Author Archive
Help Me Get to Sleep
Posted by: | CommentsAre you awake at night wondering, “help me get to sleep”. There are any number of strategies for sleeping well, yet nature has already set it up for us to get a good night’s sleep.
Waking up 60x/minute – Help Me Get To Sleep
I remember taking an overnight sleep study at the sleep center where I didn’t even get to finish it. They told me to go home in the morning after informing me I was waking up 60x per minute. No wonder it felt like a mack truck hitting me every morning when I groggily awoke.
I needed some help with sleep since I was living with lots of stress in my muscles on account of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The chronic pains I used to live with were enough to keep me awake at night even though I slept with a tens unit to quiet some of the muscles down, a heating pad to soothe the back and an ice pack wrapped around my neck to ease those aches… all this after a long soak in an epsom salt bath.
Little did I know Fido had the answer to help me get to sleep.
Help me get to sleep sooner rather than later
Healthy vertebrate animals like Fido sure know how to sleep. Ah to live the happy life of a dog, yet he does something to get the tension out of his muscles so he can sleep easy.
Those cute little maneuvers he does is not a stretch, it’s called a pandiculation. He’s contracting a series of muscles and letting them release. This procedure gets the brain to send chemicals of relaxation to the targeted areas. Fortunately, we’ve systematized this as somatics exercises where you “remember” how to access this natural process.
Yepperdoodle, as our 5th grader would say. When we were children, we would do that morning stretch which we had begun to do in our mother’s womb. We were programming our muscles for both function and a relaxation response.
We got older and forgot about it. We’ve been told to stretch to keep limber. Well stretching as we know it is dead wrong according to the research. Don’t freak out, I happen to be a divorce counselor on the side.
We can go about it another way which is to use our brain to get our muscles relaxed so we can sleep better.
This might sound a bit counter-intuitive but you won’t be thinking help me get to sleep when you doze off by doing some simple somatics exercises that anyone can do.
Like Fido, when we do somatics exercises we are doing that “p” word, getting the brain to make relaxation chemicals. As we do some simple movements, we’ll begin to do things like yawn and get sleepy… all without a lot of effort either.
Help Me Get to Sleep – Online Class
Join me in a Help Me Get to Sleep Online Class, which you can download so you won’t have to lie there thinking, “help me get to sleep”.
You’ll learn how to safely and easily let go tense or tight muscles and quiet them and the mind – just in case that gets in the way too.
With simple easy movements known as somatics exercises, you’ll get to relax muscles in the chest, arms, waist, and belly so the hips, shoulders and neck will be freer to rest the spine and your entire self.
Since 1680, we’ve known that muscles can come to rest with the “p” word. Who knows you might be able to say “help me get to sleep no more” by knowing how the brain and body can un-lock the code to help with sleep.
Exercise Programs – Exercise vs. Movement
Posted by: | CommentsExercise Programs
The word exercise often connotes sweat and hard work. Movement on the other hand is about changing a position.
So many people in the gym are exercising and are still in pain rather than being able to move freely and comfortably. Are their exercise programs serving them?
When it comes to exercise vs movement to get us out pain, I’m going to have to side with movement at this point in my 50 year old life.
The other side of exercise programs
Somatics exercises which are often the reverse of most exercise programs out there, changes pain and discomfort levels using the brain rather than the brawn of exercise. This can be a challenge when we’ve accustomed our self to pushing, straining and over efforting.
Without sufficient awareness, the simple somatics movements can become exertion and exercise and not bring about the change we want away from pain.
So in both types of exercise programs, problems can occur not because of exercise itself but how we move our self in this ever present field of gravity. After all, you don’t need a weight to cramp yourself.
A learning process to move more comfortably is highly involved, though anyone can do it when we are mindful and not rushed. This lazy approach appears on the surface to be too simple, yet is complex in terms of feeling our way through the various connections and sensations we can perceive.
These sense perceptions lead us to move more comfortably so that it’s possible you’ll never have to go through arduous exercise programs again.
After all, I can go play soccer, ski, ride a bike, and walk comfortably along a trail without the uncomfortable strain, stress and high tension levels I used to live with while living with fibromyalgia.
Of course there is a debate whether the condition even exists yet there are many millions of people with inexplicable pain. But some of us no longer have the pains which racked our nervous system to pieces where a good nights sleep is so sought after.
The treasure of sleeping well comes to us more easily when we are relaxed enough, namely the tension levels which can lower themselves either by the thought of a breath or the ability to let go – which for many, many, many folks no longer is the case.
So naturally we attempt to use exercise programs to exercise stress away. I’m not opposed to exercise yet as I said, when I play a 90 minute game of soccer, it’s all about the movement, the dance on the field, being able to avoid getting crunched and being able to take a hit and recovery quickly… but these are the games I play. What’s yours?
Exercise Programs – An Alternative Choice
Each week I offer online somatics exercise – using simple movement which can be thought of like as the reverse of an ab crunch or inner thigh lift for strengthening.
To come through the looking glass of exercise vs. movement is a novel way to experience what a difference a change of position can foster rather than forcing or pushing our self.
You can use this learning, then do your exercise in a reverse manner and discover for yourself if alternative exercise programs like somatics may be one of the missing links.
Art of Movement
Posted by: | CommentsDoes Fido understand the art of movement better than us?
The Art of Movement Loosens Stiffness
Aging seems to come with a price of more stiffness, less mobility and flexibility which is a long forgotten memory. So why does Fido continue to move well as he ages?
Simply put, he pandiculates. He sets himself up for successful movement when he practices what appears as those morning stretches. Instead of stretching, he is contracting himself along a series of muscles in order to gain both relaxation and function.
This art of movement practice virtually goes unnoticed by us yet is key to moving well.
Free Muscle Cramps with the Art of Movement
When is the last time you saw Fido run and get a muscle cramp? All we have to do is rollover in bed… and out go the lights. Ouch!
To free a muscle cramp or muscular spasm is no big deal when you come to understand the art of movement which will easily and surely release what seems to be a mystery for many.
A tight, tensed up muscle releases itself not by pulling away in the opposite direction. This forceful method continues to be the way most people go at it.
On the flipside is to use an internal switch by learning how to tune down the built-up or holding tension. This is done by subtle movements in the direction of the offending signal.
Obviously there is an art of movement required here, yet anyone can learn how to successfully release a cramp.
The Art of Movement At Home
Good news is you don’t have to travel far to regain or master the art of movement.
Please join me for an online somatics exercise class where you’ll gain access to the art of movement using the power of subtlety to erase stiffness, regain mobility and restore the lost sense of flexibility.
Youthful movement isn’t just for the young. The art of movement can be practiced at any age.
Hip Pain Relief
Posted by: | CommentsHip Pain Relief Made Easy
Oh those aching hips which cause us to not to be able to sit comfortably in car rides or while we walk, if only there was some natural hip pain relief method we could use to be comfortable.
Our hip may have a slight glitch so our giddyup feels impaired and not the way it used to.
Sometimes our hips gets out of whack when they are cranked too far forwards or backwards making it hard to walk up or down the stairs.
Maybe one of our hips is tilted up higher than the other or rotated so when we walk we’re either dragging one of our legs around or throwing our hips about trying to catch up.
All this effort and strain can be minimized when we re-learn how to reset muscular tension levels which will allow us to strut and swivel our hips with ease.
Hip Pain Relief May Not Just Be in the Hips
Even though we may feel soreness and pain in the hips, it may be that some of our other muscles have forgotten what to do or are too tight or restrictive to prevent us from our natural birthright of moving easily like we did as children.
Try this hip movement.
Did you make the connection? When we start to pay closer attention to how we move not just as a part but as a whole moving living unit, we can unwind that which has led us to our binds so hip pain relief happens naturally… just like some of think it oughta be.
Hip Pain Relief Online Class
Tight, tense hip muscles are no way to live, so why bear it any longer?
Join me for an online class in hip pain relief. We’ll explore a variety of simple, easy moves you so can discover which ones can release your hips to more freedom and ease.
All you have to do is login, listen and follow along. You’ll be able to let those hips be smooth so they can glide, slide and get hip again.
Are you ready to enjoy a walk rather than push or hobble your way through it? Ready to sit more comfortably and not be wiped out?
Do your hips a favor and join me for a Mo’Better Hips – Pain Relief Class.
Yes, you can do this – even if it’s your first time.
Simple, easy moves will provide the hip pain relief you thought is possible.
Exercises for shoulder pain
Posted by: | CommentsThe reverse of exercises for shoulder pain
When we ache, are stiff, or feel a pain in shoulder, exercises for shoulder pain oughta get us of out it.
If those exercises we know aren’t doing the trick, then maybe it’s time for another approach where we use the brain to reset muscular tension levels and approach the problem more globally.
Somatics exercises for shoulder pain
Somatics exercises are different since the focus is on learning how to let go of excess tension which binds us. You can target a part of the brain, which’ll reset tension levels, so the shoulders and more will move more comfortably.
The move below is one of many somatics exercises for shoulder pain.
Was that an easy move or did you have a little sma – sensory/motor amnesia? Simple, easy movements like this may seem too simple, yet when we use a specific intention to move and notice our adjustments out of a pattern, our muscles learn to become more relaxed.
Exercises for shoulder pain online class
Learning to reset muscles with the brain is a fun, easy way to spend some worthwhile time.
Not only do we get the brain to wake-up the nervous system, our muscles become more functional as our minds cops to the idea we can more freely, even as an old duffer.
Please join me for an online exercises for shoulder pain class.
Upcoming Blog Talk Radio Interview
Posted by: | CommentsNext Tuesday, February 7 at 8am (pst) I’ll be appearing on Susan Rich Talks, Blog Talk Radio Show, Rich and Gluten Free.
While I’m a big fan of a gluten free diet, we’ll be talking about living pain free, getting rid of our aches, and losing stress & stiffness as we successfully age using an approach noted as far back as 1680.
Blog Talk Radio – Women 4 Women Network
As the guy who lived with the so-called women’s disease (fibromyalgia), I’m grateful to be asked to be appear on the Women 4 Women Network. They are empowering women both in business and life.
3 Steps to Getting Out of Pain on Blog Talk Radio
I’ll share the 3 simple steps it takes to change those painful signals to ones of pleasure so you can get back to doing what you want again with your body.
You’ll learn some moves you can do. All you have to do is listen and follow along and feel yourself in the 3 step process of what is known as somatics exercises.
Blog Talk Radio and the Divorce Counselor for Stretching
When I was told to stretch to keep myself limber, little did I know I was actually taking myself backwards – even though I spent as much as 2 hours per day doing it, thinking this would help limber me up.
Whew, I had to come through the looking glass with regards to stretching and helping people find their way to aging gracefully. See you on Susan Rich’s blog talk radio show.
Relief for Neck Pain
Posted by: | CommentsRelief for neck pain with an easy relaxation approach
Are you still doing the things you were doing with your neck 10 – 15 years ago? Or are you guarding or immobilizing yourself in order to protect yourself?
Relief for neck pain won’t be achieved through immobilization yet we can use discomfort as our guide to actually have a chance to relax tight, stiff neck muscles which might feel like a brace or vise we’re trapped in.
As we get older, does age prevent us from doing what we want physically in our body or is our accumulation of stress throughout our life taking its toll?
Do we have the capacity to discover a natural way of relief for neck pain by applying a novel approach which has been reported to relax muscles for over 300 years?
Hands-on approach to relief for neck pain
Pandiculations, which the founder of clinical medicine reported in 1680, relaxes our muscles has been systematically used by Hanna Somatic Educators where we teach people how to use the un-exercises of pandiculations systematized as somatics exercises.
Relief for neck pain comes when we un-do tightness, stiffness and regain lost mobility and return to natural flexibility which is comfortable without strain. As we move with greater ease, we can appreciate a greater sense of internal muscular connections.
In the video below, you can find out for yourself if the hip bone is connected to the neck bone. Afterwards you can try the hands-on approach as a means for relief for neck pain.
Simple movement can facilitate our understanding of how we are connected throughout our body. When we lose these connections, we lose a certain sense of ourself. Our internal guide to reset naturally avails itself so that relief for neck pain is felt as natural – as if we knew this all along.
In the many years of exercises I attempted, I had to come through a looking glass to both feel and understand how our brain can rewire the nervous system as we did as children. The conscious act of a pandiculation we did in our mother’s womb has the potential as relief for neck pain when we become reacquainted with a former ability.
Relief for neck pain and more
Please join me in this week’s online un-exercises (or get the replay) on a delightful class for the muscles of the neck and spine – which will include the back and belly as well as a movement for the ribs and hips which will tie everything together.
You’ll also learn to release some muscles in the chest and shoulders too which will help free up the arms.
And you’ll also learn a few more specific hands on techniques like you did in the video above.
Relief for neck pain can be accessed from within without any special equipment, just a little applied know how that you already possess within your nervous system.
Head Movements
Posted by: | CommentsSimple, easy head movements can give us a more comfortable neck and shoulders.
Head movements don’t have to be difficult
In fact, our neck, shoulders and head oughta move freely and easily.
If your head has been stuck by either tight neck muscles or tensed up shoulders, there is a natural way to release the built up muscular tension.
You can try the head movements below just for fun.
Fun head movements to try
See, that wasn’t so hard. Or was it difficult to keep your head facing forwards or not tweaking yourself.
When we’ve endured enough head and neck pain, that movement among others can prove to be difficult. I remember when my neck pain felt like a hard sore block that wouldn’t budge or let me move freely. Turning my neck seemed like it was one of the hardest things to do.
Yet when we consciously remind our body of the available movements that we can do, our brain can release neurochemicals of relaxation while we are regaining function so we can enjoy the mobility we richly deserve.
Not moving in a variety of directions begins to limit our body and perhaps our thinking too.
The head movements connection to the rest of our body is evident when we have to feel or sense our self not only at the movement of the head sliding along the surface… but how it relates with the rest of our body.
We are one piece, last I checked and the more we check-in, the far easier it is to self-correct naturally.
A somatics exercise class on head movements
When we move somatically, we can experience the freeing up of pain, stiffness and aches when we tune further and deeper into ourselves. This most natural act is what we did as babies, as a child and if we’re lucky… remember to do for a comfortable life.
Re-learning to move easily and effortlessly requires a quiet internal observance done in a specific slow manner. If you’re game to be more comfortable, you can learn some head movements to free up the neck, shoulders and more.
Please join me for an online class on head movements where all you’ll have to do is… listen, easily follow along… and notice whatever happens… usually the muscles, aches and pains let go. Isn’t it about time to live with easy head movements?
Stretching is even bad news Down Under
Posted by: | CommentsAt Victoria’s University School of Sports and Exercise Science in Australia, James Zois sees the same epidemic I’ve been raving and kindly reminding you about – stop stretching!
Some people keep on stretching and are wedded to the concept.
Look at this poor guy stretching
By attempting to stretch his hip flexor, he’s actually tightening his hamstrings, the muscles behind the leg.
He might be even contracting his back muscles to be able to get that foot to the buttocks.
Maybe he can still sit on his heels, but the point is… a stretch such as this is still done at professional levels and worse, high schools and even middle schools kids are being led down this lazy and counter-productive route.
Lazy on account of research moving on. Athletes do not need this to warm-up.
Divorce Counselor for Stretching
As a divorce counselor for stretching… you can rest easy, there are other ways to lengthen muscles and warm them up.
For instance, healthy vertebrate animals aren’t stretching either. It’s not what you think.
They consciously contract and then release themselves.
By refocusing your attention on what muscles are designed to do, that is to contract, we can reset them and ready them at the same time.
Stretching is Over
Leave it to the folks who’ll continue to argue about it saying it makes them feel good rather than understanding it’s a waste of time and we can use our intelligence to reset things rather than pulling us apart.
Even for us 50 year olds, stretching is over.
Letting Go
Posted by: | CommentsThe art of letting go
Letting go of tight, restricted, stiff, tense muscles is easier said than done.
While the advice to just let go sounds like a good idea, our muscles may have
forgotten how to relieve the tension and remain tight as a drum.
It’s possible our muscles have forgotten the art of letting go.
Letting go of muscular tension
When we were young we could easily bound down a hill. Today, as an adult so many of us brace our way down the hill or stairs instead of easily letting go.
When we begin an activity from a place of already being contracted, we accumulate more contractions and move further away from letting go of the muscular tension we’ve added.
When we are in pain, we are often wary. If we happen to stretch a contracted area, then the brain will send a message to re-contract afterwards. Things tighten up once again and letting go doesn’t happen.
Even in a traction device, our muscles will re-contract afterwards so hanging upside down to lengthen muscles may feel temporarily good, yet the brain will do what it does to reset the muscular tension levels back to its set points.
Instead, if we consider our self as a self-adjusting organism, we don’t need any contraptions or devices, just our self and gravity since this is the field we happened to have things go awry in.
In the practice of somatics, we aren’t necessarily focusing on the muscles, we are working with the lines of communication from the brain to the muscles. The pathways or information from brain to muscle is where we play and change both the brain and body.
When we experience a painful signal – this can be our greatest teacher since we can locate a movement above, below, to the right or left or forwards/back of it – which we can release by being careful.
Regaining the ability of letting go
If you believe you can improve yourself, we know today from neural plasticity, the brain and thus the body can change itself.
With a little know-how we can relearn the lost art of letting go.
By easing our way into greater range of motion rather than force, we’ll end up being stronger simply by letting go. If we push it, our brain will naturally re-contract the muscles.
To go easy is like untying a knot gently. If you tug too tightly, the knot will tighten.
Please join me in an online class which offers you the simple art of letting go with easy, fun, simple moves done in a different way of focusing on movement and using the brain to reset our self naturally.
