Rhuematiod Arthritis - Feldenkrais Session 10

In the past few sessions we have been working on my spine. But as with all things Feldenkrais this means everything from tickling your toes to rubbing you neck. As this treatment continues and my body re-learns how to do things the muscle pain caused by the new movement can be huge and take a lot of time to recover. I have learnt to take it slow and easy, after today's session which made it easier to walk I thought lets go for a longer walk. I got about 10 metres away from the car when bang my knee and hamstrings began to ache. so the walk was cut short and a hobbled back to the car. I saw this video clip today of how heavy is this glass of water? holding the glass is no problem for 5 mins so the weight doesn't mater. Hold the glass for an hour and your arm will get sore. Hold the glass for several hours and your arm will go numb and paralyzed. This is what your body does to protect itself and as time passes your mind thinks this is the norm. I remember at the low or high point of Rhuematiod Arthritis thinking if I could just walk a couple of kilometers a day I would get fitter and better (I even purchased a app to see me achieve these goals). Things just got worse, my joints got more inflamed. Although now I can look back and see the funny side, being told in hospital you might never regain more movement and pain relief is all we can offer is not that funny. I can look back and think of all the crazy ideas my brain gave me for a cure, walk more, get into some saltwater, eat better, give up drinking alcohol, wear better footwear the list goes on, but I didn't have time for any of those I had to work and earn money I had no time for my health. Don't get me wrong all those ideas were okay ideas but they weren't going to cure my RA which at the time I didn't know I had. I am learning that you need time to listen to your body. My simple tips for today are; Take 5mins lying flat on your back in the morning before you get up and feel your shoulders,hips, buttocks knees and feet touch your bed. Roll over to get out of bed then roll over and get out the other side of the bed. When you are walking, walk on the inside of your foot and then the outside of your foot. Only do this for 5 or 6 steps at a time and only 3 or 4 times each. don't do too much and remember good things take time.

Ross Shield Rugby Tournament 1965

Today's find that has been converted to a PDF for the world to download is the Ross Shield Programme from 1965. Played at the old Nelson Park, Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand between teams from around Hawkes Bay. The winners of the Ross Shield generally went on to represent Hawkes Bay back in the day. For those who don't know where Nelson Park was, it is where the Mega Mitre 10 is today

Here is the Hastings representatives of 1921 my grandfather (Stanely Keith Hingston) captained the team he is in the middle holding the rugby ball. Full document is available

Matamau School 75th Jubilee 1962

As I was working on my family tree I came across this booklet of the Matamau School Jubilee. The school closed due to a falling roll in 2003. Some of my relatives did attend the school circa 1910 but I thought I should preserve and upload if someone was looking for some history of this school

The book contains some great information and photographs here is a sample

Have a look here

Rhuematiod Arthritis - Feldenkrais Session 9

The last couple of weeks of Feldenkrais have been very interesting it is amazing to me how the brain controls your body. When I was in hospital they said wiggle your toes, I looked down at my toes they didn't move and I thought how do I wiggle my toes. The overall feeling I got from the hospital experience was I would never move again. Thanks to my sisters belief there must be something that can improve my movement I have gone on this Feldenkrais reflexology journey. We all know the old saying "Move it or lose it" but if you can't control the limb with your brain you can't move it! Also your brain learns not to move things that cause pain so over time you learn not to move or forget how to move. When it comes to relearning movement there are reasons you can't, they can be a physical restraint, pain, lack of feeling or muscular degeneration. My advice when relearning is a little is best and learn to feel the results. Today's session was on the feet, we did exercises like twisting your foot using each toe in turn as the pivot point. As always it is about the brain as I am doing these exercises I try to think what is stopping me doing them and understand why that is happening. I might come away with only 1 or 2mm more movement but that improvement makes such a difference  in mind, body and soul. As we do the foot exercises I can now feel my knee, hip, pelvis and lower back moving. My calf muscles are stretching and starting to ache. Today walking felt much better in bare feet there was no pain and I didn't have to think about my foot movement. I leave the session feeling more upright and flexible walking down the stairs of the building is much easier I don't need to take one step at a time and my overall balance is better.

Family Tree - Ivy Heather MacEwan nee Kerr

I recently had the honor of looking at my grandmother's (Nana) photo album and scrapbook. Growing up I thought she was a fierce woman. She was eccentric with her colourful clothing, pressed flowers and strange behaviours. Nana was of Scottish descent and I thought that explained her strength and toughness. I assumed she had come to New Zealand married and started her family just like most hard working Scottish families would have done. I was too young to understand what Popa and Nana had done or why, they were old and had retired their family was growing so their job was done.

Ivy Heather Kerr

Ivy Heather MacEwan wedding c 1930

  In her scrapbook she had kept momento's of her life, school reports, sports teams, drivers licenses, photos of her family all these things suddenly made me realize I never really gave Nana the respect she deserved and the time to understand her life. She hadn't just come to New Zealand and started a family, Nana had traveled the world going back and forth between Scotland and New Zealand. Spending enough time in Melbourne Australia to get her drivers license. The photos showed her traveling around New Zealand with her mother (Granny Kerr) Auckland, Timaru, Rotorua, Mt Cook and Wellington. Nana was obviously well traveled and she traveled in style. She had her pressed flowers and home made cards something I thought she had done in her later years to pass the time. Nana and Popa traveled the world on their honeymoon.

 I have spent a lot of hours around the elderly at the moment and there is so much useful insight that can be gathered from them if you just give them time and listen. They are not here forever and when they are gone they won't be able to answer the questions. Why did you do .... why did you move ...
Families are interesting and make great stories 

Rhuematiod Arthritis - Feldenkrais Session 8

Today's Feldenkrais session focused on the eyes! The eyes to the soul no, eyes to the brain maybe. Focusing on an imaginary ball moving left and right then towards and away with your eyes shut. I am sure it has an effect on your brain cause it sure did make me feel queezy. I think while the brain is concentrating on these mind bending tasks your body just relaxes and lets go. They say stress is a killer and ties your body up in knots, well I think stress is more than we think there is. Although today's session was a low key affair and more about calming the body down. I still come away with a lightness in my body with much more upper body freedom and movement.  

I have recently gone to walking barefoot as I can now roll toe to heel before I needed support or boost of a shoe with a heel

Must remember t take it slowly over stressing with exercises can cause an adverse effect on the recovery process

Updating the MacEwan Family Tree

I am currently updating the family tree both online and offline as a resource for the future generations. I am unsure why I am doing this as I will have no descendants but it does keep the brain occupied. I had heard stories growing up about J.B. MacEwan marrying Mary Fisher and her brother  (Frank) Francis Marion Bates Fisher being a Mayor of Wellington, . With a name like that there can't be many matches on Geni.com so when I found a match and added him to me tree job done? Oh no stories from mum (Florance Perress MacEwan) and the names of relatives of FMB Fisher just didn't match, so after much researching I found a match for other members of the family and even an old family tree written in my grandmothers handwriting (Ivy Heather MacEwan nee Kerr). I am leaving a lot of name bread crumbs so if some other sole is researching these names they might be able to find my link. I wish you luck.

Here is today's historical find Ian & Heather MacEwan's wedding. You can see my work on the family tree here have a look we may even be related. Updating the family tree was meant to be just add photos to the entries with no photo but as I searched and added. I gathered more and more photos of family members not on the tree not only descendants but ancestors as well. This then lead me to many stories about the family that will be lost if not recorded before my mothers generation depart this world. So I am gathering the stories as text, images, videos and audio to edit into a e-book