis, which I received all sorts of treatments for, including shockwave therapy, and it’s better… kind of. Every day my husband asks me how my foot is doing and at this point I just look at him blankly. When I get up in the morning, it feels horrendous. But after I walk around for a few minutes, it starts to feel pretty good. I took some time off running but am now back to it, and so far it hasn’t hurt at all when I run. But then it will hurt randomly during the day, especially when I get up after sitting for a while. The answer to the question “how is your foot?” really depends on the moment you ask me. It’s crappy! It’s amazing! It’s crap-mazing! I’m glad it doesn’t hurt when I run, but I can’t say the problem is resolved, and I’m worried it will flare up again and if I run farther or faster. I’ve tried everything I can think of- stretching, massage, strengthening, heat, mobility drills, but nothing seems to make a difference. I feel like there’s a piece of the puzzle missing. Well, on the most recent episode of the Running Rogue podcast, the host, Chris McClung, talks to Somatic Educator Sarah Warren about her new book, The Pain Relief Secret: How to Retrain Your Nervous System, Heal Your Body, and Overcome Chronic Pain. I hadn’t even gotten past the intro of the podcast before I was on Amazon clicking “Buy Now.”. This is a huge subject, but the way Sarah describes it on the podcast is that somatic movements re-train the nervous system. She gives the example of sitting hunched over a computer all day. In this position, your pecs and abdominal muscles are contracted. Over time, your nervous system notices that you’re frequently in that position, and in an effort to be more efficient, starts to contract those muscles all the time (this is what’s known as muscle memory.) In the somatic movement technique, you focus on contracting a certain muscle, then slowly, slowly, releasing it against the force of gravity (or against another resistance if gravity doesn’t work in that particular case.) All of your attention is focused inward, on the tension and release of that muscle. In this way you re-set the nervous system to its normal baseline of muscle relaxation, rather than the chronically tense state it’s become used to. My book arrives Thursday, but Sarah Warren has a website which describes all aspects of Somatic Movement, and includes three videos, one of which is a routine for plantar fasciitis! (To clarify, the videos only seem to be accessible through a link on the podcast episode page.) I did the plantar fasciitis routine for the first time today, and it’s an eighteen-minute sequence designed to release the calf muscles, feet, and interestingly, the low back. Obviously I’ll be doing a full review of the routine and the book as soon as possible. In the meantime I would encourage anyone who’s interested to check out the podcast or her website. Fascinating stuff!!! On a food note, more waffles happened! They were very, very loosely based on this recipe. As usual, I made so many changes I can’t call this a review of the original recipe, but I’m sure it’s delicious (my version was!) One thing I can vouch for is the spice level, which I kept the same and it was perfect. I hate recipes that promise a certain flavor and then it’s too mild- not this time! As a matter of fact while I was making them I thought “isn’t this going to be a little too much cardamom?” but no- it was delicious. One more thing- look at my mug in that picture- it’s one of my favorites and it has a huge chip right where my mouth goes. Sob! And I got it at Pier 1 which is now closed. Well… time for some mug shopping. Anyone heard of Somatic Movement Therapy? And… who else is heartbroken that Pier 1 went out of business? I know they have an online store now, but the quality doesn’t seem the same.