I haven't been feeling well... not since Friday night. My stomach was wrecked all weekend, but I wasn't vomiting or *otherwise*. Something was wrong in my body, but nothing was adding up.

I gave myself a gift in August. I had been down in the dumps and doing some soul searching this past summer after a couple of heartaches and finding my pocketbook slightly in the negative. So, I joined 24HR Fitness with my friend Terry and everything has changed for me since then. I'm working out regularly and feeling in the best physical shape EVER. Working out has released a lot of mental & spiritual blocks and has cleared my overall energy, allowing me to really love and embrace my beautiful SELF! It's really awesome to fully start to love my body.  I've always known & loved my heart and soul, but have never fully embraced the shell that encompasses it. Today, I do.

Getting into the workouts was easy... I have my friend for encouragement and we support each other completely. How lucky I am to have such a friend! After our first couple workouts, I found myself TOTALLY & completely sore and overworked. Terry kept telling me, "Be careful, Kris, don't over do it!". As a 1 Life Path, that is completely out of my vocabulary, though... I want to be the best and DO my best all of the time and if that means over-doing a workout, then you better believe I will be in that gym working out like a crazy woman! I know, I know... I'm working on that! LOL...

So, I had been taking it easy after the initial shock of the first workouts because my body was just hurtin'. Now, 2.5 months later, things are evening out and I was wanting to kick it up a notch. Yeah, not so fast Gym Rat...

My body has told me otherwise... AGAIN.

Last week I wanted to get in 3 days of working out, but knew I was only going to be able to swing 2 days because of schedules and what-not!  **The weeks seem to fill up so damn fast!!** Since I had only two days, I thought to myself, "Go get 'em tiger... do 2 workouts this week, but DO 2 FULL-BODY WORKOUTS!" This, in my head, sounded like a really good idea. The 1st full-body workout was a breeze.  The 2nd full-body workout left me so tired and completely drained of ALL energy, but I made it home and went about the evening and wrapped up the week on Friday feeling pretty good! My mom and I shared some good conversation and some laughs having a margarita and some Mexican food on Friday night.  It didn't sit well & I couldn't sleep that night. I woke up Saturday morning with the worst stomach ache of my life!  "OH, NO" I thought... Am I getting the dreaded flu? Was the Mexican food bad? CRAP!

The stomach pains came and went all day Saturday... I felt nauseous and just plain crappy, but it never felt like the full blown flu. I slept probably 15 hours that night and woke up Sunday morning not feeling any better, but now I feel like someone has stabbed me between the shoulder blades in my back!  WTF?!?!?!  OK, now a back ache? What the hell is going on with me...? I'm a really BAD patient, by the way. I cannot stand being sick, there's no time FOR IT!!!! **C'mon body... you've been doing so great, energy flowing properly, digesting properly, muscles working at tippy-top condition... WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!!??!!**

So, since my back feels like someone has broken it in two, I know one step that I have to take to make ONE of my ailments all better... go see Dr. Amaro! Dr. Amaro is thee best Chiropractor & Acupuncturist in the WORLD. I'm not just saying that because I know him & frequent his office, he is world renowned and we're lucky enough to have him practicing in the state of Arizona (http://www.iama.edu).

He's open on Tuesday's and Thursday's only, so I called Monday morning and left a message to get in ASAP on Tuesday. **YES!!! I scored an 8:30 AM appointment.  Thank goodness.  My back will be all better in the morning...**

I crookedly walk into the office and get settled in a room. Kim, the awesome assistant comes in, asks me what's going on, scratches it down with her pen, gives me a smile and says, "The Doc will see you in just a few minutes!"  **Thank God**

Dr. Amaro comes in and (like he always does!) takes his finger and hits it on the sorest spot on my back and says, "It hurts really badly right there, doesn't it?"  I about fell off the table - but this is nothing new.  He always knows, like magic, where you're hurting before you even muster out the words! I told him that I was also having some problems with nausea over the weekend... As he felt my back, he shouted, "NO WONDER YOU'RE HURTING!" **WHAT?!?! WHY?** He told me that I had a rib out of place!  **A RIB OUT?!?!?! Holy crap!** No wonder my back felt broken in two! But then, the magical part came flowing, so eloquently, from his lips... "This rib is a direct line to your stomach and gall bladder, Kristen. This is why you have not been feeling well." **OMG!!!** My energy was completely blocked because of my rib being out! I was not digesting anything properly since Tuesday of last week because of this rib!

HELLLOOOOO!

It was that 2nd FULL-BODY WORKOUT, and pushing my body past it's comfort zone, is what did me in! **Ya BIG DUMMY** But the best part about this is that it was all related! Would you ever think that a bone in your body (whether it be the spine or a rib) out of whack would be causing your gall bladder & digestive system NOT to function properly? I feel a little bit stupid even asking that question, because in the back of my mind, I do know these things... That everything in your body is related and it's main engine is the brain and that engine sends oil to the rest of the body through a means that's governed by a universal law. That universal law is energy & it's flow. Everything is energy... We are all energy and how beautiful that energy is...

Needless to say, I have learned another lesson. I will now alternate leg & upper-body workouts. No more full-body workouts for this ONE But I have also learned (again) that our bodies are designed in such a beautiful way. Everything works and is designed to work together. When something hurts, it's a warning sign... go get it checked! I recommend going to Dr. Amaro if you live in the greater Phoenix area. He has saved my life many times and am so grateful for my "energy guru".  He JUST knows... he always knows...

Dr. John Amaro, Founder of The International Academy of Medical Acupuncture, Inc.
There are great articles and insight on his website...
http://www.iama.edu/

P.S. I feel like a new woman, by the way! I still have a teeny-tiny bit of nausea, but nothing like it was. He also drained my gall bladder! He placed fingers up and under my ribs (on right side) where the gall bladder is and pressed fairly hard! **Yikes** it hurt a bit, and some funny noises squealed from my gut, but I  cannot tell you how good I feel right now! Freakin' amazing! ...Love you, Dr. A...