Baby Step Miracles!

Bathed in gentle alpine glow after a night's snow, this view looks down Ute Pass.

As I connect with, learn, and live the basics of "God's engineering" I am deeply humbled by how great we are made and how much we try and do things our way and simply gum up the works.

What do I mean by "God's engineering?" I mean that God, through evolution, designed us to be the most beautiful and efficient and gifted creature on the planet: mind, body, and soul. Learning how to listen to our body and what it's trying to tell us can make everything in life better. Two cases in point:

Primal Running:
When I first began going barefoot (last spring), my feet tingled as the blood rushed in, grew new tissue, woke up dormant neural connections and created new ones. My feet began giving the rest of my body input about where I as compared with the ground. My brain no longer had to struggle to figure this out. My body (from my navel down) just knew. As this awareness and reflex grew, I realized I could run. A few more months and constant testing to see if I still needed the 4 pound walking sticks, and I've shifted to 8 oz. trekking poles (Thank you, Mountain Chalet!). I'm now running and moving faster and more efficiently than ever (including before my brain injury!). I'm hopeful that running will help grow new connections and help me recover even more over time (studies show mice grown thousands of new brain cells when they run compared with when they don't).

Primal Breathing:
Using the Buteyko breathing method, my breathing is now keeping the maximum amount of accessible oxygen in my blood, increasing my body's efficiency throughout. I've even been able to run more in the afternoon and once in the evening (Mornings are my best "brain energy" time). I feel better more, have more brain energy, and my sinuses are not a constant presence in every moment of life. I suspect this new efficiency deeply contributed to my being able to go to lighter sticks, as it provides a better, more consistent oxygen supply to my brain.

Baby step miracles by way of learning how to listen to my body and the way God created me to breathe and move and eat (Blood Type Diet). I wonder what other aspects of life I take for granted that I'm actually doing things counter to how God created me? How else can I go primal? The search continues... Grin.

Plus 43.6 (Yes, I've been negligent in reporting them!)
Total mileage: 519.5 miles

What it means to be a sponsor of Shoot the Moon for Brain Injury

To be a sponsor of Shoot the Moon for Brain Injury means the good or service (or combination) provided is both something I've personally used long enough to be confident in recommending both it and the people behind it.

I only contact those companies who meet this stringent qualification to ask them to consider sponsorship.

Ray the Rolfer™

People who genuinely want the best for you more than they want you as a client are rare. Ray the Rolfer™ is such a man of integrity and honor and bar none the best hands to ever help my body work properly. I've tried many practitioners of many body manipulation arts, from rolfing, to chiropractic, to massage, and others you may never hear of -- Ray is not just incredible at what he does, he's the best quality of people.

What exactly is Rolfing? The Rolfing Institute® describes it as "structural integration." I'm sure that means something to them. What it means to you and me is they work DEEP, on muscle, fascia (that Saran Wrap™ like film you see on a steak -- well it wraps all through your body), and sometimes I'm convinced Ray is somehow inside my joints and putting my marrow to rights. It feels incredible!

Not the kind of incredible that you forget as you walk out the office door, or even come the next morning. The kind of incredible that has you feeling and moving better for weeks. Like anything that puts your body to rights after the various wrongs we've managed to do to them, Rolfing can take time to feel good. When it does, you'l know just how good the pain of change can become.

How in the world does such a beast help with brain injury? My brain has limited energy every day. When it runs out, that's it. No more doing anything that day. In my case, I was spending a lot of my day's brain energy on bodily motion. With my body working properly, it works more efficiently and uses less of my very limited brain energy, helping me do more with less and last longer through the day.

Thank you, Ray, for your support of Shoot the Moon!

Ray Welling
Certified Rolfer
917 W.Colorado Ave. #B
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
719-473-4475
email Ray the Rolfer™

Mountain Chalet - Outdoor Expertise Extrordinaire

The internet has made it easy to shop around for the best price for your outdoor needs, but it can take a lot of trial and error to find a store online or locally that offers excellent customer service. Mountain Chalet, located at the base of Pikes Peak, offers excellent value and the best in customer service.

I've personally been shopping there since 1989, when I met my future wife in college and we based some of our adventures out of Colorado Springs. Yipes! I just realized that was over 20 years ago.

Whatever your outdoor needs, the grand folks at Mountain Chalet will see you treated right. They always have me -- and I'm a bit of an ogre when it comes to my poor gear.

Thank you to the good folks at Mountain Chalet for your support!

Mountain Chalet
800-346-7044
719-633-0732


226 N. Tejon
Colorado Springs, CO 80903