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Imbalance: Part 1, Muscles

It is worth considering multiple aspects of muscular balance - muscles on the left and right of the body, top and bottom of the body and a muscle with it's opposing counterpart.

Some benefits of maintaining balance, (besides the aesthetic benefits) are - preventing back pain, by having front of torso AND strong back; strong legs, to create a strong foundation for a broad chest; prevent scoliosis and other left-to-right imbalances; smooth functioning of joints and muscles, where muscles work in harmony to create fluid movement in a stable position. 'Strength' is most useful when formed as part of a united whole; there should be balance within your own body. Even if your lower back is stronger than another person, if it isn't as strong as it's counterpart (the abs) then there will be muscle compensation to cover this difference. If you are able to touch your toes, your hamstrings have a nice range of mobility, but this hasn't compared them to their quadricep counterparts. Your pelvis will tilt towards whichever muscle is tighter, causing a range of issues through your whole body. It doesn't matter how flexible or strong you are, it's about the balance between muscles that should be working together. Where are you imbalanced? Do you identify with any of the imbalances listed above? Every direction of movement of every joint, and every pair of muscles in those movements could be experiencing an imbalance. This is an overwhelming thought, so here's a basic list of the major Opposing Muscles. Where in your body does one aspect overshadow another, and are you willing make changes towards your own balance?

#balance #balancedlife #functional movement #legs day

Stretching keeps the muscles and nerves sliding and moving the way they are designed to and improves blood circulation. Regular stretching slows or prevents the production of scar tissue and keeps nerves and muscles from adhering together.

http://www.activerecoveryboston.com/a-new-understanding-of-overuse-injuries/

#stretching #flexibility #movement #improvement #fitness

Wrist Flexors: Part 2

Overuse of muscles

With my job requiring heavy use of my forearms, muscle balance, and the exercises in my previous post were an important focus. When a small amount of pain in my thumb and wrist developed, I was diligent about the exercises, backed off on intense exercise, eventually took 4 full weeks off exercise, all to no avail. I slowly developed aches and sharp pains through my hand wrist and fingers.

After multiple medical visits and research, I've discovered the missing link: your forearms are used for EVERYTHING.

The muscles in the forearm all function together to create grip strength. If you put one hand on the largest part of your forearm to feel the muscles, then make a tight fist with the other hand, you will feel the whole system activate. However, gripping with strength is not the only way intense use of forearms. You can also feel these muscles working hard if you just wiggle your fingers (replicating touch typing). Avoiding intense gripping was not enough, I needed a holistic view of my forearm use.

The following web page raised a lot of awareness for me about what happens when your muscles get bored of doing the same action over and over again - it's not just about strength based use.

A New Understanding of Overuse Injuries

'Rest' now includes not touch typing, nor holding or carrying anything in my grip, even brushing my teeth manually was banned by the medical professional! With tight, knotted (scar tissue filled) muscles throughout my forearms, regular massages are also prescribed. "Myofascial release" is great for breaking down knotted tissue, and this video shows how simple it can be:

Myofascial Release

Summary of the actions I will take considering a diagnosis of 'overuse of muscles and tendons':

Identifying where a muscle is being used/overused

Reducing those movements to reduce wear and tear

Actively stretching, massaging and releasing myofascia - to release scar tissue, increase blood flow and increase mobility and smooth gliding of all soft tissue.

Above all, stop, take note of what happened, why it may have happened, and give yourself the loving care your body is craving.

#myofascialrelease #forearms #massage #carpal tunnel #overuse injury #overuse #nerve pain

Wrist Flexors: Part 1

Muscular balance

For care of the forearm, I have long been aware of the need for muscular balance. The wrist flexors run down the inside of the forearm, and curl your palm to your forearm. Wrist Extensors pull the back of your hand towards the elbow and are often neglected.

There are two simple tests to raise awareness to potential imbalance between these two directions of movement.

First, relax your hand completely and with your wrist in a neutral position (neither flexed or extended) note how curled your fingers are. If your fingers are in a 'claw' and curl in towards your palm tightly, even while relaxed, the muscles which flex your fingers are tighter than the extensors.

Another great awareness builder is to hold your arms in front of you, straight elbows, hands at the height of your eyes. Try to pull your fingernails back towards your face, and notice in a short period of time, the effort of the muscles along the back of the forearm.

Extending the wrist and fingers can help stretch out tight wrist flexors and correct muscle imbalance.

Upa yoga: “Directional Movement of the Arms” <- (link)

Put a rubber band around the fingers and thumb, work the muscles by stretching the band

Strong flicking action, focusing on the fingers extending

Preventing a 'claw', keeping your fingers nimble and preventing misalignment of joints (caused by one muscle pulling, but the counter muscle not being strong enough to stabilise the action) are all great reasons to correct any muscle imbalance.

#muscle balance #wrist flex #the claw #mobility #rock climbing #feel the burn

It's ok to accept help

Today, I had to pull over on the way home, to catch my breath after an upsetting experience.

A lovely lady, pulled over to see if I was alright, but I told her it was ok to leave me. It touched my heart so deeply that she not only stopped, but actually took a u-turn to come back and make sure I was ok. But I waved her on.

It's the little things that often touch hearts in big ways.

I have the instinct to not burden people with my problems, but if I had allowed this lovely human being to stop her car beside me, I could have said thank you. I could have expressed what a lovely human being she must be, to care about a stranger. She could have driven away knowing that she made such a huge difference in someone's life, through such a small action of extending a hand.

Sometimes, it is a gift to allow someone to help you, they can feel fulfilled with their actions of making the world a little bit better.

Don't be selfish, and take this away from those people who try to help; it's not just about you; sometimes, you can help make someone's life better, by letting them help make your life better.

#cherish #kindness of strangers #it's okay #not a burden

Inspirational Quote

I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better. --Maya Angelou

#baby steps #be who you want to be #inspiring quotes #inspirational quotes

Sonder

It's easy to think that we are alone when things are difficult. Everyone else seems to be holding it together. Surely no-one could possibly understand what your going through... right?... Think about the mask you wear around other people, would people think the same about you? How many people are aware of what you're going through? When was the last time you opened up about any of your deepest concerns? When people do share, it is a gift; one to be held dear to the heart: Sometimes life is Hard

Unless you sit down with someone to truly hear their story, AND they're willing to share their story, you may never know how difficult their life is. Everyone has their story, and everyone has things they find easier and things they find more difficult. There is no human in this life for whom this isn't true. People may succeed where you struggle, but others are struggling where you thrive. So next time you start to judge yourself, feel alone, or tell yourself a story about things being unfair, stop and breathe. You are not alone. Other people struggle too.

#sonder #the struggle is real #breathe #share #don't give up

Take the Risk

If you don't take the risk, there's zero chance of getting the reward. Take the plunge. Besides, once you finally get in the water, it's always better than you thought it would be.

#just do it #take the plunge #just keep swimming #not so bad

Acute Stress

Clearing out old paperwork, I rediscovered written ideas, lists and mind-maps from years ago. These papers came from a time where I had become overwhelmed, stressed and unmotivated. I had no idea how to move forward, nor really why things were awry, but was clearly fighting hard to find a way out. If you can relate to this, here's something you can try. Take a sheet of paper. Write 'Stressors' at the top. Now brainstorm. What are influences in your life right now that are creating stress? It doesn't matter why, or whether it's positive or negative things, just write things that contributes to your stress or are weighing heavily on you. At the time, I just wrote all the biggest stress factors, whether they had a solution or not. In fact, a stress response is more likely, if you feel powerless and don't know what action to take. Then take one of these 'stressors' at a time, and on a new A4 sheet, expand, write anything and everything. This step can be done in many ways, based on your own way of thinking and the particular stress. The aim, is to keep processing the issue until you find an action to take, a new perspective of the situation or a protective mechanism to put into place. My car was in disrepair, so I wrote all the things that needed to be tended to, revealing the whole plan, and also the next step to take. For emotional issues, I wrote a thought stream until I had a greater consciousness around the situation. Pay enough attention to each ‘stressor’ until you know how to move forward. Now you have focus, you know what your dealing with and you can start with Baby Steps away from the stress.

#one step at a time #dig up #you can do this

Hidden Blockades

What are you hiding? Under that pile of clutter, is there something you're hiding from yourself? Not putting away the laundry, so you don't have to admit that that at the bottom of the pile is the shirt that needs a button sewn back on?

What are you avoiding? What are you afraid to look at, straight in the face? Don't want to do your taxes, because it will show you in black and white where your finances are? Are you avoiding the reality that you need to create a budget? What are you afraid of? Why is regular exercise not a part of your life? Don't want to exercise, because you're afraid to put in effort and not see the desired outcome? Afraid of failing? Is it possible that those tasks you are procrastinating on, have an underlying reason that you are not inspired to act?

#face your demons #what's stopping you

This one speaks for itself

#just keep swimming #just keep swimmin #swimming #swimmin

Sometimes life is hard

A lovely family from China came to stay recently, and in explaining my life to date, I noticed the familiar feelings of regret, for how I haven't achieved more and come further with my dreams. I explained some of the reasons I had been delayed on my dreams and had to make financial sacrifices for many months in my recent past... then I found myself apologising for putting a dampener on the lovely evening, and making everyone sad... the father, who spoke very little English, said not to be apologetic, as "life can be very hard".

Through his son acting as interpreter, he told me that he used to work in the mines: 800m below the ground. In this time, working from before sunrise, till after sunset, everyday, he did not see the light of the sun for 5 years, not once. He saw many people die. Then he told me the story about when he unexpectedly slipped, falling into a hidden cavity in the floor; he spread his arms, reaching out to save his fall. This cavity was a bottomless pit. He managed to grab the edges of the hole with his arms, saving himself last minute from falling to his death. He was at the mercy of his friends to drag him back to safety. He had been through all of this, and was sitting in my living room, an amazingly kind-hearted soul, telling me I could be a "star".

Sometimes life asks for so much from us. Sometimes it feels like you will never see the sun again. Sometimes it's hard to see that the sacrifices and pain are shaping our souls, building us as much as any 'success' ever could. This is not something to apologise for.

Sometimes life is hard.

#star #life is hard #sorry not sorry #you can do anything #no regrets

Are you a Cry Baby?

Being good at life, is not to be so controlling of your life that you never get upset. Being good at life is trying so hard, and facing up to such important things, that sometimes things become upsetting. It's ok to be upset by these things.

Why can't a grown adult admit that they cry sometimes?

I don't think we talk about that side of being human enough. Yes, sometimes I cry. Yes, sometimes I get frustrated. Sometimes I get angry, exhausted, overwhelmed, irritated or anxious. I was reminded today that it's human to be tired when you're sleepy, to be irritated if someone is being irritating (or you're lacking in energy), to be angry when there is an injustice, and to cry if you are a human being. Sometimes we just need to know it's ok to feel that way, then the emotion doesn't seem to overwhelm us that much.

You have permission to cry.

#crybaby #it's okay

Baby Steps

So you've had a think about your dreams and have an idea of a general direction you would like to head, but where to start? With the first step.

Goals tend to require more than one action, often requiring consistent attention and creating healthy habits over a significant period of time. This can make them overwhelming. You don't need everything to be perfect and the stars to align to take the first step; in reality, there's no way to predict exactly where your path will lead anyway, so it's more important to just get started.

What is the first step you can take? Write it down, then take action at the next available opportunity. You want to build a website: start researching colour schemes. Fearing a presentation you have to make: practice with a small group first. Need to clean your home: pick up a broom.

If you are still feeling overwhelmed, unfocused or like the task in front of you can't be accomplished, break it down into smaller and smaller steps. Don't think about how far you have to go to achieve your dreams, don't even bother trying to get through the first task, just put one foot in front of the other and see what happens.

GOAL: Get fit. What's the first step? Exercise. Too broad. Maybe start with running twice a week, for 2 months. That's a measurable goal. So the first step? Your first run? That's your first achievement/milestone. That's the easy part, but finding the motivation to actually run is where this gets interesting. Think smaller. Instead of thinking about a long exhausting run, just think of getting through the first 15 minutes. Still too overwhelming? Break it down. Get outside, even if it's just to walk. Too cold outside? Smaller step. Just put on warm clothes and shoes. But they're all the way in the other room! Smaller. Just stand up from the couch. But the TV is distracting. Littler step. Turn off the TV. But it's half way through a TV show. Baby step. Hit the record button, now there's no reason for the TV to be on. All you have to do now is hit that red power button, go on, push it. Now that the TV is off, it's boring here, may as well get up and wander to the closet. Here's the warm clothes, the shoes are right there. Now that the warm clothes are on, maybe it's not so bad outside. Just one step. Pick up pace. Jog to warm up. And before you know it, you're out for your run like you wanted, just counting in the smallest increments you need to keep it achievable, to keep yourself focused. Many tiny steps, give many tiny rewards of accomplishment.

Baby steps can be used in any aspect of life and to conquer a myriad of roadblocks. All we need is the very next, personally achievable step that will start us moving in the general direction we're aiming for.

You'll be amazed at the vast distances you can cover, if you keep moving forward one little baby step at a time.

#baby steps #baby step #just do it #you can do this #keep going #one step at a time

Don't be afraid of your dreams

When I look at my big dreams, I often get worried. Worried I don't have the skills, energy or capacity for the dreams to be part of my life. Worried that I may fail. Worried that I won't be as good as someone else.

Stop looking at those aspects of your dreams for a moment.

Think about this, can you take the first baby steps? Do you have the skills, energy and capacity for a baby step? (If not, find a smaller step, and an even smaller step - another post about that soon)

Because I'll let you in on some secrets...

You DON'T have the skills, energy or capacity; especially for everything that a big dream requires - if you did, you would be doing it already, otherwise, it's not something you truly want.

You MIGHT fail at little things along the way; but by doing nothing, you've already failed at all of it.

There are NO original ideas; someone else may have had the same idea, but you are unique, so no one has seen your dream, the way you would do it.

Of COURSE you haven't worked it all out yet; that's why its a dream.

Dream big, check the foundations and start placing one small brick at a time. You will get stronger, learn how to build it better and create something that is uniquely you.

#follow your dreams #foundations #don't be afraid #dream big

Guest Post

I spent the week working with a family member, to give you a double post this week. Here are the wonderful thoughts of a Miss Naomi.

Firstly, what is a big dream? I'm not talking about small aspirations like going to a fancy place next week, I'm talking about your life ambition, your hopes, childhood dreams even. A big dream isn't something you can buy, a big dream is created and affected by the things around us. Whether it may be a person, an ad you saw on TV, even a flash of light, or a memory. I want you to stop for a minute, stop thinking about everything around you - your problems, your small aspirations. I want you to think about what YOUR big dream is. Think hard. Maybe even connect this dream to people or places, find out why and how this dream started and why it is your dream. Your first thought may be “how can I make this dream possible?” or “Am I achieving this dream?” Or at least they should be your first thoughts. Your first thoughts should be encouragements towards your dreams or logical ways to achieve your dream, however, most of us instantly think negatively. “I am not achieving this dream.” “I'll never be able to achieve this dream.” Stop! Thoughts like this are not helping achieve your dream. Yes fear is a common thing and is just our subconscious telling us to be careful, but sometimes our subconscious may misjudge or more commonly, label things melodramatically. Which leaves me with a question. If we didn't have self-defeating thoughts would our nation be better, or at least improving problems with logical and useful solutions?

We need to stay conscious of these things, make deliberate choices and keep thinking positively about what we can achieve. If we want our world to be better, the first and foundational step lies within us.

What is your big dream?

#dream #follow your dreams #make life better

Falling off the Bandwagon

It is easy to get discouraged by hiccups in the progress towards our goals. There will be unforeseen circumstances, difficulty planning effectively and sometimes life just gets in the way. I'm sure by now, you're aware of what it's like to fall off the bandwagon.

What's the harm in missing a single session? Well, the real harm comes if you miss one day, then when the next day comes along, you consider taking that day off too; missing one day, means you may as well miss the next one too, what difference does it make? After a couple days, all of a sudden you're in the habit of NOT doing it.

As referred to in Morning Movement, "we’re aiming for starting a habit, and developing momentum, this should be our focus."

What we need is a plan for what to do when you let your routine slide:

#momentum #motivation #fall off the bandwagon #get back up #commit #conscious living #keep moving forward #don't stress

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