Archive for Home Based Exercise Program
Core workout
Posted by: | CommentsWe often hear about a core workout. So how do we go about knowing what to do and what will help us?
The middle of our self is what many call the core. How we move the core and translate our coordination out to our extremities is important. We can then move easily, agilely and powerfully when we need to.
We used to believe our muscles were attached to the bone. Now we’ve come to understand our muscles are attached to other muscles. We generate movement with our brain’s intention. We let it coordinate our actions and we know whether or not there is room for some improvement.
A Complete Core Workout
The core is generally considered to use the muscles of the spine. In the front, muscles such as the abs, and in the back, those muscles which run from the neck to the lower back. On our sides, we can use our waist muscles.
A core workout wouldn’t be considered complete if we left out the hips or pelvis muscles. A typical core workout could be doing a variety of ab crunches so we can help stabilize the spine and protect the back.
Can a core workout be too much of a good thing? Certainly some people specifically focus on the abs. If you want a core workout such as this, just hold your breath. That way you can develop your six-pack abs and stabilize all you want.
Too much of core workout centered on the abs can eventually pull the chest wall down and leave you with a tight stomach, a sunken chest or less mobility. The other way to achieve this is to sit too much and let gravity take care of it.
On the other hand, the one big muscle, the brain, controls the resting levels of our muscles. Mel Siff, the author of Facts and Fallacies of Fitness, noted that reprogramming the brain was more important than strength training or aerobics.
Instead of stabilizing our spine for a base of support we can use our dynamic movement system for easy, comfortable movement. When we need more power, we can use our ability to generate it with a seamless transfer throughout our entire coordinated being.
A core workout for good posture
To be able to sit comfortably with a good posture takes the requisite amount of balance of tension. Too much on one side and we could be pulled too far forwards, shifted to one side, rotated or slumped back.
Maintaining our mobility so we can move comfortably lets us use our natural flexibility to be strong. Lose the flexibility, diminish the mobility and now the posture will struggle to keep upright or even walk comfortably.
When we shift towards a brain based way of reprogramming tension levels, then sitting and walking becomes more effortless. A good posture is maintained by the signals we can self-corrects through our sensitivity of this fine balance in tension levels.
A simple easy core workout can be the reminder it takes. Minor or micro-adjustments can be the shift we need or have forgotten to remember to use to be able sit comfortably upright without a back support. The best back is the one you have and can maintain with ease.
Rock around the clock core workout
Simple, easy movement using an intention to move uses our brain’s intelligence to rewire the nervous system so our muscle to muscle system is enhanced. This enhancement is how healthy vertebrate animals naturally reset themselves and remain agile and powerful.
You can join me in this week’s online core workout where you’ll learn how to rock around the clock and free up the front, back, sides, and length of the spine. We’ll also get those hips and pelvis involved.
All you have to do is lie down, listen and follow along. It’s “oh too simple”.
A core workout doesn’t have to be arduous, we can simply move and coordinate our own powerful actions to leave us both relaxed and ready.
Walking with pain
Posted by: | CommentsWalking with pain everyday
Are you walking with pain when all you want to is go on a leisurely walk and be comfortable?
Being able to walk comfortably can be ours again when we remind our muscles of their connections to each other simply through the natural act of a pandiculation. Fortunately the “p” word has been systematized as somatics exercises
Walking with pain can seem like we’re dragging a heavy weight around. Lose that heavy albatross and we can be free again.
I remember what it was like to walk a mere 50 feet and my shoulder would sear in pain. It was no fun to go on a walk.
The hips on the other hand, had felt off track and had been clunking around since the age of 14 when I first noticed it. Pain seemed to come out of nowhere on the side of the hips, that stitch in the side, or the back of the legs when I experienced that hot poker of sciatica – ouch, ouch, ouch.
When we get off track, we can get back on by losing what un-tracks us. Sounds complicated. It really isn’t.
Walking in pain is miserable. Who wants to walk when we know if we do, bad things can happen. So why bother.
By not doing one of our more natural acts, we’re doing a great disservice to our self. It’s a tough situation to be in, you want to walk and then you end up walking with pain.
Walking has been considered one of the best exercises we can do for any number of health reasons but doesn’t that sound kind of lame. We’re the two legged animal, this is what we’re here to do. Walking in pain isn’t the option we’d like.
Walking with pain and compensations
A couple of considerations to amble easily is to have things arranged with less compensations or habits of movement which no longer serve us.
If we live with a rotated hip and it clunks or doesn’t move well, this can have negative effects on the knee, ankle or our back. We’ll do a walking rather than ambulate with ease and grace.
Tight, stiff, overly tensed leg muscles which restrict or inhibit movement may result from compensatory habits, injuries or even lack of water. Diet plays a role since the muscles need fuel. Re-programming our movement patterns, on the other hand, has been lost on many people.
If we’re not self-correcting, we’re missing opportunities to lengthen muscles back into shape. Those lazy dogs which sleep all day usually don’t miss a beat and pandiculate themselves after periods of being sedentary.
If we’re sitting for hours on end for instance, this type of day in day out programming doesn’t help us walk any better. The muscles atrophy towards dis-use which furthers our inflexible hobbling ways.
The good news is, we can reprogram the muscles so walking in pain no longer afflicts us. We can improve the connections of our muscles by moving our parts lazily around in a conscious manner where the brain resets tension levels.
Reducing tension allows us to self-correct, change our compensations and gives us new ways to move so walking with pain no longer is an issue.
Walking with pain online class
To end our uncomfortable ways, you can learn some simple, easy movements which resets our muscles back to comfortable resting levels. When our muscles are programmed to be more relaxed, they remember how to get there more quickly.
Please join me for an online class of somatics exercises where you’ll learn how to lessen walking with pain. All you have to do is lie down, listen, and follow along to free things up.
Recapturing our youthful ways of movement is a memory not long forgotten, we just haven’t accessed the part of our brain which can restore and refresh our muscles so walking with pain is a thing of the past we can forget.
Exercise workout plan
Posted by: | CommentsAn exercise workout plan is useful to promote well-being.
Feeling well in our body is satisfying when have useful tools which allows us to move more freely and easily.
A daily exercise workout plan
Before we think about exercising, we ought to consider what sets us up for exercise in the first place.
When we get up, we are naturally stiffer since our muscles shorten overnight.
Oh what to do? Start with an exercise workout plan.
Instead of traditional stretching, which we know harms us, we can move ourself simply.
Simple, easy movements to articulate our joints primes the muscles for our larger movements throughout the day. After all, you won’t see Fido stretching nor hitting the weights in his exercise workout plan.
Instead, Fido reprograms the muscles first.
The most important exercise workout plan
According to Mel Siff, who wrote the book, “Facts and Fallacies of Fitness”… the most important exercise is reprogramming the central nervous system. He considered this to be more important than strength training and aerobics.
This makes obvious sense. The brain, which can reset our muscles, needs a continual updating of its movement software.
We’ve got to take out any stiffness and tension we accrue.
This is why healthy vertebrate animals naturally reset themselves periodically throughout the day.
When we naturally reprogram our muscles, they are left more functional and ready to be used since they’ve been given the cue to let go of any residual holding tension.
Muscles which are less tense, move far easier than the ones which keep us bound up, throwing our parts around like we’re a hobbling zombie.
Our brain’s cortex can do the job to reset the muscles. This is why we can use the un-exercise approach of somatics exercises anytime to feel better.
Exercise workout plan class
There exists a delightful set of somatics exercises which are known as either the cat stretch or daily maintenance routine.
This exercise workout plan sets the body up for movement for the day.
This week, I’ll be teaching a version of that particular exercise workout plan.
By modifying certain elements, the very exercise routine we accustom our self to, becomes enhanced.
Join our somatics exercise online class. This set of movements can be quite the useful exercise workout plan.
Recuperation
Posted by: | CommentsWhen you go out to do whatever physical activity you engage in and over exert yourself, what form of recuperation do you use?
Do you use a hot tub? Do you use ice or ibuprofen to soothe your muscles?
Laurie and myself thought we were going to play in an over 45 co-ed soccer tournament last past weekend and found out it was over 40 instead. What are you going to do at our age?
Preparation & Recuperation
Good thing we both practiced our somatics exercises in preparation. We also did them in between and after the games all weekend.
This method of preparation and recuperation allows us to move more freely after engaging our bodies in an activity that is not normal in terms of our human development. All the cutting back and forth while wearing cleats is not what the natural design of the body has been used for over time.
Wearing our joints down with this un-natural and at times risky movement activity can exact a price. We’ve watched over time how many people struggle.
Even this weekend, we are watching how teenagers are barely making it through one game of soccer, in spite of all the training they are receiving.
Makes you wonder how much knowledge is applied when it comes to recuperation even at this young age.
In our age group, while others were doing some stretching, using tiger balm and downing ibuprofens… I kept a keen eye on who would make it through all the games without hearing the usual complaints of stiffness, soreness, aches, and over exertion that is very common not only in playing in adult leagues but the extra level it sometimes takes to make it through an entire weekend-warrior competition.
With our gray hairs, we both comfortably walked away with a 3rd place trophy. We were both happy how our bodies held up in the 90°+ heat in Yakima, WA at the aptly named Sunburn Tournament.
Our Preferred Method of Recuperation
Our preferred method of recuperation, using somatics exercises, allows us to be able to successfully compete and not have any of the usual stiffness afterwards. We had other weekend plans in store for the drive back.
On our way back, we drive through Mt. Rainer National Park.
The fresh air felt incredibly well to breathe. It was odd that only a couple of hours before we played in the heat of eastern Washington.
We didn’t have to traipse around at some 5400 feet, instead we comfortably ambled about enjoying the 5th National Park in the U.S.
Nature has a way of restoring one’s health even after grinding it out on the playing field. It’s as if our recuperation was fostered by hiking in the clean mountain air full of alpine flowers and snow in August.
The following night we headed over to our usual over 50 fun league to play a more recreational level of soccer and once again our bodies were well recuperated so that we could enjoy playing at the indoor arena.
The indoor game is a different type of game than the outdoor version. The movements are shorter and sometime quicker on account of the ball bouncing quickly off the boards and glass. Our quick reactions and the ability to respond without being hung-up is vital.
Laurie’s son accompanied us. He also got to play in a game. As we were leaving, all 3 of us were asked to just stay one more game, so we played with the younger 20’s somethings.
Now in between games, I thought I was done for the evening and would enjoy one of those malt filled beverages that many people use as a form of recuperation. Little did I know that I was about to play once again.
On our ride back, our teenager complained of being tired. Both Laurie and I heartily laughed as we compared the number of games we all had played. The old folks had him 5 to 2 (and 98 years to 15) and neither of one of us were sore, stiff, or aching as a result.
Even Grandma knows how to wield recuperation
I cannot rave enough about how amazing our recuperation powers are when we use the brain using the simple somatic movements.
While it’s of great help to have a positive mind-set, it’s fun to see how the body just keeps moving well along for the ride.
Even grandma, who missed the last step of getting off of the boat on their boating excursion to Canada, twisted her knee and asked Grandpa to show her some of those somatics exercises he diligently practices.
Grandma, like the rest of us, found how quickly her own powers of recuperation came to the fore when she used the somatics exercises which gets the brain to release held states of contraction while improving muscular function.
Brain based exercises like somatics take the edge off of the muscular tension, stiffness, and the stress we accumulate. Now had I only known this when I was living with fibromyalgia, I might have spared myself the many years of chronic pain.
No matter, to move well… can happen at least at age 50 and beyond for others. I’ll let you how it goes when I get to 60.
My hunch is… in the next decade I’ll probably learn a little more on re-balancing the nervous system and refreshing the body with somatics exercises.
All it takes is simple, easy movements which remind the nervous system to calm things down a notch. The powers of recuperation and moving comfortably lie well within us.
Be your own bodyworker
Posted by: | CommentsWouldn’t it be great if you could be your own bodyworker and release tight, stiff, sore muscles yourself?
Somatics exercises uses the field of gravity so you can use the brain to get muscles to lose tension and relax more quickly. This is one way to act as your own bodyworker.
Doing a pandiculation, which is at the heart of somatics, is what we do when we do somatics exercises. When a trained somatic bodyworker works with your muscles this is called an assisted pandiculation.
Bodyworker and assisted pandiculations.
Hanna Somatic Educators are trained bodyworkers and movement experts who help people restore the function of muscles with either bodywork or specific exercises or a combination of both.
This training takes place over the course of three years since even for the so-called experts, there is a shift in learning how the body responds neurologically and well let’s face, the practitioner needs a lot of practice to fully understand the thousands of combinations we all move in and how we articulate ourselves.
In the last decade, I’ve noticed many shifts of internal organization as I too have learned my way out of compensatory habits and established newer, easier movement patterns which evolve and continue to surprise and delight me as I age.
A hands-on bodyworker in cooperation with a person has to figure out what needs to be released. By assisting a person with a pandiculation, both parties can sense a result taking place.
These assisted pandiculation often turn into the self-pandiculations that a person will do as the somatics exercises or homework to keep improving mobility, flexibility and the diminishment of panful signals.
Become your own bodyworker
As you become familiar with the somatics exercises, you can learn how to become your own bodyworker using gravity as the load or weight of resistance when you move yourself in the variety of movement patterns to restore function and improve coordination.
You can also use your own hands to provide the resistance with some of the somatics exercises. It’s best to be led by a Hanna Somatics Practitioner who can give you the idea or guide you along this path to help restore balance in the muscles.
When we use our own hands as a bodyworker on our self, we may be able to learn how to modulate our efforts with a little bit of practice.
Be your own Bodyworker Class
Reminding the movement system as to how it moves is what all healthy vertebrate animals do to keep themselves moving well. After all, what kind of bodyworker can they go to themselves?
For the most part, nature has set it up so all vertebrates can move well merely be reminding the nervous system to reset, or reboot if you will.
Fortunately, we can apply a systematic approach through the somatics exercises and use these tools to be our own bodyworker when needed.
This Friday, August 19th, I’ll be offering an online class in somatics exercises so you can do your own pandiculations in the field of gravity.
You’ll also learn how to use your own hands and be a bodyworker so you can do things like sit more comfortably crossed legged and free up your hips and hip flexors.
When we use our brain and neurology in novel ways, we can foster growth and education in the ways in which we move. We can actually move better as we age.
Now I’m only saying that when I compared myself to a group of 55 high school athletes and few if any had the hamstring flexibility of someone 3x their age.
Register for this Friday’s class. Find out for yourself how free you can be. Sign up and be your own bodyworker.
Exercises for the Lower Body – part 2.
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We often find less pain, no pain, improved mobility, better balance, better focus and concentration as a result of doing exercises for the lower body in a differentiated manner.
Somatics exercises for the lower body can be thought of as engaging our self with the sub-programs of movement through an act of differentiation.
Movement software update – Exercises for the lower body
We’re not only re-programming how we move via our brain’s cortex, we can notice the distinct and different quality of the movement or of the resulting relaxation which occurs with somatics exercises for the lower body.
When we were younger, smaller and much lighter, we spent hours and hours of programming and re-reprogramming our movement patterns through many patterns of differentiation.
As we’ve aged and used those earlier programs, maybe we figured we have all the programs and don’t need to update the movement software anymore. We might have forgotten about the quality of differentiation when it comes to exercises for the lower body.
For ourself and our physical development, when did we end tweaking our movement software?
What is the proper amount?
Healthy animal exercises for the lower body
Healthy vertebrate animals naturally do 7-10 movement updates in the morning and 40-50 periodically throughout the day.
While this may sound like a lot of movements to do to remain healthy. Read this article on a motion tracking study.
Many of us have done 3 sets of 20 or lots of aerobics when it comes to exercises for the lower body. This shifts us into the brain’s cerebellum, which does learned movement.
The somatics approach to exercise differs by having the focus not be on the higher number of repetitions but on the quality of movement itself.
Somatics exercises for the lower body is about the act of movement itself along with the intention and precise angle of articulation so our motor cortex becomes highly involved and can change how the muscles function and come to rest.
These types of exercises for the lower body advances a cumulative approach to improving coordination, awareness, heightened balanced, and sharper sense of ourself.
Exercises for the lower body with a twist.
By changing our relationship with gravity, this small twist on doing exercises for the lower body is enough of a difference for our muscular tissues to evolve towards higher function.
When we change our effort, or even interrupt a pattern with our intention, this furthers along our brain to help the sub-program of movement to improve.
In this week’s Friday’s online class, we’re going to play with more exercises for the lower body doing the unusual somatics exercises in the normal way as well as in other differentiated and interesting ways.
You’ll consciously interrupt the simple 3 step method and learn a few newer ways to enhance the practice of somatics exercises in this class for exercises for the lower body.
Seated Exercises
Posted by: | CommentsSomatics exercises while mostly done on the floor can also be experienced as seated exercises.
That’s one of the great things about the practice of somatics, is its variability to adapt to situations and circumstances.
Seated exercises, a somatics perspective.
This may come in handy, if you’re on the plane, commuting by train, bus, ferry and even while driving in the car.
So when you decide to do seated exercises with a somatics perspective, in a car or even on a plane, you don’t have to do the movements. You can merely follow your intention to move and keep your attention on that as well as reversing yourself from that intention.
When we normally do seated exercises, we generally focus on exercise rather than the total experience of the entire movement which is involved.
When it comes to making a movement, how much effort is necessary to the movement itself can be of a great interest. By working somatically, you become more aware of all of the actions involved and the little effort needed.
When you’re doing seated exercises, there is nothing wrong with giving more effort. If it produces an uncomfortable strain, discomfort or pain, then you’re using more effort than necessary.
Seated exercises do not have to be painful
By staying under those uncomfortable levels of effort, you can more effectively reset the muscles vis-a-vis your nervous system using the feedback loop of your sensory-motor cortex.
Being mindful of this loop helps to increase our proprioceptive awareness. We can use that to posture ourself more optimally for longer periods of well-being.
Remaining seated for great lengths of time like when it comes to reading can be a dis-service to our body. We may be unconsciously adapting ourself to shortened muscular positions and create the habit of tight, stiff muscles without our awareness.
While in general seated exercises may be beneficial for strength, if you aren’t aware of the movement, you may be just a human doing exercise instead of feeling and sensing how your body travels in space with a weight attached to it.
Awareness is what allows us to improve how well we can move. The good news is, the brain is ready to move us forwards and get us back on track even if we decide to do what we consider normal seated exercises.
Increase function with seated exercises
Using our awareness to activate shortened muscles, not only can we can restore their length by putting the brakes on those shortened muscles, we can increase the function so the muscles serve us with easier use.
This may sound a bit counter-intuitive, yet when the brain is actively engaged with our awareness in seated exercises, it is this awareness which helps us reprogram the muscles.
Reprogramming muscles in seated exercises is important and as normal as updating your computer.
Our bodies and minds are in a way representative of a computer system which needs updating and refreshing to keep moving well. Update the movement system with somatics seated exercises, then the experience of sitting can be more enhanced.
You can download a copy of this class seated exercises class for the neck, shoulders, waist and spine.
Afterwards, you’ll have some tools to know what to do when riding in a car. You’ll get a version of what I call auto-somatics.
Simple seated exercises which can be done anywhere and anytime you sit.
Upper Body Exercises
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The other side of the coin when it comes to upper body exercises.
Generally, when we think of exercise we are usually pushing a weight, giving a bit more effort, holding a pose, stretching or breathing more rapidly.
Cortical Inhibition Upper Body Exercises
Do we ever take the time to un-do what we just activated with our upper body exercises?
Many people would think of stretching, which we know is bad for us according to the research. There is a unique way we can actively use our brain to un-do the activating of the muscles of the upper body.
When it comes to the neck, upper back, chest, shoulders and arms… how often have you consciously worked on getting those muscles to let go?
The brain can do this through exercises known as somatics exercises which primarily uses gravity as the load to release any held contraction levels.
Those contraction levels may remain higher after we activate our muscles with normal upper body exercises. If we remain activated and tight, then the muscles can’t lower their resting rates to be more fully activated the next time we need to use them.
While we may spend worthwhile time activating muscles, we can use the brain’s inhibitory process to bring those very muscles back to neutral resting rates so they are idling in neutral rather than revved up in 2nd gear to begin with.
Is the brain factor missing in upper body exercises?
The brain can be used to release relaxation back into our muscular system so we can feel how the muscles let go and become softer.
If we are living with a tight neck from everyday stress do we need upper body exercises to strengthen that which is already tight?
Wouldn’t it seem to make more sense to have a set of upper body exercises which could release the muscles we just jacked up thus giving us a more balanced use of ourself.
Many times we often talk of balance as working the front side or the back side when it comes to upper body exercises. Do we include the muscles of our side so that each side is balanced as well? By working with the front, back and both sides we can strengthen equally and attempt to be more in balance.
Anybody doing de-activating upper body exercises?
All of these upper body exercises are all well and good yet did we take the requisite time to actively de-activate those muscles too.
Getting stiff from exercise or feeling the tension increase in our muscles doesn’t necessarily have to remain. Any rigidity would be hard to balance by what, more upper body exercises to strengthen tight or stiff muscles on the other side of what we think we need to balance.
In normal exercise, we’ll lift or move with ideas like 3 sets of 10 to build strength or we’ll do many movements so our aerobic capacity increases through the repetition of swinging a limb many times.
By using the brain in a very conscious manner, all we need to do is just say three or less movements to get the brain to reset the muscles.
Then we can move onto perhaps a different angle or different intention to re-focus the brain and improve the movement and the memory of that particular movement.
Moving freely, easily and naturally as healthy vertebrate animals do comes from the very same procedure they use to move well, be agile, and appear graceful with their movements.
This type programming and learning comes from the brain. We human animals have forgotten how to use this other side of the coin when it comes to upper body exercises.
All it takes is just a different orientation with gravity and being mindful so we can more fully return ourself to a fuller capacity and have a more or deeper balanced approach with upper body exercises.
If you’d like to find out how to rebalance in a completely different way, then join us on Friday, July 16th. You can join us live, online or get the class which will be ready for replay afterwards.
We’ll explore how to use the brain with simple movements to reset those muscles which often don’t when it comes to upper body exercises.
Upcoming Online Somatics Workshop
Posted by: | CommentsSaturday, June 19th
10am – 1pm Pacific Coast Time.
Guarding and holding onto your muscles to keep protecting yourself is no way to live… and something you’re all too familiar with.
Using muscle relaxants, ice, heat, and other meds hasn’t solved it for you either.
• Do you have to live with it?
• Do you have to keep enduring it?
• Does it have to keep happening to you?
Come join us to unravel yourself naturally by using yourself so simply and easily that it could boggle your mind.
Yes, it’s easy as 1-2-3.
