[glowingwillow]

Thanks Klara.

The breathing idea is great. I had forgotten about that. I will implement it into my daily routine.

Really my movement is extremely limited. What's broken are the anchoring points of the vertebrae. Essentially, L5 is detached from L4, cleanly, and has been for over two years. Mb may help to balance me, but as these points no longer line up - at all - being balanced can't fix it. I can't even swim because it causes too much of an anterior tilt of the pelvic girdle, overarching the small of my back and sliding the vertebrae out of place too easily. I'm in a pickle, that's for sure.

As a massage therapist myself, for anyone who would like to know, the reflexes in the feet governing the spine start at the base and slightly medial of the big toe and run along the inner arch of the foot to the heel. For the energy points governing the back, there are a number of them along the spine itself. The ones that would affect my well-being most are GV21, 16, 5, 4, 3, and 2 - the crown of the head, next to the suboccipitals, L3&2, and S4. I've tried Acupressure and Acupuncture, and shiatsu. My nerves calm, but my back is still delicate.

Oh and my nerves are another issue, which I've noticed have been influenced this week. With the movement in my spine my nerves are frayed, which, when overloaded with pain, induce an outbreak of shingles. Another barrier to too much movement and aggravation.

I have been doing the body rub on and off for more than two years, since I first read about it in Glow. I do know that increasing blood flow helps to promote healthy cell growth at the basal layer, and cross-fiber friction helps to break up built up caliginous/scar tissue, and if done right it not only influences detoxing by flushing the tissue with fluids, but assists in moving the toxins toward the lymph system. Klara, great suggestion. Thanks for the reminder, I will be more focused about doing that.

Any other ideas would be more than welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
GW