astym Archives - Ari's Menu

Hello, from Lux!

Lux is a super cute indie coffee shop downtown that makes me feel like I am not cool enough to drink coffee here. There’s not really a menu, and everyone pretty much seems like they are hip and cooler than me. I’m sitting here maybe their coolness will rub off on me 😉 I had a class out in the boonies today and I didn’t want to head home and then drive back downtown for rehearsal, so I packed my lap top and figured I could do some blogging in the in between. I ordered a chai latte which I am kind of loving right now.

It’s not super sugary like at most coffee shops, just chai spicy and delicious.

Tech week has been going well and all of my performances this week have been too. It’s always crazy when everything ends at once, but I have to admit I am looking forward to a little bit of a break. A break which will not happen if I keep scheduling through it. Whoops. But I am happy and humbled to continually be offered work in my field. I often feel so lucky to receive opportunities that I have a hard time turning them down and understanding that not every opportunity will fulfill me as an artist or make me a better teacher. But I have my East Coast trip that I’m looking forward to!! I think I will end up being able to see 10-15 people I adore all in one trip. Thanks friends for all living so close to New York. If it weren’t for Steve, Winston, Clementine and my bank account, I’d be right there with you. 🙂

After being scraped in physical therapy today, I spoke to 2 of the therapists there about my progress. They scraped all around my ankle today instead of just my achilles and it hurt a LOT today. KT (the therapist I’ve been working with) says she feels like we are constantly trying to play catch up with a problem that has been chronic for so long. It will start to feel better, and then I run and it feels worse. They know I’m not going to give that up, so it’s I guess like trying to put a bandaid on it and do what we can. They also don’t approve of the 2 pairs of shoes I just spent $160 on. Oy. I left honestly feeling a little defeated. I spent most of my life being overweight and practically sedentary. Now that I am healthy, I want my body to do what I want it to do. I am physically fit enough to do the things I ask of it. KT and Gabe even both talked about how I am strong and I am able to do everything they ask of me, and I am still able to run, so I guess I need to get out of my pity party and be appreciative for what I can do. I just can’t help but wish that I’d be able to do it with less pain. It makes me anxious because I fear that one day it will get worse and then I really won’t be able to do things. But again, that day is not today, so I need to quit worrying what if and just be grateful. Done. Thank you body for carrying me 11 miles last weekend. Please do a good job carrying me through my first 10k this weekend and through 12 miles next Friday. I trust you to do a good job 🙂

In other happy news, today as I was baking some of my own cookies to put myself in a good mood, the remainder of my cookie packages showed up! I seriously now have 4 different varieties of cookies in my house. That is bad news. I need to share them ASAP. I will take some photos tonight and then post all about the cookies and their awesome senders! I love presents. I love cookies. I love Christmas!

Ok I’m off to grab dinner and head to our dress rehearsal. Come see Fiddler. It’s really good I think. Ohhh!!! And we got asked BY THE GOVERNOR to perform at the official candle lighting ceremony on the first night of Hanukkah!!! So honored and excited!!!

Hello friends! I am so glad to be over the lame-o sickness that got in the way of my work outs the past two weeks. This morning I woke up and it was a little drizzly out which is actually a lovely treat here in Phoenix. I only planned on running 3 miles, but decided to change up my route and went just under 4. I tried to focus on just letting myself run this morning, not worrying about speed or impressing anyone with my time. I’m still a little sore from my consecutive runs this weekend, so it was nice to just get out and not really think about anything 🙂

And guess what!! I got my Garmin in late September. My first run was September 26th and today I hit 100 documented miles!!!!

Whoot!

After my run I hurried over to my physical therapy appt. On Friday she mentioned that she wanted to have one of the other therapists perform a scraping technique on me. What? SCRAPE? That sounds awful. I asked if it hurt and she played it off like it was maybe minor pain and then said “Well, some people bruise.” Bruise???? So when I got there today, she informed me that ready or not the scraper was coming. Oy!!

There were these two new big football player guys there today. While I warmed up and stretched they were cracking me up. I don’t even remember what they were saying but they were loud and they were funny and I was amused. That is, until just before the scraping when they said “Oooohhhh you’re being scraped???” Then proceeded to scare the crap out of me about it. Thanks, guys. I wasn’t already nervous enough. I informed them that I no longer liked them and they told me to join the club haha. I asked one of the assistants to photograph the scrape sessions so I could give you a visual. They all thought I was kind of a freak, but I’m kind of used to that 😉

See that tool in his hand? He's going to use it to scrap the crap out of my leg and foot.

Here I'm pretty sure I was actually crying a little. Don't judge me.

"Is it over yettttt?????"

The technical term for the procedure is Astym (A-stimulation). The theory is that it releases scar tissue and promotes healing. I even found a video on youtube, except the video doesn’t show the patient jumping out of their seat in pain. They must not have legitimately been doing the therapy.

I had it done on my left calf, achilles tendon and the bottom of my foot–that was the weirdest spot because it tickled and hurt at the same time. I am one of those people that twists and laughs uncontrollably during a pedicure. This was not a pleasant tickle though. Not at all. But, to be honest, if it even gives me the hope of being able to run, dance, and live my life without my tendons giving me pain, it will be so worth it. I haven’t been without pain since high school, so it would really be incredible.

Have any of you ever had this done? What’s the weirdest medical thing you’ve ever experienced?

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