Dooley Noted: 10/3/2014 I do my share of breathing work. It’s my chosen form of meditation. But I’m not necessarily sitting in a room, still, for an extended period (although I do enjoy that type of meditation). Since I commute all over New York City, I meditate on the train. And I leave that train a different person than the one who stepped onto it. Seeing my stressed-out students yesterday, I recalled my own feelings … Read more
Dooley Noted: 10/2/2014 We avoid dangerous chemicals in our food, water, and air to improve our health. I get that. But there must be more to health than our exposures. I work in several anatomy labs. At each lab works at least one anatomist in his eighties. For decades, they’ve been breathing and touching formaldehyde and phenol, two potent preservatives linked to cancer. Yet, these anatomists are not only living – they are thriving. They … Read more
Dooley Noted: 10/1/2014 I rarely trust people that believe they are smart. They are too comfortable. They are already closed off from the idea they have much more to learn. Yesterday, some of my students came into lab, feeling deflated. They were struggling with the autonomic nervous system pathways. Fight or flight. Rest and digest. They are smart. But they were uncomfortable. As we discussed complicated pathways, I felt them starting to close off. Their … Read more
Dooley Noted: 9/30/2014 Yesterday, I helped students dissect four faces. This is one of the most challenging dissections, due to the sheer thinness of this musculature and the superficial location of the nerve that innervates them. These muscles and this nerve are important! They help keep food in our mouths and keep our eyes moistened. Plus, facial expression is a huge part of human interaction. You’ve seen the strange-looking, largely expressionless face of someone who’s … Read more
Dooley Noted: 9/28/2014 I ripped 6 pairs of dress pants last year, teaching patients how to squat and hip hinge. I wish I were kidding. This made me realize that the average person can’t move from the hips, based on popular wardrobes! Don’t let your tight hips kill your low back. The hip is a glorious tri-axial joint, with a ball-and-socket range of motion. Your sitting locks it down. Your pants are doing it, too! … Read more
Dooley Noted: 9/27/2014 Last year, you were fighting for life. We celebrated your birthday, begging fate to give us as much time as possible with you. We watched you turn 72. We watched your beautiful gray mane fall away, along with your energy, your physical strength, and occasionally your smile. Cancer sucks. Quite literally, it sucked life from you right in front of us. Last year, you were so hoarse your voice was incoherent to … Read more
Dooley Noted: 9/25/2014 Four years back, I took a salaried job with benefits. I was paid less in order to cover the expense of provided healthcare. If you have benefits, then you are, too. I felt obligated to go to the doctor, just to keep me from being ticked off for not using something for which I paid. I went three times that year. Each visit involved a one-hour minimum wait after my appointment was … Read more
Dooley Noted: 9/24/2014 I had four patients utter the same words to me yesterday: “Deadlifting is hard.” Another asked a solid question: “Why is it so hard NOT to slouch?” Slouching is easy. You’re falling with gravity into the fetal position. You’ll go there if you don’t fight it. Deadlifting is hard. It takes strong and stable shoulders, hips, torso and back to hold the body upright. Your 9 months before birth were in the … Read more
Dooley Noted: 9/23/14 I am a chiropractic rehabilitative specialist that doesn’t take insurance. So, people tend to come to me after they’ve been to everyone else on the health radar. They are on a last leg, taking one last recommendation for help. I’ve heard many health practitioners write off chiropractic and acupuncture as placebo. This is fascinating, since we have the hardest buy-in! I have no fancy surgical unit. I have no state of the … Read more
Dooley Noted: 9/22/2014 Yesterday, I had the privilege of hosting – and lead instructing – my first NeuroKinetic Therapy (NKT) Level I seminar in a gym I co-own, which is also the place in which I practice rehabilitative chiropractic. As I saw the 43 participants and teaching team, I had a moment wash over me of being completely overwhelmed. It was the culmination of many, many years of hard work, dedication, passion, and love. It … Read more