<![CDATA[ Blog]]> http://www.mybodyrestoration.com/Blog en-us CopyRight 2010, LoudClick Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:54:10 GMT <![CDATA[ Pain Teaches]]> http://www.mybodyrestoration.com/Blog/PainTeaches.aspx Pain Teaches.
By: Molly Brackett 

Going to college wasn't a question.  The question was where I was going to go?  After months of researching & traveling to campuses, I found one.  Stepping foot on Drake University was a breath of fresh air.  The first few weeks of pharmacy school were great.  Classes were going to be challenging but equally rewarding.  The picture of my future had been painted - six years of grueling studying and perhaps compromises, but a successful and financially rewarding career lay ahead.

Four weeks into new classes, new professors, a new dorm, and new friends, I had a newfound chronic condition: migraines.  While I was telling myself college and a collegiate degree in pharmacy is what I wanted, my body was telling me otherwise.  There was an internal struggle lighting a fire.  The fire would burn, smolder, smoke, and burn heavier.  It was a constant cycle.  I lived with a migraine everyday of my freshman year pending the level of intensity on a pain scale of 1-10.  Every day I had a pain scale of less than four was a good day.  At one point, my parents were afraid of phone calls with the area code 515 because they were fearful of who was on the other end - the ER doc or me.

Being a student within the pharmacy program, I had access to documents about the plethora of medications I was using.  I also got professional opinions beyond the walls of a pharmacy or hospital.  At times this was useful, but it also lit my fire inside too.  I began to notice a trend.  When I was studying pharmacy protocol or related material, my migraines would intensify.

Cycle after cycle of migraines, missing class, and social functions, I began to retreat inside.  I decided if I couldn't be apart of campus life, I was going to be apart of who I was becoming.  I started looking for messages internally that were becoming physical symptoms.  Was it possible that my emotional and spiritual well-being were not aligned?  Is there a correlation to your emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical well-being?  Were they really interconnected?  And, did I really want a career as a pharmacist?

As I began to discover what I internally needed, my migraines began to subside.  My emotional and spiritual well-being was interconnected to my physical state of health.  Looking back on those years, I had always been interested in the intersection of east meets west.  That's when I realized the two could be harmonious within my body.  By changing my major, diet, prescription medications, exercise, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, and structural integration, I was able to achieve a level of health that has been sustainable for the past ten years: healthy and migraine free.

Although my internal radio frequency was different from that of the radio frequency outside, I was finally in-tune.  The level of pain endured for a number of years was excruciating, but my pain taught me how to be happy, authentic, and whole through listening to my body, not just my head.

]]> Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:54:09 GMT <![CDATA[ Balance]]> http://www.mybodyrestoration.com/Blog/Balance.aspx Balance.
By: Molly Brackett

Living in Minnesota doesn't always provide me with balance.  We have four distinctive seasons, more water than land, and more mosquitoes than butterflies.  Despite Minnesota sending me signals that are innately one-sided, I try to see the silver lining. 

Recently I was driving home after work during a snowstorm.  I left work early to run a few errands.  Who runs errands when you're getting 6-8 inches of snow in Minnesota?  Most people leave work early to go home in the off chance they can spend more time with their family.  I did the opposite.  I HAD to get more boxes checked off my 'to do' list.  Despite the snow, my little Volkswagen Beatle plowed through the streets of Minneapolis to get me to my destinations.  The irony of this story is I needed to go to a store specializing in organizational containers and materials to simplify your life.  I stopped in, browsed, and checked out.  But I was near another store I 'needed' to go to.  If not now, next week - why not? 

The VW and I went down the street to head to our next destination.  Little did I know when I arrived I was going to make three trips to my car (parked outside and buried in snow).  Home accessory shopping is more exciting when there's a snowstorm than during a clear sunny day! Snow continues to fall in sheets while I trudge through in my Ugg boots.  On my third trip, I was walking down the stairs that had not been salted or shoveled and my feet come out from under me and I fell to my knees, later my elbows.  No, I wasn't feeling the need to bow down to the snow gods & thank them for more snow - I lost my balance. 

I realized that my way of falling was the second sign from the universe this was a bad idea.  My first sign were people headed the opposite direction I was going toward.  The universe sent me what I needed: to slow down.  I realized that slowing down & staying in touch with my inner guidance allows for more balance.  Although I needed more balance within my Ugg boots that day! 

Balance shows up in our lives each day.  If I would have listened to my first instinct, I wouldn't have had the chance to fall down; but I did.  Thankfully, I didn't internally hurt anything.  Only cuts, bruises, & swollen knees remind me of the balance that I intend to achieve for 2009 & beyond.  It's easy to caught up in our 'to do' lists & not put the effort to find inner stability.  Next time you're giving yourself a tough time the 'to do' list isn't checked off, ask yourself this: what would it be like to ignore the 'to do' list & do something for yourself?  How do you find balance?

Despite my sore muscles accompanied with cuts & bruises, they continue to offer me a reminder that life isn't balanced or black and white.  Sometimes gray matter finds you, because you need it. 

]]> Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:54:07 GMT <![CDATA[ Structural Integration Blog]]> http://www.mybodyrestoration.com/Blog/default.aspx Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:53:54 GMT