Your Body

The anatomy of a home is very much like the anatomy of the human body. Simply put, you have the foundation, our core beliefs, the wood framing, our skeletal structure, the exterior siding, and any desired facade that many building contractors refer to as gingerbread, our muscular structure.

Our physical well-being is foundational or correlated to our core beliefs that affects how we maintain our bone structure and our muscular construction. Therefore, we must ask ourselves whether our believes is addressing our anatomical health. Of course, I am not a health guru by any stretch, however, I have come to realize and appreciate that it is directly associated with quality of life.

In this week's episode, a physical therapist, creator of the Yass Method, advocates the need for muscular strength to support the skeletal framework, thus, minimizing potential injury.

​What was so striking to me, was when he said that chronic pain was nonexistence before the 1980s because of the lifestyle of the internet, extrapolating this culture of sitting in front of a screen with lack of physical movement much to our detriment. To illustrate, I have seen where the foundation of a house will settle creating stress on one side of the home producing cracks because of structural imbalance. And the human body is like that, it can experience physical stress or imbalance manifesting itself in chronic pain when there is a lack of muscular strength.

I am reminded of a good friend who went to a chiropractor to address his chronic pain, however, after his treatment and on the way home his pain became even more acute. This immediately prompted him to turn around and go back to the chiropractor. Finally, after a few minutes, the chiropractor advised him to exercise, and after a few visits at a gym, his pain dissipated. Admittedly, it was due to weakness of the soft tissue or the muscle mass imbalance and not his bone structure.

So, the rhetorical question is, how do I know if I am physically fit enough to avert chronic pain that derives from soft tissue?

Some may quickly say that they are not in shape, but do not be too hasty about that. Here are some ways we can determine our physical prowess.

There is various way to quantify or measure our health levels regardless in how your muscles appear and how your clothes fit.

One indicator to determine our physical shape, are those that have a lower heart rate, and it will stay within a certain range of no more than a systolic rate of 140 and no more than a diastolic rate of 90.

Keeping pace with your peers is another good sign that you are doing physically great.

If you can walk or jog at a moderate pace, trail hike, climb stairs without getting winded, and your breathing is in control, you are in better shape than you may be crediting yourself.

The American Heart Association suggests that us adults engage in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise at least 150 minutes five days per week. Personally, from a practical standpoint, if I am going to do vigorous exercise, I prefer to incorporate it into doing something productive around the house or outdoors, just kick it up doing the chores a few notches and you will be on point. Even if you are not vigorous, getting sufficient exercise each week will be effective in how you feel and look.

Have you known of individuals that have an abject fear of elevators?

As I have always said, there is always an upside to every downside, no pun intended. What I mean by that in this context, climbing stairs is exceedingly healthier than riding an elevator, and if it does not bother you climbing stairs, with or without this phobia, you are to be commended for your physical strength.

How is your sleeping pattern?

It only makes sense, if you are sleeping well or at least getting enough rest, more than likely you are in decent shape because it reflects your energy expenditure during the day.

Incidentally, if you can pick up a twenty-pound child without straining, this is also very telling of your good physical condition. The misconception is that we must be as physically fit as an athlete, this could not be further from the truth.

How is your state of mind or mental health?

Research has unequivocally proven that your state of mind is correlated to physical health. Physical exercise has demonstrated to ameliorate mental health by minimizing anxiety, depression, and a bad mood not to mention, dividends acquired in self-esteem and cognitive clarity.

To capsulize the premise of my guest’s treatment model, he says the following:

“Look at yourself, your family members, and your friends and see how many of them are being treated for pain using pain management. This practice is so out of control it has led to the need for state regulations to restrict its use. And if you think about it, the idea of managing pain seems bizarre and medieval. Medical care should focus on eliminating pain, not simply managing it. If pain is an indication that something

has gone wrong in the body, the goal should be to identify the tissue emitting the pain signal and resolve the distress of the tissue. This ends the need

for a pain signal and it ceases. Clearly the existing model doesn’t work.” By Dr. Mitchell Yass, creator of the Yass method.

In conclusion, my understanding as a layman, (most) chronic pain does not derive from our skeletal structure, but from soft tissues that needs to be strengthen by means of vigorous or moderate exercise, it is your choice, you cannot go wrong.