Bringing My Dream to You

In January of this year, I whispered to my mother, in the last minutes in her physical body, that I would “look for her in the stars in the sky.” This month I went to Oregon to see the dark sky. Besides the many stars, the aurora borealis came and I believe she sent me those 3 shooting stars!

I then went to a remote hot spring, saw a most gorgeous waterfall, and took the train back home for a 2-day ride. 

In case any of you need a reminder; our country is vast, beautiful, and still has such wide open spaces to breathe. My trip was good old natural medicine.

I also made this a business trip of sorts.

In November of 2023, I pivoted full time to my solo business, Erasore SK LLC,  and have been hard at work refining my curricula, increasing my presence on social media, and getting down to ‘business’!

This dream of mine really took shape years ago as I walked through Central Park and wondered how I could still be a Physical Therapist if I were in a wheelchair. The answer I came to was to educate; offer the public the fundamentals of combined healthcare; something that I believe is sorely missing in society. 

Combined healthcare is a physical, emotional, spiritual, and cognitive health program in 1 package.

The timing is right. Recent data about our overall health and the state of the world both tell me that the time is now. More important too is that more people may be ready to hear it.

But back to the trip! I wanted to somehow do a little research and select a sample of people. I offered some PT advice from my program and somehow, the perfect combo of needs were presented. This trip was called my ‘adventure' and it was thrilling all the way around.

If you read on, maybe you can see yourself or someone you know, in the people I met and hopefully, the recommendations and guidance I gave will speak to you.

I first came across 3 older women hiking up a small mountain for the gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains. I overheard them talking about the challenges of balance and posture and I just had to chime in. They were fit, lean, and looked healthy but their upper backs were starting to round out and therefore, they were starting to hunch over. 

I recommended they use walking sticks in order to train their bodies to be more upright, in better alignment. Holding the sticks up places your shoulder joints in a better position so you can engage your shoulder blade muscles more easily. Those shoulder blade muscles are the “core” of your upper back and can prevent that ‘forward head’ we struggle with.

While the sticks steady you and offer you more stability, you can then turn your head and look up to see and appreciate your surroundings with less fear of falling.

These ladies thanked me profusely because they thought using the sticks would show a weakness and they now could see the strengthening, straightening, and improved mobility they can bring.

Tip: if not on a mountain or using walking sticks, put your arms up like you are surrendering and squeeze your shoulder blades while you exhale. Do that regularly.

Next were the men on the train. The men who often suffer more silently.

Dinner in the dining car with a 72 year old man with typical chronic conditions: high blood pressure, swollen legs, breathing difficulties, painful joints-especially in his feet, and surgery needed to open the blocked vessels to his stomach. 

He is retired and taking better care of himself now and was on his way to spend time with his kids and grandkids. This Oregon man was connected to himself and nature. He shared that when he feels ill he stands next to a tree and envisions being one. Needless to say; he was very open to my suggestions concerning opening up and helping things flow better in his body.

He was wearing decent supportive shoes but I recommended he get a good brand of support socks; even just 15-20 mmHg, like the ones I had on during my ride. I then offered him a lacrosse ball to place under his feet to massage the muscles in his arch while seated. He could then bend and extend his toes as the ball releases some tension. Besides frequently moving his ankles up and down, in and out, while barefoot or in his socks, I recommended he regularly bend, extend, and spread his toes to really open up and stimulate his circulation and reduce some of the swelling.

He found me the next morning and said his feet really felt good afterwards. That made me so happy and pleased that he felt some relief. 

Tip: If you don’t have the best balance, imagine you are a bird on a branch holding on and then engage those muscles in your feet when standing to improve your stability! I often say we forget our feet because they are farthest from our heads but we need to keep those toes and ankles moving. Look up toe yoga, try it, and then compare sides.

Next was the 60 year old who was quite handsome, fit, missing some teeth, had quit drinking years before after a car accident he had while inebriated but still smoked cigarettes. I was talking about changing our movement and behavioral patterns and kept challenging me by saying that you can’t change people because they mostly don’t want to change. He specifically mentioned his sister who leads a less healthy lifestyle than he and he can’t get her to change. He left dinner early to smoke during our stop but found me the next day. I wondered if he was talking about her or himself?

Turns out that his wife is also very “stubborn” and he was taking the train to have a different experience. He also said that he let himself dance with his children outside, under the stars, and had the most fun with them that he felt he had ever had. 

Turns out he experienced the value of changing your patterns to expand yourself, and inhabit more of yourself. He truly wished me well in my business venture and reminded me to keep my smile. I felt good that I didn’t push my work onto him; I waited and he came back for more.

Tip: We are never too old to learn new tricks and change our patterns to become more of ourselves.

My last encounter was with the man who sat across the aisle from me. I guess he may have been in his 40's, had a kind and handsome face, and looked pretty weathered. We smiled and acknowledged each other as we moved about the train but it was on the last day when he told me he had gone west to find a place to live but was unsuccessful. His lease has expired and so I asked if he sometimes had to sleep outside. He did. He said his back hurt and knew he probably needed a physical therapist. I loved how he asked without really asking, and how he gave me the opportunity to help.

We talked about how he could make his body more comfortable and relax his tight muscles by using his rolled up clothes to support his low back and his neck whether seated or lying down.

He disappeared for a while and when I was returning to my seat as we were close to my stop, we passed each other again. I quickly grabbed another lacrosse ball, turned back around and found him in the observation car where earlier we had sat talking, and watching the beautiful views roll by. I showed him how to use the ball behind his back to massage and soften his tight muscles. I instructed him to do it not so hard as to hurt himself, but just enough to loosen things and to exhale the pain and tension out. 

It was such a gift to give him that gift.

Tip: Yes, it sometimes hurts to get better and fix some things; but it shouldn’t hurt so much that we can't breathe and relax through it.

Once home, I realized that I am truly living my dream. I am taking care of myself, practicing what I offer, traveling, connecting to fellow travelers, while spreading a bit of healing, leaving seeds for anyone and everyone who wants to hear. 

What a life I am living.