Thoughtful Thursday - April 1st
Hope you all were able to soak up some vitamin D earlier in the week! In today’s edition, Craig celebrates a podcast milestone with a renowned international chiro, Michael is at the halfway point of our spine, and we discuss the best way to make a delicious Easter favourite.
Clinic Updates
Ami-Bree is winding back her hours and from next week will only be working one day a week, on Wednesdays.
Paul has decided to retire at the end of the month and is leaving Kew to join the European Senior Golf Tour.
Craig has made the decision to become a professional podcast host, and from next week he will no longer be practising at Putney.*
Easter:
As we approach the weekend, here’s a lil reminder of what is happening over the weekend. If you need some TLC or a little extra help, please do get in touch and we will get you looked after.
Fulham
Friday 2/4 – Closed
Saturday 3/4 – Open Morning & Lunch (Silva)
Sunday 4/4 – Closed
Monday 5/4 – Open Morning & Lunch (Mike & Sammy)
Kew
Friday 2/4 – Open All Day (Brad)
Saturday 3/4 – Open Morning & Lunch (Brad)
Sunday 4/4 – Open Morning & Lunch (Gopal)
Monday 5/4 – Open Evening (Gopal & Alex)
Marylebone
Friday 2/4 – Closed
Saturday 3/4 – Open Morning (Filippo)
Sunday 4/4 – Closed
Monday 5/4 – Open Morning (Katie & Filippo)
Tooting
Friday 2/4 – Closed
Saturday 3/4 – Open Morning & Lunch (Michael)
Sunday 4/4 – Open Morning & Lunch (Zara)
Monday 5/4 – Open All Day (Zara)
Putney
Fri 2/4 – Open morning (Bryan)
Sat 3/4 – Open morning (George)
Sun 4/4 – Closed
Mon 5/4 – Open morning (Bryan)
Fees
A reminder to all 3 of our regular readers that we will be raising our pay-as-you-go rate in all clinics from Tuesday, May 4th. All packages of care will remain as they are for the time being.
*By the way, happy April Fool’s Day! Just checking to see how many of you actually read this. ;) No, Ami's not changing her timetable, Paul's not going anywhere just yet, and Craig... well, to be honest it wouldn't surprise us if he gave it all up for the podcast. Speaking of...
Podcast of the Week
A bit of a superstar in the chiro world fronts up for episode 50 (yes, 50!) of the Chiro.London Pod, proudly fuelled by Ground Coffee Society… and no – it is not Craig chatting to himself!
He speaks with Guy Riekeman, whose chiropractic CV is extensive – he studied chiropractic at Palmer College in the 1970s, ran a chiropractic research and coaching company, which helped 7,000 chiropractors worldwide, then paused for a few years before stepping back in the game to become the chancellor of Palmer College, and later the chancellor of Life University Chiropractic schools. He’s currently developing a health tracking app for chiropractors called My Lifestyle IQ and also an online chiropractic degree!
Guy shares some great stories about his life, and we look at what pivotal points made the biggest impacts to the legacy he will leave behind. And although you can’t see him, we will say you've never seen a fitter looking 70-year-old!
You can take a listen on our website, or on Spotify, Apple and Google.
Vertebrae of The Week
We’ve reached the half-way point in Michael’s tour of your spine! Yes, after this week we’ll be 12 vertebrae down and 12 to go. And as a little April Fool’s special, we’re going to award some coffee pods or beans from our mates at Ground Coffee Society to the first person who spots the joke in this description of the T5 vertebra and emails us… good luck!
T5
The nerves surrounding T5 supply the liver, solar plexus and circulation in general. Blood pressure is a big issue now, with many people suffering from either high or low blood pressure.
If the blood pressure is too high, there is too much pressure in the arteries. The body therefore wants to strengthen them by laying down calcium in the form of plaque. If this persists, not only do the arteries lose elasticity, but also this plaque can break off and lead to a heart attack or stroke.
If it’s too low, there won’t be enough blood going to the brain and vital organs, and this is why people often feel light-headed, dizzy or faint when they stand up too fast or have problems with their eyes.
The other thing is, if the blood pressure is too low, it’s not efficiently pumping blood out into the body. This creates a backlog of blood pressure (like a traffic jam) on the heart, thus causing more heart conditions.
Fun fact: A giraffe’s neck is so long that for blood to reach the brain and overcome the strong pull of gravity, their blood pressure is 250/180 – one of the highest of all creatures in the world. To compare this, a human’s blood pressure is optimally 120/80. This high blood pressure also enables giraffes to transmit radio waves, with some waves having been recorded to reach as far as the International Space Station.
However, if their blood pressure were to stay that high constantly, giraffes would faint and die when they bow their heads to drink. So the trick they’ve developed is that their vessels will relax and open up more as they bend, and therefore decrease the pressure within them. Also, giraffes have a massive network of vessels or ‘sponge’, just before the blood hits the brain, in case the vessels don’t relax quick enough for the pressure could be dispersed.
So yeah, giraffes are pretty awesome!
Shameless Plug of the Week
Looking for a fun and edible project to attempt over the Easter weekend? Why not try baking your own hot cross buns. Here’s a few of our favourite recipes, some of which even come with video tutorials. And if you want to make them better – I recommend ditching the peel. Yuk!
Jamie Oliver
Jamie never fails to deliver an easy and super edible recipe, and these are no exception. Definitely one to have a crack at with the kids.
Gail’s
Gail’s make some of the best hot cross buns around, and they’ve been kind enough to share their recipe on their website so we can attempt them at home. Awesome.
Dan Lepard
One for the adults, these hot cross buns with a twist include a tin of stout in the mix for extra flavour and richness!
Chestnut Bakery
Chestnut actually made these live on Instagram last night and have kindly saved this bake-a-long to their IGTV for those of us who like to go at our own pace (or stop, start and rewind when necessary!).
Nicola Lamb
Find hot cross buns a bit dull? Then check out Nicola’s supercharged hot cross custard buns, which are basically a hybrid of a HXB and pain au raisin. Her recipe is super thorough and even includes instructional gifs.
Another week down and hopefully some light at the end of the tunnel. Crazy to think we’ve passed a year of Thoughtful Thursdays! Although seems like we should be up to issue 4,368… Happy Easter everyone, and enjoy the buns!
Cheers,
Drew