Quick post today as I'm meant to be finishing off the dress I'm knitting for dd1...
The boys - well dh and a visiting child - spent most of the day trying to fix a petrol lawnmower today. The garden stunk of petrol and as for the noise... They succeeded in getting it to start, but it looks like it might need some tweaking still. Can't say the whole 'lawnmower engine' thing does much for me. Must be a boy thing!
Had a physio appointment today. Usual NHS rubbish, but seems a slight improvement on when I last had treatment a few years back. Instead of the usual one-size-fits-all sheet of exercises today I got poked and prodded too. I'm not sure if I should consider this a good thing or not (I hurt now!), but we'll see. Physio person was reluctant for me to continue with osteopath at the same time. 'It's me or him' was the gist of it. Tough. Life's too short for occupational envy. Why don't we liven it up with a bit of healthy competition? The first one to cure me, wins!
Lego. Too much of it. All over the house. Love the stuff, but it's driving me mad.
Have cleared a whole load of space in the conservatory. Moved a new freezer into the garage and am trying to freecycle the old one, so had a shuffle of furniture. Definitely a furniture-moving time of year. Autumn has come. All dull stuff I know, but it does mean we can actually walk around the table in the conservatory without impaling ourselves on the dog cage.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Monday, 2 June 2008
Bracknell Forest and Blue Peter Badge
[this was edited March 2009 to add a title to the blog entry]
Been a few days since I've written on the blog (explanation later), but we had a lovely time celebrating dh's birthday on Saturday at Bracknell Forest. The kids spent quite a bit of time playing in the fantastic playgrounds, running around with sticks, climbing up the wooden fort etc. We probably could have spent all day outside doing just this (for free), but I bought some tickets for the 'Look-Out centre' - a hands-on science centre that far excels anything we have locally.
Trying out the drum machine
Demonstrating on the drums, before being pulled off by his brother!
(Sorry, video is wrong way around!)
I even splashed out and bought them tickets to the 'Spies' science show that was put on at regular intervals, though I did have regrets about this afterwards as we all found it rather disappointing. I suppose having 2 scientists for parents everything aimed at my kids' age group is a bit dumbed-down for them. It did do one thing for me though, I left the show freshly inspired that even a wallflower like me could do a better job (momentary feeling of smugness and confidence) and with ambitions for future job-hunting... Plus it gave the kids the idea that setting fire to baking powder was a good idea. Do I want to encourage that? I'm not sure.
Change the pitch of your voice
The Castle fort in the playground
Chilling out!
Stopped on the way home for a pizza which was lovely.
Sadly not so lovely at 3am. I suppose it's a sign of our financial situation when I'm more concerned about how much the pizza cost that I'm throwing up - and what a waste of money it was - than the fact that I feel dreadful. By 6am I had visions of one of the Italian chefs doing something really nasty to my pizza to get back at dh for trying to teach the kids Italian in a very loud voice in the restaurant (he can't speak Italian), but that was probably just a moment of paranoia {g}.So, Sunday was a washout and I spent all day in bed feeling lousy. Thankfully dh took the initiative and got the kids out with their bikes to the park, something I've been promising them for ages, but with the 'bad back' situation haven't been able to. Actually I think dh was avoiding having to 'nurse' me (not something either of us are good at) and probably felt that taking 3 boisterous kids out for the afternoon was a preferable option!
Still feeling washed out today which hasn't made it a great day for home educating. ds1 finally finished typing out his Blue Peter badge application after some gentle nagging by me. The words 'blood' and 'stone' come to mind lol, but at least it's done now and ready to post tomorrow. Sometimes I try and visualise him in a typical school setting and wonder how any teacher would cope with a child who can take an hour to write a single sentence. Bless him. The school system must be full of lots of square pegs trying to fit into round holes. The only holes we have here are the ones that ds1 keeps chewing in the top of his t-shirts and the black hole that all the odd socks disappear into, oh and the hole that should be there if I ever get around to clearing all that clutter that I keep promising to. That's enough holes for one household.
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Recently I've been revising my thoughts about our home education and wondering how I can possibly meet the needs of 3 very different children. How do other home educators manage? I'm not sure if they ever do. Of course school is always an option lurking in the background, but still very much a last resort, however many times I threaten the kids with it {g}.
There are a couple of village schools we could check out, and I suppose there is always the possibility that they might be so desperate for pupils that they would consider a flexi-school arrangement, so I like to keep this as my emergency plan for when things get really bad. Plan B or C or even a bit further down the alphabet, around S.
Of course my children have been out of school for so long now that I'm not sure how easy it would be for them to integrate into the system. Or perhaps it's me who would find it difficult to integrate back into the system. Just the thought of being told what to put in their lunchbox each day or told what colour socks to dress the kids in could potentially put me into a very challenging mood! Could I wash school uniforms and sew on all those name labels in without some feeling of resentment? Could I conform and let someone else tell my children what to do? Methinks not!
Our education has mostly been ruled by the learning style and needs of ds1. I guess this happens with most home educating families, the eldest child dictates the path we take.When I 'offload' to friends who have kids at school, their automatic solution to everything, to every problem, is for me to put the kids into school. But again and again when I look at this I realise it wouldn't solve anything, all it would do is exchange one set of problems for another.
So school is out of the question right now. And with ds1 only a few years off secondary schooling, I can't see any change of decision then. Secondary schooling around here is an even more scary prospect. Would I willingly and knowingly feed my kids to the lions? Daft question really.
So we have to decide how to move forward. How to meet their needs, so that each of them gets the best chances to develop their talents. I'm still trying to work out how that can be done.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
A Home Educating Mum's Guide to a Quiet Mid-Life Crisis (wouldn't want to disturb anyone would we?)
Today Ds1 attended the first part of a First Aid course. As he frustratingly tells me, I gave him the choice as to whether to attend or not and when he said 'no' I said he had to go anyway. Well, he should consider himself lucky - at least I gave him the brief illusion of having a choice before I took it away from him. lol. Ah well...I figure my kids get lots of choice and freedoms, probably far more than many kids. Sometimes there are things that I think are important enough that I make the choice for them, and this was one of them.
Thankfully the car is still working after it's cam belt breakage and replacement. I did have my doubts last night when, on my way out to go to the home ed pub evening I found dh under the car tying the exhaust back on with wire. Oh joy. That's another thing that needs replacing (yet more money). So now the car sounds a bit like a tractor and everytime I put my foot hard on the accelerator it chucks out clouds of black smoke. I should be thankful for small mercies - at least it's not got bits dragging on the ground or anything too embarrassing.
Anyway, ds1 said the course was 'good', which is bloody marvellous compared to the response I was expecting, so we're off for part 2 tomorrow. This time we'll try and get there on time - a combination of poor organisational skills (me) and traffic (me again - I forgot about rush hour) led us to being late today. But, in true home ed style, there were people even later than us. It could have been worse.
Perhaps I should have just chilled out at that point, but we raced back home to drop dd1 off at preschool, spent an hour at the allotment (sowing carrots and planting out more sweetcorn) before racing back to pick up ds1 from the course at lunchtime. Then to the garage to get a quote for a new exhaust pipe.
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Most of the home educators I know are currently going through a bit of a confidence crisis and I suppose I'm not much different. The daily domestic plod, the overwhelmingly untidy and dirty house, the increasing list of 'to do's, the constant bickering of siblings and the lack of achieving any goals (particularly home educating ones) makes us all have moments when we suspect perhaps school could offer something more. At least school would offer free childcare and we're all in desperate need for that!
Among my circle of friends most of us are having - and have been having for several years - something resembling a mid-life crisis. It's come to that time when we've all decided not to have any more children and we've all started asking the question 'so what's next then? What's in it for us?' Of course it hits us home educating mums hardest because in the midst of domesticity and the responsibility of full time caring and education, there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel - well not for another 10 or more years (by then we'll probably all be caring for our parents!) Other friends whose youngest children have now gone to school have started on their plans - retraining, doing voluntary work, working, going to the gym, spending time focusing on their needs after years of childcare - and I can't help but be a little envious. Ok, ok, I'm a lot envious!
And it affects us mums more than dads. Sadly I'm coming to realise that partners and husbands don't really care, because for them it makes no difference if we were home educating or not - they have their jobs, their careers, their status, their respect, their peers, their money, their social contact - and when they come home each evening it would make little difference to them whether their children had been at school all day or at home. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I suspect as long as the meal is on the table and the house doesn't look like a bomb's hit it [I fail on both of those] then they probably wouldn't notice either way.
So what to do about it? I'm yet to work it out. All I know is us home educating mums who have spent years meeting the needs of everyone else, are fast becoming so worn out, emotionally and physically knackered, that we're at risk of not being fit and healthy enough to meet their own needs and do all the things we'd love to even if we did have the time and money! That is even if we could actually remember what our needs are (most days I can't even remember what day it is lol) .What a sad state to be in!
Money is certainly an issue that crops up among home educators. How to make more, how to make the little we have go further, how to not mind when we're surrounded by people who can afford all those extras (tutors, music classes, resources, nice holidays, cleaners, childcare) that make home educating life that little bit easier. Ok, so perhaps 'surrounded' is a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. Some days you just don't want to be in the company of someone who can provide their kids with all the things you know you can't. Why is it that the people who say 'Money isn't everything' are usually the people who have lots of it! Money may certainly not be EVERYTHING, but there are times when it certainly makes life that little bit more comfortable {g}. Still if chiropracters cost only pennies to go to and we had a car that wasn't slowly falling apart, then finances might be slightly more secure lol.
Please please don't let the washing machine break down. Anything else, just not the washing machine.
Thankfully the car is still working after it's cam belt breakage and replacement. I did have my doubts last night when, on my way out to go to the home ed pub evening I found dh under the car tying the exhaust back on with wire. Oh joy. That's another thing that needs replacing (yet more money). So now the car sounds a bit like a tractor and everytime I put my foot hard on the accelerator it chucks out clouds of black smoke. I should be thankful for small mercies - at least it's not got bits dragging on the ground or anything too embarrassing.
Anyway, ds1 said the course was 'good', which is bloody marvellous compared to the response I was expecting, so we're off for part 2 tomorrow. This time we'll try and get there on time - a combination of poor organisational skills (me) and traffic (me again - I forgot about rush hour) led us to being late today. But, in true home ed style, there were people even later than us. It could have been worse.
Perhaps I should have just chilled out at that point, but we raced back home to drop dd1 off at preschool, spent an hour at the allotment (sowing carrots and planting out more sweetcorn) before racing back to pick up ds1 from the course at lunchtime. Then to the garage to get a quote for a new exhaust pipe.
I dread taking the car to the garage and as I pulled up there were 5 garage blokes barely out of their teens lurking outside the garage with nothing to do. When the garage bloke asked me 'what's the engine size?' I looked blank and shrugged 'haven't a clue'. I saw that look flick across his face, the 'oh god it's a woman driver' look. Oh joy. Thankfully he wandered off made a phone call and then returned to say that we wouldn't be able to get the exhaust pipe there. So back home we went before once more racing out to get dd1 from preschool and back home again in time for some friends to arrive. Then cooking a tea in a rush and me off to work, leaving the house a mess and nothing much achieved. I had planned to start thinking about what to do for ds2's birthday (only a week away), but like everything else lurking ominously on my whiteboard hanging by the door it just hasn't happened yet. Poor child, if I don't get something organised soon he's going to feel very neglected!
------------------------------------------------
Most of the home educators I know are currently going through a bit of a confidence crisis and I suppose I'm not much different. The daily domestic plod, the overwhelmingly untidy and dirty house, the increasing list of 'to do's, the constant bickering of siblings and the lack of achieving any goals (particularly home educating ones) makes us all have moments when we suspect perhaps school could offer something more. At least school would offer free childcare and we're all in desperate need for that!
Among my circle of friends most of us are having - and have been having for several years - something resembling a mid-life crisis. It's come to that time when we've all decided not to have any more children and we've all started asking the question 'so what's next then? What's in it for us?' Of course it hits us home educating mums hardest because in the midst of domesticity and the responsibility of full time caring and education, there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel - well not for another 10 or more years (by then we'll probably all be caring for our parents!) Other friends whose youngest children have now gone to school have started on their plans - retraining, doing voluntary work, working, going to the gym, spending time focusing on their needs after years of childcare - and I can't help but be a little envious. Ok, ok, I'm a lot envious!
And it affects us mums more than dads. Sadly I'm coming to realise that partners and husbands don't really care, because for them it makes no difference if we were home educating or not - they have their jobs, their careers, their status, their respect, their peers, their money, their social contact - and when they come home each evening it would make little difference to them whether their children had been at school all day or at home. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I suspect as long as the meal is on the table and the house doesn't look like a bomb's hit it [I fail on both of those] then they probably wouldn't notice either way.
So what to do about it? I'm yet to work it out. All I know is us home educating mums who have spent years meeting the needs of everyone else, are fast becoming so worn out, emotionally and physically knackered, that we're at risk of not being fit and healthy enough to meet their own needs and do all the things we'd love to even if we did have the time and money! That is even if we could actually remember what our needs are (most days I can't even remember what day it is lol) .What a sad state to be in!
Money is certainly an issue that crops up among home educators. How to make more, how to make the little we have go further, how to not mind when we're surrounded by people who can afford all those extras (tutors, music classes, resources, nice holidays, cleaners, childcare) that make home educating life that little bit easier. Ok, so perhaps 'surrounded' is a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. Some days you just don't want to be in the company of someone who can provide their kids with all the things you know you can't. Why is it that the people who say 'Money isn't everything' are usually the people who have lots of it! Money may certainly not be EVERYTHING, but there are times when it certainly makes life that little bit more comfortable {g}. Still if chiropracters cost only pennies to go to and we had a car that wasn't slowly falling apart, then finances might be slightly more secure lol.
Please please don't let the washing machine break down. Anything else, just not the washing machine.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
A day of doing very little...
Today has been a day of doing very little it seems.
I had grand plans to make it to our local regular home ed group, but the car was still at the garage being fixed (broken cam belt) and we were waiting to find out just how serious the problem was. Apparently broken cam belts often 'write off' a car engine and the thought of having to spend £1000+ on fixing the car - or having to buy another one - has been at the back of our minds for the past week since the darn thing packed up. Fortunately it seems as if the car has escaped further damage, and although we're wary that there might be some other problems with the car I drove it to work tonight after the garage put a new cam belt in it. Actually I don't know anything about cars or how they work, and don't really have any inclination to learn. I figure I have enough jobs around the house and if I start learning about the car it will then become my job as well. Nah! Sometimes there are advantages to staying ignorant about these things. I just know that it's a bummer when my back AND the car break down at the same time and that I'm relieved when one - or preferably both - are fixed!
I had grand plans to make it to our local regular home ed group, but the car was still at the garage being fixed (broken cam belt) and we were waiting to find out just how serious the problem was. Apparently broken cam belts often 'write off' a car engine and the thought of having to spend £1000+ on fixing the car - or having to buy another one - has been at the back of our minds for the past week since the darn thing packed up. Fortunately it seems as if the car has escaped further damage, and although we're wary that there might be some other problems with the car I drove it to work tonight after the garage put a new cam belt in it. Actually I don't know anything about cars or how they work, and don't really have any inclination to learn. I figure I have enough jobs around the house and if I start learning about the car it will then become my job as well. Nah! Sometimes there are advantages to staying ignorant about these things. I just know that it's a bummer when my back AND the car break down at the same time and that I'm relieved when one - or preferably both - are fixed!
Go-karting down the driveway
So no home ed group today. Ds1 was prompted by me to spend some time this morning writing out his application for a Blue Peter badge. It was a long slow laborious task. First we discussed what he would like to/ought to write. Then, consulting with him, I wrote a couple of paragraphs on a scrap of paper. All he had to do then was type up the sentences in a word document. Boy, it took ages! I think it must have taken over an hour and he typed up about 6 or 7 sentences! I sure hope these Blue Peter guys appreciate the effort (child's and parent's!) that has gone into this application. Still, if he gets a badge and I can get him into Legoland for free then I guess it'll be worth it. Just have to come up with an idea for ds2 then, so they can both get in free.
The rest of the day the kids mostly just mooched around. Dd1 spent some time drawing pictures of her brothers and the dog, which are really rather cute - big smiley lopsided people and animals! At the moment I'm keeping them all pegged up from a string that hangs across one of the walls in our lounge, but if she gets too prolific I might have to thin them out a bit. She's only started drawing things over the past fortnight, before then we just had a few scribbles and the occasional amoebic blob with eyes. The progress is quite spectacular. Still, it's often the way with most of the things the kids learn. If I keep well out of the way they seem to suddenly make great leaps in their knowledge or ability. If I try to teach or interfere, then all is lost!
Spent much of the day today trying to browse the internet for dh's birthday present. I'm always lousy at getting him something decent for his birthday because for whatever reason, May is either very busy, or in some way a complete washout due to illness, pregnancy or other reasons. This time I've ordered something off the internet (I'm running out of time and energy and health to go shopping in town) and spent far more money than I was intending. Oh sod it. Sometimes when you're skint, being even more skint doesn't seem like a big deal does it? {g} Ah well, so much for all my frugleness of the past few weeks! Anyway, I sold the travelcot to a guy today for 20 quid, so that's a little bit to go in the pot (yeah the bottomless pot, that's the one!)
Have managed over the past few days to put a few bean poles in the garden where dh has dug and also planted some quite large tomato plants, but haven't got much further with the garden. Moved some of the rampant jerusalem artichokes to a more useful place, but there are still loads of stray plants that have taken over one of my raised beds. Even total neglect doesn't seem to kill them off! Looking on the bright side, at least they are pretty, even if they are in the wrong place. And all these plants came from just from a few uneaten organic veg-box tubers that I threw into the compost bin. Boy, they are survivors!
Despite trying to downsize a bit this year, I have lots to be planted at the allotment - greens, tomato plants, runner beans, french marigold plants, leeks, onions, seed potatoes (found another 2 bags of them in the shed - arrgghh!), and well, lots of other things. Have also been trying to pot up my pepper/chilli pepper plants into their permanent pots in the greenhouse, but I'm finding it all difficult work with my back still not too good. Sciatica came back with a vengence this afternoon (probably because I'd been sat in one position too long in front of the computer) and the terror of yet another fortnight in agony on the sofa is ever present. I need to phone the doctor to go back and see him to 'review options' (as he put it), but am putting it off. He's a bit of a tosser, totally unsympathetic and he's managed to drive me to despair on several occasions ( I'm not sure that patients sobbing on the way home from the doctor is one of the NHS targets!). I have a new surname for him, but don't think it's appropriate to post on a blog! So, will try and summon up some courage tomorrow to make an appointment and then if I get no luck I'll try another doctor. Someone human perhaps...{g}
As for the 'flight' project that we started a while back, well, it's been making slow progress. I really need to focus and get the kids doing something more structured as we seem to be drifting from day to day. They are still learning things, but with the back and car 'situation' we've got out of our routines recently and it's been hard for us all to be so housebound. Ranted big time at the kids yesterday. Apologised afterwards, but I think at least some of it was warranted. The kids really need to start pulling their weight around the house, helping me out and cooperating, or the situation is just going to become impossible. Even the threat of school didn't seem to have much of an effect. Darn! Must have used that one a bit too much!
The rest of the day the kids mostly just mooched around. Dd1 spent some time drawing pictures of her brothers and the dog, which are really rather cute - big smiley lopsided people and animals! At the moment I'm keeping them all pegged up from a string that hangs across one of the walls in our lounge, but if she gets too prolific I might have to thin them out a bit. She's only started drawing things over the past fortnight, before then we just had a few scribbles and the occasional amoebic blob with eyes. The progress is quite spectacular. Still, it's often the way with most of the things the kids learn. If I keep well out of the way they seem to suddenly make great leaps in their knowledge or ability. If I try to teach or interfere, then all is lost!
Spent much of the day today trying to browse the internet for dh's birthday present. I'm always lousy at getting him something decent for his birthday because for whatever reason, May is either very busy, or in some way a complete washout due to illness, pregnancy or other reasons. This time I've ordered something off the internet (I'm running out of time and energy and health to go shopping in town) and spent far more money than I was intending. Oh sod it. Sometimes when you're skint, being even more skint doesn't seem like a big deal does it? {g} Ah well, so much for all my frugleness of the past few weeks! Anyway, I sold the travelcot to a guy today for 20 quid, so that's a little bit to go in the pot (yeah the bottomless pot, that's the one!)
Have managed over the past few days to put a few bean poles in the garden where dh has dug and also planted some quite large tomato plants, but haven't got much further with the garden. Moved some of the rampant jerusalem artichokes to a more useful place, but there are still loads of stray plants that have taken over one of my raised beds. Even total neglect doesn't seem to kill them off! Looking on the bright side, at least they are pretty, even if they are in the wrong place. And all these plants came from just from a few uneaten organic veg-box tubers that I threw into the compost bin. Boy, they are survivors!
Despite trying to downsize a bit this year, I have lots to be planted at the allotment - greens, tomato plants, runner beans, french marigold plants, leeks, onions, seed potatoes (found another 2 bags of them in the shed - arrgghh!), and well, lots of other things. Have also been trying to pot up my pepper/chilli pepper plants into their permanent pots in the greenhouse, but I'm finding it all difficult work with my back still not too good. Sciatica came back with a vengence this afternoon (probably because I'd been sat in one position too long in front of the computer) and the terror of yet another fortnight in agony on the sofa is ever present. I need to phone the doctor to go back and see him to 'review options' (as he put it), but am putting it off. He's a bit of a tosser, totally unsympathetic and he's managed to drive me to despair on several occasions ( I'm not sure that patients sobbing on the way home from the doctor is one of the NHS targets!). I have a new surname for him, but don't think it's appropriate to post on a blog! So, will try and summon up some courage tomorrow to make an appointment and then if I get no luck I'll try another doctor. Someone human perhaps...{g}
As for the 'flight' project that we started a while back, well, it's been making slow progress. I really need to focus and get the kids doing something more structured as we seem to be drifting from day to day. They are still learning things, but with the back and car 'situation' we've got out of our routines recently and it's been hard for us all to be so housebound. Ranted big time at the kids yesterday. Apologised afterwards, but I think at least some of it was warranted. The kids really need to start pulling their weight around the house, helping me out and cooperating, or the situation is just going to become impossible. Even the threat of school didn't seem to have much of an effect. Darn! Must have used that one a bit too much!
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Helicopters, paper aeroplanes and the bowen technique
Well today the children made helicopters and paper aeroplanes at a group that they go to. When I say helicopters, I guess you could say these are more like paper equivalents of the sycamore seeds that you see falling in the autumn. They are incredibly easy to make - just requiring paper and a paperclip and scissors and surprisingly effective (unlike my usual attempts at making paper aeroplanes and kites!).
The kids didn't take part in many of the other activities (ds1 was persuaded to attend a session on Japanese art, though I didn't see if he produced anything) and as expected spent most of the time running around in the field with some new-found friends.
And today I had, what is hopefully my last (for a while) chiropracter session. This time she used the Bowen technique which I have never heard of before to help some of the more muscular aspects of my back pain. The Bowen technique is described as follows (see http://www.thebowentechnique.com/content/thebowentechnique.htm )
"The Bowen Technique is a remedial therapy that is applied by the therapist applying gentle pressure to soft tissue with fingers and thumbs. There is no deep tissue work or high velocity thrust movements as in chiropractic and there is no massaging of areas, so therefore no friction.
As a therapy it is incredibly gentle, both on the client and also, importantly, on the therapist. Another advantage to Bowen is that there are no contra indications and it can be used even in acute situations, where other forms of therapy might be avoided. In fact, as far as Bowen is concerned, the more acute the better. The tiniest of babies through to the frailest of adults can be treated and as the work can be performed through light clothing, it is ideal for these two particular groups of client....
...How Does It Work?
There are something like 600,000 signals that travel from the brain into the body every second and these in turn come back to the brain with information which is then interpreted and sent back out. Whenever we feel, hear, see or even think something, the brain brings in past experience in order to categorise the sensation and create an appropriate response.
In the case of the Bowen move, the brain is unable to do this instantly and needs more information to form a response. As it is, just when the brain is asking for more info, the therapist has left the room, and therefore the brain has to send specific signals to the area in order to gauge response. If the client is lying down, the immediate response is nearly always rapid and deep relaxation. The client will also often report that they feel a tingling sensation or warmth in the area just worked. "It felt like your hands were still on me," is a common comment. This demonstrates that because the move is out of the ordinary, the brain is looking for information about what happened.
One of the more difficult elements to come to terms with is how little is done during a session. In addition, the client may well walk out of the treatment room having felt little or no improvement over and above a sense of relaxation. However the reactions to Bowen can often belie its soft and gentle appearance. Stiffness, soreness, headache and feeling like "I've been run over by a bus!" are common. All excellent signs, they demonstrate that the brain has started the process of repair.
This process when started is generally rapid and it is not uncommon for even longstanding pain to be reduced or resolved in two or three treatments. Most sports- or work-related problems will be dealt with also within the two or three treatments, making Bowen not only effective, but cost effective for the client as well.
Although muscular skeletal problems such as frozen shoulder, back and neck pain account for the majority of presentations for Bowen, there is a lot of work that is effective with more organic problems. Although it's important to point out again that we don't treat specific problems, Bowen has been widely used with asthma, migraines, irritable bowel, infertility and reproductive problems. Even hayfever, the blight of so many summers, is affected excellently with Bowen.
There are no such things in this life as guarantees and this can be said of Bowen as well. The beauty of it is that it is simply offered to the body. If the body accepts it then it can and will start the process of repair. If it doesn't accept it then no harm is done."
Well I certainly felt the warmth and tingling described in the above snip. There was also a weird feeling on my face as if I was about to grow a bristly beard after the Bowen 'moves' around my neck area! I also noticed as I reversed out of the parking space on the way home from the session that I could turn my head round to a point where I don't remember being able to turn it before! I'm not sure whether it will have done any good, but I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully I wont feel as if I've been run over by a bus tomorrow (already felt like that on and off for the past month), but if it can ease the residual pain then it will have been worth it.
The kids didn't take part in many of the other activities (ds1 was persuaded to attend a session on Japanese art, though I didn't see if he produced anything) and as expected spent most of the time running around in the field with some new-found friends.
And today I had, what is hopefully my last (for a while) chiropracter session. This time she used the Bowen technique which I have never heard of before to help some of the more muscular aspects of my back pain. The Bowen technique is described as follows (see http://www.thebowentechnique.com/content/thebowentechnique.htm )
"The Bowen Technique is a remedial therapy that is applied by the therapist applying gentle pressure to soft tissue with fingers and thumbs. There is no deep tissue work or high velocity thrust movements as in chiropractic and there is no massaging of areas, so therefore no friction.
As a therapy it is incredibly gentle, both on the client and also, importantly, on the therapist. Another advantage to Bowen is that there are no contra indications and it can be used even in acute situations, where other forms of therapy might be avoided. In fact, as far as Bowen is concerned, the more acute the better. The tiniest of babies through to the frailest of adults can be treated and as the work can be performed through light clothing, it is ideal for these two particular groups of client....
...How Does It Work?
There are something like 600,000 signals that travel from the brain into the body every second and these in turn come back to the brain with information which is then interpreted and sent back out. Whenever we feel, hear, see or even think something, the brain brings in past experience in order to categorise the sensation and create an appropriate response.
In the case of the Bowen move, the brain is unable to do this instantly and needs more information to form a response. As it is, just when the brain is asking for more info, the therapist has left the room, and therefore the brain has to send specific signals to the area in order to gauge response. If the client is lying down, the immediate response is nearly always rapid and deep relaxation. The client will also often report that they feel a tingling sensation or warmth in the area just worked. "It felt like your hands were still on me," is a common comment. This demonstrates that because the move is out of the ordinary, the brain is looking for information about what happened.
One of the more difficult elements to come to terms with is how little is done during a session. In addition, the client may well walk out of the treatment room having felt little or no improvement over and above a sense of relaxation. However the reactions to Bowen can often belie its soft and gentle appearance. Stiffness, soreness, headache and feeling like "I've been run over by a bus!" are common. All excellent signs, they demonstrate that the brain has started the process of repair.
This process when started is generally rapid and it is not uncommon for even longstanding pain to be reduced or resolved in two or three treatments. Most sports- or work-related problems will be dealt with also within the two or three treatments, making Bowen not only effective, but cost effective for the client as well.
Although muscular skeletal problems such as frozen shoulder, back and neck pain account for the majority of presentations for Bowen, there is a lot of work that is effective with more organic problems. Although it's important to point out again that we don't treat specific problems, Bowen has been widely used with asthma, migraines, irritable bowel, infertility and reproductive problems. Even hayfever, the blight of so many summers, is affected excellently with Bowen.
There are no such things in this life as guarantees and this can be said of Bowen as well. The beauty of it is that it is simply offered to the body. If the body accepts it then it can and will start the process of repair. If it doesn't accept it then no harm is done."
Well I certainly felt the warmth and tingling described in the above snip. There was also a weird feeling on my face as if I was about to grow a bristly beard after the Bowen 'moves' around my neck area! I also noticed as I reversed out of the parking space on the way home from the session that I could turn my head round to a point where I don't remember being able to turn it before! I'm not sure whether it will have done any good, but I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Hopefully I wont feel as if I've been run over by a bus tomorrow (already felt like that on and off for the past month), but if it can ease the residual pain then it will have been worth it.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Missed the snow, just finding my feet again
Well I've been laid up with my bad back for nearly a fortnight and with the painkillers I've been sleeping around 18 hours a day most days and my brain has been fairly mashed as a result. Have finally got mobile again thanks to a bit of 'alternative' therapy - Mctimoney chiropracter and therapeutic masseur - but still hobbling a little on crutches. It seems the painkillers have made me miss the snow (I saw photos) and, well, most of what has been going on over the past few weeks. In fact it made me lose complete track of time. The local home ed community have been very supportive and have helped out with childcare and even turned up with meals and cakes! Dh has had to take an extra week off work than planned, so not amused - though it's been an interesting experiment watching him 'live' my 'life' for several weeks - i.e. looking after kids, shopping for food, cooking on a budget etc..Normally even if I'm ill, it's rare for him to take over my role completely, so for me to be so totally out of action has been rather interesting.
Anyway, dh went back to work today so been hobbling and trying to get through the usual routine with the kids. My parents have been here for a few days (surprise visit) to dig over my allotment. They've been very considerate and stayed on a local caravan site and generally just spent the day digging and digging to help me get the plots into order. It's been a fantastic help as I'm going to be in no condition to get the plots ready for this year's planting and I'd otherwise be running out of time.
Well short entry today.
Anyway, dh went back to work today so been hobbling and trying to get through the usual routine with the kids. My parents have been here for a few days (surprise visit) to dig over my allotment. They've been very considerate and stayed on a local caravan site and generally just spent the day digging and digging to help me get the plots into order. It's been a fantastic help as I'm going to be in no condition to get the plots ready for this year's planting and I'd otherwise be running out of time.
Well short entry today.
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Long time no see
Well it's been ages since I've managed to get together a blog entry and I do have a genuine excuse (honest!).
Having had back problems for the past 10 years on and off, I've finally really messed my back up big time and have been restricted (imobile) to the sofa for the past 3 days. Even the vast quantities of painkillers and other assorted pills haven't helped a huge amount. I was particularly disappointed by the Diazepam which I'd always thought was some sort of valium-related wonder drug, but it appears to mostly turn me into a dozy bleary-eyed mushy brained mess. If putting me to sleep is one way of getting rid of the pain then I suppose it's doing it's job, but it would be nice to be able to retain some sort of brain function!
After an extremely crappy visit by a totally disinterested doctor who obviously knew nothing about back pain and was even more disinterested when he found out I was merely a woman who looks after children I think I've lost my last remaining strand of faith in the medical profession. I can't help thinking that if I'd been the male breadwinner of the family then I'd have received rather more attention, sympathy and treatment. Still, can't complain, after 10 years of back pain they've finally conceded to give me painkillers (at last!) and booked me in for an MRI scan. Downside is that the waiting list for the MRI scan is 2-3 months. Hmm....Anyway Mr Doctor Doom cheerfully suggested that I could be like this for around 2 weeks to a month, which I thought was a really well-educated prognosis considering he didn't even seem to know exactly what was wrong with me. Even the explanation that I had 3 young children to home educate and that I really couldn't face the next month confined to the sofa and having to pee in the kitchen jug (needs must), didn't extract a tiny bit of sympathetic advice from him.
So...
Took things into my own hands. Got dh to hire me a pair of crutches from a local chemist at a very reasonable rate and at least now I can slowly and painfully hobble across the room. I've even managed to limp dangerously up the stairs to the bathroom which has got to be my best achievement ever. Everest? Hey, that's a doddle! The luxury of washing my hair, albeit in a painful and slapdash way, has made me feel even more positive about the day.
Dh is desperate to go back to work (2 weeks at home with me and the kids is probably 2 weeks more than he'd like) so hopefully by Monday I'll be mobile enough to act as baby sitter, even if I wont be doing a lot of parenting. The kids have been great, but still wondering how I'm going to get out and about with them. The painkillers have made me too drowsy to drive and I don't think I'd be able to walk to a bus stop yet, so perhaps I could use a taxi on a few occasions just to get them to burn off a bit of energy at the park or similar.
In the meantime there is SO much to be done in the garden and allotment that I'm finding it frustrating not to be able to just get on with it. All the digging needs to be done now before the horsetail, thistles and couch grass take hold and to prepare for putting potatoes in which are nicely chitting in the conservatory window and need to be planted soon.
So what else has been going on? Well last week dh and ds2 went to STEAM at Swindon for the day (not my cup of tea) to look at trains and well, more trains I guess. We also spent a good day at Legoland making the most of the kids' annual passes. Still trying to persuade ds1 to finish off his application for a blue peter badge so I don't have to fork out for another annual pass when his runs out in May this year.
Some rides are just too scary!
Also spent a day at the 'Living Rainforest'. There have been some improvements to the rainforest since we last went, with more 'hands on' activities and a larger cafe area.
Lots of emphasis too on sustainability and recycling, which I though was rather ironic considering that at least most of the food I saw served in the cafe was overly packaged in plastic wrapping! Still, overall we were fortunate with the weather for a week where the forecast was bleak.
Having had back problems for the past 10 years on and off, I've finally really messed my back up big time and have been restricted (imobile) to the sofa for the past 3 days. Even the vast quantities of painkillers and other assorted pills haven't helped a huge amount. I was particularly disappointed by the Diazepam which I'd always thought was some sort of valium-related wonder drug, but it appears to mostly turn me into a dozy bleary-eyed mushy brained mess. If putting me to sleep is one way of getting rid of the pain then I suppose it's doing it's job, but it would be nice to be able to retain some sort of brain function!
After an extremely crappy visit by a totally disinterested doctor who obviously knew nothing about back pain and was even more disinterested when he found out I was merely a woman who looks after children I think I've lost my last remaining strand of faith in the medical profession. I can't help thinking that if I'd been the male breadwinner of the family then I'd have received rather more attention, sympathy and treatment. Still, can't complain, after 10 years of back pain they've finally conceded to give me painkillers (at last!) and booked me in for an MRI scan. Downside is that the waiting list for the MRI scan is 2-3 months. Hmm....Anyway Mr Doctor Doom cheerfully suggested that I could be like this for around 2 weeks to a month, which I thought was a really well-educated prognosis considering he didn't even seem to know exactly what was wrong with me. Even the explanation that I had 3 young children to home educate and that I really couldn't face the next month confined to the sofa and having to pee in the kitchen jug (needs must), didn't extract a tiny bit of sympathetic advice from him.
So...
Took things into my own hands. Got dh to hire me a pair of crutches from a local chemist at a very reasonable rate and at least now I can slowly and painfully hobble across the room. I've even managed to limp dangerously up the stairs to the bathroom which has got to be my best achievement ever. Everest? Hey, that's a doddle! The luxury of washing my hair, albeit in a painful and slapdash way, has made me feel even more positive about the day.
Dh is desperate to go back to work (2 weeks at home with me and the kids is probably 2 weeks more than he'd like) so hopefully by Monday I'll be mobile enough to act as baby sitter, even if I wont be doing a lot of parenting. The kids have been great, but still wondering how I'm going to get out and about with them. The painkillers have made me too drowsy to drive and I don't think I'd be able to walk to a bus stop yet, so perhaps I could use a taxi on a few occasions just to get them to burn off a bit of energy at the park or similar.
In the meantime there is SO much to be done in the garden and allotment that I'm finding it frustrating not to be able to just get on with it. All the digging needs to be done now before the horsetail, thistles and couch grass take hold and to prepare for putting potatoes in which are nicely chitting in the conservatory window and need to be planted soon.
So what else has been going on? Well last week dh and ds2 went to STEAM at Swindon for the day (not my cup of tea) to look at trains and well, more trains I guess. We also spent a good day at Legoland making the most of the kids' annual passes. Still trying to persuade ds1 to finish off his application for a blue peter badge so I don't have to fork out for another annual pass when his runs out in May this year.
Some rides are just too scary!
It's no fun being eaten by a Lego Lion!
Also spent a day at the 'Living Rainforest'. There have been some improvements to the rainforest since we last went, with more 'hands on' activities and a larger cafe area.
Lots of emphasis too on sustainability and recycling, which I though was rather ironic considering that at least most of the food I saw served in the cafe was overly packaged in plastic wrapping! Still, overall we were fortunate with the weather for a week where the forecast was bleak.
Turtle/Terapin at The Living Rainforest
Wow! What a big fish!
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