What is degenerative disc disease?

Yesterday, I had my 12th client come in and tell me that she was officially diagnosed with degenerative disc disease. I'm not afraid to work with people with issues. It's a challenge. But many people get diagnosed with this particular condition without knowing what it is.

There are some things that people with degenerative disc disease should never do like hyperextension in the low back or repeated forward flexion under force like crunches. The aging process makes these pad like disc wear down in our spines. Going to a chiro alone isn't going to solve the ongoing pain that can happen. People need to build sound core strength and release tension in muscles that can impact the low back.

Here's a little video explaining what degenerative disc disease is.



Every one's body is idiosyncratic. What might be fine for some people dealing with low back issues might not work for someone else. I personally like not living in constant pain. If I got a diagnosis like this, I would be doing everything in my power to keep my quality of life as optimal as possible. Wouldn't you?

Fun stuff to do in T.O. this summer for MOJO repair

Ever feel like you're playing adult? I do. I think that's a good thing. I am a bigger goof than my six year old and know I only have a short time that I'll be allowed to act like a goof in public so I intend to make the most of this precious time while I can. Or maybe you feel like you just get stuck in a routine of going to the same places and defer to the same activities in your free time. A recipe for stagnation folks.

So I researched this partly for myself so that I find new ways to play during my favourite time of year in my favourite city.
These are some things that sound interesting to me and maybe to you as well.

1) Stargaze at York University's Observatory

Haven't done this in years. I always find star gazing a great perspective building experience.

Choose a clear night, gaze into outer space and receive a quick astronomy lesson from top experts. York University offers free public stargazing activities on Wednesday nights -- 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. from May to August. Guests are encouraged to bring their own camera and snap photos of the stars.

2) Lie face down on the glass floor at the CN Tower

It's time to go back and do it again. The adrenaline rush will be worth it alone.

It looks scary but this two-and-a-half inch thick glass floor can withstand the weight of 14 large hippos. However, looking face down at a 1,122 ft. drop is bound to give you a few butterflies.


3) Wednesday nights at the Art Gallery of Ontario

I love the tree within a tree hall. I could sit in this amazing alone for an hour.

Housing over 36,000 works of art in its collection, the AGO is an excellent gallery worth visiting. You can do so for free every Wednesday evening between six and nine o’clock pm, when the museum drops its admission fee for the night.


4) Flying Trapeze

Once I had a super hero trapeze birthday party. I dressed up like wonder woman, who else would I choose. That was a long time ago...I want to fly again.

Toronto School of Circus Arts is one of few schools in Canada to offer it. Flying Trapeze involves taking off from a pedestal board, swinging out on a “fly bar”, performing a trick in mid air, being caught by a professional catcher, returning back to the bar, and then returning back to the board. Flying Trapeze is performed at the Toronto School of Circus Arts with safety in mind; students are harnessed into a safety line, and a safety net is always present beneath the Flying Trapeze.

5) Ontario Place

I can have fun here for sure. I might even bring my monkey with me ;)

This unique amusement park (owned by the Province of Ontario) has summer fun on interconnected artificial islands: a giant "outdoor soft play climbing structure"; foam-ball play zone; drop tower, super slide, and other rides; pedal boats; mini-golf; IMAX; outdoor concerts; even helicopter rides. Lots of pricing options: grounds admission only, Pay-As-You-Play; Play all Day; family price... Ontario Place has also been the venue of a Chinese Lantern Festival, in fall.

6) Hippo tours

This one sounds so funny and I know my monkey will love love love this. I've never been on an amphibious boat so what the hey!

A Hippo is a unique 40 passenger vessel that offers land and water tours of Toronto. Come splash into Lake Ontario on our Bus that Floats!. Experience one of Canada's most beautiful cities with all its historical sites and its magnificent waterways.
(416) 703-4476 or Toll Free (877) 635-5510.

7) Romeo and Juliet in High Park

I've been waiting for a play that my monkey could handle and it came this year.

This year the Canadian Stage TD Dream in High Park 2010 presents Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare's timeless tale of star-crossed lovers and feuding families directed by Dora Award-winner Vikki Anderson.
Dates: June 25 – September 5, 2010
Time: Tuesday – Sunday, 8pm (Gate opens at 6pm)
Venue: High Park Amphitheatre

8) Free concerts at Harbourfront

Anyone not taking advantage of this amazing Toronto offering is nuts nuts nuts. I saw amazing FREE shows last year in a beautiful venue by the water.

9) Outdoor movies in Toronto

Who doesn't like sitting outside and watching a movie. Well I think there's something kind of romantic about the whole thing.

If you've got any favourite playful Toronto summer activities post away!

I heart being a parent - why doesn't every body else?

Edward Keenan at Eye Weekly did a great little article on July 7th "The parent trap: parenting vs. happiness". I had to take a look after one of my fellow parent clients said that all the research shows that parents aren't as happy as non parents.

Here's an excerpt from Keenan's article. But you really need to take a look yourself because the article is so well done.

Parenting makes you miserable. This is something on which scientific consensus has pretty much been reached — it appears to be a question as settled as, say, the existence of global warming or the fact of evolution. As detailed in “All Joy and No Fun,” a story by Jennifer Senior in a recent issue of New York magazine, people with children report being less happy than the childless in pretty much every study of the question that’s ever been conducted. (If you think this discussion seems weird here in the Love & Sex section, I would direct you to the comment, quoted by Senior, from UCLA psychology professor Thomas Bradbury: “Being in a good relationship is a risk factor for becoming a parent.” So too is having sex — heterosexual sex in particular — I’d add.)

There's a whole lot of controversy around happiness psychology and the subjectivity involved in measuring one's happiness. It's hard to put a number on it. It also seems that this eternal quest for greater and greater levels of happiness really doesn't recognize that the peaks can't exist without valleys. How do you know you're happy unless you know sadness or what it feels like to have your heart ripped out of your chest? This quest for constant happiness in life seems to negate the fact that being a human is complicated. Personally, I don't want to live in Pleasantville. I want to experience as much as I can in my life and not spend my precious time avoiding things that might potentially make me suffer despite the fact that my heart and soul hungers for it.

I don't look at my child as a burden. She's a freakin miracle and is my best teacher. Growth requires struggle and I'm not here on this planet to stagnate whilst numbing out. I'm not saying you have to be a parent to grow but the people who really interest me aren't the ones who play it safe in life not allowing experiences into their lives that might mold them into a more compassionate human being. Besides, people who have children expecting to be in a constant state of bliss are freakin' funny. Parents who aren't experiencing increased levels of joy after having kids need to get some therapy ASAP so they don't regret not enjoying their children today. We are so lucky they love us so much.

Children keep us in check. Their laughter prevents our hearts from hardening. Their dreams ensure we never lose our drive to make ours a better world. They are the greatest disciplinarians known to mankind.
-- Queen Rania of Jordan

Jet lag is a drag - but can it actually take years off your life?

I'm jet lagged. I actually had no problem adjusting to the flying east time change being six hours ahead in Paris. But coming back it's been harder. Problem is that this time of year I CAN'T make myself go to bed early. It's my favourite time of year to be up late. So when I woke up at 4am this morning and could feel my body wasn't going to go back to sleep I knew today might be a little rough.

Looking for blog content that feels relevant to me, I googled jet lag health impacts and came up with loads of stuff. The best thing I found was a study from 2006 that actually showed that mouse mortality rates sharply increased after traveling from Washington to Paris once a week for 8 weeks. Now they didn't actually put them on a mouse plane and simulated airport travel, the lines, customs and cramped space. They just messed around with them in a lab. In my opinion if you add all the additional travel annoyances, their results might have been even worse. Sitting next to a space hog for 9 hours can definitely shoot cortisol levels up. Every time the woman beside me hit me with her elbow or touched my foot with hers reminded me of the potential for a huge clausterphobia anxiety attack.

In the study, younger mice seemed to rebound more quickly and were not immediately harmed by the jet lag. Simulated jet lag conditions were created by advancing and delaying the rodent's exposure to light.

Researchers aren't sure what conclusions to draw from the results.

Gene Block, the report's co-author, said older mice might be more susceptible to sudden light changes than younger mice. Or, he said, jet lag might be a health problem that builds up in younger subjects, causing future maladies.

The researchers found that 53 percent of elderly mice died when they were subjected to a simulated weekly flight from Washington to Paris over the eight-week study. The death rate dropped to 32 percent of elderly mice on a simulated Paris-to-Washington route, according to the study, which was published last month in the journal Current Biology. Seventeen percent of the mice in a control group died in the eight-week study.

Taken from Washington Post "Red Flag for Jet Lag"

Now my easy adjustment going out east could be attributed to the magic white pills the woman sitting in front of me gave me to take. She said they were melatonin and they seemed to help but how I can be sure it was that. Personally, I think coming back from vacation is always harder than going and this might be the cause of the drag in my heels today. Some people do have systems for preparing their bodies for time changes. Personally, I'm too freakin busy to gradually change my sleep wake schedule pre-trip. Who has time accept someone who doesn't need a vacation?

I'm not going to travel any less and I'm certainly not going to limit my travel to the Western Hemisphere.

As Abraham Lincoln once said, “And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”

Random Musings Post Paris

Just some thoughts and observations I want to remember after visiting Paris. Some entertaining, some mundane...

Parisian men aren't stinky like people used to say. In fact, they have better style overall then Toronto men and good hygiene.

Ever wonder where this speedo thing for men came from? Guess no more. Public swimming pool REGULATION requires men to wear speedos! No poop.

Public swimming pool regulation also requires people to wear swim caps. There goes feeling sexy swimming in Paris. We visited an art deco swimming pool surrounded by two floors of old school personal change rooms. One guy holds the key to all the rooms and remembers where everyone goes. I told him he was famous (I had been told about his unique ability). He smiled and said he doesn't always get it perfect.



Foot wear for both men and women tends to be better whether it's casual or sassy.

Almost no one I saw except tourists has any structure to their hair style. That means no flat irons or freakin round brush blow outs. Natural hair texture people. No helmet heads and no stripper hair.

For the first time I waved at boats going by on the Seine and when they waved back I felt a little special.

Almost no one I saw had the fake looking chunky highlights many women can't give up. Let em go.

There is no waste of space in Paris and people live in tiny spaces. It's clear we just adapt to the space we are given.

You can't recycle metal in Paris...maybe all of France. Shit! That's so yesterday.

Word of advice. Don't ask a store clerk for help if they're restocking product. They will lose it on you especially if you don't catch on they're just pretending they didn't hear you.

I didn't see as many homeless people as I do on the streets in Toronto.

I break out into a cold sweat when I have to order food. Instead of trying to butcher my french, I ended up pointing to things and said silvuplay with a big smile.

The metro in Paris is freakin amazing but line 4 is the stinkiest. Seems it's the one that heads up north out of the city into a crummy neighborhood.

The metro in Paris was amazing but also was a bit like one of those mazes kids do on paper. There are many paths to point B from point A and if you are unlucky one of your stations might be closed.

The picasso museum is closed for 3 years. I understand a reno taking 3 years in the olden days without modern tools and electricity but what kind of reno takes three years in today's age?

The bathrooms in Paris are set up in such a way that men and women share the same sink in restaurants and sometimes urinals are in the common hand washing space too. I wasn't lucky enough to be washing my hands whilst a stranger went pee beside me.

Although you can't recycle metal, the lights are often on timers and energy conservation has always been a part of their culture.

Clafouti pastries are as good as the ones I got at numerous places in Paris although they could try to do an almond croissant with a squirt of chocolate in the middle.

We don't get the kind of aged goat cheese you can get in France very easily. I ate it at least 5 times in salad there. If we can get it here it's going to be ridiculously expensive.

French women are getting fat. Maybe not the old school french women but this whole french women aren't fat thing is starting to fall apart.

I only saw one gym and one martial arts studio the whole time we were there...in all of Paris.

My friend who lives in Paris said french women wouldn't accept the almost puke type of workouts we often engage in at Urbanfitt. End of discussion.

The only really muscular guys I saw in Paris were clearly gay.

Many Parisian playgrounds have really cool structures that almost look like sculptures.

Jump suits are huge in Paris but north american travelers who bought them and wore them couldn't pull them off partly because they didn't get where to put the waste/elastic/belt. Dare pantsuits only if you're sure.

Rose is extremely popular with lunch during a heat wave.

Small floral print dresses, pant suits, skirts are totally all over the place in Paris.

Only tourists walk around in running shoes, chucks or stylin sneakers excluded.

Sandles with a thick strip of leather or fabric around the ankle are big. Again, proceed with caution.

Bright red, short nails are in too.

Bright red lips and nude eyes are happening.

The strappier the sandal the better.

I heart Parisian pizza and I've never had anything like it here.

French men, even the hot ones, don't look for body perfection in themselves and even have little soft bellies. The operative word here in LITTLE.

It's hard to find brown bread in Paris and while the bagettes were a treat, I got bored of them fast unless I slathered a little cold butter on 'em.

They use the same type of lettuce at almost every restaurant I went to and kept thing simple with the salads instead of adding 12 different things.

More people smoke in Paris than Toronto but it's not fashionable the way it used to be. You can't smoke anywhere but outside now and people will shoot dirty looks at others who light up on patios. Major cultural shift.

The best thing I saw in Paris was the Yves Saint Laurent Exhibition at the Petit Palais...by far. Thanks Pia.




Most fashionable little girls don't wear bright colours.

In France, parents are allowed to get mad at other people's children in public even if they're strangers.

My daughter met her first bullies at Place de Vouges. Even though I kept staring them down to get those nasty five year olds to leave her alone, they were relentless even fearless.

Kids start going to full time school at the age of three which might explain their different level of toughness.

Generally the only really overweight people I saw were ethnic minorities or tourists.

The normal serving size of a Parisian ice cream cone is the size of a golf ball.

Last time I visited Paris, it was rude to walk around eating food. Now more people, not only tourists, eat on the run.

Coffee serving size in Paris is about a quarter of the size of a tall at Starbucks. We have a reputation for being caffeine-aholics.

They have hard core locks on their doors in Paris. Four deadbolts and upper and lower locks. Maybe we're more trusting in Canada?

A heat wave is better experienced in Toronto vs. Paris. We have no problem milking the planet to power air conditioners here.

Taxi drivers in Paris even have style and grace albeit too much attitude at times. Our first taxi driver upon arriving dropped us off in the middle of nowhere after he couldn't find our address. We had no cell phone and my daughter had just finished getting sick in the cab (no on it, in a bag). Where's the heart man?

An apartment in downtown Paris that is comparable in size to my house would cost about $1.5 million bucks, way way more than the price of my house.

Last but not least, the shit is off the streets. There is way less dog poop on the streets than there was in 1995. Hooray!

That's about it for random musings. It's about 4 am Paris time and I need to turn in and get back on Toronto time.

Things we've done in france so I don't forget!

I'm using this blog post partly as a notebook and partly as a way to make you all drool over my vacation avec my monkey. We've done and experienced so many things that I want to make sure I don't forget when I go back and look at all the freakin' pictures! We're not packing things in like an annoying bunch of 'got to get it all in' type of tourists. We're actually enjoying everything moment by moment and not over planning at all. Just kind of fly by the seat of our pants day by day.

Please pardon my spelling...my computer battery is about to wear out and I bought the wrong adapter!

Visited Versailles
Went to the top of the Eiffel tower
Musee Dorsay and loved the glass floor
Sat by the Seine and put our feet in
Sat by a fountain at Champes Elyses and put our feet in to combat the sweltering heat that day
Visited Petit Palais and saw and excellent children's art exhibition
Took the boat bus through the Sienne
Had a picnic on the Eiffel tower lawn
Went on a carousel beside the Eiffel tower (yes lots of Eiffel tower activities for the midget)
Visited the Sewer Museum...so cool
Ate crepe with nutella
Walked through the latin quarter
Took a boat tour on the Seine at sunset
Had a glass of wine in the main Marais square
Played at the park beside Musee Picasso twice
Shopped during the famous Parisian summer sales (I know have three jump suits and no they don't look to young for me!)
Visited Gustav Moreau's house which is now a fantastic museum with a spiral staircase that would awe any 6 year old
Took pictures with a gold human statue
Asked two cute french police officers for directions
Wandered in comtemporary art galleries in the Marais
Ate the BEST almond croissant I've ever ever ever had in my life
Ate french pizza for the first time which is much different loaded up on top of phyllo. OMG
Drank a cold glass of beaugolais served according to the french custom
Visited Notre Dame
Walked down part of the Eiffel tower in bare feet (bad shoe choice!)
Heard a crowd of thousands cheer from the top of the Eiffel tower when Germany won
Ate the BEST quiche I've ever had in my life
Ate the BEST Creme brulee I've ever eaten in my life

Seems there's lots of mention about food and drink...no wonder my monkey looked at my belly today and said "it looks like you have a baby in there". I was bloated yes but I have a feeling I'm going to come back a couple pounds heavier.

Tamil hosts, Cuban food, my first sari and the top of the Eiffel Tower

Today was a day that won't happen again. We stayed with a Tamil family outside Paris in a commune (not like you might think. Commune means town in France) for three days and are now in the Marais. One of the truly phenomenal human beings on the planet, Cheran Rudhramoorthy, arranged our home stay with his friend Jeya.

I never thought I'd come to Paris in order to get in touch with my prejudice regarding cultures that engage in arranged marriages. Well the last three days I came up close and uncomfortable with my own judgement towards the people that engage in this practice. Within the first hour of arriving at this wonderful family's home, I discovered we would be staying with a very traditional Tamil family. I've never known anyone who was in an arranged marriage much less had been welcomed with open arms as virtual strangers into their family. It's easy to get complacent with thinking that we don't carry around prejudice living in a multicultural city like Toronto. But we all do to some extent as I discovered. After a while, I stopped paying attention to Jeya's continuous questioning regarding me not being married. For her, she was truly just expressing her concern for me while at the same time trying to understand how we are different from one another.

Although Neuilly sur Marne was a bit of a trek to Paris, seeing a suburb in France and knowing this family was probably the most eye opening experience I've had in the several times I've visited France. Their town was a huge melting pot of different cultures and languages, each moving fluidly with amongst one another. In the last three days, I was able to navigate our way to Versailles and back taking about four trains and one bus each way. The midget was a superstar and was a bundle of joy visiting the Musee Dorsay after that huge trek in the same day. Not one complaint despite the brutal heat that finally loosened its grip on Paris today.

Jeya's family treated us like we were family, no ifs ands or buts about it. Today, they took us out to the only Cuban restaurant in Paris where the father works 16 hour days 7 days a week.


Before saying good bye, I gave one of their daughter's something and she responded by giving me a sari she never wears. I come to Paris and am given a beautiful sari?



What? They don't have a lot and live in a small two bedroom apartment with four people and they wouldn't let us pay for a thing. They bought us gifts and then wouldn't even let me pay for lunch today.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and I left them feeling like I hadn't done nearly enough to show my gratitude. I am truly humbled by the amount of generosity they showed us.

Later in the day we wandered through the contemporary art galleries in the Marais and shopped a little. We even stopped at the Musee Picasso park and playground. I've found my heaven in the Marais.

After a quick nap I woke up first and worked out for 20 minutes. Only five days of no stretching or conditioning I could feel my ass tightening up in a bad way and my hips weren't happy. I can't imagine not doing anything for a freakin year like so many people! I could feel the difference in a few days!

We dressed ourselves up, me in the jump suit I bought. Yes, jump suits are happening here and I will be bringing mine back to sport in the big smoke. Then we headed to the Eiffel tower and went all the way to the top where I proceeded to cry a little absorbing the experience. I never thought I would be at the top of the Eiffel tower with my beautiful 6 year old and am so grateful to see such a treasure through her eyes.

After getting lost a little bit via the Metro on the way back to the hotel, we finally arrived at midnight. Now I'm writing this with a small glass of vin rouge by my side, the sound of cheesy american party music pumping out of the apartments across Rue Saintogne thinking about what I'm going to have for breakfast tomorrow. Cafe au lait bien sur. Croissant? Baguette?
hmmm....Definitely breaking my protein at breakfast rule.

Ooops. Almost forgot to report back on the French women don't get fat theory that is so talked about. I would say maybe Parisian women don't get fat. I just spent several days in the French burbs and can't say I agree with this theory crossing the urban suburban population. What about the Parisian men you ask? Well they aren't stinky, and aren't fat and often have a cute little belly. Nothing big but just enough to show they aren't perfectionists when it comes to their bodies. Now that's sexy.