The Art of Movement
Athletes put the ‘art of movement’ on display as they push their bodies to new heights.
Watching the Olympics this year really drove home the point of how amazing the human body is, especially in motion during physical competition.
The Olympics, to me, is like watching a showcase of human physical specimens who, with the proper training and intestinal fortitude, have learned to push the abilities of the human body to unbelievable heights. If you want to go one step further into the astounding abilities of the human body, consider the Special Olympics. These individuals are competing at incredible levels of physical human achievement and, in many cases, doing so without the full capabilities of all limbs. These are the true superheroes in the world today!
The demands of ski jumping are obviously more demanding than say, curling, but they both require rigorous training and mental toughness. They say we only use a tenth of our brain capacity. I hate to think of what percentage of the rest of our body we waste through inactivity!
So I choose to move…
These last couple weekends have been plentiful with blue skies and sun — just what our bodies ordered to fight the winter blues. Last Saturday morning, my dog Mocha and I went out for a walk at dawn after the ice storm. It was biblical, watching the sun’s rays being diffracted through the ice-covered branches as we hiked through the woods. With the sun rising in the sky, the entire woods began to glisten. As the water in the ice broke down the sun’s rays into its component colors, each tree’s bark and branches reflected light in a prismatic rainbow. All of this was set in the dead-still, tomb-like quietness of 18-degree air.
Yes, I could have slept in, but I would have missed the entire show that Nature put on for Mocha and myself. Nature never charges. She only hopes that in her presence, we enjoy her simple beauty… nothing more. I accidentally left my phone at home, so I couldn’t even take a few still shots. But the image of this phenomenon is etched into my brain nonetheless.
Speaking of the human brain, you know I’m driven by education…
And if you’re reading this #fridaypfisterfix on the day of its release, I’ll be in Ann Arbor (the first time in two years due to Covid) for our International Orthodontic meeting with guest speakers from a dozen foreign countries. Each year, a different topic is chosen to be presented by the best experts in the field.
This year’s topic is the Growth of the Lower Jaw. We’ll be hearing information about deep bites and how, as orthodontists, we can treat it. Yes, two days on jaws! It just sounds funny, but in years past we’ve listened to speakers focus on one tooth — the all-troublesome canine!
I’m especially interested in this conference after being accepted into the Invisalign® Fellowship Academy last month. Limited to 200 U.S. doctors per year, this fellowship is designed as a one-year intense participation program on tooth movement.
And it’s based on the clear, 3-D printed proprietary polymer trays of Invisalign.
I’m really enjoying the Academy’s Zoom lectures and discussions on many current topics and usages of Invisalign. In 37 years of treating deep bites, with lower teeth chewing into the roof of the mouth, I have never been able to restore bites to a normal functioning position with as much ease, dependability, and patient comfort as I now can with Invisalign. So it should be interesting to see what the experts in the world have to say about how they treat deep bites. (Whether you live in Paris, Hong Kong, or Medina, as humans we are all different… but, in many ways, if the truth biologically be known, we are all brothers and sisters cellularly!)
I have to admit that attending this conference isn’t just about exercising my brain…
I’ve also missed the great restaurants in Ann Arbor, like Paesano’s (a killer Italian restaurant with tiramisu to die for) and The Real Sea Food Co. for frog legs. There is a small college delicatessen on Main, in the center of campus, that displays on chalkboards (lined along the ceiling) an average of 70 or 80 sandwiches… from super-thick corned beef, tongue, pastrami, smelts, and Matzah ball soup to write home about (along with cookies the size of ten-inch pizzas!). Since we’re talking about the art of movement, I’d love to see how much my stomach is able to expand this weekend!
So whether you’re pushing your body, pushing your brain, or (in the orthodontic world) pushing your teeth to a new and better place, get out and experience the art of movement this weekend! (Saturday’s forecast looks to be seasonably nice here in lil’ ol’ Medina, Ohio.)
Sending you into your weekend with positive vibes,
Dr. Pfister