What is keeping me healthy?

One of the main reasons I came on this month-long tour of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band around my beautiful country was for the health benefits. I figured that $250 for a 3 hour session of happiness and dancing was a small price to pay, and that last year's benefits in reducing my arthritis would be easily repeated. At the very least I wanted to see if this was so.

I also remembered from previous times away from Tai Chi that I still need to do Tai Chi regularly to maintain a low blood pressure.  So my flights were booked around times I could get to Tai Chi while away. Which as it turns out wasn't enough, as I didn't account for the tiredness, children, heat and time zone differences.

Here are my scribbles about the health changes this trip:

A short update on the health benefits of Bruce and the E Street Band.  I’ve discovered that Bruce’s concerts do amazing things for arthritis.  The swelling of my knuckles has gone down by about 50% since the tour began a week or so ago in Perth.  And the pain I am feeling is from the blisters on my feet, not the tendonitis in my Achilles.  However the busy schedule means that I’ve missed many of my planned Tai Chi sessions, and I’ve noticed that my blood pressure has skyrocketed on this trip.  So the upshot is that Tai Chi still kicks the musical arse for blood pressure reduction, however the energy and excitement of concerts appears to have an incredible affect on my auto-immune disease! The theory that happiness causes healing that I came up with last year is one that will forever stick with me as it is now very obvious to me that a certain level of happiness sends out the right hormones and other chemicals to create a balance in my body that has apparently been sadly lacking, leading to disease.  It is crazy stuff that doctors either don’t know or won’t tell you.  But now I do know and it is up to me to somehow continue this high energy level of happiness once the band leave!

This was during the trip, or just before it. The way my knuckles usually look.

Wow! I am surprised that the swelling in the photos looks the same or similar, as what I see when I am typing is about half as much swelling as usual. And no pain. My hand simply doesn't hurt, it has ceased to be painful and is feeling fine. The swollen part doesn't even hurt. Those happy endorphins must be special, that is my only explanation! I haven't seen my knuckles on that hand for ages, and to be able to see the knuckle bones again is wonderful, all without taking horrible chemotherapy drugs, which is what rheumatologists think I should be taking!