Fifty-two and still 5 foot 2?
That was Mom’s dilemma. She’d stopped growing years before and felt destined to live the rest of her life as a “shorty,” but then learned she didn’t have to. There WAS a way to increase her height and change her life for the better… several ways, in fact. Here’s what she found.
She could try meditation or self-hypnosis. She looked into this and learned that growing taller through hypnosis has a very low success rate. It seems that first you have to become a “believer” or it’ll never work. Mom didn’t believe it.
There are lots of herbs, creams, pills and supplements that claim their use will increase one’s height. Actually, I think Mom secretly tried a couple of these, but to no avail. No success with the magic potions.
There was a new program out there, supposedly from NASA, that’s guaranteed to make you taller or double your money back. Hmm. I thought those NASA Astronauts were SUPPOSED to be small! Who knows? The sales pitch online for this one was too long and convoluted and I don’t think Mom ever got through this one. The pitchman says he could easily sell this one for just under a thousand dollars, that the launch price was just under $200, however, for Mom it would only be $47. She never made it that far in the presentation, though, so I guess that one was out too.
We talked about having some bone-breaking surgeries to increase the length of her legs, but pain was never her thing and the price tag runs into the tens of thousands of dollars. What next?
I started Googling for her and actually found some info that looked promising. Some of this stuff was sounding pretty scientific. We learned about growth plates and invertebral discs and human growth hormone. There are common foods out there that, when added to the diet, actually stimulate growth. There are specific exercises that can be done to help the body come closer to reaching its growth potential. Posture is also important in increasing one’s stature and I soon realized the old adages of sitting up straight and keeping one’s shoulders back when standing are good advice. And then there’s sleep. Not only do we need to get enough sleep to be healthy and to realize our physical potentials, but we also need to sleep in the proper manner. Some sleep positions actually stimulate growth, while some are detrimental. Good information!
We even discovered some ways to look taller, even though one’s height hasn’t really been changed. These include shoes with lifts and clothes with colors and patterns that give the illusion of increased stature. I think Mom kind of likes the idea a getting a new wardrobe. Ha Ha. No surprise there!