Knitting in the Shadows

On Healthcare - A Monetary Comparison

I'm in an interesting position of being able to do some straight up comparisons.

In the past few months I've seen a Western Medicine Medical Doctor, a Naturopathic Doctor, and a Licensed Acupuncturist. Actually, I saw all three within a week of each other back in September.  It is only now that I actually have the numbers for the medical doctor.

The Western Doc billed my insurance a  total of $580.00 for five minutes with me.  That was broken out into $290.00 for going in the door because now it's an "outpatient sattelite office of the hospital" and not a clinic; $105.00 for seeing the doc himself, and $185.00 for spraying liquid nitrogen on what was reported to the insurance company as "destruction of flat warts."  So far, I've paid $50.00 (my co-pay).   It looks like I've still got about $20.00 left after the insurance company kicks in.

The Licensed Acupuncturist charged me on a sliding scale, but maximum $35.00 for a full session (plus $10.00 additional for the fifteen minutes he spent with me in our introductory session.  He did not charge me to write up his "diagnosis" or list the points he used).

The Naturopathic Doctor charged me $80.00 for a comprehensive session in which he took my blood, looked at it in the scope right there, showed it to me, and spent a total of 90 minutes explaining everything he found.

So, let's play with some statistics, shall we?

Western Doc w/ hospital surcharges = $96.67 per minute
Accupuncturist = ~$2.25 per minute (excluding the time I spent resting, occupying space but not his actual time, which I'm treating as free)

Naturopathic Doctor = $0.88 per minute.

Now, admittedly, the Naturopathic doctor did prescribe supplements and a fasting regimen (consuming "medical food" for three days to clear my body of junk that oughtn't have been put in in the first place, and junk that my body put out when I was living with way too much stress).  So, he DID cost me more, but not in terms of his time.  Additionally, he answers questions for free.

While we're at it, let's look for a second at results:

Western Doc: removed four skin lesions.  The one on my face is gone.  The ones on the back of my legs -- still visible.  The one on my back?  not sure, the lump is gone, but since I can't SEE it, I've no idea what it looked like before or after.  Questions remaining?  plenty.

Accupuncturist:  In all fairness, I didn't achieve the return rate he recommended - my hours and his don't match well.  But I did see a difference. Questions remaining?  not really.

Naturopath: I feel better generally, and have lost 15 pounds without doing the exercising I'm supposed to be doing.  I'll see him again in another month or so to look at the blood again so we can SEE results.  Questions remaining?  none immediate, but I know when and where to get answers, and all answers are free until we look at the blood again.

Follow up by them?  Only the naturopath.

Hmmmm. 

We Interrupt this Blog to Be Outraged

I was slogging through my monthly nightmare paying the medical bills.  They get more and more complex.  Now that Kitty is 18, she gets her own (not that I don't still pay them), so we've added more accounts to deal with.

It's always a chore.

But today, as I was going through the EOB's from the insurance company, I noticed something completely outrageous.

I had two completely separate EOBs for the same service.  One was from the doctor.  It was for the amount we're used to seeing ($189.00), and had the usual adjustments because of the deal the insurance company makes with the doctor.  The other was from the hospital that operates the clinic.  Not that this doctor has admitting privileges, mind you,  but the hospital that separated itself from the clinic 8 years ago for tax reasons has now reclaimed the clinic and is levying a separate charge for every visit to the doctor.  The hospital bill, which I understand is essentially for facilities fees, is $210.00 (less adjustments etc.). 

Yes, they charged me twice, and more than doubled the charge to see the doc.  And yes, the facilities fees are more than the actual doctor bill.

This doc ran no tests, did no physical exam (and thus used nothing that needed to be laundered), used no paper to cover the chair I sat on.  I did not see a nurse.  So what exactly am I paying the $210.00 for?  (Okay, what's my insurance company paying for?). 

I can't say they didn't warn us.  But a warning that the hospital will be billing you separately for a facilities fee does not adequately prepare you for the fact that this means your medical bills just doubled!

 

When I called to question this insanity,I was told that this is "normal" and has been being done all over the country for the last 8-10 years.   I told the young lady on the phone that while it may be "normal" it's still wrong.  I'm angry enough right now to call lawyers.  No wonder health insurance is so expensive!  They don't want to pay for this double billing garbage either!

I'm really afraid to see what they'll charge me for that 5 minutes with the dermatologist now.

Celebrating "Love Your Body Day" with NOW

Today was Love Your Body Day.  It's a reminder that our bodies are all different, all okay.  And modern media's portrayal of what is "okay" and what we should strive to be isn't really a good definition.  It's a reminder that just because the media is in love with rail thin, tall, young, long-legged women -- we are not all rail thin, and that's okay. Furthermore, no one is young forever, and we should celebrate, not  denigrate the passing of time filled with our experiences.

 

I celebrated by popping over to the Women's Resource Center on Campus, where the local chapter of NOW had organized a little event.  There, I offered little samplings of various kinds of bodywork and massage.  A little reminder that no matter your body shape, you're worth touching.  A mere 15 minutes on the table in a room full of other things going on (people chatting, yoga lessons, general milling about). 

And yet, the women who spent time with me all enjoyed those fifteen minutes.  They climbed upon my table with complaints of stress or pain.  And they got up, feeling more at ease, more relaxed.  And even ... with less pain.

 I hope that they had plenty of opportunities to connect with their bodies, through massage, yoga, pampering facials, and even taking the time to actually ENJOY good food.  I also hope that the women who came in did not let this celebration of LOVING their bodies end with the closing of the Women's Resource Center Door. 

Loving your body, which is a big part of loving yourself, is something that is an ongoing venture, not a one time event. It's taking care of yourself!  As we live our hectic lives, filled with classes, papers, jobs, due dates and family demand, we all too often forget to take care of ourselves.  And even when we do remember to take care of ourselves, we forget that doing so means taking real care of our bodies.

How?  How can we forget to take care of the very structure in which we live 24 hours a day?  Simple, We live in our heads.  And while lots of good goes on in our heads, we need to stay in touch with our bodies to let our heads do their best work.  That's why it's important to stop every now and then, and actually feel our bodies - to check in on what it feels like inside our skin.  And when we find that we're hurting, it's important to remember that pain is our bodies' way of telling us that something is WRONG.

Luckily, there are solutions for the problems that settle into your body, leaving you in pain.  Sometimes that solution is as simple as slowing down, pausing, becoming aware of yourself in your body, aware of your own breath and the feel of your muscles and bones.  Other times, we all need a little help.

Research has shown that receiving body work as little as once a month can make a significant and lasting difference in pain, headaches, depression, gastrointestinal problems, and overall ability to withstand stress. It helps with focus, and ability to concentrate (and learn!)   Better still, regular massage or bodywork improves your immune system, so not only does your body feel better, you stay healthier!

And today reminds me ... it's time for me to add a little bodywork to the ways I love my body.  And perhaps time for an update on the other things I've been doing.

On Healthcare - Acupuncture - Part II

Last post, I introduced you briefly to the POCA organization, and the marvelous idea of community acupuncture. 

I probably should have mentioned that part of what enables the folks at Community Acupuncture clinics to do their thing affordably is that there's a tremendous amount of volunteer activity going on.  (I'm not sure, but I think the receptionists might even be volunteers).

So, MY experience.

On Friday afternoon, I found that I actually had time, was on the right side of town, and this opportunity presented itself during their open hours.  So, I dropped in (yep, you got it, I wandered in on a Friday afternoon and lo, they were able to take me right then). I had to wait to see the acupuncturist for about the same time as I usually wait at the doctor when I have an appointment (and far less time than when I have to go to the drop in clinic).  The receptionist was friendly.  She explained how things work, and gave me some forms to fill out.  Once I'd filled out my little forms, she took them, and set them in where the acupuncturist would be looking for his next client. 

In mere moments, the acupuncturist came out, introduced himself to me (his first name is Jim, so that's what I'll call him to save typing out the title repeatedly), and went over my issues with me. He looked at my tongue, since I'd raised the whole wide feeling and teethmarks thing, asked a few more questions, then led me back to a large dim room where I'd be receiving my treatment.

The room was spacious, quiet except for the soothing sounds of surf with occasional songbird calls, and lit just enough for him to see what he needed to. Scattered about the room were about a dozen recliners, some of which cradled other people resting with their needles in place.

He led me to a chair, the one you see in the picture above that has the long scroll over it, and invited me to sit down, take off my shoes and lean back to get comfortable. He then went to get a packet (or 2?) of acupuncture needles. He returned, squatted down to be at my side, and took the 9 pulses relevant to acupuncture.

He then carefully placed about a dozen or so needles along specific points on my legs, feet, arms, hands, ears and head.* I later asked, and learned that he had started with a Meridian Balancing pattern for hormonal and digestive balance (in part because I reported some menopausal symptoms and a desire to lose some weight), with a couple of add on points.  After verifying that I was comfortable, he slipped away quietly. I rested.

At first, I felt what was rather like a mini-adrenalin rush. It made it hard to really relax since it felt like I'd gotten a burst of tense sort of energy. (As an energy worker myself, I'm guessing that this was a rapid unblocking of something). This abated, and soon I found myself drifting along on slow thoughts, enjoying the comfortable chair and the soothing sounds.

After a little while, the needles that Jim had put in my ears fell out. When he walked by to check on folks, I told him, and he put in new ones.

After awhile, Monkey Brain woke up again, and I began to wonder -- how long should I be staying here? They said I should stay for at least 15 minutes, preferably half an hour, but generally as long as I wanted to. But it's dim, and quiet, and there are no clocks around. I have a poor sense of time on the best days. In this setting? none. So I decided that since I could see the fellow who came in before me, I'd not fret about it being time to stop until he had gotten up to go. That worked.

Other than having decided to use the other people in the room as my timer, I was pretty much unaware of them.  It just felt like a lovely healing place to be. 

When I was ready to go, I opened my eyes again, and watched for him to be walking about. When I saw him, I raised my hand and he came over to take out the needles. He encouraged me to rest and take my time. He handed me a piece of paper with his recommendation for how often I should come back, and for how many total sessions, then went off to take care of whomever needed him.

I rested for a bit, and was pleased to know that if I'd wanted to stay there for another half hour, it would have been okay. I stepped out of the soothing room, and checked out. They asked how much I wanted to pay, and asked when I wanted to come back. I felt good. I could tell that things were shifting. I won't trouble you with the details.

On Saturday, I went back.  Things were much the same, though as a returning client, I checked in, paid, scheduled my next visit, and paid for today's session before entering the treatment room myself.  I chose a chair, settled in, and immediately relaxed.  It was very peaceful waiting for Jim to come by.

Again, he checked my 9 pulses, and again, he placed about a dozen needles.  This time, he used a different ear point.  Again, I had that surge of energy that wasn't quite an adrenaline rush, but I relaxed more quickly, and zoned out readily.  Again, my ears sent their needles out moderately early in the session; this time, they'd been in long enough that Jim said to leave them be - when your body has been sufficiently stimulated, more is not better.  A little later, the one in my forehead dropped away. 

Again, I cycled in and out of deep relaxation.  It occurred to me that doing that 15 minute meditation right before a session could be awesome -- I'd be primed to continue meditating on that theme.  Anyway, when I'd been there quite a while and one of the needles dropped out of my wrist, I figured it was time to go.  Once again, Jim came fairly quickly after I raised my hand; he gathered all my needles, and encouraged me to rest.

Once again... I felt good.   Time will tell what sort of changes have begun. 

* For those who are insanely curious (like me), the needles were places at the following points: Li-4, TW-5, 4, SP-36, 79, KD-6, ST-36, 42, GB-34, Lu-7, PC-6 and GV-20.  I know I'll be looking these up.

On Healthcare - Acupuncture

In addition to the odd bumps on my skin (which, by the way, now look truly awful as they heal from the attack of the freezy thing), I've been feeling not quite right.  Not bad, not ill, but annoyed by a weird thing that I'd never have associated with health had not my massage therapy program made me look at Chinese Medicine.

My tongue has felt .... wide  ... lately.  And upon looking in the mirror, I find that you can see what are sort of tooth marks in the side edges - kind of like this (image from Breaking Muscle.com):

According to that site, a tongue that looks like this is an indication that I'm not using all the nutrients I'm getting.

Also... that wideness, just FEELS weird -- and is more annoying by the day.

 So, since I already know that the Western Medicine folks will just look at me funny for waltzing into their offices with a complaint that my tongue feels wide and there are teeth marks in it, I opted to try our local POCA Acupuncture Clinic.

Though I apparently didn't blog about it, I have ever been to a Chinese Medicine Doctor for acupuncture.  It was, all in all, a very positive experience.  Unfortunately, it was an expensive experience in the absolute. My bank account can't afford to have me dropping $110.00 twice a week.  That's not to say that the price was unreasonable: I was in the office receiving treatment for close to an hour, and the doctor came back in every 15 minutes or so to check on me as I rested with my needles in place -- so not so bad compared to Western Medical doctors.  Since I'm well aware that acupuncture, like most healthcare things including massage, is a process not a one-time shot, I know that to be most effective I need to go to the acupuncturist more than once to get the best benefit.

Enter POCA.  POCA stands for People's Organization of Community Acupuncture.  The basic idea is that instead of one acupuncturist seeing one person at a time, s/he sees several people during the same time period, giving each personal attention in a group setting.  This means that they can charge much less per session, so folks can actually afford to come for the 6-10 sessions usually required for optimal benefit.

What?  you find those 6-10 sessions a bit much?  I can see that.  After all, you don't go to the doctor for an upper respiratory infection ten times.  You go once -- but then the doctor gives you a prescription, and you go home with instructions to take the antibiotic 3 times a day for ten days.  How do you feel about taking your antibiotics for 10 days? mildly annoyed because it either has to be with food or on an empty stomach and the three times a day is hard to coordinate with your lifestyle?  Sure, but outraged that it goes on for so long?  likely not.

So, you go to the acupuncturist with a problem, and s/he says we'll need to administer this treatment twice a week for a month.  Sounds pretty similar except that you can't administer the needles to yourself.  POCA lets you do that at a rate you can actually afford.  (Kind of like health insurance means that you can afford to pay for that antibiotic).  POCA, in fact, not only sets the rate at less than half of the local Chinese Doctor, they offer a sliding scale (locally, they ask $15.00 -$35.00 per session, allowing you to pay what you can afford so that you can actually come to all the needed sessions).  Both, of course, are less expensive than the Western Medicine doctor's actual rate (before insurance kicks in), and they're less expensive that most folks' Co-Pays these days for a five minute encounter with the doc.

Next --- my actual experience in a Community Acupuncture Clinic.

On Healthcare

I'm slipping dangerously close to a political post here.  But rest assured, the only sentence in which you will read the word "Obamacare" is this one.

When you study massage therapy, you wind up looking at some healthcare issues.  After all, massage can be a form of healthcare -- or perhaps I should say wellness care.  Wellness care is a thing that America (and perhaps other countries) doesn't seem much interested in.  Sure, we talk a lot about "healthy diets" and "healthy weights" and "healthy attitudes" even.  But when we walk into the places where most "healthcare" workers work, they're not interested in health care, they're interested in disease care.

Huh?

Think about it.  What happens when you go to the doctor to say "I can't point to anything specific, I just don't feel right..."?  They don't have anything to say or do.  They'll ask questions, perhaps about sleep or diet, but until you have a symptom, they are more likely to send you home with nothing, and turn their attention to someone who is ill.
When you have a symptom, they want to fix it.  Sometimes that's a good thing, but not always.  Sometimes its far better to figure out why you have that symptom -- find the root of the dis-ease rather than cover up the signals that it's there.

So, why am I prattling on about this now?

Three reasons.  One, my recent experience with the "healthcare" industry, two, my recent experience with acupuncture, and three, my upcoming appointment with a naturopathic doctor (testing the differences).  Let's start with the doctor (who in this case was actually a Physician's Assistant, which tends to mean that you don't have to wait six weeks for an appointment, and you're supposed to get the same care but more time).

Like many women my age, I have a few spots on my skin that seem weird to me.  There was a new bump that makes no sense on my back -- it was new, had rapidly grown to something significantly bigger than the occasional zit, and though I couldn't see it, it felt weird (and huge, like the tip of my pinky).  There was a spot on the bridge of my nose that seems to become a sore -- red, itchy (and thus scratched absently so it bled) -- and then healed, and looked like a slightly shiny bump, and then came back as a sore...  And a raised not necessarily even "mole" on the back of my upper calf that's kind or rough.

So, I took myself in to see the Dermatologist.  After all, among the warning signs of skin cancer (as swiped straight from Cancer.org) are:

1.  New growths on your skin.

"The most important warning sign for melanoma is a new spot on the skin or a spot that is changing in size, shape, or color."  There is an ABCDE rule for melanomas.  Of particular note to me are rules D and E.

"The ABCDE rule is another guide to the usual signs of melanoma. Be on the lookout and tell your doctor about spots that have any of the following features:

    A is for Asymmetry: One half of a mole or birthmark does not match the other.
    B is for Border: The edges are irregular, ragged, notched, or blurred.
    C is for Color: The color is not the same all over and may include shades of brown or black, or sometimes with patches of pink, red, white, or blue.
    D is for Diameter: The spot is larger than 6 millimeters across (about ¼ inch – the size of a pencil eraser), although melanomas can sometimes be smaller than this.
    E is for Evolving: The mole is changing in size, shape, or color.

2. Sores that either won't heal, or heal and recur in the same place.

Okay, this isn't on cancer.org, but was definitely in my Pathology book.  And in it's "healed" phase, it looks a lot like this description from Johns Hopkins - "Basal cell carcinoma usually appears as a small, shiny bump or nodule on the skin, mainly those areas exposed to the sun, such as the head, neck, arms, hands, and face. It most commonly occurs among people with light-colored eyes, hair, and complexion."

3. Raised, uneven bumps.  -

"Squamous cell carcinomas may look like growing lumps, often with a rough, scaly, or crusted surface.They may also look like flat reddish patches in the skin that grow slowly.
Both of these types of skin cancer may develop as a flat area showing only slight changes from normal skin."

So... I have several spots on my skin that have a minor potential to be cancerous.  It's likely that they're not, but they are causing me enough concern that I'm doing the responsible thing, and going to the doctor.

Here's what happened.

The cheery doc came in, asked how I was ... all positive.  When I explained that I had several spots that concerned me, he swiftly went from listening to "show me".  I showed him the spot on my nose, and told him that it looked pretty good that day, but it kept turning itchy, red, and sore and then bleeding. He looked at it for almost 2 seconds (seriously), and declared that it was a ?  and nothing to worry about. I don't know what label he gave it.  He said it fast and gave me no chance to ask questions before grabbing his little liquid nitrogen container and offering to remove it.  I started to say that, yes, I'd like to not have it, but I was going to ask a few questions.  The next thing I knew the freezy thing was at my face...

So, within 30 seconds of my showing him my nose (at least 10 of which were used in shifting positions so he could see), he'd frozen that thing on my face and asked to see the next thing.

Let me pause here for a moment.

I like swift action.  I'm thrilled that this didn't take multiple appointments.  But I'm not particularly happy that he didn't talk to me, explain what he thought it was growing on my face (much less why).  I'm concerned that he gave me no chance to discuss the healing/recurring situation, and didn't explain what made that okay in this instance.  This leaves me with little faith that freezing it off was even the right answer.

Further, he didn't explain the freezing mechanism, other than to say it'd be cold.  He didn't explain any risks - like, you know, scarring.  It seems to me that I ought to be able to choose whether to allow something on my face that might in fact be worse than the bump, if scarring is a possibility.  He didn't tell me what to expect from having a thing on my face frozen.  He just asked if I wanted it gone, and took my "I guess so" as informed consent and did it.

So.  I then showed him the thing on the back of my leg.  Frankly, I wasn't much worried about this one, but I did tend to catch it while shaving. Once again, the nitro thing came into play. Not only did he zap the thing I showed him, but he zapped something else.  He didn't ask about the second thing, he just did it. Though he never named it, I think perhaps that what was on the back of my knee might have been a dermatofibroma (though mine was browner and rougher):

(I ganked this pic -- and now can't recall where from)

Dermatofibromas are, for the record, wholly benign.  I know because I have the google.  I do not know because my doctor told me what was on my leg, or took any time to explain it. I don't even know whether that is what was on my leg.

We turned then to the thing on my back.  As I've said, I've no idea what it looked like.  And now, I have no idea what it was.  He said something fast, and wielded the freezie thing.  That one was big.  So it took lots of freezie action.  That hurt.

Finally, I showed him a lump that has been there forever and is annoying.  He declared it to be a lipoma. Utterly benign, but under the skin and thus not freezable.  I could have that removed surgically if I wanted to.

That done, he whipped a sheet with care/expectation instructions out of a drawer, put it on his desk, and then tapped a few keys on the computer to close my session.  He pointed to the paper, saying that the care instructions were there, and whisked out to see his next patient, tapping me on the shoulder with his rolled up papers and saying, "See ya".

The good news ought to be that he declared everything fine, and did something that alledgedly removed the things that troubled me.  If only he gave me any reason to trust that he knew what he was talking about.

The bad news is that he never explained what the things on my skin were.   Nor did he discuss with me what I should expect after having four places on my skin cauterized by freezing. 

He was in the room with me for fewer than five minutes. Yes, in five minutes, he froze four things on my body, and declared a fifth thing a lipoma that was benign but could be surgically removed.

This doctor was all about fixing the problem.  He assumed that I wanted cosmetic repair, and just did it.  He was not on my team.  He did not include me.  If I saw him in the same building tomorrow, I'd be surprised if he recognized me.

This doesn't feel like health care.  These feels like an assembly line.

At no time was there a hint that I might talk to him about how to keep my skin healthy. We saw the same guy ages ago for Bookworm's acne -- his solution was to offer expensive prescription creams.  Again, no suggestions for healthy living, eating, sleeping, cleansing, etc. to help heal the skin from the inside out... only expensive scary substances (that burned btw).

Welcome to "healthcare" in America.

 

Relaxing is Harder than You Thought

All this scheduling I'm doing is to make sure that I don't wind up burned out.

What?  Massage therapists burn out?  You've got to be kidding!  Wait, no, I'm not kidding.

Everyone who doesn't take time to take care of him or herself can burn out.  In massage therapy, our job is to relieve pain and stress.   But that means that we start a lot of our sessions working with someone who is very stressed. Even though we end our sessions with people who are relaxed ... we can wind up sort of absorbing some of that stress if we're not careful.

Additionally, we tend to get so focused on helping people, that we forget to help ourselves.  That means that we'll say "yes" to one more appointment on a full day, and work longer than we ought to without taking breaks.  Worse yet, even though we're good at reminding our clients that regular massage can save wear and tear on their bodies, and can help prevent injury -- we're guiltier than most of letting months go by without getting the bodywork we're so good at providing.

So where was I.  Oh yes, scheduling to avoid burn out. So among the ways to avoid burn out is to do things to take care of yourself.  While getting massage is certainly one of the ways to take care of yourself others include exercise, meditation, healthy eating, and getting plenty of sleep.

I've been working on taking care of myself, making sure I don't burn out - and generally keeping myself healthy.  As you know, I've been working on that exercise thing -- doing my Tibetan Rites (and that's one of those things I'm scheduling into my day).  I've  been eating more healthily (there was that dramatic cut back on the sugar I eat -- still in play except for ice cream indulgences). And I'm very protective of my sleep.  

So, lately, I'm trying to add a little meditation to keep my mind from working overtime.  My mind? never shuts up.  Never.  So... the meditation is supposed to fix that.

For something that is supposed to be so relaxing - mediation is HARD.

Maybe it's because my mind never shuts up.  And meditation is about quieting your mind, letting all those thoughts that are racing through slip on by unheeded, until you've let them all go.  And, did I mention that my mind never shuts up?  The only time it quiets down is when I'm giving massage, doing Reiki, or CranioSacral Therapy or Zero Balancing - when my focus is on the client.  I'm not even sure it's quiet when I'm asleep.

Well, since I can't give massage ALL of the time, I need to find a way to still my mind so that I can rejuvenate myself.  Hence, massage.

But lately, I've been trying an on-line meditation thing that took 15 minutes a day (7 of which was listening to the theme for the day, and preparing yourself, and about 7 1/2 of which was actually meditation).  At first, my mind was like a hamster on its wheel, running running running.  But I tried again the next day, and the next, .... and the next.  After two weeks,  I'm finally able to stay FOCUSED on the mediation for a good five of those minutes without the monkey mind going off and doing crazy stuff.  And when it does go off track, I can actually bring it back to the center, returning to the theme.

YAY

So, I'm working on scheduling at least 15 minutes a day for quieting my mind.

 

 

On Being Healthy - Update

Has it already been a week since I started the Five Tibetan Rites? (actually, it's been longer, since I posted ahead..).

In that week, I've been steadily working to increase the number of the Rites that I can actually do (you may recall that I started with some alternates), and to increase the number of each Rite I can do.

More importantly, I've been fighting the daily battle to make myself DO them.  So far, I've only lost in my battle to do them first thing in the morning twice.  And... on one of those days I did do them later. 

That may not seem very impressive to some of you. After all, that means what, I managed to do something for 10 whole days? For me, it's a big deal.

Despite my profession as a bodyworker, who encourages her clients to MOVE some every day, I'm not good at the exercise thing.  I need motivation.  In the past, I've needed external motivation to keep things up.  So, for me to have actually done ANYTHING that smacks of exercise EVERY DAY is an achievement.

And, since this foray is gradual and gentle, and doesn't take a big investment to get into, it's likely that I'll actually keep it going.

To help in this, I've teamed up with my mother (yes, that amazingly gracious and healthy lady who lives in Maine). We're not doing them "together".  We're not meeting to work out.  We are, however, giving each other daily reports on our successes at doing even some rites, and reporting on other exercise accomplishments.  She's being awesome by getting out for 40 minute walks almost every morning (an an hour that would defeat me all by itself), and I'm keeping up with the rites.

My status as of today:

Rite 1:  I can consistently do 13 without getting dizzy.  However, having watched the above video which recommends doing them SLOWLY, I suspect that tomorrow I'll be able to hit 21 without getting dizzy.

Rite 2:  (Half Camel) I've "advanced" to the actual rite (and am no longer doing wall sits).  I'm not entirely sure that the rite is harder, but it does involve more of the body.  For the last two days, I've done five.  (I ponder whether I should add wall sits back into my daily exercise, since they're harder on the thighs, and strong thighs are a bonus for massage therapists).

Rite 3: I've finally advanced to the actual rite here as well.  While I never did quite get to doing ten of the alternate, that was partly out of laziness.  Again, I'm not sure whether this is harder, but I think it's better for my back.  Today, I did five!

Rite 4: This one is definitely harder than the alternate.  I was able to do about 1 1/2 the first day I tried it.  I'm up to five here as well (just got there today).

Rite 5: (Down Dog/Cobra) I love this one.  I tend to hang out in down dog for longer than I hang out in cobra (it is such a lovely long stretch for my back, and while cobra opens out the psoas and chest, it is hard on the lower back).  I'm not sure how many I can do here, since the little voice that wants me to quit exercising already starts getting louder and louder, but I've gotten this up to five too.  I suspect that I'll be matching the previous counts more than pushing here -- but balance is a good thing.

If you're still with me, you get to learn that I've slipped back a bit with the sugar thing. I'm still using honey in my coffee, which, alas, I'm back up to 2 cups daily on.  But I'm going for that bagel instead of shunning it.  And I've returned to having a Dove Dark Promise at night.  That part's not so bad--- but Bookworm went and made this two layer 13x 9 Red Velvet cake -- iced of course -- that sat on our counter all week.  I resisted for days....but finally the temptation was too great.  It's gone now.

I'm hoping to post on this weekly, mostly to keep myself honest.  My mother will only encourage me, even on days when I clearly slip badly.  Here --  well, even though I know MOST of you will encourage me, it's harder to fess up to a return to couch-potato hood when you've proudly announced you're changing your style.

 

On Being Healthy - My Next Step - Tibetan Rites

This week I've started a new exercise plan.  It's not a big deal.  Takes about 15 minutes maybe, but is supposed to be really good for you.  It's a little something that doesn't require a tape or a teacher or a class -- so I can do it before I even leave the bedroom.  They say, in fact, that you really should do it first thing in the morning, so being able to do it in the bedroom is a good thing. 

There's a built in progression that means you start slowly, and build up to the ultimate set gradually.  There are five exercises, and when you've achieved "mastery" of these exercises, you'll do 21 of each exercise once a day.  Starting with 2 or 3 means that at first, it hardly takes any time at all, but it will never take more than about 15-20 minutes (and in fact, once it gets to the longest time, will start reducing time as you speed up). 

Of course, some of these exercises are a bit challenging.  Well, for me, two of them are a lot challenging.  Luckily, there's a set of Alternate Exercises that you can do until you've built up strength to do the "real" ones.  I'll be doing a few of the alternates for a while; I'm so not ready for Rite # 2!

The routine is called the Five Tibetan Rites.  Best of all, the page I've linked to there also gives you a set of warms ups (okay, another several minutes, but good ones), and a set of Alternates.

I started by doing the warms ups (and no rites at all) for two days.  As the author of that link points out, these exercises are indeed working and stretching things that have not been stretched or worked much lately.

Then I did the warm ups, and started with the plan that I'd do three each of all of the Alternates that I could do for a couple of days.  While the first exercise (both the actual rite and the alternate) is in perpetual motion, the others have you get into positions that are using particular muscle groups, and then holding those positions for 10, 15, 20 or 30 seconds depending on the exercise. Exercise 2 requires that I sit on the floor with my feet out in front of me, then lean back onto my elbows (so far so good), then raise my feet a few inches off the ground and hold them up for 20-30 seconds.  

Images ganked from the web page I've linked to above.

Ouch. On day one, I could hold for 20 seconds only once.  The second attempt I couldn't hold them nearly that long.  How very embarrassing.  (I have added torso curls to the picture to help build up that obviously wimpy cores), and today I made it to three (barely).

On day one, I could only do two wall sits, holding myself in that chair position against the wall for 15 seconds.

  Now I can do four.

Each day, I'm a little stronger.  I've progressed into doing the actual rites for Rite # 1 (though I may also do the alternate, because I like it), and Rite #5 - Down Dog to Cobra. 

I can do all 21 for Rite #1 (Whirling Dervish). 

I haven't fully tested how many I can do for Rite #5, because I'm a lazy wimp, but today I did five.

And though I started this process being able to do ten of the Alternate for Rite # 4 (which is the point at which they suggest starting the actual rite),

I'm only up to two on the real thing.

 

I'm hoping that my experience with these exercises will be similar to my cousin Gail's experiences: she found that they really helped with strength and agility and flexibility.

But mostly, I'm hoping to actually build doing some exercise every day into my routine.

Anyone else want to try?  We could compare notes.