Terrestrials Bone Home

The blog bone connected to the memory bone,
the memory bone connected to the song bone...
here, have a listen:
Dry Bones ('Dem bones, dem bones, dem skeleton bones)

I like to quote that song to my clients every once in a while, when they ask questions like, "Why does my foot/knee/back hurt now that I injured my hip?" or other such connection questions. Just like everything else in the universe, we really are all connected. Our bones provide a basis for everything else that makes us to come together and gather 'round as a body. In other words, if you ain't got bones as you move across this earth, you ain't one of us. You rattle chains and say boo! and stuff. We, on the other hand, have a strong internal foundation connecting us, down to the very end, to the land we walk on.

We can be sure that having bones is one of the most important things about our earthly bodies when we acknowledge that we can't get much deeper. Sure we can get smaller, with cells and molecules and all. And we can get just as important, with nerves and oxygen and all. But mostly, when you consider the human body, bones are at the base and bones are also what lasts the longest after the rest of us goes. When skin and senses and blood and guts are all gone, there's still a pile of bones left to feed the earth. Now, for that kind of fortitude, we owe them a little something don't you think?

How often did you even think of taking good care of your bones? Unless they break or shift painfully in a socket, people tend to go a very long time between bone health meditations and interventions. We shouldn't, really. Not when the care and keeping of our bones is so simply addressed. Without further adieu,

You've Got Over 200 Bones to Pick with Yourself

Fortunately, a bone is not alone when it comes to what it likes. Perhaps bones are never lonely because they're very straightforward and so easy to get along with. For the rest of your life, you can pick your bones without hardly any extra effort at all. That is because:

Skin and bones like the same things. Vitamin A, for example. We just talked about all that in the last post.

What's good for your blood and good for your guts is also good for your bones. Vitamin K, for example, which is made in a healthy gut, and is also readily found in dark leafy greens like spinach and collards and kale. Eat plenty of those greens and keep your intestinal health on track, and your bones will be happy, too. Because Vitamin K helps fortify bone and contributes to calcium metabolism. Also, there's Vitamin D, a friend to bones and blood....oh, and calcium. Calcium is a mineral that is stored in your bones and teeth--and it plays a critical roll in bone health and can be a key to effective management of hypertension.

Remember, we can get quite a picture of your health status via your blood, right? Bones keep close company with healthy blood. You know high blood pressure is unhealthy, which is a result of inflammation. Well, go figure, Vitamin A helps in the blood pressure management. Finally, blood clotting is a necessary mechanism in the body, but many people are on blood thinners, which in turn disable some of the body's clotting ability. Before that happens, Vitamins D and K are involved in promoting a healthy system.

Any friend of your muscles is a friend of your bones. Want strong muscles? Work out for strength. Want strong bones? Work out for strength. Impact will work too--walking, running and the like. Stretching, also good. Unlike muscles at rest, moving, stretching, flexing muscles pull on bones, and that stimulates processes that make more muscles and more bones. Now, some say bicycling and swimming are maybe not so much help as lifting weights or dancing. Others say, just move, and your whole body with thank you. I agree with all of it.

With the majority of Project: Pick One Thing written at this point (only 11 more entries to go), it becomes ever more apparent how interconnected and related each aspect of our mental, emotional and physical health really are. You're a wonder and a miracle, a special package deserving all this particular attention...and by now, I hope you can feel that in your bones.