Caesar Milan saved me from throttling my cairn terrier. Fred Tomaselli saved me from feeling like the art world had no interest in psychedelic patterns.
Now Robin McKenzie has saved my back.
I have no history of back trouble, even after 20 years hunched over a computer, mostly scrutinizing punctuation. But last week I wound up unable to stand without searing pain running up and down my left leg. Then I beat myself up further for being yoga-delinquent, for getting older, for being too damn lazy to work through the pain and too obsessed to stop working.
After I got tired of lying around, mourning my short-lived life as a visual artist and my lack of will — and an actual will — I googled my symptoms and came up with 'sciatica.' Then I did what I always do: I stretched deeply, forehead to knees. Things got worse. I hopped up on Motrin then quasimodo'd it two blocks to the medical clinic.
This is where the Robin McKenzie Method comes in. The good doctor at the clinic commanded me to do a couple of 'sloppy push-ups' for him. All pain immediately subsided. Hunh. Turns out the half backbends help push the inflamed disk back into the vertebrae. I walked home like a normal person, then re-familiarized myself with my studio the next day. Here's the link (provided with the usual precautions to consult your physician yada yada).
I share this un-arty entry because a bad back can bring a good artist down — in all senses of the word.
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