What a Novel idea… Learning how to sit!

Have you ever met a person and decided you have to know more about them even before they say anything? Well, that was my experience when I first met Daniel Schmidt at Sylvia Nibley’s Community Connections lunch in.

After speaking with him briefly and getting glimpses into the pool of knowledge that his mind is immersed in, I decided to see him in action.

I showed up at his office with no idea about what to expect. It was a very quite, calm, peaceful place and I was welcomed with a smile from Dan.

About the pool of knowledge that I glimpsed before, I was just seeing the tip of the ice berg! With in minutes Dan was working at relieving the pain I have in my left, middle, back and was explaining the whole picture of why it was in pain.

I am no stranger to back pain and those that attempt to relieve it. This back pain was the result of a biking accident where I crashed going 45 + miles an hour in Moab Utah. I have had this part of my back worked on many times, for years.

So, what was different this time? How was Dan different from others that have attempted to un knot my back? Here is what I noticed; he didn’t dive right into the spot on my back that hurt. He actually started with the rest of my body and got me really comfortable first.

Then he loosened up my ribs… Who knew that ribs can be loosened? I sure didn’t, but I felt it! His approach was soft and fluid like he was moving my muscles, arms, neck, etc around as he listened to what they were telling him.

He explained that the pain is being protected and if he opens up the wound indirectly then when he works on it, it will let him in. Not only did it make sense, it worked and was less painful then the, dive right into the sore spot, approach that I have experienced before.

When I asked him what the work he was doing was called he went through his list… and it is a long list! This guy is certified in all sorts of things! He then went on to tell me about the histories of the things he was practicing and why he was using them.

I felt as though I had walked into a workshop on how the body works while my body was getting worked.

Now if you have read any of my other blogs, you will know that I am kind of a geek, very left brain, and I love knowledge. This experience with Dan was like meeting a sage who has spent his life as a student of the body and then the sage, not only expressed his journey, but showed me how his journey felt.

Dan not only explained why he was doing what he was doing, he also explained how I can do it for myself. I found this to be truly refreshing!

Here Dan was filling my mind with as much information as I could hold and I found myself wanting to go back so that I could learn and experience what was next.

One of the things that Dan explained to me was about the spine and how to relieve pressure on it. I am not an expert so I won’t go into details but he showed me how to adjust (in a soft simple way) the different areas of my spine. He taught me something that I think should be taught in kindergarten; how to sit.

I have always thought that good posture was hard work and the reason why people don’t have good posture is because they are lazy with the way they hold their bodies. After experiencing what Dan showed me, I actually believe that good poster can be easier then poor posture, if we know what good posture is.

After my experience with Dan, which I thought was only an hour but to my surprise was 2 ½ hours, I went to get into my car. As I sat down I noticed that I was so tall that my Hair touched the ceiling. This had never happened before!

All day today I have been conscious of my poster and I have used what Dan has taught me. I am using it before bed and in the morning and every time I sit at my desk I adjust to take care of my spine.

If you have pain in your body and you would like to know how it got there, why it got there, why it is still there and what to do to make it go away… I know a sage that will take that journey with you.