Your body hears everything your mind says.

Laptop Ergonomics

Watch this fun animation on simple steps you can take to avoid back and neck pain when using a laptop.

Featured Artist: Lisa Warninger Photography

As part of Rock 'n' Wellness*, I plan to feature a different artist, whether photographer, painter, musician, or actor, whose work and talent I admire.

This week's featured artist is photographer Lisa Warninger. Her exquisite eye lends itself perfectly to capturing the ethereal bliss of a bride and groom or the serene wonder of a newborn baby. She also is part of the collaborative team that makes up Urban Weeds, an online chronicle of Portland street style.

Lisa Warninger Photography
Urban Weeds: Street Style from Portland

*Rock ‘n’ Wellness is a project under development to raise money and awareness for artists and performers without access to health care. For more information, click here.

Rock 'n' Wellness: Music in the News

Music makes the heart beat faster (or slower). Medical applications of music, from hospital to rehab. From MedlinePlus.

Your favorite songs can motivate you to workout and even fight fatigue. This article from the New York Times explains how to help pick out music for your workout playlist. For the more tech minded athlete, here are more ideas to use music to boost your workout.

As a peer educator in my pre-med days, we used humor and games to teach first year students about issues such as safer sex and substance use. Music Inspires Health promotes education through music and was founded to teach young adults about health topics including smoking prevention, HIV/sexually transmitted infections, nutrition and drug abuse.

Rock 'n' Wellness: Sad News

Jay Bennett via last.fm

Jay Bennett, former member of the alt-country band Wilco, died at age 45. He had struggled with drug addiction in the past and was in severe pain due to chronic knee and hip damage, according to his MySpace page. He was in need of hip replacement surgery and did not have any health insurance. Did lack of health insurance contribute to his death? Gawker.com asked that question.

Lack of insurance is a national problem, not just confined to the music world, but there are countless numbers of people struggling to make it as artists and performers, unable to afford health care. There are options to join unions if they qualify and organizations such as Future of Music Coalition and MusiCares provide resources for musicians who are in need of advocacy, financial, and medical support. The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center is a national database of health care resources for artists, performers, and freelancers.

If anyone has other resources for artists in need of health care, please post a comment!

RESOURCES
Future of Music Coalition
MusiCares
The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center
Health Alliance for Austin Musicians

UPDATE 07/01/09
Last week, an Illinois coroner's office revealed the cause of Jay Bennett's death was an accidental fentanyl overdose. Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate analgesic that is often prescribed for severe and chronic pain that has a high addiction potential. It binds to receptors in the brain to decrease not only the pain, but also the emotional response to pain.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Former Wilco Member Jay Bennett Died Of Painkiller Overdose (mtv.com)
• About Fentanyl (Drugs.com)
  

Human Race

Yesterday I ran the Nike+Human Race 10k, the world's largest one day running event. Races were held in 25 cities across the globe. A portion of the proceeds went to one of three charities: the Lance Armstrong Foundation, ninemillion.org, and the World Wildlife Fund.

My training for this race included running short distances and Friday noticed a tightness on the lateral aspects of my leg, in my iliotibial band. Saturday morning I went by the Natural Health Center for kinesiotaping and some racing advice from Dr. Minarik. Kinesiotaping is a method of therapeutic taping used by physical therapists, chiropractors, and physicians to help support muscles in daily activity or in rehabilitation and to increase circulation of blood and lymph. After a brief consultation with a student clinician, Dr. Minarik taped my ITB and my shins, to ward off shin splints. After the initial application, my legs instantly felt lighter. It was as if the tape was lifting my legs, defying gravity itself. I did not get black or a fancy, bright colored tape as seen at the Olympics, but a more subtle beige. He then gave me advice on staying hydrated and what and when to eat the morning of the race.

A friend lent me a water bottle carrier that strapped around my waist which supplied me with electolyte-infused water during the run. I also carried some homeopathics and my cellphone, which I used to text friends when I reached the halfway point. Cheesy, yes, but I couldn't believe I had actually run that far, I had to share!

I completed the race in 1:13'57", a full half hour faster than I originally calculated. Running with others inspired me to keep going, and I picked out certain runners to keep up with and maintain my pace. I started slow, then after the first 2.5k only slowed down up the few inclines along the course. My iPod played a carefully chosen song selection to keep me motivated. I even placed Nada Surf songs every 12-15 minutes so I could keep track of my timing. The Brooklyn-based band played the post-race concert, and even though I had just run farther than I every had in my life (and faster, too), I danced throughout the hour-long show (that's me with the ponytail at the front of the stage, to the right).

I asked one woman at the start of the race what inspired her to participate and she told me she wanted to start getting in shape as well as be a part of something big. I admit it was pretty amazing being part of such a huge event, and I am now inspired to keep running to maintain my health, help reduce stress, and inspire others to do the same.

Photograph of concert: Official Nike Running Blog

In the news...

Butter is better? And so is meat? Just because it says organic, doesn't mean it's healthy? Check out the top 10 things you may not know about your diet.

That Stinks! Artificially fragranced products may contain toxic chemicals that can cause allergic reactions in some people. A study published in the Environmental Impact Assessment Review looked at products including laundry detergent, air freshener, and dryer sheets and discovered they all emit at least one toxic chemical. Find alternatives to freshening your room and your laundry.

Music as Medicine And finally, in an eight year study conducted by scientists at two British universities, experts have found rock drummers have the physical stamina of 'top athletes.' Blondie drummer Clem Burke took part in this research and has an organization dedicated to developing outreach programs targeted at 'overweight and disengaged' youth.

Rock News

* Not bad for the man formerly known as Haggis and Kid Chaos (of Four Horsemen, The Cult and Guns 'n' Roses fame). This is old news, but it's new to me.

* Talk about a Rock Doc! Like we needed one more thing to make Queen an even cooler band.

* Founder of CBGBs dies following complications from lung cancer.

* White Trash Reunion! Playing Don Hill's in NYC tonight! Click here to see their videos. The Crawl was directed by Paul Rachman.