John Du Cane

neck

Let’s Join The Crew

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“All is connected… no one thing can change by itself.”—Paul Hawken

When we embarked on recovery, we set sail with trusted companions in a large sturdy boat. We’d paddled our canoe solo against the flow for way too long. We were tired of slipping back—of frantic stroking, with just some churned foam to show for it. In fact, we finally ended up with the paddle ripped from our bleeding hands—the boom of the approaching rapids growing louder by the minute…

Really, we have been the fortunate ones, somehow rescued into recovery by the love of others. And we can congratulate ourselves on having taken advantage of that good fortune by accepting the rescue, making the connections and joining the crew.

Join the Crew

Now we can plunge forward together through the waves of change. We can navigate the inevitable storms, the riptides, the reefs and—yes, also—the doldrums with the courage that comes from companionship. We realized we don’t have to be alone to face our addiction and our tribulations anymore. We can do this thing together—and are stronger for it.

Let’s take a moment today to reflect on all those who cared enough for us in our darkest days—and who helped us toward the salvation of recovery. We know that without our fellow “crew members” we would have continued to chart a destructive—if not terminal—passage through those troubled waters… We can best thank them, can we not, by staying connected, staying part of the team.

Now, let’s give some juice to that overworked fellow who connects our head to our body—the neck. There’s a ton of joints in our neck area that are often starved of healing synovial fluids, because of our tension and rigidity. Bring on those fluids!

The magic juice-stimulator—and it happens in a jiffy—is joint rotation. We agreed to be a crew member, so nodding our heads up and down in agreement seems appropriate: without moving your shoulders, incline your head up and back as far as it will go without discomfort. Now bring your chin to your chest as best you can. Repeat for a total of ten repetitions.

It can be disconcerting to discover how little range of motion we might have in our neck movements—particularly when we turn our head from side to side. Do ten repetitions of that movement also. See what we mean? That’s from too much tension. Frankly, we really can’t move our neck too much. It wouldn’t hurt at all to include neck rotations in your hygiene practice on a daily basis. But for now, we’ll stick with these two movements…

I appreciate those who connected with me and who invited me to join them in the journey of recovery.

My Body, My Temple

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“Treat your body like a temple, not a woodshed. The mind and the body work together. Your body needs to be a good support system for the mind and the spirit. If you take good care of it, your body can take you wherever you want to go, with the power and the strength and energy and vitality you will need to get there.”—Jim Rohn

Yes, it’s that time of year again when those pesky resolutions rear their heads—clamoring to be fulfilled. And no resolution clamors harder than the Fitness Deity. Her temple is a mess. She cries at her neglect and disrepair. In our hearts, we know we owe her. For who wants to worship at the altar of dirt and clutter?

Yet those of us in recovery often shudder when we feel forced from our procrastination into the challenge of change. “We’ve seen this movie before”, we think, “and we don’t like how it always ends.” Our terminal uniqueness can make us squeamish in the face of what we see as an inevitable decline into failure and disappointment.

Well, let’s resolve to take a different approach to our fitness for this new year. Instead of jumping in hog-wild—and flaming out within a couple of weeks, let’s do what we know to do best: take it easy, one day at a time, with our fitness goals. Let’s start by acknowledging the essential beauty of our body, the temple—and begin to care for it, one small cleansing at a time. Slowly and gently, let’s clean away the crud to reveal the beauty beneath…

Release the Neck

Release The Neck

Want to get your first day of this New Year off to a fast start? Then nothing much beats releasing the tension in that stiff rod which links your torso to your head. When we crimp the hose, the cleansing, nurturing gush becomes a miserly dribble. When we crimp our necks, there’s less fresh, oxygenated blood getting to that hungry brain of ours—and the brain can’t signal back its healing messages to the parts that need it.

One of the very best ways to release the neck, is through this simple movement:

Turn your head to the left as far as you can without pain, keeping your head level and your shoulders down and still. Now, turn your head slowly all the way to the right. Inhale softly through the nose to the left, exhale softly to the right. Do from ten to twenty rotations in each direction, depending on your comfort level. That’s it!

Oh, by the way, don’t worry if you hear some snap-crackle-and-popping as your neck rotates—your head’s not about to fall off! It’s something called crepitus, created when air releases within the tissues. Perfectly ok.

I am excited to have started cleansing my body, my temple—with this one simple action for the day.