Posture: What are our Notions

People have many ideas and notions about posture.  I have recently overheard conversations and read facebook posts and am concerned about what people go through to achieve a position that they think will make them look better without any regard for how they feel.

     I would like to share my   FAQ's about Posture  or   Myth vs Reality

1. I have so much trouble standing or sitting straight.  I must be weak.  What muscles should I       strengthen to be able to stand or sit straight?
    Very often we think that if we tighten the muscles of our chest and belly, and of our back, our muscles will hold us up in a straight position. However, the opposite is true.  By doing this, you will have muscles pulling from the front and the back and your spine becomes compressed in the crossfire. When you are not holding so tightly you can feel the lightness and length of your posture. You can feel the pressure on your feet, where it belongs and not in your neck, back, hips,or knees.
2. My mother always told me to "stand straight."   What does that mean?
    Some people think of themselves as a stack of bricks, straight and strong. They are immovable. See myth number 1, 2, and 3.  We are not a stack of bricks. We have brain. Even in the age of "smart" building, a stack of bricks does not have a brain. Bricks, or a building, cannot adjust for the nuances of balance and function. We are moving beings, not static towers.
3. I do loads of sit ups, but still can't stand for more than 10 minutes without pain.  Why is that?
     If your posture creates pain, then it is not working for you. You need to move differently and not stand like a stack of bricks.  Posture is not about strengthening any muscles. It is about how we organize and coordinate the movements of our head, back, hips, arms, and legs. Our anatomical design, as humans allows us to stand upright but we have to allow our muscles to be relaxed and our skeleton, or bony pelvis to support our belly.
4. I try very hard to stand straight. Why does my neck hurt?
    See question # 1.  Our muscles are meant to move us, not hold us. Our neck muscles are very small. They are for quick movement, for scanning our horizon, for keeping us out of danger; they are not for holding our heads up. Heads are heavy.  Again, our anatomical design allows our skeleton to support us and our muscles to move us.
5. How can I stand up for a longer period when I am wearing high heels?
     High heels move our center of gravity forward. If we are aware of our pressure on the feet, it won't matter if we are standing on pebbles, rocks, dirt, sand, or high heels. Again, we have a brain. If we can sense what we need to do and adjust for different situations, as long as we are wearing shoes that fit correctly we can stand in or on any surface.
6. I can't stand or sit for longer than 5 minutes. Everyone says I have beautiful posture. Is it supposed to hurt?
     See question previous questions.  Our posture needs to come from inside of us. It comes from sensing what we are doing and what we might do differently, not from what it looks like on the outside.
7. My mother tells me to pull my shoulders back. Can I wear a band to keep them back?  Or is there an exercise I can do to strengthen my upper back?
     You could wear a band to hold you, but you would probably fight against it the whole time you are wearing it and as soon as you took it off you would revert back to your original posture and be in a great deal of pain. Good posture comes from the inside, not from an outside force.
8.  Sometimes when I sing in the choir, my throat feels tight. I try to hold my head up straight. Is there an exercise I can do to strengthen my neck?
    Again, this has nothing to do with the strength in your neck. We do not sing with our necks. Singing is about breathing and how you control and coordinate all of the muscles involved. It is not about strengthening. You need to hold your head in a way that allows your muscles are soft and your neck is comfortable. A lesson with a trained voice teacher might help you
9. I read about a gadget that I can sit on at work that will teach me to sit up straight. How does that work?  Does it work?
    Our posture is not static. We cannot depend on an outside "gadget" to know what our brain wants to do and when. A quick fix is a way not to pay attention to ourselves. We need to know where we are and where we want to be. This happens  through learning to be aware.
10. What is good posture anyway?
     Posture is not static. In order for your posture to be "good," it has to allow you to move in any direction at any given time. The better question is, "How adaptable is your posture to different situations." What are you standing for- to talk to a loved one, to give speech, to navigate a room full of strangers?  Our posture will be different for all of these activities.

My hope is that these answers will help clear up some common misconceptions about posture.
The key to understanding and improving our posture is to move with ease and grace.


Contact me to learn more about your movement, your balance, how to decrease pain, and creakiness at http:movementmatters.us.

BALANCE INSIDE AND OUT

Most of us think that balancing has to do with extreme activities.

But we balance all the time.

Every time we step, every time we reach, every time we look up, lift, or run, we use it. As children, our sense of balance is effortless. We roll, swing, climb, and twirl. And we get up and down from the floor with ease as part of normal movement.

But as we age, we start to lose the pathways onto and off of the floor. We get good at sitting still…and not so good at falling.

There are many reasons for our deteriorating balance:  arthritis, neurological issues, busy lives.

The natural tendency is then to hold ourselves more rigidly; which means we can end up compromising natural balance with behaviors that set in before we even know we’ve created them. As Moshe Feldenkrais said, "We don't know what we don't know."

So how do we get back to our childlike ways; when movement was easy and fluid and we worried more about who was “it” than breaking a hip?

We start with self-awareness.

Unconscious movement got you into this mess, conscious movement will help get you out.  Here are four ways we’ll show you how to do that in our Dynamic Balance Workshop:

1.       Smoother Quality of Movement

You’ll learn an increased sense of awareness.  Attention is drawn to the sensations while moving and resting.  This is fundamental to the Feldenkrais Method.® You will become an explorer of your own experience.   Your range of movement possibilities will grow.  You will learn to sense immediately if a part is strained or painful.  You will be able to cultivate a smoother, more comfortable way of moving your muscles and activity will become more efficient.

2.       Improved Skeletal Support

You will learn to use the mechanics of the skeletal system. Muscles move us. But the skeleton is meant to support us.  You don’t need to use your muscles as much to maintain balance or posture if your bones are aligned properly.   Through your own experimentation, your muscles will become freer to move you more efficiently while your bones become free do their job.

3.       Better Coordination

Being able to sense how we are using ourselves means we can learn to be more efficient with all of our daily tasks.  Once we’ve learned how to allow the skeleton to support us, we can start sensing our muscles for more coordinated actions.  We’ll know when to use a specific part and when to give that movement over to another muscle or part. An example of this would be lifting, carrying, or reaching. 

4.       Enriched Breathing

Improved breathing means better movement.  Improved movement causes better breathing.  So learn to tune into your breath: are you holding it?  Where do you breathe?  How do you breathe?  When do you breathe?  As we release the inefficiencies in the musculoskeletal system, breathing becomes easier as the ribs, neck, breast bone, clavicles, and belly become free to do their jobs. 

Taken together, these steps allow for change from the inside out.  You achieve improved performance through your own observation, exploration, and discovery.   You’ll learn this not by working on individual muscles, but by engaging the nervous system and the brain.

This is the closest we come to the type of learning we do in infancy and early childhood, when we discovered how to move by rolling, crawling, walking, jumping, swinging, and, yes, even falling down. 

The good news is that we can work on balance at any time in our lives. We can improve it by sensing and moving efficiently. Through this attention and awareness you can balance yourself to better health!

IS THE NECK BONE CONNECTED TO THE FOOT BONE?

  

Free Your Neck and Shoulders is the name of my upcoming workshop http://movementmatters.us/cya2015.htm  Why do I think it is important to start my monthly workshop series with Freedom of the Neck?  I could have begun with Balance (April 3^rd), or Posture-stability, Mobility (May 1^st), or Sitting in Comfort (June 5^th), or Walking: Toe to Head (July 24^th).                                                                                                
Well, yes, I could have started with any of them.  But I chose to start with the neck because, as you will soon see, if your neck is achy and creaky, if it is stiff, you will find that your balance is just a little, or a lot, off.  You will find that your posture is less than comfortable. It is difficult to stand for a rather short amount of time, especially if you are trying to paint, or do dishes, or cook.  Of course sitting is difficult too. Try reading or sewing if you neck isn’t at its best.  I can see you now, with the pillows propped so you can watch TV, sitting lying, any position. I didn’t even mention sleeping.  And then we get to walking. If your neck is held to one side, whether you know it or not, you are putting more pressure on one leg or foot. Your breath may become shallow, making it hard to walk for exercise. And speaking of exercise, it, too, becomes difficult.  It is hard to lift weights or do machines at the gym when your neck hurts.

As you can see, your neck bone really is connected to your foot bone, as the old song says.  Your neck is so important. It is the top of your spine. It houses blood vessels, nerves, your esophagus, your trachea. Muscles attach to it. Did you know that those muscles aid in breathing, as well as turn your head.  Your head sits on top of your neck.   If we can’t turn our head, how can we see, hear, smell, taste?  How do we know where the food is.  The movement of our neck provides us with a sense of orientation, the ability to know where we are, where the food is, where the enemy is where our home is.  We must be able to move our head quickly as we attend to our daily life. Try crossing the street, or driving a car if you cannot turn your head.  If your neck is stiff, your world becomes very small.

We will be starting with Freeing Your Neck and Shoulders because the ability to move our head independently of our feet, our eyes, our shoulders keeps us secure.   I know the importance of being able to move your head safely.

When two doctors told me I needed immediate neck surgery last year after my car accident, I was scared and worried.  It is now a year later, I did not have surgery and don’t need it. These movements that I will be teaching you helped me to learn how to allow my neck to heal so that I could live my life with vitality and ease             

Contact me for more information on my upcoming workshops. I look forward to seeing you.

Best regards,

Beth                                                         

What Exercises CAN I do?

MOVEMENT MATTERS 
 AWARENESS MATTERS                     CONNECTION MATTERS

I recently finished the fourth workshop of my Change Your Age: Vitality at Any Age series.   Toward the end, a dedicated, curious student asked, “But what exercise SHOULD I do now?  I have to keep exercising to keep my weight down and stay fit.”

Good question.

So, I explained how small, easy movements might be better for overall well being than large, difficult ones.  I had shown in the workshop how it was more beneficial to elongate our muscles rather than stretch them.  The students had gotten the experience of being able to bend forward and backward and how important all movements are if we want to live a normal life.  I reminded the group how we’d talked in class about not constantly holding our "core," and even experienced letting go of the vaginal muscles (and how it just might be time to give up on those Kegel exercises learned 30 years ago.)  . 

“Well,” she said, “that just about wipes out whatever exercise routine I had!”

So what can you do?  The short answer is,   DO WHATEVER EXERCISES YOU WANT TO DO.  I recommend that you do what you like and what gives you pleasure.  That’s because it’s not about WHAT you do, but HOW you do it.

What is fitness, really?   When I posed that question to the class, the answers ranged from, “being healthy” to “losing weight” to “being able to do yoga poses”.  Most still believed they aren’t really doing exercises or doing it right unless they sweat, feel pain, or work to exhaustion.

I am here to say the exact opposite. We do not gain by exercising beyond the point of pain and stress. We do not gain by straining as we exercise.  We do not gain if we are in too much pain to move the next day.

Alright then, how do we do “any exercise we want?”  We pay attention.  We use awareness (no matter what type of movement you’re doing!)  We move with intention.  This will not only make you stronger and more heart-healthy, it’ll make moving fun!  Here are a few tips to get you started:

1.     Have less ambition and more curiosity about your routine.

2.     Strive for more work rather than more effort: move smarter, not harder.

3.     Be present as you move or exercise. Explore what you are doing.  

4.     Pay attention to your breath:  how are you breathing in, how are you breathing out?  (Are you breathing or are you holding your breath?)

Would you like to feel just how awareness feels and the difference it makes?

Sit on the edge of your chair.

-How do you sit?  What part of your buttock is in contact with the seat?

-Are you on your tail bone?   Or are you all the way forward, on your pelvic bone?

-What is your belly doing?  (Is it pushing out?  Held tightly in?)

-Where is your head?  (Is your chin down, or up?  Is your right ear closer to your right shoulder than the left ear is to the left?  Is your nose facing forward?)

-Are you breathing?  How?  Where do you feel your breath?  Touch the parts of you that move when you breathe.  

-Lift your right arm up. Lift your left arm up.

-Bring your arms down and rest.  Just observe. 

Take a breath in and release it, noticing where and how the air travels.  If you do this, observe breath, assess where you are, where all of your parts are,  with every exercise routine, you will definitely get more benefit and less discomfort from your program.    To continue with our Awareness Through Movement® lesson……. 

-Turn and look to the right.  Find your “spot”:  where is it most comfortable to easily see?  (No stretching, straining, or creaking, please!)

-Come back to facing front.

-(A)  Turn and look to the right again, but this time turn your head and shoulders.  Move slowly. Move just a little bit at a time.   Repeat several times.

-(B)  Turn your shoulders to the right and hold them there.  Bring your head to the front several times, keeping shoulders to the right. 

-Repeat steps A & B on the left.

-face front again

-turn to the right, turn to the left

Did you range of motion improve?       No stretching here.         How do you sit now? More comfortable?                  Do you feel connected?                      Get up and walk. 
                           How do you feel?            Go, take on your fitness program. 
                                         Move with ease, awareness, and connection.

Are You Moving with Joy?

I was at the gym when a notice for a Pilates class caught my eye.  I was there and thought, why not?  I’m pretty fit; let’s see what this is really about.  After all, who knows?  I might just look like that cute instructor when we’re done, right?  (Hey, a girl can dream…)  I am a movement teacher.  I know how to move.  I felt ready to take on something new.

  

  The warm up was a bit fast for my taste, but I kept up. The leg work also was a little quick for me to feel like I had used myself efficiently, but I was ok.  Everyone around me, however, was huffing and puffing and going “great guns.”  Nobody was smiling.  And the Cute Little Young instructor was, quite frankly, looking less and less cute.

     Personally, I like to start a little slower and build up to the hard stuff, but Cute Little Young Instructor had other ideas.  We got to the more intense “core” work, which involved lifting the head and the legs at the same time.  Immediately, my old neck pain returned .

     So, I disobeyed Cute Little Young Instructor’s  commands and did the class my way.   Luckily, the pain in my neck pain vanished and didn’t come back, but I couldn’t help wondering what was happening to the necks (and backs, and joints) of my classmates.  Were they working out in spite of pain?

     Doing an exercise that is so difficult doesn’t just inflict physical pain, it also causes emotional pain.  Going to a class where you can’t keep up can make you feel like a loser and if you’re uncomfortable, you probably won’t be back.  Who goes in for torture?  Besides, I am interested in the quality of my movement, not the quantity of the sweat it produces.   And I’ve seen too many clients who come in with injuries from classes just like these.

     Traditional exercise is about increasing fitness.  It is not about fun or feeling better.  But it doesn’t have to hurt.  If we have the ability to listen to ourselves and to what our bodies are telling us, we can become fit.  Then we cane

Learn to engage in physical activities that you enjoy without hurting yourself. 
Learn how to listen to the wisdom of your body.

Does reclaiming the joy of movement sound interesting to you?  Call me to discuss how you can exercise to be fit throughout your life without hurting yourself. Engage in whatever fitness program you want to, but feel great while doing it.

Would you like to free your head and neck of pain and stiffness?

Sit toward the edge of your chair. Feel your buttocks on the chair.

Feel your feet on the floor. Allow your arms to rest comfortably on your thighs.

Turn your head to the right to where it comfortably goes,

Notice what happens to your shoulders?  Does your right shoulder go forward or back as you turn your head to the right?

What does you L shoulder do?

Turn your head and shoulders to the right and back to the middle, several times.

Now turn your head to the R again and notice how it moves.

Do you turn more with less stiffness and no pain?

This helps you to be aware of HOW you move, not how much.  This little movement lesson can not only free your neck pain.  It can help you understand that being mindful of how you move, you can move more safely and without discomfort.  You are then able to do any exercise program you want to do.     No Pain, More Gain.

Classes and private sessions are available. Call 310 645-7904 for a consultation

Happy Spring

Naaseh v’nishma”

WE WILL DO & WE WILL LISTEN

The Vernal Eqinox is upon us this weekend. Important holidays are coming. It is a holy time for Jews and Christians. All of these are a time of reflection and joy.

I would like to wish everyone a spring full of sunlight and growth. This time of year brings me to thoughts about being human, and what we all share. As a matter of fact, I think about being the best human we can be.  Allow me to set a stage for a very important moment for these two faiths.  We are at the foot of Mt Sinai. Moses has brought the Ten Commandments down to the Israelites. He has given detailed rules. What did the people say?  Was it, what we might think? We will listen and we will do?? NO. They said, “we will do and we will listen.” Filled with so much faith in these commandments, they instinctively understood that these were instructions to be followed to the letter.  There would be time later to fully comprehend their meaning.  

The Cantor at my synagogue, Lonee Frailich, wrote about this a few weeks ago.  I paraphrased what she wrote in our temple bulletin about the Torah portion from that week.

These words struck me because, although the people of Israel were not only given tools to act, they were given these laws to help them reach beyond their limitations.  The understanding and meaning behind these actions could only come from the experience itself.

What does this bring up for you?  This probably sounds familiar to those who engage in awareness and learning.  In Awareness Through Movement® we move, and then we learn. We help our students  become aware of what they do, of what is happening. We do and while we are doing, we explore, and learn.  Moshe Feldenkrais gave us tools to be able to learn more about ourselves, about our possibilities for growth and health, and to live with grace.

In either a “hands on” or group session, understanding and meaning of our actions comes from the experience of moving being mindful, and connecting the parts. Dr. Feldenkrais taught us that we all, no matter what our situation, ability, difficulty, or disability is, can learn and improve. He taught us that even if we are high level performers, we have more potential to grow.

Moshe Feldenkrais obviously did not invent these ideas. They have been around for thousands of years. He pulled from a lifetime of learning and experience.

Although we strive to learn and do good deeds for others, we must remember to take care of ourselves. Part of helping the world, is helping yourself and staying healthy.   Sometimes it is hard to take the time to learn something new.  I tell my children, “act as if, and you will see and feel the change.”

Now I am inviting you to do and listen.   Experience an Awareness Through Movement® class or an individual session with me. Learn to improve vitality and confidence. Decrease your pain, improve your posture.  Come and learn about yourself. 

Naaseh v’nishma.

Chag Sameach and Happy Easter!

Beth R

Movement Matters   Connection Matters    Mindfulness Matters

www.movmentmatters.us

"Aging" is the cool thing. And I couldn't be happier!

    

   

   

 Growing Bolder.Com is my new favorite facebook page.

                                          

                                                    

I read Helen Dennis’ column, “Successful Aging,” every Sunday in the Daily Breeze.  I’m thrilled that she discusses topics relevant to today’s thriving Baby Boomers and seniors.   No more languishing unsung in the corner for this demographic; we’re about to start getting the respect and attention we deserve!

The topic of aging is dear to me for two reasons.  The first is that I find myself advancing past middle age in a sea of media that’s geared toward twenty and thirty somethings.  But ours is an age group that’s vital and worthy!  It is about time that we are invited to the party. 

Second, I have a bit of an odd family history:  We either die in our forties or, like my mother, live well into our 90’s.  Since I’m approaching my 64^th birthday and am quite NOT dead, it seems I’m following in my mother’s footsteps toward longevity. 

So, I have chosen to age with grace.

And I’m not alone.  There’s a whole generation of people who want to learn how to be mindful and take charge as they learn how to manage stress, tension, and pain.   That’s why I teach people how to explore what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.  That means showing people how to undo the habits that are undoing them.  Exercise for fun and fitness, but, as Moshe Feldenkrais said, 

“If you know what you are doing, you can do what you want.”

The recent Daily Breeze column asked, “Should older adults join fitness centers?”   The author urged us to “listen to our bodies.”  Good advice indeed, but to me it came up a bit short.  Just HOW do we listen to our bodies?  If something hurts, do we just quit?  If we get tired, do we just quit? Unfortunately, that might find a fair few of us taking up residence on the sofa. We might listen, but how can we change what is happening. First, we must know what is happening.

So, a few tips:

1. If you are using a piece of equipment, or doing a particular exercise and you hurt, don’t just stop, and definitely don’t “muscle through it.” This is no time to be a martyr.  If you feel an exercise gives you pain, examine what you are doing. HOW are you doing it?  Often, you can figure out another way to do it, which will keep you active and engaged.
   
   
2. If you get tired, take mini rests throughout your workout.  In strength training, there’s no benefit to exercising until you drop.  Just forget that whole “no pain, no gain” thing. You could actually end up tearing muscle fibers rather than building them!   Slow and steady is the key here. These rests might just help your brain catch up to your muscles. Rest BEFORE you fatigue.
   
   
3. Know what muscle groups are important for basic functions like walking, reaching, twisting, and lifting. For example, how many people know the importance of the muscles on the back the the thigh, the gluteal and hamstring muscles for upright walking?  This is where I, a Feldenkrais Practitioner® can really help; you can experience how the body works, allowing you to SAFELY build muscle while protecting joints and ligaments and connecting all of this to your brain so that you will continue to function easily.

I go to a gym and I watch as seniors come in.  Most walk while looking at the floor, afraid of falling. I teach my senior clients how to feel themselves on their feet and how to be in gravity; how to feel at ease being upright.  Strength training and stretching won’t improve function.   

Starting this spring, I’ll be teaching a “Change As You Age®” workshop that will begin as 5 two-hour segments twice a month. We’ll explore habits, how to spot them and how to change them.  Participants will gain an understanding of how our minds and bodies work together to feel and function better.

Our joints don’t have to wear out before we do!      

  

 

 You can maintain your active life style!

Here’s to getting better, healthier and aging with grace.

Best of health,    

Beth  

www.movementmatters.us