Feldenkrais, Chia, and Extending Your Life, Thanks To Chris McDougall

Hi folks, (especially fellow AAA-stent owners, if I ever find any!),

Tip for the day – one cup of chia (table spoon in cup of water) with Maple Syrup to taste goes down great just before and early morning swim. Doesn’t sit on your stomach and you don’t feel too hungry when you come out of the water (but you still want to eat, of course). Now I am eating a couple of tamales to finish off my breakfast. Really like polenta, now, too! Got all these nutrition ideas from a great book, ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall. For more stuff on an issue that is going to completely transform running, by humans at least, see – chrismcdougall.com/blog/

Thought for the day – Would I have lived to the end of the year if I hadn’t studied self-awareness in the form of various kinds of meditation, martial arts, then yoga, and most importantly over the last four years, Feldenkrais? A key component of Feldenkrais training is internal scanning of the state of your body to the point that it just becomes a regular habit. You get to spot tightness here and there, and areas of discomfort, and areas that just feel great. I was doing my usual scan whilst lying bed two months ago and I said to myself  ‘Boy! That abdominal pulse I noticed six months ago is getting more noticeable, don’t you think Kevin.’ So! A quick differential diagnosis got me to the Dr. the next day, scan the next, found a great surgeonwith help of my lovely nurse girl friend Deb within another eight hours, and had my AAA-stent in four days later. That aneurysm was ready to blow – great big sac at the bottom end of my aorta. A few heavy squats would have done the trick!!! So! I attribute my current fortunate AAA-stented situation to self-awareness through previous mental training, but mainly to my ongoing studies of Feldenkrais with Karen Dold, my esteemed Feldenkrais Instructor . There is only one problem with Feldenkrais, the name, and as we know that can be very important. I am sure the name ‘Ironman’ played a role in the popularity of our sport.

-k Your Medical Mind