A New Year by I. Lee

Tomorrow we begin a new year.
But many of us are dragging
our old baggage into it.
We have thoughts
with which we define ourselves:
“I am so and so.
I have such and such a value.
I am such and such a being.”

But these ideas are not who we really are.
We are that which is beyond all manifestation.

When we only experience our preconceptions,
without a sense of our true self,
we are tossed around by change,
our lives seem futile,
and we experience more suffering.

Why not leave behind old thoughts
and start the new year
with an experience of the lightness
of your true self,
with which you can create your life unencumbered.

With your spine straight, breathe comfortably
until your breathing becomes slow and deep.
Focus on your breath.
With each thought or emotion that arises,
whether happy or sad,
release it with your breath.

With time you will discover what is underneath.
You will know Mu-ah (Nonbeing)—that there is no “me”
and no separation from the rest of universe.

Then you will step beyond suffering and transience,
and be able to perform unlimited creation.
You will be able to transcend
all preconceptions, ideologies, and belief systems.

Making A Difference

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to
do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he
began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked
down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled
to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he
began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it
was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was
reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently
throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out, "Good
morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and
replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have
asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up,
and the tide is going out, and if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of
beach, and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a
difference!" The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked
up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking
waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

There is something very special in each and every one of us. We have
all been gifted with the ability to make a difference, and if we can
become aware of that gift, we gain through the strength of our
visions the power to shape the future. We must each find our
starfish. And if we throw our stars wisely and well, the world will
be blessed.

-- Author Unknown

A Pure Heart By I. Lee

Most of us want to be loved. The greatest Love comes from Truth with a capital “T.” It is universal and unconditional. When we encounter it in the world around us, we naturally want to draw closer to it, but we can’t actually reach it that way.

This Love from the ultimate Truth exists inside our own hearts. However, we can only experience it when our hearts are pure and open to it. If we try to control our lives tightly, or get lost in our emotional dramas, we can only look for love, long for happiness, or yearn for freedom. True Love will remain hidden and separate from us.

This holiday season, let’s find the love, happiness, and freedom inside by purifying our hearts. We can clear away the thoughts and emotions covering them with breathing and meditation.

I wish you and your loved ones happy holidays and peace and love in the New Year.

Neuropathy For Smart People...

Gunn states that there are functional and/or structural alterations within the central or peripheral nervous systems, i.e., neuropathy.

Gunn CC: Mechanical manifestations of neuropathic pain. Annals of Sports Med. 5: 138-141, 1990.

Neuropathic pain is associated with abnormal nerve function and/or hyperactivity at some level in the pain sensory system.²

"the spinal origin of neuropathic pain is not always obvious because spondylotic degeneration follows a gradual, relapsing and remitting course that is silent. Pain can arise with no history of trauma, and laboratory, radiological and other tests are unhelpful."

Gunn CC, Sola AE: Chronic intractable benign pain (CIBP) in: Gunn CC: Reprints On Pain, Acupuncture & Related Subjects. From: Gunn: pain clinic, 828 W. Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 138, Canada.

Make The Most!

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning
with $86,400. Carries over no balance from day to day, allows you
to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part
of the amount you had failed to use during the day.

What would you do?

Draw out every cent, of course!

Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning,
it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as
a lost, whatever of this amount you have failed to invest to good
purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you.

Each night it burns the records of the day.

If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back. There is no drawing against the
"tomorrow".

You must live in the present on today's deposits.

Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness
and success!

The clock is running. Make the most of today.

Seize the day!

-- Author Unknown

Golf and Chiropractic...

J Sports Sci. 2002 Aug;20(8):599-605.

Lindsay D, Horton J.

University of Calgary Sports Medicine Centre, Alberta, Canada. dlindsay@ucalgary.ca

Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal disorder affecting golfers, yet little is known of the specific mechanisms responsible for this injury. The aim of this study was to compare golf swing spinal motion in three movement planes between six male professional golfers with low back pain (age 29.2+/-6.4 years; height 1.79+/-0.04 m; body mass 78.2+/-12.2 kg; mean +/- s) and six without low back pain (age 32.7+/-4.8 years; height 1.75+/-0.03 m; body mass 85.8+/-10.9 kg) using a lightweight triaxial electrogoniometer. We found that golfers with low back pain tended to flex their spines more when addressing the ball and used significantly greater left side bending on the backswing. Golfers with low back pain also had less trunk rotation(obtained from a neutral posture), which resulted in a relative 'supramaximal' rotation of their spines when swinging. Pain-free golfers demonstrated over twice as much trunk flexion velocity on the downswing, which could relate to increased abdominal muscle activity in this group. This study is the first to show distinct differences in the swing mechanics between golfers with and without low back pain and provides valuable guidance for clinicians and teachers to improve technique to facilitate recovery from golf-related low back pain

Chiropractic Research

British Medical Journal 1990 (Jun 2); 300 (6737): 1431–1437
Meade TW, Dyer S, Browne W, Townsend J, Frank AO
MRC Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex

OBJECTIVE: To compare chiropractic and hospital outpatient treatment for managing low back pain of mechanical origin.

DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial. Allocation to chiropractic or hospital management by minimisation to establish groups for analysis of results according to initial referral clinic, length of current episode, history, and severity of back pain. Patients were followed up for up two years.

SETTING: Chiropractic and hospital outpatient clinics in 11 centers.

PATIENTS: 741 Patients aged 18-65 who had no contraindications to manipulation and who had not been treated within the past month.

INTERVENTIONS: Treatment at the discretion of the chiropractors, who used chiropractic manipulation in most patients, or of the hospital staff, who most commonly used Maitland mobilisation or manipulation, or both. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Changes in the score on the Oswestry pain disability questionnaire and in the results of tests of straight leg raising and lumbar flexion.

RESULTS: Chiropractic treatment was more effective than hospital outpatient management, mainly for patients with chronic or severe back pain. A benefit of about 7% points on the Oswestry scale was seen at two years. The benefit of chiropractic treatment became more evident throughout the follow up period. Secondary outcome measures also showed that chiropractic was more beneficial.

CONCLUSIONS: For patients with low back pain in whom manipulation is not contraindicated chiropractic almost certainly confers worthwhile, long term benefit in comparison with hospital outpatient management. The benefit is seen mainly in those with chronic or severe pain. Introducing chiropractic into NHS practice should be considered.