I have moved!

Good day to you!


I have moved my blog to the following address: 
http://brucelaister.wordpress.com/


All new posts will be posted there. Although this blog will be active for quite some time - no new posts will be posted here.


I would love to see you on the new blog and thank you for your support and readership on this blog.


Cheers
Bruce

Gentle Enough But Effective!

Chiropractic treatment has been known to help babies that suffer with colic and sleeping disorders. It calms and relaxes them to be able to function better.

What does a chiropractor do for the baby:

The chiropractor will assess the baby to make sure the appropriate reflexes are present and that the milestones are being met at the appropriate age. Some education on feeding and burping positions as well as dietary advice may be given to the mother. The chiropractor will apply gentle pressure over the affected joint/area to restore normal functioning, which then allows the nervous system to function at its best, alleviating irritation and pain at that site. Since the nerves to the muscles and organs exit from the spinal cord, optimum functioning of the spinal cord then enables the baby to grow and its bodily functions to be at its best.

A study of 1250 babies examined 5 days after birth, found that 211 suffered from vomiting, hyperactivity and sleeplessness. 95% had spinal abnormalities, and all showed improvement after chiropractic treatment (even after one session).

Definition of Colic

The definition of colic is an unexplainable and uncontrollable crying in children from 0-3 months of age, for more than 3 hours a day,3 times a week and for more than 3 weeks — usually in the afternoon and evening hours.

Colic is blamed on excess gas within the intestines, dietary problems and birth trauma, however the exact cause is unknown. Treatment for colic currently mainly revolves around pharmacotherapy (buscopan, colic drops etc), changing of the baby’s formulae and positioning techniques during feeding and burping. Chiropractic treatment is increasing in popularity & is becoming the treatment of choice.

Recent studies which compare chiropractic to drug treatment show that there is a significant improvement up to 90% of all cases with chiropractic treatment.

Chiropractors have reason to believe that the birth process could be one of the causes for colic. During birth the baby’s spine and neck may get damaged whilst moving down the birth canal. During the pushing stage the baby’s spine is under pressure from the squeezing and pushing of the contractions (induced labour amplifies this and increases the pressure on the spine).

When lying on your back during labour the pelvic opening is reduced by 1.5cm which places extra stress on the baby’s spine.

In order for the baby to go through the birth canal its head and neck have to twist into different positions which can cause problems later on. Signs and symptoms of such trauma can lead to irritability in the baby and can present as:

• Colic
• Poor feeding
• Disturbed sleep patterns
• Crying, restlessness, anxiety
• Doesn’t want to lie on back
• Reflux
• Will only feed on one side
• Head favours one side
• Flat head

If you notice your baby is suffering with any of the following, why not have them checked out by a chiropractor, the treatments are gentle and effective.

Contact details:

Dr Angela Pasteilledes

96 Brand Road (inside TAP Kruger)

Tel: 031 201 1442

Cell: 083 233 1187

Email: chiropractic.angela@gmail.com

Facebook: I-Got-Your-Back-Chiropractor

Editors note: This is a guest post and not always the opinion or view of the blog or its owners and related parties. As a result no action can be taken against such parties. This article is to be used as a guide only and is aimed at educating the reader in the topic covered. Please consult Angela on the above details or your local medical practitioner for more concise instructions.

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Have a little help from your feet...

The feet have the most important job in the body when it comes to mechanical functioning of the body.

They are the first point of impact when standing and walking.

As humans we were suppose to learn to walk on uneven surfaces like grass and sand, however we learn to walk on hard level surfaces which impact on our foot development.

If the foot doesn’t function optimally, we then end up having problems elsewhere, like the knee, hip and lower back. They are all connected. They are a kinematic chain and when one doesn’t function the rest over compensate, resulting in pain!

Often patients will complain of knee and lower back pain resulting from a foot that is ‘stuck’ in a sense. They may not know the foot is a problem until it is assessed by someone (chiropractor, orthotist, podiatrist etc).

SO what do we do?

It can be as simple as adjusting the foot, however the foot might need some added help from an orthotic to ensure that it moves in all the right places at the different parts of the gait cycle, otherwise the same pain will keep occurring and no matter how many times you get everything adjusted as soon as you get up to walk again, you are back to square one.

So put your best foot forward and get yourself assessed.

Contact details:

Dr Angela Pasteilledes

96 Brand Road (inside TAP Kruger)

Tel: 031 201 1442

Cell: 083 233 1187

Email: chiropractic.angela@gmail.com

Facebook: I-Got-Your-Back-Chiropractor

Editors note: This is a guest post and not always the opinion or view of the blog or its owners and related parties. As a result no action can be taken against such parties. This article is to be used as a guide only and is aimed at educating the reader in the topic covered. Please consult Angela on the above details or your local medical practitioner for more concise instructions.

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Shoulda Coulda Woulda

Should, could and would are three words that are very simple. When used they often layer on many more emotions by the person saying them.  They are often used by many people. Unfortunately, the person using them is often relaying something that they have not done or wanted to be done but has not been done, for whatever reason.

Some examples of phrases using these words:

•          I should have done the washing up.
•          I should have spent more time with him / her.
•          He could be anything he wants.
•          I would like to go on holiday more.I would love to get a new car.

Should is a word that generally is used to describe some action or event in the past. Would and could are generally used to describe the future. Would and could are often coupled with two other words, if and or only, which then leads to dangerous territory for the speaker. For example:

•          If I had a better job, I could get a more reliable car.
•          If I had the money that he has then I would buy a new house.
•          If I had more time, I would go to gym more often.

Now that the English language lesson is over – what is the point of all this?

There is no problem with these words or using them, however, there can be a problem with using these words too often and in the wrong context. When we get depressed or down with life and the trials it does bring when often resort to woeful periods with loads of sentences with all of the above words in them. This does nothing except dig that hole deeper. It leads to a downward spiral which can be hard to break. Thus staying away from these words is a great idea. In fact, when you recognise that you are using these words and the mood is going downward, just avoiding these words can be the start of breaking the cycle. You actually do not have to use wonderfully, flowery and up beat language and sentences to break the cycle. Having said that, the biggest trick is to recognise that you are in that downward cycle, and stop it.

A big factor in the use of these words is the people you speak to. Think about the people you speak to on a regular basis. Do you get uplifted when you talk to them? Do you walk away feeling drained and exhausted with time dragging its heels? If the latter is true, try and recall the conversation. Did it contain the” shoulda, coulda woulda” type sentences? I am positive it did.

I am not saying that you must never use those words. Sentences with the words are necessary and important too. I am suggesting that you have better words to use that convey the same message in a constructive way.

   

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We Can All Be Right!

After doing some research into pregnancy and having witnessed a number of children being raised around me, I have noticed that there is not one way of doing it. There is no right and no wrong way to raise children. In fact, this can be taken across all aspects of life. In my experience within the accounting world, there are certain guidelines and standards that have to be abided by, but on top of those standards, there is certainly a huge variance as to the way to go about things.

This is where the topic of “it’s not wrong, but different” came up. In other words, everybody is right! You are now shouting at me because you have told that you are wrong and that you have to do whatever in a certain manner. This ‘certain manner’ is where you are right and so is your (fill in the blank).

Let me give you a practical example. Let us go with children because we all were once children and were raised differently. Formula versus breast milk. Oh, dodgy topic this one. The ideal, God given way to do it is breast feeding, true. Some women find it difficult to breast feed so go to formula. Some women do not want to breast feed so go straight to formula. Are these women are wrong for choosing formula at all? Yes and no. yes because the female body was designed to feed a baby breast milk. No, because if they are not producing enough milk or cannot produce any, then the baby would in fact not survive past about a week or two. Then the mother becomes a shocking mother because she let her baby die etc. Who is right then? Well, both are. You would never let a baby die and would do anything to make sure it survived, including giving it formula.

Another good example for you. Discipline. Another touchy subject I know but it illustrates the point. This is taken from a South African point of view and law. Capital punishment is out at schools by law. Smacking kids is becoming less and less frequent at home too. Naughty corner or step or time outs are the going favourites currently. Some of you might say ‘just give the kid a good wallop’ or something to that extent. I was subject to few wallops growing up myself and no long term damage was done. So who is right? Everybody. All kids grow up whichever way they are disciplined so it does not really matter. The results of the discipline in the child do vary but that’s debatable as to the cause.

There are so many important aspects of life to worry about that being right and wrong is often not the main concern. Both parties may well be correct or incorrect. You have to look at the bigger picture and decide if it is worth the fight in the long run. Sometimes it will be but most times – it just is not worth worrying about. 


Different is not always wrong.


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Do not be a hero ... Bend with the knees

People hurt their back all the time by using their body inappropriately to do simple things.

I see it in people all the time when they bend straight forwards to lift things, as well as parents and grandparents when handling their children and grandchildren.

The art of misinterpretation...

Now a days with so many short cuts for words like TGIF, WTF, etc etc it’s not surprising that there might be some misinterpretation along the way. If you like me when I read to quickly I sometimes swop the letters and then I have no idea what is trying to be said. 

I must share my story with you. So for weeks and years I have always referred to Wednesdays as “Hump Day” because it half way through the week, and it’s all done hill from there...

My brother and his girlfriend were visiting the other day, and I was talking about “Hump Day”. So Shanna asks me what do I mean about “Hump Day”? so I was I explained about how it is half way through the week and all downhill from there... this is when I noticed she started to blush..

So me being me, I enquired why the blush? She thought that “Hump Day” meant I was “getting lucky”! Can you believe it! Like I would even advertise that! I’m not that forward, at least I hope not!

And apparently she wasn’t the only one who thought that’s what it meant when I put that as my status on facebook!

So now I pose a question, how many people actually know what you are trying o say when you post a status on facebook / twitter / Blackberry... what do they think you are saying as opposed to what you really are saying?

I thought to myself, should I stop posting certain statuses’, then I came to my senses and realized it’s not me who might have a dirty mind, it’s everyone else.

I now find this quite amusing and look forward to seeing who is bold enough to ask me what I mean when I post a status. Let’s see who has the guts!

Do not stop speaking your mind, just because some people don’t understand you! Remember you were born to stand out! 


Editors note: This is a guest post by Blackjack and not always the opinion or view of the blog or its owners and related parties. As a result no action can be taken against such parties

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Winning

My wife and I recently attended a sports day of friends child. I have never attended one of these sports days before and it was actually quite good fun and really nice to see the little people running and having fun doing it. while we were there, Bob (the oldest child) who was supporting his brother, said to his mom, "It is not about winning, but about participating that counts".

This struck me as very odd because it is against everything that today's society throws at us. It was amazing to hear and even more amazing to see that he actually believed it. I brushed it off as absolute rubbish but I started to thinking about it. At what point does that belief turn into winning is everything? At what point does that line become second place is first loser?

Today we are seeing professional sports starts getting banned for the use of  banned substance use. Today we see professional cyclists in every country tested both in and out of competition and banned for the use of EPO and other muscle enhancing agents. South African rugby players have been suspected of using banned substances too, although all charges were dropped. Local provincial players have been banned for steroid use. the worst of all this is that recently school boys were found to be using banned substances to enhance their performance on the rugby pitch. 

In this case, it takes less than 10 years to go from "its all about participation" to illegal performance enhancing drug use. Who turns the sentence around? who changes the persons mind? Parents? teachers? Coaches? Television? I do not know.

The full circle turns though and grabs again. Only the top few percent ever get to compete at the professional level. In fact, at any competitive level at all! To the 35 000 cyclists that pack Cape Town streets for the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, less than about 200 riders go for the top honours. That is less than 0.5%. The rest? they do it for participation! The 18 000 comrades runners, only about 50 can win it. You do the math!

In the end, the wisdom of a seven year old boy wins. "Mom, it is not about winning. It is all about the participation".

For the privacy of the family and friends, the names in this blog post have been changed.

Are Vampires Sucking the Time out of Your Day?

Let me take a guess. You are involved in social media, right? So, here is the guess. You have a smart phone, yes? You are on facebook, twitter, flickr, you tube, four square, yes? Or at least one of the above, yes? You stay in touch via email, BBM (Blackberry users) or text (sms) messages on that smart phone, yes? These social networking services give you a warm fuzzy feeling about your world and you feel in contact with them at your finger tips. Brilliant! I agree. So, why the title Time Vampires?

Communicating today is easier than ever before. Above I mentioned just 8 of the many, many ways we can communicate today. I only mentioned a few the English speaking networks I know of. There are many more in more other languages and countries out there. The draw back to the communication devices available today is that they can lead to being Time Vampires.

Time vampires are items in your life that suck time and concentration from your life and what you are supposed to be doing. I will explain with a simple example. One the smart phone you have an email with a facebook as well as a twitter account linked up to it. Let say you have about 150 facebook friends and 50 twitter followers that regularly update their profile. That’s 200 potential interruptions to your working day. Forget after hours! Let’s assume you get updates sent to your email. You are working and an email comes through to you phone. Bang! There goes your concentration. You click on the email to see the update and it’s not interesting so you close the window. It took 2 minutes. You are annoyed with me because what is 2 minutes out of a minute day! Do the math on up to 200 updates a day. That's if they are boring!

Another example is this: one of your friends on Flickr posts really nice photos and you have look - that's never going to be less than 5 minutes!

You must get the point!

Avoid time vampires in the following ways:

1. Different horses for different courses. Use different social media for what they are good at:

Facebook – Connecting with old friends and telling family and friends in other cities and or countries.

Twitter – Up to the minutes updates from everyone from everywhere about everything.

Flickr – Upload and view photos.

2. Social media is not a popularity contest.

Unless you are a big business or media darling or massive sports spar – the more does not mean better!

3. Use social media sites to add value to your life.

If using social media does not add value to your life – you are doing it wrong! This is true. Last year I deactivated my Facebook account and all except 2 people did not notice. This means that it was not adding value to my life. I now am back on Facebook and have cut my friends list substantially, in order to add value to my “social media” life.

Try these tips and feel free to add your own ways of avoiding “Time Vampires”

Get High - It is Good For You

I recently started gyming again, but seriously gyming, and it has proven to be the best decision I've made in a long time!


I know we all complain that there's not enough time, and it's hard to stay motivated etc., but trust me, it really is worth it. There have been many benefits, amongst them improved fitness and health, but most importantly improved self-confidence and happiness.


It's a scientific fact that exercise releases feel-good endorphins and I've found this to be true. You know you're doing something to improve yourself and nothing beats that feeling you get after a good, hard workout. It also has spin-offs in the work place. You carry yourself better and trust in yourself and your work., and people can see the difference.


Here are my personal tips for how to gym and how to keep motivated:


1. Find a gym buddy who you have to meet at the gym. This way you'll let someone else down if you don't go.


2. Find an exercise routine which interests you. You don't have to do the standard exercises. Mix it up.


3. Change your routine regularly. This will keep your body confused and will ensure you see results faster.


4. Set targets for yourself, but make them realistic. There's no point in setting an unrealistic goal as this will just cause you to become demotivated. Targets can include:


- Losing weight,


- Going down a size (muscle weighs more than fat, so don't be upset if you don't lose weight),


- Finishing your gym session quicker (this will help you to tone),


- Upping your weights (more for guys than girls)


A combination of the above will see you getting the best results.


5. You are what you eat! I had a good laugh to myself at some of the party girls I worked with. They always complained about their weight and how much they were gyming but they just weren't getting the results.


I don't think they got the fact that excessive alcohol consumption, along with a poor diet, will do that to you. One drink takes about a week of gym to work off, so you do the math.


Good advice I received, and which I'm now trying with positive results, is not to have any carbs after lunch. This sounds hard, but essentially all you have to do is cut out rice and potatoes with your supper.


6. The most important piece of advice has been saved for last. When you train, train hard! There's no point going to the gym for a chat session. You're there to work, so do your best.


I hope this helps you in some way.


Editors note: This is a guest post by Stephen Smith and not always the opinion or view of the blog or its owners and related parties. As a result no action can be taken against such parties
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Can Chiropractic Bring Down Your Blood Pressure

Did you know that chiropractic manipulation can lower blood pressure?

Spinal manipulations to the upper neck and upper thoracic spine can lower blood pressure.

When Being Selfish Is Not Selfish

Selfish (adjective)

1. Devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.

2. Characterized by or manifesting concern or care only for oneself: selfish motives.

That is the definition of the word selfish according to dictionary.com but I believe that doing something for yourself is not selfish. 

Do not miss the big things!

On Saturday morning I did something I have not done in a long, long time. I got up and met a bunch of people at the local casino parking lot to go cycling. No gambling was done, even though the casino was open. The parking lot is used as a meeting point for East Coast Cycling Club (www.eccc.co.za). Cyclists are given free parking which is safe and secure - a very useful advantage. The bunch cycle from the casino up the coast, to a freeway off ramp to the little town of Umdloti and back. It is about 46 km.

The Good Looking Guy That I Met in the Ladies!

I am not one of those dedicated clubbers who are there when the doors open and leave again when the doors close. That is not for me! Realistically, who really can do that unless you wasted or high or

Keep on Running

We have all heard the phrase used when watching a long distance sporting event, "He caught his second wind". How do you manage to get to the stage of getting your "second

What’s the difference...?

Often I get asked what’s the difference between Chiropractic and other professions that deal with the skeletal system.

Well I am hoping this article will clear up some confusion and in no means take it that I am putting down any other profession just merely aiding in understanding. The aim here is to add to your knowledge and educate you

But there's so much loving, too

"There's lots of fighting in this world but there's so much loving, too"
Ready by Third Day

Those are such inspiring words to me. They are very ture in todays society where violence, war and just fighting in general are seen daily in every city, in every country around the world. In the past 10 days, we have seen the greater London area (and further out) being destroyed by riots and locally to myself in South Africa, the municipal strike has resulted in sewerage being thrown at municipal building  further up country. No country, race or creed is exempt from this sort of violent occurence.

Yes, we have to accept that fighting is every where. No, we do not have to focus on the fighting because if you look around in the very same cities, there is a huge amount of love too. Take London after the riots for example, The cleanup of the rioting chaos created a massive movement of locals chipping in and helping out. That is awesome to see happen. Everyone focuses on the riots themselves but I think that the silver lining of the clean up should be focussed on as much too.

When I say 'love', I mean the little gestures  that make a difference to someone. I am not talking about massive public gestures and giving millions of Rands or Pounds (or whatever currency) to charity at some big press launch. I am meaning the person holding the door for you, the guy who lets you cycle past before pulling into the traffic, the person ahead of you who let you take the last item you wnated etc. There are 100's of these actions going on daily and we often take them for granted because we have negativity tinting our eyes.

It is the little things that enlighten our days with a beautiful moment of love from a complete stranger who wants nothing in return and tells us there are still great people in the world.

Try and see the love in the world but better yet BE the love in the world.



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