Friday, April 24, 2015

Dealing with Pain

Spring time in the dance community is slightly chaotic with ballet exams, dance competitions, extra rehearsals and the preparation required for June shows and recitals. I have been teaching/dancing 6 days a week this month and my back pain is at an all time high. My chronic pain is caused by inflammation in my hips and back from a bunch of minor injuries that tend to twist my hips to uncomfortable places. Since I do not have time and am not really willing to take a break from dancing I am forced to figure out how to deal with this pain. Because of my achy back I have not been overly productive with my art this past week as it makes concentrating rather difficult. Ironically my chronic condition is the reason I began to pursue my art in the first place.
This week I am trying to take it easy for a few days and get myself back to a better state. I am reworking my diet to include foods that are supposed to help with inflammation and joint pain. I read an article about a study where shiitake mushrooms were shown to reduce inflammation. In the study people only ate one mushroom a day for 4 weeks, at which time the doctors could measure a reduction in the immune systems inflammatory response. My diet now consists of Shiitake mushrooms, salmon, tofu, apples, kale and a few other things including organic red wine! 
Hopefully these small changes will help me feel better and make more art!
I have been attempting to finish a whole bunch of projects this week. I'm getting close, but so far nothing is done. Which means, in theory, I will have lots to share next week!
In the meantime I did paint this sketch in my sketchbook.

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