January 2011
Posture misalignment can cause pain in your back or anything connected to it. After all, the hip bone’s connected to the back bone, the back bone’s connected to the neck bone, and on it goes. It’s not just a folk song, but the integrated reality of our body. The key to good posture is correct joint alignment, though the complete picture involves balance, nerves and muscular strength—strong abdominals avoid pulling on the lower back.
Posture is the position or bearing of the body whether characteristic or assumed. The functional problem with posture arises when we assume a pose to walk around. Robert E. Dahl of Dahl Chiropractic Clinics said, “The head is heavy—about 10 pounds—and we’ll hold it in whatever way necessary to keep pressure off the nerves. If there is difficulty, our musculo-skeletal system gives off pain signals, but the brain sends messages to realign for proper flow to keep vital organs functioning.” Continue reading “Holding a Body in Balance”
Touch is healing. We recognize and respond to a pat on the back, holding hands or a hug. Massage takes it the notion of touch as healing farther. And it can be especially beneficial to those who live alone or to someone who longs for a few minutes alone. 
Arriving at the defunct Bita Hochee Trading Post on the Navajo reservation, it was impossible to miss its striking butte. Bita Hochee means “red rock runs through it.” The trading post — north of Holbrook and about a two-hour drive from Flagstaff — serves as the studio for celebrated Navajo artist Redwing Nez. 
When entering the Merchants Gathering in Jerome—an old filling station complete with pump—visitors often find Cody DeLong, brush in hand. On a Friday, he carefully daubed drab olive paint on a canvas to bring a relic truck to life. Whether he is mixing oils for a still life or a landscape, his subjects are often right around the corner.
Mary suffered from insomnia for years. The challenges of balancing a high-powered job and a blended family created stress in the important areas of her life. She met her fiftieth birthday sleep-deprived and depressed. After repeated efforts by her primary care doctor failed, Mary (who asked her full name not be used) sought integrated help at the Center for Creative Change. 
The Collins family appears lucky. It can claim three multi-million dollar lottery winners through its relatives. One of the family wins, a Catholic brother-in-law, stopped to pray on his way home from work and used the posted hymn numbers from a service as his picks. One might say, “God is good,” but psychology experts stress the power of positive thinking and gathering good to you as well. 
Jazz musician Joel DiBartolo has kept high-profile company by playing for 18 years on the Johnny Carson show and by suffering from the same heart condition as Regis Philbin and David Letterman. Out of the blue in 1995, a heart attack struck DiBartolo in Prescott. They called it a ‘widow maker’ for its drastic and lasting effect. Except the jazz pro lived.
For gym rats, January is the worst month. Not because skating on parking lot ice terrifies more than tones or because working off stuffing leaves them winded. No, the month is bitter because New Year Resolution Reformers crowd fitness centers. Still, regulars realize that come February, Reformers will have given up and given them back the sweaty space. 
Steven Kalas went to the wilderness because he was feeling alone. Life is nothing if not ironic. He was hardly alone as a single father with three children, a psychology practice and a newspaper column. “Alone,” he journaled of his trip, “is a very ordinary experience. But for most of my life, when aloneness came to visit, I would promptly vacate the premises. I was, and still can be, the master of distraction when it comes to the deeper work of being human. But this weekend, I went camping. And I invited Aloneness to come camping with me.” 
The gravel driveway leading to Valerie Hannemann’s home and office in the woods passes a horse pen. The licensed psychologist and Northern Arizona University professor, dressed in boots and jeans with a red and white checkered shirt, stands within the fenced area, calling one of her three horses. The spirited animal comes close and shoots off again.