One week ago, I chose one to act on one of my ‘musts’ (see below). I made the commitment to myself to work on it, to see it through.  Really, it’s been a creeping idea for years and years and years, but last week’s strange loop was the spark that set fire crackling through the tinder that I had been building up in March. There’s a message that I want to build up into a roaring fire.

Essentially, I’m not keeping quiet about my struggle against/with Crohn’s disease anymore. I want to share what I’ve learned and help other people know that they don’t have to stay sick—a prisoner of the healthcare system. If you want to sign up for my email newsletter to that effect, head on over and sign up.

And if you read one article this week, make it this one:

» The Crossroads of ‘Should’ and ‘Must’

At Mailbox, we adopted a well-known practice from Amazon to write our future press release. That’s right, we wrote a real press release about a nonexistent product — the one that we wanted to exist in the world. We envisioned the headlines. We dreamed of what would happen if all of our wildest dreams came true. We even taped it inside of a magazine and put it on the coffee table. Most of us do this kind of big scary dreaming with our products, or our companies, but very few of us do it with our lives.

» Pray for Martin Shkreli, y’all. And everybody else in solitary confinement.

» An example of how sometimes people on “both sides” can see the same problem, just have completely opposite ideas of how to fix it: “Only 7 percent of men globally relate to the way masculinity is depicted in the media.”

» ‘Chemical burns’: Delta flight attendants say new uniforms cause rashes

» Running a business whilst managing a chronic illness

» Interesting take: Regulations are mechanisms to preserve cartels

» Always always ALWAYS pay attention to the consequences of your actions

» A Pro-Choice Review of Pro-Life Film “Unplanned”

» SOMEBODY ANIMATED THE VIRGIN AND THE CHAD

» Parsley has a fraught history

» It may be that the principles of progressive overload don’t just apply to weightlifting. I recently discovered Yin Yoga, and though I’m still new to the practice, it has profoundly impacted my mental and physical health.

In Yin Yoga, we are mainly interested in the effects of compressive and tensile (stretch) loads on our tissues. The sensation you feel in the low back during sphinx or seal pose is a result of compressive forces on the soft tissues and vertebrae. When you fold forward in butterfly pose, you are stretching the back.

The fibroblast cells will adjust the production of collagen, elastin, and ground substance to create an architecture best suited for the demands placed on them (Benjamin et al., 2005). These loads need to be progressive (appropriately increased) and occur over an extended period of time. When it comes to remodeling connective tissue, lengths of time are measured in months and years (Schleip 2012).

Researchers have found that the fibroblasts in tendons and ligaments adapt to compressive forces by producing strong, fibrous collagen that can withstand additional forces (Benjamin et al., 1998). Without specific research, we can reasonably conclude that compressive Yin Yoga poses contribute positively to fascia health.