Snow-mageddon 2011

Not many words needed. It has snowed A LOT in the last 24 hours.Not too mention last weekend. I love living in Michigan! Snow makes me so happy!! I would have been happier if I had gotten the day of work, but that is the life of an athletic trainer. Or pretty much most adults. Long gone are the days of laying around and doing nothing in the middle of the week just because it snowed more than a few inches. I'm just happy I got to sleep in until 8am! That is rare during the week. Best part of the day was seeing the sun shine after so many gray days. I am thankful.

 

"Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding..." Psalm 148:7-8

Chinese Therapy

So apparently I'm the weird kid at work. And I'm ok with this. Basically I have noticed since starting to work at Central Michigan University, I tend to use some different therapy techniques than my co-workers. Thankfully about 3 years ago I was introduced to the world of Chinese suction cup therapy.

 I am still trying to fully understand them myself. But to put it simply, they help to relieve tension in the fascia (tissue surrounding muscles) by stretching the tissue. Blood flow is also encouraged due to the pressure applied by the suction. Blood flow is always a good thing when healing injures. It brings with it white blood cells or phagocytes, which kill bacteria and other foreign bodies in the blood stream. There are also magnets (positive and negative) that are attached to the cups. From my little experience, the positive magnets relieved the muscle tension the best. I always wondered about this until last semester. I learned from a past student of mine, whose father is Chinese-American, informed her that based on the yin-yang theory, the positive magnets help to get rid of the "negative" energy in the muscle tissue. Hmmmm. I have much research ahead of me of the yin-yang theory. Not sure I will ever fully understand it. But, a good understanding  of anatomy and physiology is a big help.

I have had such great results with these cups, it just encourages me to use them more. I can't imagine doing therapy without them! It really makes me want to continue using the "weird stuff" to help heal injures. I have been starting to use kinesio tape (or my special tape, as my friend Kylee calls it) and having great results. I'm sure I'll be back to talk about that sometime down the road.   

"Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." Matthew 8:7

"If I Had Sneezed...."

I just wanted to share with you the last speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. He gave this speech on April 3, 1968 in Memphis, the night before he was killed. Probably my favorite speech of his. Basic theme: the cost of freedom. I love the story he shares of getting stabbed by a lady that almost killed him; if only he had sneezed. He knew that he had to do whatever God called him to do in order to aid those fighting for their basic civil rights. Even if it cost him his life. Oh, that we would push ourselves out of our comfort zones and do what is right even when it's not comfortable.

"Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness." - Martin Luther King Jr.




Martin Luther King, Jr: "Mountaintop" speech full length from Filip Goc on Vimeo.

Snowflakes are Nature's Sequins

So after having a snowboard in my closet for the last year, I figured it was time to finally take it out on the slopes. My friend Nathalie and I went about 30 minutes north to Snow Snake, a cute little ski park. I had attempted snowboarding once before, but it was an utter failure. This time was much different. Nathalie took time to teach me the basics. I so appreciate her :o) It was a fun day of quality time with an old friend and the beginning of many trips down the mountain. Sore and tired were pretty much my life story for about five days after. Thinking that getting too old for this type of thing. ;o)

I can't help but smile when it starts to snow outside. I really do not like the cold, but there is something about snow that just makes me happy. I can't say exactly when this all began, but I know every since moving back to the mid-west, I have loved it. My favorite thing to do on a snowy evening is to walk around downtown with white lights in the trees. Beautiful. The smell of wood burning in a fire place another favorite. I am hoping to soon experience playing hockey on one of the ponds in town. I don't think you get many opportunities to do things like this in big cities. I guess this small town of Mt. Pleasant, MI is again finding a place in my heart. And it all started with snow.

"He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!' and the rain, 'Soak the whole countryside!" Job 37:6