bobbates's Journal

It's that time of year when that "back to school" feel is in the air. Lots of planning, new clothes, new school books and all sorts of school supplies (do they still make Peachies?). One thing I have noticed is that the backpacks seem to be larger and stuffed with more books than ever. It got me thinking about what effect that might have on the back health of school children. Fortunately my chiropractor (it takes a village to keep me together) supplied me with a great article that you may find helpful in guiding your children to proper backpack use and it may make you want to consider purchasing a roller type bag.

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food". I've got to say that he has become one of my favorite non-fiction writers because of his amazing ability to take complex scientific subjects and make them accessible to mere mortals. Plus he seems to have a genuine desire to educate us how we can be more healthy and also have a positive impact on the environment. While I'd give a slight edge with regard to entertainment value to his previous book, Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food is a great read, packed with very valuable information.

This isn't a super exciting subject but it's come to mind lately as I've been reviewing my health insurance.

How much are you paying for prescription drugs? With insurance rates increasing every year (at least), it's a real trade-off between getting good health coverage, including prescriptions and deciding what you might just be able to do without. I know with my policy, good drug coverage (that came out wrong) is really expensive.

Developing a meditation practice always seems to be a challenge for my clients. Everyone wants (or believes) they should meditate, but after a short period of time, most give up. It seems impossible to quiet "the monkey mind" - the mind that keeps moving from thought to thought like a monkey swinging from one tree branch to another. I have to confess, it's been a real challenge for me as well. While I aspire to be one of those enlightened monks who seem to be able quiet their mind (and breath) while at the same time handle repeated blows to the back with a bamboo stick, it just doesn't happen. However I have found that even taking five minutes in the morning to just follow my breath with no other agenda, can really make a difference in my attitude throughout the entire day.

5 Lessons from the Square Watermelon

You may have seen the press last week on the new square watermelon that is making it's debut in Japan. It's a fascinating story about ingenuity and in this case, how "thinking inside the box" can help you see things in a different way and enable you to explore some new solutions to life's problems. I found a great summary of the story on a web blog -

A quick reflection on the whole idea of "normal".

I'm working with a client whose organization provides housing services for thousands of homeless people in the City of San Francisco. As we met today for the first time to discuss some team development work for her director staff, I had a chance to walk with her through her "hood" as she called it. It struck me how we are surrounded by so many people that lead very different lives than us and who we don't often even take notice of most of the time. While the homeless people we saw were in many respects different than my client, she didn't see them as "not normal". They were just the people her organization helps on a daily basis.

Use It and Get More of It!

I just attended a conference on Brain Health Across the Lifespan. You’ve heard the old adage “use it or lose it”. Well when it comes to keeping your brain healthy, it’s really “use it and get more of it”. The field of neuroscience is shattering the age old myth that once you hit your late teens, you’ve got about as many brain cells as you will ever have. Remember when you were warned that “drinking” was going to kill all of those brain cells and you’d never get them back? While it’s true that excess alcohol consumption doesn’t do your brain cells any favors, but you actually can create new brain cells and even improve your memory and cognition with age.

Can Fat Help You Repair Injury Faster?

I always love to find more information about how dietary fat is good for you. I recently came across some recent studies on the role of fat in speeding up the recovery process form injury. The good news is that making the right dietary changes during rehab can help serious and not-so-serious athletes heal more quickly and get “back in the game” sooner.

Does stretching really help sports performance and reduce the chance of injury?

This is a question that I get asked frequently by clients. In fact at an ACSM (Academy of Sports Medicine) conference last year, this was a very hot topic. The bad news was that there was no hard evidence after many studies, that stretching immediately before sports competition helped with performance. However the presenter conceded that since we have all been raised with stretching before competition, there could be a positive mental reaction from stretching that might help mental performance. The presenter didn’t think this was necessarily a bad thing!

I ran across this article written by Xerox on how to save paper. It's great to see that slowly but surely, companies large and small, are thinking about the environment. We've got a ways to go of course, but it's a start. There are some simple tips for conservation for all of us working in an office. I'll ask you to indulge them a bit for promoting one of their products because they've done a good job with coming up with some ideas that are pretty easy to put into everyday use.