My family made the long drive down I95, from Philadelphia to Miami- 23 hours in the car- and it was rough. There is pretty much no way to make that kind of trip in a spine friendly way. However, in spite of being quite stiff and sore, I am grateful to be here. The weather is certainly a step up from what we had when I left Philadelphia, and I’ve heard it has only gotten worse since we left.

Lincoln Road Miami- The Van Dyke- home of the oldest elevator in Florida.

Upcoming Guests…

While I am here, I will be revisiting my friend Jorden Gold of the Stretch Zone to get his ‘One Thing’ segment and maybe some other goodies.

I am also really excited to announce that my wife Donna has agreed to occasionally contribute pieces here on BackWords. Donna has a PhD. in anthropology, and teaches natural childbirth as well. Much of her work with couples teaches them ways to help relax and work through the discomfort of childbirth. I am really looking forward to seeing what she brings to the table, as I know it will be interesting and useful. Look for her first piece on using the observation of beauty as a way of getting in touch with your pain-free self.

Prayer & Back Pain…

Now- I want to take a moment to address some of the feedback I received on the role of faith & prayer on recovery from back pain; Some people seemed to think that I was being dismissive of prayer as a pain relief modality when I suggested that meditation or deep breathing was a substitute for prayer.

Let me be very clear- I don’t think of it as a substitute per se- I was reminding folks that if religion is not part of their makeup, either because they are not religious, or because that do not feel that prayer has any role in recovery from pain- that the small part of their day which would otherwise be devoted to prayer might instead be used for meditation or ‘quiet time.’ There have been studies galore which demonstrate conclusively that meditation and focus can help reduce pain. I am a quietly religious person, and a small part of my day is devoted to prayer (right before bedtime, usually)- and when I have had to deal with pain- be it back pain resulting from a car accident, or from kidney stones- prayer did help.

Twitter Feed Coming Soon….

I am putting the final touches on our new Twitter feed- expanding on the ways for you to get tips and information from Back Together. As of January 1st- you will be able to get information here on backtogether.org, from the Back Together fan page on Facebook, via the direct link to the blog at thebacktogetherblog.com, backtogethertv on YouTube, and via Twitter. Basically, there will be no excuse for you to not be chock full of great pain relief ideas, suggestions, and news.

Thank you again for visiting,

-Andy