If aches and pains are stopping you from enjoying life, you’ve got to give these four things a try!
*We are absolutely NOT doctors, but plenty of MDs have warned that if you do try something listed below, you had better consult with your physician because any medications that you are taking will need to be monitored for adjustments.
1. Earthing or Grounding
In our modern lifestyle we are spending a lot of time indoors, and if we do go outside, we are usually wearing insulating shoes. We are no longer touching the Earth. It sounds trivial at first, but it turns out that this dramatic change from our days of walking barefoot and sleeping on the ground is having a detrimental effect on our bodies. If you reconnect with the harmonizing frequencies of the planet and the free-flowing supply of electrons it offers, you sleep better, heal faster, and have more energy. Your body’s inflammation level drops significantly which helps the blood flow without clumping, the brain and immune system to perform efficiently, and sensations of pain to be reduced or eliminated.
The solution really is as beautifully simple as putting your feet on the ground for at least 30 minutes each day. When the weather doesn’t permit it, or if you would like to do more grounding indoors, you can also buy a mat or band that will connect you to the earth via a grounded outlet while you are sleeping or sitting at a desk. The Earthing Movie is a free documentary available online, only about one hour long, which provides a wonderful overview of the problem and potential benefits of correcting it. If you are interested in learning more, there is a book by Clint Ober called Earthing, and the sellers of Earth Runners sandals also have a lot of information on their website with links to scientific studies.
2. The McKenzie Method
McKenzie was a clinician who accidentally discovered that stretching his patient’s back in the opposite direction than normally indicated greatly relieved his discomfort. He immediately began to do research and develop techniques to restore complete mobility and proper positioning to other joints in addition to the spine. His treatments have not only changed the ways doctors manage pain, but have also enabled people to treat themselves.
While struggling with some persistent knee pain and weakness, we came across a physical therapist on the internet who mentioned trying the stretches used in the McKenzie Method, and they worked! Since then, we have also used the specific recommendations from his books to relieve back and neck pain that pops up occasionally, not from a serious injury or surgery, but after things like moving day or sleeping in a weird position. We have had such success that we now tell anyone with issues in these joints (and also the hip, ankle, or shoulder) to seek out the little, black Treat Your Own McKenzie books. 7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life, often purchased by public libraries, is also great because it tackles the back, neck, and shoulder in one resource. Using his material is like getting free physical therapy that works fast!
3. Plant-Based Diet
Eliminating meat, dairy, eggs, and other animal products from your diet might seem like an extreme change, but the incredible results people get from following a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet (even after only a few days!) are completely worth it. Switching what you eat can dramatically reduce inflammation, reverse diabetes and heart disease, trigger weight loss, eliminate arthritis and asthma, boost energy, prevent and heal cancer, and the list goes on and on. But don’t take our word for it! Browse these amazing success stories on the Forks Over Knives site after watching their documentary for free. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue, and What the Health are all equally inspiring if you’re ready for a movie night. If you’d rather read, check out The China Study by Dr. Campbell, How Not to Die by Dr. Greger, or any of the books by Dr. Barnard. And if you’re wondering what will be left for you to eat, get excited! We never knew such variety, colors, and tastes existed until we started to explore plant foods.
4. Stop Complaining
Will Bowen’s book A Complaint Free World was an eye-opening read for our family. Even if you consider yourself an optimist, you are probably complaining more often than you realize, and when you learn to stop (or at least try!) you find out how much more positive your experience in this world could be. Bowen dedicates an entire chapter to poor-health complaints because people spend a lot of time voicing these to each other for sympathy, attention, or as an excuse to not have to make lifestyle changes. He offers scientific and personal examples that show that complaining about a pain or illness will not make it go away faster or hurt less and indeed could be causing it to get worse. The mind-body connection is powerful! What would you actually remember to curse about if you followed his friend Hal’s example of saving all your medical complaints for just one day each month and focusing on all the great things about your life the rest of the time? If you missed the purple bracelet craze around 2007 and haven’t yet tried the 21-day challenge, we highly recommend checking your library’s shelves for a copy of this book.
What’s missing from this list? Comment below!
