tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64858574491761408832024-03-13T07:47:03.901-04:00Yoga Physical TherapySharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-22511350837954685692011-03-16T15:04:00.005-04:002011-03-16T15:10:11.863-04:00Diagnosed with Degenerative Disk Disease and Depressed about it?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">At the age of 42, after an MRI, I too was diagnosed with Degenerative Disk Disease. I also had two bulging and one herniated disk in my low back. I went home, crawled into bed and cried, convinced that my body was aging beyond repair, and it would be all downhill from there.<br />
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<b><i>The Bad News</i></b><br />
Yes, with a diagnosis of Degenerative Disc Disease maybe your neck or back hurts. Worse, you have a condition with the word “degenerative” in it and you despair of ever feeling better. You can’t even bend down to feed the cat without pain and stiffness. Maybe you don’t have any neck or back pain, rather your fingers or foot is numb. Or you have pain, numbness or tingling in your arms, or your buttocks, knee or calf. It’s been going on longer than you care to admit and nothing seems to make it better<i><b>.</b></i><b><i> </i></b><br />
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<b><i> </i></b><br />
<b><i>The Good News</i></b><br />
Yes, believe it or not, there is good news. You can get better. More likely than not, you can return to a completely pain-free life. With the right treatment and a few targeted exercises, you can restore flexibility to your neck and spine. You can become stronger than you’ve ever been. You will probably need to learn a few postural adaptations along the way, too.<br />
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The other good news is that this is a wake-up call while you are still fairly young. Once you learn new postural patterns, you can sit, stand and walk more effortlessly. With the appropriate Core strengthening exercises, you might find that not only do they make you feel better, you look better, too. Another plus is that with a stronger Core, you might discover that you have more energy.<br />
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<b>Who Can Help?</b><br />
A Physical Therapist with skills in McKenzie’s Techniques, Manual Mobilizations, Neural Glides, Yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander or Pilates can help you. A Physical Therapist who has healed from her own neck or back pain -- and there are many of us out there -- has a unique perspective.<br />
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Don’t try to go it alone. Certain things that well-meaning friends or teachers think might help — like forward bends and intensive hamstring stretching — may make the situation worse. I would avoid twisting exercises until you know more about what’s going on in there. Backward bends, like sphinx and cobra poses help many people but make others worse. It might be best to avoid abdominal crunches or other heavy-duty abdominal exercises at first. There are many wonderful and effective Core strengtheners that involve little to no neck or spinal flexion.<br />
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Seek out a knowledgeable Physical Therapist who has experience in successfully treating chronic neck and back pain. Today might be the day you begin to heal and feel better. </div>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-49096433233175005612011-01-07T13:46:00.004-05:002011-01-07T13:55:50.563-05:00What are your Intentions? <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I did it my way. </span> </i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> Frank Sinatra</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Why I prefer Intentions over New Year's Resolutions</b></i></span></div><br />
Creating an intention is about finding out what I’d like to do or have happen in the New Year. It is a gentle process, one of tuning in and listening to the still small voice within. It’s a taking stock of where I am with my life today, and where I’d like to steer towards tomorrow. Am I heading in the desired direction? Do I want to tweak it here and there, or are we talking major changes here?<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Resolutions connote differently. I RESOLVE TO sounds, well, like a legal document. Or the beginning of my Last Will and Testament. It’s a do or die proposition. It sounds authoritarian. Parental. Since I have issues with authority -- who doesn’t -- when faced with a directive like this, I tend not to listen. Or, if I’m in a particularly self-defeating mood, do the exact opposite. Besides, I don’t think that I ever kept even one New Year’s resolution. Have you?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Last year, my intention was to write morning pages* every day. It took me 4 or 5 months to get there. First I only wrote them at night once or twice a week. Then I started writing them more frequently, but still only at night. Maybe the late afternoon. For seven months now, because I want to, I write them just about every morning. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It took time to get here. I didn’t do it because I thought I should or because I obeyed an inner dictate. It came from a deeper, lighter place within. This process of daily writing grew into an activity I look forward to every morning. It grounds me deeply. It helps me to find the cheer and energy to face the day. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Check that one off the list.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This year my intentions are to meditate 10 minutes a day, and to write for this blog 10 minutes a day. Not publish, just write. Only 10 minutes. I’ve only been successful two days so far. It’s just something I want to do. I don’t have to.<br />
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Won't you join me? <br />
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*The concept of morning pages was developed by Julia Cameron in the Artists' Way. Click on http://www.theartistsway.com/ to learn more.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-81339684701428967842010-10-23T11:45:00.003-04:002010-10-23T12:11:05.415-04:00www.dancenyc.org | Dance NYCClick on above to see video footage from the Bessies.<br />
Issac Mizrahi MC'd. It was a night of fun, shouts and tears devoted to choreographers, dancers and the usual suspects in New York's vibrant dance scene.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dancenyc.org/news-room/news-and-announcements.php?id=118"><br />
</a>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-76095631142364824302010-10-22T14:06:00.000-04:002010-10-22T14:06:36.615-04:00Bacon and cheesecake 'alter brain like heroin'Say no more . . .<br />
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<a href="http://www.canada.com/health/Bacon+cheesecake+alter+brain+like+heroin/2739472/story.html?id=2739472">Bacon and cheesecake 'alter brain like heroin'</a>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-41827006258205680162010-10-21T14:28:00.002-04:002010-10-21T23:32:16.554-04:00Sleep Apnea: An Alternative ApproachObstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is caused by a disruption to the breathing cycle, often for 10 seconds or more at a time, when you are sleeping. Contributing factors vary -- from narrow or clogged airways to the tongue falling back in the throat cutting off the air supply. If you snore, keep your partner awake at night and wake up tired every morning, you might have sleep apnea.* <br />
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Since sleep apnea is a common breathing disorder, and since your breathing is controlled by your brain and breathing muscles, wouldn't it make sense to use breathing exercises as a front-line treatment? After all, Physical Therapists and Yoga Therapists use exercises all the time to restore balance to the body's neuromuscular systems. And, Yoga provides the best system I know of, hands down, for exercising the breathing apparatus -- muscles, lungs and brain. <br />
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Can we then apply this same treatment logic -- of restoring balance to the body with exercise -- with years of documented success, to sleep apnea? It seems we can. Two randomized studies have recently been published in support of using different forms of breathing exercises to successfully treat obstructive sleep apnea.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">The first, published in the British Medical Journal February 4, 2006, showed that didgeridoo playing is an effective treatment alternative for moderate sleep apnea. Here 25 patients were randomized between a control group of 11 people and a treatment group consisting of 14 participants. The treatment group practiced didgeridoo playing for 25.3 minutes for 5.9 days per week for four months.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The didgeridoo players showed significant improvements in terms of daytime sleepiness and snoring. The sleep apnoea-hypopnoea index (a measure indicating the severity of the disease in terms of sleep disruption and decreased oxygen saturation in the blood) significantly decreased. Happily, their partners also reported less sleep disturbances.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>The second study was published February 20, 2009 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. It was a randomized trial of 31 patients with moderate OSAS. For a period of three months, 15 patients received sham therapy and 16 patients received a set of exercises for the mouth, soft palate, face, tongue and throat. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Not surprisingly, the exercise group showed significant decreases in snoring frequency and intensity, a decrease in daytime sleepiness, improvements in sleep quality and a significant decrease in the severity of the measure of OSAS.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Doesn’t it make sense that yogic breathing exercises might have the same desired effects? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">________________</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> * To get a good diagnosis, please consult with your primary care doctor, who can refer you to a sleep clinic for evaluation. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u>References and Resources</u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Guimarães K, et al, 2009. </span></b>Effects of Oropharyngeal Exercises on Patients with Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome. <i>American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine</i> Vol. 179: 962-966.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Puhan M, et a,l 2005. Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: randomised controlled trial. <span class="citation-abbreviation"><i>British Medical Journal</i>,</span><span class="citation-publication-date"> </span><span class="citation-volume">332</span><span class="citation-issue">(7536)</span><span class="citation-flpages">: 266–270.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obstructive-sleep-apnea/DS00968">http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obstructive-sleep-apnea/DS00968</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="citation-flpages"><a href="http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea">http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sleepapnea.html">http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/sleepapnea.html</a></div>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-26318635213570047382010-09-30T17:07:00.002-04:002010-09-30T17:09:31.318-04:00The Science of Touch<a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/hands_on_research/">Check out this article on the science of touch</a>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-18793065630536543932010-09-17T14:09:00.000-04:002010-09-17T14:09:36.498-04:00Recommended ReadingThe Best Buddhist Writing 2008<br />
edited by Melvin McLeod<br />
2008 Shambhala Publications, Inc.<br />
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This is a great book of essays by some of my favorite Buddhist writers: Norman Fischer, Joseph Goldstein, Natalie Goldberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Sylvia Boorstein, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Pema Chodron.<br />
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I especially liked Noah Levine's <i>Learning Forgiveness</i>, Joanna Macy's <i>Gratitude</i>, and Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche's <i>The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion Through Training the Mind.</i><br />
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Enjoy!<i> </i>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-13456650387727110232010-09-13T14:26:00.003-04:002010-09-14T15:40:43.933-04:00One Thing You Can Do Today to Prevent Pain<b><i> <o:p></o:p></i></b><b><i>Look down at your feet. Seriously, take a look at your shoes.<o:p></o:p></i></b> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p> <o:p></o:p></div><ul><li>Are you wearing supportive shoes? Our mothers were right on this one. Good shoes are supportive. After all, your feet support all 100 plus pounds of your body weight. Yes, they are an investment; good shoes don’t come cheap. </li>
</ul><ul><li>Repair worn down heels. Try having your shoemaker place soft rubber taps on the part of the heel that wears down, most often the outside border of the shoe. It’s an inexpensive way to significantly extend the life of your shoes.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Throw out shoes where the inner soles are flattened and worn out. Similarly, throw out shoes where the outer soles are worn beyond repair. <o:p></o:p></li>
</ul><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">If you walk a lot, keep your shoes in good repair. Your feet, and thus your shoes, provide a hopefully stable base of support to your ankles, knees, hips and all of the other joints in your body. It can be only a millimeter or two of an uneven shoe sole that aggravates your foot or knee pain, or causes you to trip and fall. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Most people haven’t a clue that their shoes are worn out. “But I just got these shoes last year.” For people who walk a lot, and that is most New Yorkers, you need to make friends with your local cobbler. They will save you money on new shoes and doctor’s bills.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Loafers do not provide good support. They’re okay to wear around the office if you are sitting most of the day or if you are blessed with strong feet and arches. (Most people aren’t.) </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">High heels are great to look at but hell on your feet, knees, ankles, hips and back. The higher the heel, the more the distortion to the entire skeleton. Enough said. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When someone comes to me with foot, ankle or knee pain, I include an evaluation of their shoes. It is surprising how adopting this one simple recommendation can suddenly clear up what seems to be a perplexing problem. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, if you suddenly -- for no discernible reason -- develop pain in your feet or legs, take a good look at your shoes. </div>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-44399952131480009682010-09-09T15:01:00.001-04:002010-09-14T15:37:42.773-04:00Tips to Prevent Back Injury<b>Tips to Prevent Back Injury - The Iliopsoas Muscle</b> <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">You may wonder why it might be a good idea to avoid double leg lifts, whether your knees are bent or extended, if you have a history of back pain. In yogic terms, this would include boat (navasana) and its variations.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Q: Why would double leg lifts re-injure the back? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A: Because of an unequal and excessive pull on the spine and hips by the iliopsoas muscles, considered to be the primary hip flexors. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The psoas major has its origins on the spine at vertebrae T12 and throughout the lumbar spine on L1 through L5. The iliacus arises on the inside of the hip bone, the ilium. They both attach on the femur on the lesser trochanter. They also serve as important postural muscles.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Let’s look at this more closely. In almost every patient that I have treated for low back pain or injury, including sacro-iliac problems and sciatica, she also shows a curvature, or rotation, of her spine. This curvature may be an acquired scoliosis, from injury or unequal use of the body over time. Overuse of the right side of the body is common -- we live in a right handed world. (Quickly, what hand are you holding your mouse with?) Or, she might have classic scoliosis, called idiopathic scoliosis, which develops in children, usually around adolesence and seems to run in families. This means that the psoas muscles, arising from your low back, are pulling unequally on either side of the curve or rotation in your spine. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Further, the legs have weight. Together, they are approximately 40% of your entire body weight. In a 150 lb. person, if one leg weighs 150 x .20 = 30 lbs., then both legs together weigh 60 lbs. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In a double leg lift, whether you are lying on your back or in the boat pose, whether your legs are bent or straight, the psoas have to move and hold 60 lbs. <b>This is exerting a pull of at least 60 lbs. directly on your back. </b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Think about it. If you lift, or worse, hold in an isometric contraction as we do in navasana, that much weight on an unstable back -- a back which is rotated and uneven on top of an unstable and rotated pelvis -- then does it make sense that you might feel or develop pain in your back? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Remember, an unequal pull of the iliopsoas muscles will only exacerbate an already unstable situation, leading to back strain, reinjury and pain. And, we haven't begun to mention that the different fibers of the psoas, at its multiple insertions on 5 vertebrae in the low back, pull unequally and different points in the movement cycle.</div>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-64826653390890365282010-06-22T14:59:00.004-04:002010-06-23T13:31:25.225-04:00Free Your Body - Part I<div style="text-align: right;"><i> Free your mind and the rest will follow. </i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i> En Vogue</i></div><br />
<b>Free Your Body - Part I</b><br />
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These days I am thinking about freeing the pelvis. I keep coming at the topic from different perspectives. While swimming laps today, I was stimulated to think about it in yet another way.<br />
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To have an efficient swim stroke, it needs to be relaxed. In the crawl or free style, you let the body roll when you turn the neck and face to get air. You let the spine move side to side, like a fish, when you are stroking and kicking. For a swimming novice, this may seem counterintuitive. You might think that if you hold the body in a straight line, and just turn the head and neck, it would be a more efficient way to swim. If you say "rigid" to your body, you will tend to move that way. And, if you swim that way, what you really might get is a stiff and sore neck. <br />
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When I let the body roll from the pelvis, I decrease the cranking on my neck. Today I discovered that if I pushed my face down -- again very counterintuitive -- in the roll, it further integrated my ability to roll in a unit. First, I initiated the roll from my pelvis, which I cued silently to myself as “move the pubic bone.” Then, as I began the turn of my head, I pushed my head <i>into</i> the water. The buoyancy of the water itself facilitated the head turn rather than using my neck muscle to lift and turn the head. It felt great.<br />
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I was able to relax into the water, to let my weight drop further into it to allow the water's buoyancy to, well, buoy me.<br />
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We can do the same thing in gravity. By pushing down into gravity through our feet, we can engage more directly with the ground reaction force, which travels in an equal and opposite direction from gravity. By pushing down through the feet and releasing the weight into gravity, we can more effortlessly stand taller. We discover buoyancy and ease in our everyday movements, like walking, standing and sitting. I will elaborate more on this topic in days to come.<br />
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<b>Holding On</b> <b>vs. Letting Go</b><br />
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Now think about the concept of “holding the body.” When you arae learning a new movement activity, whether it be dance or tennis, there is a tendency to hold tension all over the body, using extra effort to learn the new skill. Movement cuts paths through space. Our bodies move in space. Until the motor pathways are well established in the brain, the movements tend to be inefficient and to take a lot of extra effort. With practice, practice being key here, there are well-established neuronal pathways laid down. Over time, and with lots and lots of practice, the movements become easier. You use less tension to accomplish them. You are able to do more. You have more fun.<br />
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We often think of it as kinetic or muscle memory. Really, it is that new motor pathways have been laid down in the brain. Further, if you have aptitude and a good teacher, these movements over time will be increasingly efficient and effortless. Think of the best dancers. They seem to throw away all technique and to move effortlessly.<br />
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<b>Practice Practice Practice</b><br />
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After a cerebral vascular accident, also known as a stroke, we can see varying degrees of recovery. Sure the first factor is the severity of the stroke and the extent to which different areas of the brain are damaged. Another significant factor, in my experience, is that those people who had a good fitness level before the stroke did better. It is probable that because they had developed more in terms of quantity and diversity of motor pathways in the brain, that when the brain was damaged in the stroke, they had a head start on recovery. Maybe the motor pathways are deeper, cut in deeper grooves. Certainly, they are more plentiful. <br />
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Is it similar in psychological terms? The more one practices anger, say, the angrier one gets. Is this because we have deeply embedded the neuronal processes and pathways that spark anger? Is this why cognitive-behavioral therapies have such a good track record with depression, because they teach the patient how not to just keep repeating the same old patterns -- cognitively, emotionally or behaviorally -- but to establish new ways of thinking and behaving. In essence, beyond the mystical and mysterious results of seeing the changes in one’s thoughts, emotions and behaviors, are we simply establishing new neuronal pathways?<br />
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We let go of the tension to have greater freedom of thought and movement. To have greater possibility.<br />
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More to follow in days to come.Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-25549341182979685512010-06-18T12:17:00.001-04:002010-06-18T12:17:38.236-04:00Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-8708467612573527342010-06-04T13:37:00.001-04:002010-06-04T13:37:17.733-04:00When is Less MoreJust for today can you tune into what brings you pleasure? No, what really brings you pleasure?<br /><br />Do you need to rest? Do you need to exercise? If you didn’t sleep well last night, what might you do to help you get a good night’s sleep tonight? Do you feel lonely? Or do you need more alone time? <br /><br />Do you need to push yourself or lie back a little today? How about food? Take a minute. Check in to see what your body really needs in terms of nourishment. Or relaxation. Or stimulation.<br /><br />Is it time to take a day off? Or would you feel better abandoning the comfort of procrastination and getting to work on that project you are excited (and maybe fearful) about. <br /><br />Can you pause right now to tune into what you’re really feeling and thinking. Then, can you do just one thing that will make you happy. Just one little thing -- whether it’s indulging in a 10-minute nap in the afternoon or putting 15 minutes into the project you keep pushing to the side.<br /><br />Just for today, maybe less is more. <br />Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-72511104980093690712010-04-15T15:40:00.003-04:002010-04-15T16:26:45.341-04:00The Role of Posture in PainI've discussed before how important your posture is to preventing and treating pain. Posture is how you hold your body up against gravity. It's the picture of your body in space, sitting in the chair, standing up or lying down. It is how you move your body to get from one place to another. Posture is dynamic.*<br />
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Most of my clients' physical therapy goals are simple. First and foremost, they want to get rid of pain. They also want to be able to get back to doing everything they did before the onset of pain, injury or surgery.<br />
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How we go about doing this is the interesting question. It varies with each patient with whom I have the privilege to work. In physical therapy, the overarching principle is to bring the body back into balance, with itself and within the gravitational field, the constant force within which we all live. We seek to strengthen weaknesses, to relax tense muscles and to open tight areas of the body.<br />
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Since the body is a dynamic structure, it is changing all the time. It changes with activity and even with our thoughts, especially the habitual ones. <br />
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Learning how to move with ease is a challenge, mostly because of inefficient habits. It usually is not the case that we stand, walk or sit with too little muscular effort, but with too much effort. We habitually hold tension in our muscles, partly in reaction to stress, but also in reaction to gravity pulling on body parts that are out of <i>alignment </i>with gravity. It really is a mind-body thing. Muscles that should be working may become weak and out of balance because of habitual patterns and chronic tension. Chronically tense muscles typically become tight, thereby creating muscle imbalances in a joint or even an entire area of the body.<br />
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Finding the weak areas in the movement chain is the therapist's job. There can be some surprising discoveries along the way. Everybody has a unique posture and a unique walk, as individual as her fingerprints. She also expresses varying degrees of composite, predictable movement patterns -- forward head and rounded shoulders with compressed breathing, for example.<br />
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Because we sit at chairs, desks and in front of computers all day, we might develop neck, back, shoulder or forearm pain. When the back of our necks and trunks are slumped forward, those muscles become overstretched and weak. The muscles may develop too much tension in them in their chronic effort to hold the head and trunk up from falling over and into gravity. We might develop shoulder impingement problems because of slouching forward at the desk. Our forearms may become sore and painful because of working on the computer. (Did you know that we see more cases of tennis elbow (aka lateral epicondylitis) from overuse of the mouse and keyboard, combined with poor ergonomics, than we ever have from people playing tennis?)<br />
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Besides poor posture, things that contribute to dynamic functional weaknesses are too little exercise, the wrong kind of exercise, fatigue and stress. In New York, most of us walk quite a bit, so footwear is important. (This could be the topic for another blog.) Walking on hard concrete, rather than loamy soil, may keep us pointed in the right direction, in a beeline for work and home, but this moving in 2-dimensions on concrete, may create weaknesses in our core muscles, especially the pelvic stabilizing muscles of the gluteus medius and minimii.<br />
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What are the core muscles? Are they only the abdominal muscles? Or, does the core also include the lateral and posterior hip muscles? Answer: yes, the core includes the abdominal as well as the surrounding hip musculature.<br />
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Did you know that your flat and fallen arches might be the primary cause of your neck pain? Or your knee pain? Your hip and back pain? The weakness in your core? Or that your shoes, slightly worn down on their outer edges, may be causing your knee or hip pain? Did you know that either having the heels of your shoes fixed or buying a new pair of shoes can immediately give you relief? Sometimes the fix to your problem actually may be that simple!<br />
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There are many ways to improve your alignment, but standing up straight with your shoulders back may not be one of them. Learning Mountain and Tree poses in Yoga are wonderful tools to breathe in upright alignment. Ideokinesis is a wonderful tool for learning alignment. Ballet and other dance forms are excellent ways to learn about developing strong posture. Tai chi not only improves balance and posture, but teaches you how to move from your center (your core), as well.<br />
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*<span style="font-size: x-small;">For purposes of this blog, I will alternately and interchangeably use the words posture and alignment, which essentially mean the same thing. </span>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-43299390412877575122010-03-30T11:46:00.001-04:002010-03-30T11:46:23.213-04:00Haiku 2000/2010Dew drop on tip of<br />blade of grass evaporates<br />like sadness in sun.<br />Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-21125471488686569402010-03-25T23:01:00.001-04:002010-03-25T23:01:57.987-04:00Advice for a Painful ShoulderThis was written to a patient after I had seen her for an initial treatment. She had developed a painful shoulder from shoveling snow earlier in the Winter. <br /><br />You may want to notice your shoulder at different points during the day, or at night, or in the morning when you're still in bed. Just quietly become aware of extra tension or holding in that shoulder. Then, breathe into it gently a couple of times.<br /><br />It may relax, or it might not. What's important is to gently become aware of what's going on with an accepting mind and then to breathe WITH the tension, discomfort or pain. It isn't necessary to have a goal to change the feeling, but simply to notice it and to breathe into and with it.<br /><br />I'm passing this along because when I woke up this morning, I became aware that I was holding my left shoulder, one with a chronic & old injury, in a tense and elevated position. Then, I took a quiet, mindful breath into my shoulder and watched it unwind from the tense holding pattern that had crept into it. <br /><br />Amazingly, it felt much better once I noticed the feeling of tension and holding in the shoulder, breathed with it and let go. Sometimes we hold our hurt wings with tension, in anticipation of pain. This can set up a pain, holding/spasm, pain cycle. Awareness and mindful breath work can help to break the holding/spasm component.<br /><br />Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-71282745848620172442010-03-18T17:53:00.003-04:002010-03-19T11:26:22.734-04:00Your Lymphatic SystemDid you know that your breathing habits may positively effect your lymphatic system?<br />
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Let's begin with a review of the anatomy and functioning of the lymphatic system. Closely related to the cardiovascular system both anatomically and functionally, the lymphatic system is composed of capillaries; larger lymphatic vessels, called collecting vessels; the lymph fluid itself; lymph nodes; and numerous lymphatic ducts.<br />
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The journey of the lymphatic fluid looks like this: lymph fluid is picked up from the cells, where it travels via the lymphatic capillaries to the collecting vessels, then up to the lymphatic ducts, where it is filtered and returned to the bloodstream. <br />
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What is this lymph fluid? It is a fluid that is the byproduct of cellular function and respiration. It is extra, or interstitial, fluid containing bacteria, fat and proteins, fluid that remains between the cells and was not picked up by the bloodstream. It is a waste product of the body discharged from the cells. This clear and colorless fluid is then transported to the lymph nodes, where it is filtered and cleaned of foreign substances, bacteria, proteins and other large particles. From the nodes, the lymph travels to the ducts, formed by the convergence of lymph vessels. They include the lumbar duct, the common duct that empties into the cisterna chyli, the cisterna chyli, the thoracic duct, the left jugular and subclavian ducts and the right lymphatic duct.*<br />
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Lymph, then, travels from the cells to the capillaries, to the nodes, through the ducts, to empty in the large blood vessels located at the base of the neck, where it is emptied back into the bloodstream. However, unlike blood, lymph moves in only one direction through a variety of parallel mechanisms:<br />
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1. hydrostatic pressure;<br />
2. valves to prevent backflow;<br />
3. voluntary muscle contractions throughout the body;<br />
4. respiratory movments that create alternating pressures within the chest cavity (pressures created by the contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm and respiratory muscles);<br />
5. contractions of the abdominal wall upon forceful exhalation -- vigorous exercise, coughing, sneezing -- creating a positive pressure in the cisterna chyli that pushes the lymph up towards the large veins in the neck;<br />
6. pulsations of adjacent blood vessels throughout the circulatory system.*<br />
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Three liters of lymph enter the bloodstream every 24 hours. Since muscle contractions aid lymph flow, you can see how important general exercise is to aid turnover in your lymphatic system. Furthermore, the thoracic duct, cysterna chili, the lumbar duct and the common duct are all very near the diaphragm, our primary breathing muscle. The thoracic duct passes through an opening in the diaphragm.<br />
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One can see how, on an anatomical level at the very least, deep breathing exercises may have a direct and positive impact on lymphatic flow. Deep breathing exercises create greater pressures within the chest and abdominal cavities. Additionally, through the contractions of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, a positive pressure is created in the trunk to further push the lymph upwards towards their emptying ports in the neck.<br />
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Another reason to get moving and to do pranayama, powerful breathing exercises!<br />
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Note:<br />
The above information is not comprehensive of the entire lymphatic system, which also includes the spleen and lymphocytes.<br />
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*Information taken from <b>Anatomy</b> by Ernerst W. April and Grant's <b>Atlas of Anatomy</b>.<br />
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<a href="http://yogaphysicaltherapy.com/">Click here</a> to learn more about Sharon Gary and Yoga Physical Therapy.Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-44637690084521878122010-02-12T13:21:00.001-05:002010-02-12T20:41:46.221-05:00The Body Electric<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Dancing is more like high-interface action verbs than nouns and subjects. I'm very interested in the electric threshold; dance can be like live voltage, or crossing realms. Sometimes the body is flooded and energized by an excess of impulses, spasms, jerks, shakes, tremors, and responds with quirks and undulations."</span> Kenneth King</span></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><br />
If a dancing body is capable of these responses, these expressions -- spasms, jerks, shakes, tremors -- then where do these responses go in everyday life? Where do we put that kinetic energy while we sit quietly in front of the computer or clutching our cell phones, thumbing our blackberries and iphones? Do we even breathe when engaged in these activities, never mind allow our body its natural expression?<br />
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Part of our successful socialization, or the price of success if you will, is based on the ability to suppress physical, visible, reactions. We freeze our faces (Botox anyone?). We freeze the muscles in our bodies. We do this whether we are excited, disappointed, angry or overwhelmed. But remember, the brain and its extension, the body, are coded for action/re-action. If we can't flinch, quiver, cry or grimace, what happens to those impulses? Do we take these neural stimuli into hiding? Might it be these inhibited impulses that unexpressed hide out in the neck (spasm), eye (twitch), head (pound), back (grab), stomach (gurgle), intestines (run)?<br />
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Instead of releasing, do we repress? Maybe it's the crazy person, the schizophrenic off his meds on the subway platform who might still embody his own natural reactions, reactions that haven't been re-pressed. Scary, isn't it? Or think of the disorder of Tourette's syndrome, where the nervous system is operating without the appropriate neural brakes or neural inhibitions. (For it is the inhibitory part of the nervous system that allows it to operate smoothly by applying braking mechanisms that allow for smooth, controlled movements.) <br />
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Paradoxically, one of the beauties of meditation is that it allows us to sit quietly and to be with our own mental and emotional processes. It is why it can be so uncomfortable to meditate. All of the sudden, we give permission, time and space to those thoughts and feelings, the same ones that we try, with decreasing effectiveness, to control, to keep down, to run away from. We give these very thoughts and feeling permission to bubble up, as if from the primordial soup, and they want to be heard. In meditation, we can study this live voltage, this energy that gets trapped in our bodies. We do this by sitting quietly, tuning into the repetitive cycles of the breath.<br />
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One appeal of yoga is that we invite ourselves to slow down and to feel the body. We are invited to extend the head on the neck, the neck on the spine, the fingers, hands and wrists, torso, toes and limbs out of habitually tight ranges. By doing this, we give ample time and space for the muscles, thoughts and emotions to unwind. Is it any wonder that we feel calmer, with fewer aches and pains after giving the bodymind its say?<br />
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Think. What posture is most typical of Western life? Sitting. We sit in front of the computer, the TV, at our desks, in our cars, on the airplanc. We are a nation of sitters!<br />
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Many, if not most, of our aches and pains, our illnesses (including diabetes and heart disease) are caused not by overuse of ourselves, our bodies, but by under use. We move too little in quantity and variety. So, let's get up and move, dance to get the electric body moving, and we will all feel better and be healthier for it.Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-63075864370703281102010-02-11T14:43:00.004-05:002010-03-18T22:31:52.035-04:00Get Up and Move. Your Brain and Your Well-Being May Depend on It.The brain is the CEO of the body, the chief organ, the director. It initiates and sends the signals that allow us to accomplish tasks. Making and drinking that cup of espresso. Reaching out to reassure a loved one through a gentle touch. The brain also governs organ function. It monitors and creates neurotransmitters and hormones, complex and dynamic interactions in the body we still know very little about.<br />
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Besides sending signals for movement, action, reaction and creating homeostasis within your body, your brain receives and interprets information coming to you from the environment outside you, as well as the environment inside -- your body, mind and emotions. Are you hot/cold? Is it light/dark? Are you afraid or calm? Are you sleepy or rested? Happy or sad? Is it safe out there? What does it feel like in here?<br />
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We tend to think of the emotions as originating in the brain, in our minds. Buddhists and many psychologists believe that emotions are caused by our thoughts. Become aware of the faulty thought, identify it as such, and the painful emotion will change, switch or even disappear. Becoming aware of the emotion may mean learning to feel where the tension of that emotion is felt in your body. At this level of tension or bodily discomfort, it's not hard (or is it) to convince many people that we store mental and emotional tension or sadness or depression in our bodies. That the signal of pain or stiffness or tiredness may not be solely physical in origin. That our fatigue, sleeplessness, stiffness and pain may because of a combination of physical, mental and emotional triggers. <br />
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Indeed, Yoga, meditation, tai chi and other approaches offer us a method to become aware of our bodies, minds and emotions. Besides awareness, these practices may also offer us a way to work with our minds and emotions in a calm, sane way. Through the combination of mental and physical practices, they offer us a way to counter the deleterious effects of stress and pain stored in the body. On a simple, concrete level, the physical practices of Yoga, tai chi, chi gong get the blood flowing. They enhance breathing (which alters blood flow). They can help us to decrease pain, increase balance and provide an overall sense of well-being. <br />
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At the same time, in Western scientific medicine, emotional imbalances or disorders particularly depression and anxiety, are thought to be because of biochemical imbalances, imbalances in the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, etc. and are then treated with pharmacology in an attempt to restore balance to the body's (and the mind's) chemistry.<br />
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The good news is that a bevy of studies suggest that the cheapest, easiest and perhaps the most effective way to alter mood, perception or even cognitive function is to get moving. Open the newspaper, go online, and you will find continuously new studies that document the positive effects of exercise on depression and anxiety. Cognition too. Get the blood flowing and you just might feel better (maybe because of an alteration in biochemical processes).<br />
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What kinds of exercise can accomplish this? Does it have to be running or yoga or meditation? Stepping not too far out on a limb, I would say that any form of exercise will accomplish this, from yoga, to playing basketball, weight lifting, biking, running, elliptical training, walking, swimming, tennis, tai chi, any form of dance -- you name it.<br />
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Get moving and you will feel better, look better and improve your health and longevity. It's a win-win proposition.Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-17599526067426581382008-03-21T12:41:00.010-04:002008-03-24T23:08:23.110-04:00Getting the word out about Yoga Physical Therapy<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Day 2. I started this blog</span></span> because I want to get the word out about Yoga Physical Therapy. Sometimes I come home after working with a patient with a great idea that we discovered during the day that I want to share. So this is a way to get me started writing about the work, to explain what it is that we do in Yoga Physical Therapy.<br /><br />First and foremost, I look at the body with the eyes of a Physical Therapist. The training was the best I know of for understanding the components of the human body and how the body moves in space. From my background in dance, I became a PT because I was fascinated with muscles, joints, the nervous system, and how it all fits together. Then, by studying the pathology of injury and disease, I learned what happens when something goes wrong. My job as a PT is to find a way to help the injured body recover. These 17 years of working with injuries and disease have only increased my understanding and intuition.<br /><br />Yet, as great as the Physical Therapy training was, it didn't give me a way to deal with the whole person. Often I would find people were tense, upset and holding tension in their bodies, especially those with back and neck pain. (I also see people hold tension in their feet, their knees, their hips.) I didn't know what to do with it. I wasn't trained in how to deal with the psychological components of disease and injury.<br /><br />However, once I began incorporating Yoga and meditative breath work into the sessions, I began to be able to help people help themselves with the effects of stress being held in their bodies -- whether physical, emotional or psychological. The introduction of the breath, not only into the exercises, but as a separate activity in itself, began to transform the effectiveness of the our sessions, especially in those with chronic back pain.<br /><br />By helping someone breathe into the injury and pain, it gives her the mental space, first of all, to become aware of holding and tension in that area of the body. On a physical level, getting breath into a tight or tense area literally begins to open up the area. As the muscles relax, they loosen their hold on the bones. The affected bone(s), pulled out of line by an overactive muscle, can begin to relax back into place. When the muscle, then the bone(s), release back into a relaxed state, then the affected joint can begin to realign itself. Yes, one can learn to breathe into a specific muscle or muscle group.<br /><br />Secondly, blood cannot flow freely through a tense muscle. So, another result of using a mindful breath is that once a muscle relaxes, more blood can flow into and out of that muscle. With more blood flow, more oxygen gets to the area. More oxygen equals more healing. The healing molecules and chemicals can now get to get to the injured, or previously held and tense, area. At the same time, the byproducts of injury can move out of the area more quickly.<br /><br />On the psychological level, meditative breathing is documented to lessen the effects of stress, including lowering blood pressure, decreasing heart rate and lessening the effects of cortisol, the stress hormone of the fight-or-flight reaction. As a person becomes more aware of the bodily tension and learns to breathe into it, often the emotions or thinking that contributes to that tension begin to loosen their hold as well. As the mind begins to relax, so too does the body. Once the body begins to relax, so do the mind and emotions. It's a dynamic, interactive process.<br /><br />I've had patients thank me for helping them to identify and learn to work with the stress that is contributing to their injuries. Once they developed an awareness that they were holding tension in their backs, necks, feet or hips, they were able to begin working with, and begin lessening, that tension.<br /><br />Awareness is key. With aware breathing into an injury, combined with specifically targeted positioning or stretching of the body, the healing process is supported. Using a gentle and mindful breath also gives us an effective tool to support the entire healing process, body and mind.<div><br /></div><div>Click <a href="http://yogaphysicaltherapy.com">here</a> to learn more about Yoga Physical Therapy.</div>Sharon Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01416166841834895965noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485857449176140883.post-73642576594749055162008-03-20T11:31:00.009-04:002011-02-16T14:59:38.999-05:00Let's talk about back pain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #339999;"><a href="http://yogaphysicaltherapy.com/">The Role of Posture in Back Pain</a></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">Part I - Coming to the Floor</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">Yoga can be an excellent modality for managing and healing low back pain. Just as many poses in Yoga are ideal for healing certain kinds of back pain, other poses may make back pain worse. It depends on the nature and cause of your back pain.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">We might intuit that poor posture plays a role in back pain. Other than admonish ourselves for poor posture and occasionally tell ourselves to stand up straight, we try, but do not know how, to make our posture better. Where can you get help for it? Who can help you?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">I agree with Robin McKenzie, a New Zealand Physiotherapist, that poor postural habits play a big role in most back pain. McKenzie has developed a body of work that successfully treats back pain. Many of the exercises that are prescribed by the McKenzie are the same postures that can be found in many gentle or beginning Yoga classes. (Unfortunately, many of these same postures have been dropped from more advanced Yoga classes today.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">We live in a world in which we are sitting -- at our desks, in front of the television, at our computers -- for many hours of the day and night. We sit in slouched postures, with our spines rounded forward, our heads jutting forward (check out your posture right now). The position of the spine in this curved forward "C" position is called flexion. We have four natural spinal curves, at the neck, the thorax, the lumbar and the sacral spines which form a gentle S from the top down. However, with the demands placed on us from early childhood, when we begin to sit at uncomfortable desks, we begin to alter our natural spinal curves. We begin to lose our ability to find a neutral, or comfortable, position. We begin to slouch. We slouch when we're sitting. We slouch when we're standing up.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">We slouch because we can't find a comfortable position in which to counter gravity, a constant force pulling on our bodies. When we give into dysfunctional postural habits, then we end up fighting gravity, one of the strongest forces in the Newtonian universe. What happens next is that the anti-gravity/postural muscles in our necks, extending to the entire length of our spines begin to overwork. As they overwork, they fatigue. As they fatigue, they begin to hurt. It's not that we don't try to sit up straight, but we end up slouching because we don't have the strength to maintain an upright position anymore. It becomes a vicious cycle.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">These long muscles, the erector-spinae muscles, extend in series from the base of the skull to the sacrum. In a slouched posture, not only do they overwork and become tense, but at the same time they become over-lengthened, weak and painful. They are not able to do their jobs in holding the trunk upright against gravity. Once these muscles become weak and over-lengthened, other muscles in the hips try to compensate. The hip muscles, working to keep the body upright against gravity, depending on their placement and your anatomy, become short, tight, weak and painful.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">At the same time, the Core muscles, the deep abdominal and pelvic stabilizing muscles surrounding the hips, become weak and flabby. Breathing is often shallow. With a slouched posture, the ribs are compressed in the anterior body and the diaphragm, the primary muscle in breathing, is placed in a disadvantageous position.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">The body may feel tense and tired. Trying to sit or stand erectly becomes more and more difficult. Our bodies are out of balance and out of sync with gravitational pulls. The body ends up fighting gravity rather than working efficiently within the gravitational field.</span><br />
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</div><span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">How do we restore balance to our bodies?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">The best way is to go to the mat, to the floor, where the body can rest into gravity, without having to fight it. The flat surface of the floor provides maximum support and feedback to a body out of sync. Once lying on the floor, you can begin to realign yourself, front-to-back, right-to-left, head-to-toe. The four spinal curves are supported. Where the spine is rotated, a common occurrence in people who suffer from back pain, it can begin to unwind.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">The body craves balance. Coming into the floor, embracing gravity and relaxing into it, combined with breathing mindfully, is the beginning of healing your back pain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #336666;"><a href="http://yogaphysicaltherapy.com/">Click here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #336666;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">to learn more about Yoga Physical Therapy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br />
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