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80 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k n o v e m b e r / d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 0 THE REBEL MT technique Raise your hand along with me if you have ever done an online search for a pain you felt. It is nearly impossible not to. The ease of entering a couple of words on the keyboard—type "neck," "stiff," "can't turn head," click enter—opens a vault of information in front of you. Like a magic key to all the collective wisdom of the world, it's a bit of an adrenaline rush to have all that access. Especially if you, like me, grew up when encyclopedias were our only option for learning at home and took up two whole shelves on the family bookcase. Fitting all Google has to offer on two shelves is a comical thought. There is so much information out there that the idea of mashing it all into a set of books would be like trying to grab onto a black hole. The infinite enormity is quite literally too vast for our human capacity. Too many layers. Too many components. Too many dimensions. We keep searching online, though. We keep hoping that the process of weeding through the swamps of data and research will give us resolve. Having access to this much knowledge must make us smarter, right? The answer to why my neck hurts must be in there somewhere. The truth is (and I don't think I need to convince anyone of this) that it is completely overwhelming. What begins as a search for answers leaves us with a pit in our stomach. We still don't know why we hurt. We still don't know how to make it stop. We still don't understand. Michael Pollan calls this "The Omnivore's Dilemma" in his book of the same name. Pollan examines the notion that humans—through technology and global access— have created an unlimited number of options for dinner. No longer are we limited to what is in season or what we The Anatomical Dilemma Turning Overwhelm Into Action By Allison Denney