Archive for August, 2007
“Yes Dr. Ashish. Deal! I’ll move my right hamstring, I promise!” I made this statement with complete confidence…and in front of Dale, with both of our eyes focused on my lower right leg as I lay on my side isolating my upper body and hip flexors; I moved my right hamstring on command! My leg and foot moved backwards from the knee down. The movement was slight (an inch or two is all) but it was there. I then sat up with glee and said, “Let me try my toes.”
Continue Reading August 22nd, 2007
SNOWMASS, COLORADO (Post Time News)–It’s like Bat Day at the stadium
The first 500 participant in the Snowmass Wellness Experience August 17-19, 2007, will take home a bagfull of goodies and good things.
Welcome bags include samples valued at $75 from companies like Fruitabu, Arrowhead Mills, Back To Nature, Nordic Naturals, Terra Chips, and Yogi Tea.
Continue Reading August 16th, 2007
SNOWMASS, COLORADO–If you can feel for a corporation than I feel for Related WestPac. I really do. Because no matter what they do here–even if they do everything right–they have to live with what came before and the chaos of construction here that is still to come.
People around here hate developers. It’s that simple. No matter how many good things Related WestPac president Pat Smith does, there are those who live here who will still hate him merely because he’s a developer–and because of what he inherited. Pat Smith is the custodian of the soul of a town that has spent the better part of the recent past in development hell.
Continue Reading August 14th, 2007
BASALT, COLORADO–They came in peace but they left in a Prius.
At the Peace Ranch parking lot here Saturday night, one Prius after another was stacked up and ready for lift-off, like so many carbonizers at the Indianapolis 500. The Priuses in question–is that the plural of Prius?–were shiny, new, and righteous, for they were ready to transport the thousands of people who wended their way to one of the more remote corners of Basalt for the RMI:25 celebration of the Rocky Mountain Institute, the “think and do tank” so green it leaves rivals green with envy. And what better place for a hybrid than a hoe-down where the back-patting for what RMI has wrought was nothing less than thunderous?
Like one of those old Republican conferences on family values, the RMI celebration would drive those on the other side of the debate absolutely bonkers.
Continue Reading August 13th, 2007
I continue to feel strong and the lower half of my body is firing up with life. Every exercise I execute with Chavi each morning feels stronger. I have more control with my leg movements and I am learning to isolate different muscles. I can raise my knees up in a bent position from lying straight on the bed and amazingly, my ability to crawl backwards is consistent and powered by new muscles that have been asleep for fifteen years. With the slight use of my hip flexors, since my injury I have always been able to balance on my hands and knees and crawl forwards, but never backwards. I am astounded by my strength and new abilities. Although I am not kic king yet in the literal sense, I get a kick out of examining my limbs as they reclaim life. My hamstring on the left leg works when I least expect it, and occasionally in front of an audience. Call it performance anxiety, but I figure that muscle has been hibernating for such a long time, it will take a little while…and some more ‘waiting’ to bring it back to life in the normal sense.
Continue Reading August 12th, 2007
SNOWMASS, COLORADO (Post Time News)–Former New York Governor George E. Pataki will be in Snowmass over the next several days both for the Rocky Mountain Institute’s 25th Anniversary celebration and for Related Westpac’s announcement of a green initiative in its development here of Base Village.
The former Governor is known for beeing green. BusinessWeek named him one of the top 20 “Individuals who stand out for their efforts to cut gases that cause global warming” in the world. Also, in 2006, Vanity Fair called him a governor who “gets it” in its inaugural “Green Issue” for his efforts concerning the environment.
Continue Reading August 9th, 2007
SNOWMASS, COLORADO (Post Time News) The Snowmass Wellness Experience kicks off its fourth year with a slate of wellness speakers on the subjects of nutrition, fitness, and spirituality & science experts–including six best-selling authors–from August 17-19, 2007.
The Swing into Wellness presented by Vitamin Cottage gourmet dinner celebration kicks off the weekend Friday, and keynote speakers Marianne Williamson and Dan Millman address audiences Saturday. Williamson examines the life-affirming principles first discussed in “A Course In Miracles” and in her forthcoming book, while Millman explores how to align one’s life to fundamental principles at the heart of every health and healing tradition in the world.
Continue Reading August 7th, 2007
I am ecstatic to report that I am the proud owner of a very strong hamstring in the left leg. Yes, my lower left leg can now move backwards from the knee down to the foot on its own! This is a first!!!!! In fact, I feel my gluteus maximus beginning to kick in, along with other abdominal and leg muscles that haven’t felt alive for fifteen years. I have a weird sensation that I can deeply tense my calf muscles. The awareness in my lower limbs is strangely phenomenal—as if a little electrical current has been turned on filtering pins-and-needle tingles all the way to my toes. This is all apparent after my most recent two embryonic stem cell procedures. My body is waking up and I am both the audience watching synonymous with the actors playing out the motions. I applaud with glee at the slightest flicker of movement, and I sweat with exertion to fire-up a body part that has been paralyzed for what seems like an eternity.
Continue Reading August 7th, 2007