Relief for tense shoulders is only a breath away.
TO BEGIN
Sit or stand comfortably.
Notice the distance between your ears and shoulders. Is it the same left and right?
This lesson can be done just about anywhere. Use it often to relieve not only shoulder tension but tummy butterflies and anxiety.
DO
1. Lift your shoulders bringing them as close to your ears as possible. KEEP THEM THERE.
2. Exhale completely pushing out as much air as possible. If you're somewhere where it's okay to make noise, make a continuous hissing sound through your teeth as you exhale. This will prevent you from sneaking a small breath in the middle of the exhale and allow you to exhale completely.
3. Hold your breath as you drop your shoulders.
4. Allow your lungs to fill with air. DO NOT take a breath, allow the air to come into your lungs. If you have exhaled completely this will happen automatically. If not, repeat Steps 1 - 4 making sure you push out as much air as possible.
5. Repeat 3 or 4 times.
NOTICE
Was there a change in the distance between your shoulders and ears?
How do your shoulders feel? More relaxed?
OPTIONS
When you think your lungs are empty try pushing out a little bit more air being careful not to inhale.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Less IS More
Although conventional wisdom is starting to shift, we still have a societal notion that pain and gain are somehow synonymous. They aren't but often the philosophy is so ingrained it's hard to believe that doing less can actually achieve more in terms of comfort, flexibility, range of motion, ease, etc. It does but how do we break with our habitual patterns and shift to a "less is more" mentality? Simply, pay attention. Notice what it is you do. Chances are if you're rushing or pushing your way through a movement (or life) you're working much harder than is necessary and in the process are tightening muscles and creating an underlying level of tension that leads to pain, discomfort and lack of function. If you're willing to step out of your zone of familiarity and try a new, simpler way, you may be pleasantly surprised. What have you got to lose? Maybe your pain and limitations!
Following these simple guidelines as you do the lessons posted on this site will optimize your experience.
1. Take a few moments before you begin and between movements to NOTICE how you are sitting or standing. Notice if anything changes.
2. Notice your BREATHING. Are you breathing? Attending to your breath as you do the lessons gives you a good indication of how much you are struggling. If you find yourself catching or holding your breath try doing less and moving more slowly.
3. Do the movements VERY VERY SLOWLY. Slow movements allow you to override habitual and limiting patterns and teach your brain that new patterns are possible.
4. DO LESS than you know you can do. Staying within a range of comfort and ease allows the body to let go of overprotective reflexes that cause limitations.
5. REPEAT. Do each of the suggested movements several times pausing between repetitions.
6. REST often. Do a few movements then stop to rest. This gives your nervous system a chance to assimilate the new connections and possibilities the lessons are designed to offer.
7. BE CURIOUS. If something in the way you are moving captures your attention or you discover a connection between different parts of your body as you do the lessons, allow yourself to notice. Repeat the movements as long as you can attend with curiosity. If they become rote, STOP. The act of attending creates the foundation for learning something new and more comfortable.
8. SUSPEND JUDGMENT. Can you let go of the notion that there is one "right" way of doing things and instead be open to the possibility that there are many equally valid possibilities? If you can, you may surprise yourself with new flexibility and freedom.
Post a comment or send me a note if you need clarification. Click on "comments" at the bottom of each note or lesson and a comment box will pop up.
Happy Learning!
Julie
Following these simple guidelines as you do the lessons posted on this site will optimize your experience.
1. Take a few moments before you begin and between movements to NOTICE how you are sitting or standing. Notice if anything changes.
2. Notice your BREATHING. Are you breathing? Attending to your breath as you do the lessons gives you a good indication of how much you are struggling. If you find yourself catching or holding your breath try doing less and moving more slowly.
3. Do the movements VERY VERY SLOWLY. Slow movements allow you to override habitual and limiting patterns and teach your brain that new patterns are possible.
4. DO LESS than you know you can do. Staying within a range of comfort and ease allows the body to let go of overprotective reflexes that cause limitations.
5. REPEAT. Do each of the suggested movements several times pausing between repetitions.
6. REST often. Do a few movements then stop to rest. This gives your nervous system a chance to assimilate the new connections and possibilities the lessons are designed to offer.
7. BE CURIOUS. If something in the way you are moving captures your attention or you discover a connection between different parts of your body as you do the lessons, allow yourself to notice. Repeat the movements as long as you can attend with curiosity. If they become rote, STOP. The act of attending creates the foundation for learning something new and more comfortable.
8. SUSPEND JUDGMENT. Can you let go of the notion that there is one "right" way of doing things and instead be open to the possibility that there are many equally valid possibilities? If you can, you may surprise yourself with new flexibility and freedom.
Post a comment or send me a note if you need clarification. Click on "comments" at the bottom of each note or lesson and a comment box will pop up.
Happy Learning!
Julie
Friday, February 26, 2010
LESSON 1: Easing the Wrists & Shoulders
Whether you spend your days at the computer, or suffer shoulder/wrist pain from golf or racquet sports or the effects of an injury or overuse, the following lesson can help to make the movements of your wrists, arms and shoulders more fluid and comfortable.
TO BEGIN
This Lesson is to be done sitting at a desk or table.
Sit in an upright position with the soles of your feet on the floor, your feet and knees about as far apart as your hips are wide, and your ankles directly under your knees.
Notice the distance between your shoulders and your ears. Is it the same left and right?
Place the palm of your RIGHT hand on the surface or the desk or table. Let your fingers be close together.
Let your elbow drop below the surface of the table/desktop. Notice - this will cause a slight bend in your wrist. It is not necessary to drop the elbow very far, a small amount is fine. Do what is comfortable.
DO
1. Beginning with your index finger, gently press the entire finger into the surface of the table/desktop. Allow the palm of your hand to remain flat as you press.
2. Hold in this position for a slow count of three.
3. Release.
4. Repeat 3 -4 times.
5. Repeat Steps 1 - 4 with each finger, ending with the thumb.
6. Repeats Steps 1 -4, pressing your entire hand into the desk/tabletop.
7. Rest. Notice the difference between your left and right shoulders? Is there a difference? Which feels lower, easier?
8. Repeat the Lesson with your LEFT hand.
NOTICE
As you press, you might notice how each finger creates a sensation in a different part of your back and ribcage.
Are you breathing? Can you do this in such a way that you can breathe easily as you press and release?
How do your shoulders and wrists feel before and after you complete the Lesson?
OPTIONS
Don't have a table or desk at hand? Try placing your hands on your thighs and repeat the Lesson using your thighs instead.
TO BEGIN
This Lesson is to be done sitting at a desk or table.
Sit in an upright position with the soles of your feet on the floor, your feet and knees about as far apart as your hips are wide, and your ankles directly under your knees.
Notice the distance between your shoulders and your ears. Is it the same left and right?
Place the palm of your RIGHT hand on the surface or the desk or table. Let your fingers be close together.
Let your elbow drop below the surface of the table/desktop. Notice - this will cause a slight bend in your wrist. It is not necessary to drop the elbow very far, a small amount is fine. Do what is comfortable.
DO
1. Beginning with your index finger, gently press the entire finger into the surface of the table/desktop. Allow the palm of your hand to remain flat as you press.
2. Hold in this position for a slow count of three.
3. Release.
4. Repeat 3 -4 times.
5. Repeat Steps 1 - 4 with each finger, ending with the thumb.
6. Repeats Steps 1 -4, pressing your entire hand into the desk/tabletop.
7. Rest. Notice the difference between your left and right shoulders? Is there a difference? Which feels lower, easier?
8. Repeat the Lesson with your LEFT hand.
NOTICE
As you press, you might notice how each finger creates a sensation in a different part of your back and ribcage.
Are you breathing? Can you do this in such a way that you can breathe easily as you press and release?
How do your shoulders and wrists feel before and after you complete the Lesson?
OPTIONS
Don't have a table or desk at hand? Try placing your hands on your thighs and repeat the Lesson using your thighs instead.
Mind Set, Mind Free
"The only thing that is fixed is our belief that it is so." - Moshe Feldenkrais
How often have you told yourself you've got to learn to live with that chronic pain in your neck, or back, or found yourself complaining about growing "old" as if aches and pains, reduced flexibility and limited mobility are a normal part of aging and to be expected, even anticipated, or dismissed those nagging aches as the result of too many hours spent at your computer?
What would you say if I told you it needn't be so and that the way to maintaining flexibility and function in the body is through teaching the brain that it has options, that the movement choices we make - whether consciously or un - are not cast in stone but are simply learned responses that can be unlearned and replaced with new possibilities that are freer, easier, even elegant?
Well - you can! You can re-train your brain using gentle movement and in the process find more comfortable ways of moving and being.
In subsequent blogs, I'll guide you through simple movement sequences that you can do on your own to increase your awareness of what you are doing and in the process relieve pain and stress, and find comfort in action. I call these sequences "Lessons". You may do them in order or simply choose one that targets your personal "problem" area. My hope is that you'll give them a try and discover for yourself how less pain can yield more gain.
Happy learning!
I wish you ease,
Julie
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