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Monthly Archives: December 2011

Out with the old; in with the new!

I hope you had a lovely Christmas or Chanukah or Solstice celebration, or time off from work at the very least.  I’m  so grateful for you being in my life!  I’m so lucky to be able to look forward to going to work each day.  Thank you for your part in that!

Confession:  I’m not a big fan of new year’s resolutions.  I hope you don’t think me a bad person for it.  I just think this time of year is really good for resting, introspection, and listening.  Not so great for starting new projects.  That’s what the spring is for.  On the other hand, I do think it’s a great time of year for culling.  So as we say goodbye to 2011, I’m wondering, what else is it time to say goodbye to?

For me, I’m going to stop saying yes to every social engagement.  Too many parties makes this introvert grumpy.  I’m also going to say goodbye to the idea that I have to take care of everyone else before I take care of myself.  And I’m going to stop checking facebook 30 times a day.  Sure, I’d like to start new projects, finish hanging things on the walls of my house, and exercise more.  But right now, I’m just focusing on making the space.

What about you?  What are you ready to let go of in 2012?  I’d love to hear about any resolutions you might be making or goals you have for the new year as well.  Make it a good one, and be safe out there!  See you on the other side!

Are you (unknowingly) haunted by a bad fall to the bum?

As I was walking through the snow last night, I almost slipped and fell a few times on hidden ice.  Which reminded me of a bad fall I took 8 years ago on some icy steps, which resulted in a hip that ‘pops’ very loudly on a fairly regular basis.  Maybe you’ve had the pleasure of hearing it yourself.  And, because I think about these things, I started thinking about the sacrum, which is the topic of today’s blog post!

So, what is a sacrum?  At the bottom of your spine, right after your lumbar vertebrae end, but before your coccyx begins, there are 5 more vertebrae that start fusing together when you’re around 16 years old and end up becoming one bone around the time you turn 26.  That one bone is your sacrum.  Isn’t it cool that your body is still changing at 26?  5 bones become one!  Voilà!  (Your clavicles aren’t fully calcified until you’re about 40!)  But this isn’t the only reason your sacrum is so awesome.  The sacrum is the geometric center of the body, which is pretty important, it turns out.  Also, the sacrum is considered part of the spine AND part of the pelvis.  What?!?  This puppy moves like the spine and moves like the pelvis, which means it’s the only bone in the body to rotate on three (count ‘em, three!) axes.

And while that’s cool and all, why would you care about the sacrum?  Let’s be honest here, you probably won’t care about the sacrum, even after reading this.  But the thing is, what with the sacrum being the geometric center of the body, it really is connected to everything else.  And so when the sacrum isn’t happy and free to move on all three of those axes, you tend to get other problems popping up all over the place.  Also, in a funny twist, it seems to be the injury that people most often forget to mention in my office.  They remember getting their tonsils out and breaking their arm and the bad ankle sprain and the minor concussion.  But that fall on their butt that left them struggling to walk for the next month?  Conveniently slipped their minds.  I’m just as guilty of this, having received almost 30 Rolfing sessions before I remembered my awesome fall down those icy steps.

But if that shoulder, or knee, or neck thing just won’t go away, I’ll probably take a look at your sacrum.  Luckily, I do those fancy scans that will tell me if the problem is in the sacrum, even if you won’t.  There’s even a special energetic tracing pattern just for the sacrum.  That’s how big of a deal the sacrum is.  And if you’ve had a bad fall that’s now affecting your shoulder, or knee, or neck, I’ll probably do that energetic tracing on your sacrum, so there.  If you think this is something you could benefit from, just say the word during your next session and we’ll take care of it.  I’ve got your back.  Literally.  That’s all I’ll say on the sacrum.  For now.

On a completely unrelated note, happy Winter Solstice! And Merry Christmas, and happy whatever it is that you celebrate this time of year!  I hope you’re staying warm and enjoying all the warmth and light (at least inside our homes) of the season!  Thanks for being awesome!  I’m glad you’re a part of my life!

You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around…

First, and foremost, I’ve decided on a name for the new service.  After many wonderful suggestions from the likes of you, as well as a fairly involved, slightly intoxicated debate with a bunch of people who had never been Rolfed, I’m happy to announcing the brand new Kick-Ass Rub!  Thanks for all of the suggestions, input, and slightly inappropriate comments (you know who you are).  I’m excited about the new session and now I’m excited about the name as well.  Yay!

Speaking of excitement, Demo Day is tomorrow.  Love those things.  If you have someone in your life who’s been wanting to check out this Rolfing/SourcePoint thing as well as this Theresa Zordan person, this is the way to go.  I still have a couple after-work appointments open, so have them give me a call (303-261-2568) or shoot me an email (t.zordan@gmail.com) to set up their 30 minute trial session for $10.

Okay, on to the learning bit.  Let’s talk about Left-Right Balance (and Imbalance).  I capitalized it to make it look important, but that’s just what I call it.  Ideally, your body has this whole communication thing going on between your right side and your left side.  Your two sides work together.  Sometimes they work a little too well together, such as when you hurt your left shoulder and a little while later your right shoulder starts hurting as well.  Really?  Come on.  Not cool, Body.  But what’s more common in my office is a complete breakdown of communication between the two sides of the body.  And I can spot it in the first 5 minutes of the first session.  Now I’m going to teach you how to spot it as well.

In the first 5 minutes of a session, I ask people for their body history.  Falls, accidents, surgeries, broken bones, problem areas, etc.  The conversation, when there’s a significant lack of communication between the left side and the right side of the body (and therefore the brain), goes a little something like this.

Me:  Which foot did you break?
Superstar Client:  My right one, when I was 7.
Me:  Oh, and your shoulder surgery in 2005, which shoulder was that?
SC:  My right shoulder.
Me:  Cool.  And you have carpal tunnel in both wrists?
SC:  No, just my right wrist.
Me:   Oh, and you have TMJ?
SC:  Yeah, my jaw pops on the right side.

You get the picture, right?

So, why does this sort of thing happen?  Well, we have a chicken and the egg sort of situation here, and I certainly can’t tell you which came first.  It’s possible that with the original injury to your right side, such as the broken foot when you were seven, you learned subconsciously, not to trust your right side.  And since then, you’ve been paying a little less attention to that right side of yours.  Therefore, you’re a little more accident prone on your right side.  And the next time you get a bump or a bruise on your right side, it just reinforces your belief that you can’t trust your right side.  So you put things you don’t like there, such as tension and stress and anger, all the while ignoring it a little more and a little more.  Poor right side.  It didn’t want to have a broken foot any more than you did, except for the cool cast for all your friends to sign.

The other option for how it all started is a bit more woo-woo and out there.  But you know me, I’m a bit out there (not to mention woo-woo), so this is the one I like more.  In this option, we look at why it was that you broke your right foot, and not your left, in the first place.  Which brings us to theories about what the right side of your body means, and what the left side of your body means.  Typically, the right side (of the body and left side of the brain) is associated with things like masculine energy, logical and rational thought, and generally a German way of operating (I’m German, I can say stuff like this).  Get stuff done.  Do step one, then step two, then step three.  Dominate.  Dictate.  On the other hand (literally, ha!) the left side of the body (and right side of the brain) is generally associated with feminine energy, intuition, creativity, listening, and an Italian way of operating (I’m Italian, I can say this too).  Go with your gut, listen to the universe, pay attention to signs and omens.  Dance, draw, light a candle not for light or warmth, but for the beauty of it.

With this second, woo-woo option the interpretation can be a bit messy.  For instance, are all of your injuries on the right side because you don’t trust the masculine forces in your life or in yourself?  Are you uncomfortable operating from a place of logic as opposed to intuition?  Or do you over-identify with the right side, relying on it too heavily, so that it can’t get the support it needs from the left?  Don’t look at me.  I don’t have any idea.  But chances are, you do.  And if you’re one of those people who suffers from Left-Right Imbalance (there, I did it again, doesn’t it look important?) maybe you could take a minute or two to think about your relationship with logic and intuition.  Masculine and feminine.  Talking versus listening.  ‘Cause the thing is you need both.  They were designed to work together.  That’s why you have two hands, two eyes, and two legs.  Just one would make things a little more difficult and a lot more unbalanced.  Just a thought.

I’ve got a coupla things to tell ya, so listen up.

Demo Day is next Wednesday! Once again, I’ve got 30 minute teaser sessions for the incredibly low price of $10.  I sound like a car salesman.  But it’s true.  Wednesday the 14th, from 11am to 8pm, Demo Day sessions are available.  That’s right; 8pm, so there’s plenty of time to get there for the folk who work normal business hours!  I might as well just role with the car salesman thing at this point.  New clients only, so tell your friends.  They can either call me at 303-261-2568 or email me at t.zordan@gmail.com to schedule an appointment.

I’m now offering a new service and I need your help with the name.  So this new session will be 2 hours (gasp!) and will be a full-body fluffing sort of session.  Like the Rolfing equivalent of a full body massage.  Clients will be in their underwear for this and it will have more of a (although not completely) routine feel to it than a traditional Rolfing session.  It will still be tailored to what’s going on with you, but this session shouldn’t be used if you have a specific injury or concern you want addressed.  This is more for the person who wants full body expansion and relaxation.  The price for this session is $175.  And now I need a name and therefore, your help!  What should I call it, other than ‘full-body fluffing,’ since that sounds odd and a bit like the end of a dryer cycle to me?

Gift certificates are always available.  I’ve been overwhemed this year by the “spend, spend, spend!” messages I seem to be getting this season and so I’m hesitant to even say anything in this department.  On the other hand, I really like the idea of giving gifts that are homemade (like apple butter or bath salts) or experiential (like concert tickets or a cooking class).  Since Rolfing/SourcePoint sessions fall into the latter category, I’m just throwing it out there.  If you’d like to buy a gift certifcate for a loved one for Christmas or Chanuka or Kwanza or the Winter Solstice, just let me know, or let someone else know if you want one for yourself.  I can take credit card payments over the phone and can mail out the gift certificates, so you don’t even have to do any driving!  And if absolutely no one buys a gift certificate, that’s fine too.  No pressure.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m looking forward to your naming suggestions!  Take care and stay warm!