Alternative Therapies……I’ll Go Back to Basics, Thanks!

I read a gloriously funny post yesterday by the wonderful Jen K. on her blog Send the Bus, about involving your child in your yoga routine. My children’s involvement usually amounts to pointing and laughing, and possibly filming with a view to posting it on Facebook. That is the point when they are forcibly reminded of my wrestling skills!! Add a daft dog and cunning cat into the mix, and the whole situation quickly descends into farce.

A few weeks ago, I managed to put my back out, by making a cup of tea. Seriously! Go figure! Amazingly, I very rarely suffer from back problems, despite many years spent working in dangerously high heels, and contorting myself into ridiculous positions. As a hairdresser, you understand. This, combined with what my Nearly Non-teen describes as my “unnatural woman height” should have resulted in a lifetime of Deep Heat and chiropractors, but I managed to survive virtually unscathed. (Incidentally, although tall, I am not of towering proportions. My son is merely bitter because he inherited my Father’s hobbit genes!)

I struggled gamely through the day, incapacitated to the point where I had to put my knickers on with the help of a broom handle ( a trick I learnt during pregnancy), and sneezing was not an option. So I sought advice from my Torn-Apart, himself a veteran of the bad back brigade.

“Lie flat on the floor and stretch out your legs” came the reply. Bless, I thought, such a sweet talker!! Then realised this was in fact his back healing advice. What follows is the emily I sent back.

Home from work. Back aching, decide to take advice, to lie on floor. Opt for sitting room, only floor area large enough to accommodate prone body. manoeuvre gingerly to ground, stretch out. Realise how cold carpetless floor feels. Turn head, discover whereabouts of lost pendrive, four pens, two balls, empty sweet wrappers, and fifty pence. Make mental note to ask boys to move sofas to facilitate hoovering. Regret open plan living, as joined by dog and cat. Dog, taking advantage of rare close proximity, snuffles face. Add ‘bath smelly dog’ to mental note. Bat off dog with hands, cat takes advantage of distraction to lie on chest. Throw handy slipper at dog, attempt to remove cat, discover arms are shorter than cat at full stretch with claws embedded in left breast. Dog returns slipper, senses new game, joins cat on chest. Have sneezing fit brought on by dust under sofa, hurt back again. Give up. Roll sideways to eject animals, realise getting up far more difficult than lying down. Spend ungainly five minutes using sofa as climbing frame. Opt for alternative therapy. Pour large glass of wine. Have hot bath!!