Monday Moves: Boring but effective

I am back in Georgia and still working on my conclusions from my 10 week trip to the South Pacific.  I really did not want to leave (I am sure this is a common feeling) and had some wavering about changing my return flight.  It was pretty hard to get on the plane, but I felt that at this time it would be best to come home.

Being back in South Georgia has been great.  I am working on the first ever Martin yard sale.  Also,   some opportunities have opened up for me to share about what I learned during my time volunteering with YWAM Medical Ships.  These opportunities will force me to continue to process and reflect on my time in what I feel was another world.  So stay tuned for my closing remarks about PNG and Australia!

I'm excited about continuing to post "Monday Moves."   As I have been catching up with friends, I have learned that two of my close friends are training for a Fall half-marathon.  Yes, some people pay money to run 12.1 miles.  I'm super proud of Bronwen and Kelly - so these next few Monday moves will be dedicated to the female long distance runner.

Today's exercise is boring but effective.  It reminds me of Jane Fonda and cheesy aerobic outfits.  It is so simple that we tend to want to skip right over it.  Yes, it is the ever simple and traditional side-lying hip abduction exercise.  Go grab your 80's sweatband and let's get started!

I'm getting the feeling that you will need a few more reasons to add this exercise into your routine.  First of all, this exercise activates the ever so pesky gluteus medius muscle which function to stabilize the pelvis (aka - saddle bag muscle).  Also, so much of our life - and all of our long distance running - is performed in the sagittal plane (I like to imagine a soldier marching to get a good image of sagittal plane movement).  Muscles in the frontal plane can be forgotten as we just don't do snow angels and other frontal plane motions enough.  The stronger you can make these hip muscles the less chance you have for injury and pain further down the chain (yes, even that pain in the front of your knee).  Finally, who doesn't want a firmer hip and booty?

For all of those that need a little more scientific convincing, this study in the Journal of Athletic Training found that side-lying hip abduction activated the glut medius more than any other exercise.  And since weak glut medius muscle is associated with anterior knee pain and other common overuse lower extremity injuries, what better reason to add this simple yet boring exercise back into your life? Jane would be so proud.

Now that you're motivated, let's assume the position.  Lying on your left side with your chin tucked so that your head is in a neutral position, raise your right leg to create just one bottom half of the snow angel.  Initiate this movement with the outside of your right heel.  Keep your left hip and core firmly grounded with your belly facing the side wall.  A way to add resistance to this exercise is to strap and ankle weight to your right foot.  Complete 3 sets of 10 to 15 adding repetitions as you increase your strength.

Here is a YouTube link to that does a great job describing this exercise.

Made from mud

We are leaving the Bamu River and heading to the mouth of the Fly River for our last two days of outreach on September 5th and 6th.  I am sad to leave the Bamu (sounds like Ba -moo). The skipper and first mate have met new situations and challenges all along this unique river. The most exciting situation has been the tidal bore. This nautical experience happens when the outgoing current meets the incoming current and creates a large wave or multiple waves. This event causes much excitement amongst the sailors and did rock the boat a bit. Another fun fact about the Bamu River is that it is approximately 1 to 2 km wide but has no sea charts. Therefore, the captain has had to do Zodiac runs to scout the water and determine the depth of the water all along the river before the ship moves further down the river.  Another challenge is that the depth of the water changes with the tide.  In one village, we were able to walk half way back to the boat at the end of our clinic day as at low tide the river emptied out completely in front of the village. Also, a myriad of uncharted channels flow out, through and into this isolated river. 

The scenery all along the river is this amazingly wild tropical bush. Every now and then there is an area with multiple coconut trees that tower over the tropical bush and this typically indicates a village. These villages that are scattered  throughout the Lower Bamu region are muddy.  How have I not mentioned this yet?  The flooding that occurs regularly in the Lower Bamu prevents grass and gardening and creates a lot of mud. Ankle deep mud is normal and occasionally you get the chin deep or knee deep variety. No,  this dirt is way different from the hard red Georgia clay.  Going to the village for a clinic day involves (my favorite) a zodiac ride from the ship and then getting your feet in some mud or at least crossing over mud on a slippery log bridge. I have only had one flat out fall in the mud thus far, and I am learning the technique , some say art, of gripping the mud in my toes as I walk to prevent falling. I have come to love walking in the mud before I start a clinic day. It shouts to me the reality that we are all made from dust and mud.

Happy/Sad Village Moments

My last trip into a Western Province village on Wednesday was definitely memorable. We were anchored at the mouth of the Fly River on Wednesday and Thursday. Our clinics were at the health station in Teipopo. I hustled through my morning activities of cleaning and restocking the mess hall, chopping veggies for cole slaw and making hamburger patties so I could get to the village for the afternoon.  Once I got to the village, there were approximately 10 men waiting for a class on back health. We had class beside a coconut tree and stayed in this location even though we had to endure a few sprinkles of rain.  It was a fun group and one of the participants was a teacher in the village.  Philemon, the teacher, started off pretty skeptical but by the end he was engaged and asking questions. I was bummed because we had not rallied enough women for another class when we got a radio call from the ship about a need in another village.  Apparently in the next village down,  a man had been confined to his house for the last 5 weeks due to paralysis of his right side. It sounded like a stroke to our team leader who had gone to the village for an assessment earlier that day.   If it was a stroke, there was not much our doctor could give him for treatment.  So me and Bec (another member of the team with a background in primary health) loaded into the Zodiac with our new friend Philemon who would translate if needed. Andy and Vernon drove us down the river. I must confess riding in the zodiacs is one of my favorite parts. It was a bumpy ride as we were going against the current for most of the way.  I had a huge smile on my face which I did not think could get any bigger until I saw an eagle!!!! Yes, that is right we were close enough that I was able to see the golden beak. We then saw 3 more soaring in the sky.  All in all a pretty fantastic zodiac ride. We made it to tthe village whhose name I will not even try to spell.   The chairman of the villlage took us to Don's house. We climbed the 5 bamboo ladder steps to enter the 3 room home.  Don sat on the pallet floor. He drooled and was unable to speak properly due to the paralysis of the right side of his face. As we communicated with the his family, we learned that 5 weeks ago, he had gone to the outdoor bathroom and later was found unconscious. His entire right side was limp and atrophied.  I did my best to obtain a history and complete as thorough of an assessment as I could. 
We spent about an hour with Don and his family.  They were saving up money to buy fuel for a dingy ride to Daru which would be the closest hospital.  At this point, we were the first healthcare workers Don had seen since his stroke.   I tried to communicate with Don and his family what a stroke is and what the prognosis is.  I encouraged them to perfom daily passive mobilization of his joints.  We also reviewed some pointers with his wife about the moving Don.  By far, the best thing I was able to do for Don was pray with him.  We left him on the pallet floor by the open fire. Unsure what would happen to his situation.

Since the zodiac left with a few dental patents we knew we still had some time. There were a ton of kids playing hand ball right outside Don's house so I joined in the fun.  Oh, these kids were so happy.  I soon met Keli who stole my heart with her sweet and smile. After handball we have played duck duck goose and then sang songs.  It was so sweet to share this moment wih these kids. I could not get over how happy they were and how easy it was to entertain them. 

Monday Movements

I do typically write these posts on Monday, but I am obviously not always posting them on Monday. Just recently I found that I could write and save emails and blogs even when not online. This option has been super helpful especially when I am trying to spend as little time and bandwidth as possible when I do get to go online. I wanted to post about another exercise that has been helpful in my teaching here in PNG. This exercise was created by Mr. Pilates and I learned it from AlignmentYoga.  Towel Stretch is an active stretch that can be beneficial for strengthening the area between the shoulder blades and stretching the areas in the shoulder and upper back that are prone to getting trigger points.
To perform Towel Stretch, you will need a strap or towel. Standing with feet shoulder width apart and elbows straight, grip the towel with both hands also at about the distance of your shoulders. The arc of movement will be from your  thighs up to the sky. Throughout the entire arc continue to pull on the strap. Starting on the inhale, raise your arms from your thighs up to your shoulder height  On the exhale while continuing to pull on the rope, raise your arms to the sky. As you inhale, lower the arms back down to your shoulder height. Then on the exhale, lower the arms back to the thighs. Remember to keep your elbows straight and a firm pull on the rope or towel for the entire arc of motion.  Repeat this cycle 5 to 10 times.
I know a picture speaks better than words so I am going to try to get some pictures loaded. But I am sure you can google Pilates Towel Stretch. Above is a picture of me teaching a class to what ended up being a large crowd at the health station in Emeti.

What's for dinner?

This is the most frequently asked question on the ship. The cook and I have whipped up some pretty great meals if I say so myself...everything from the curry chicken to Shepherd 's pie. In the tight cooking quarters, you definitely have to watch out for hot pans...those hot pans have seemed to be attracted to me lately.  One of my favorite meals thus far has been cooking a Sunday morning pancake breakfast for the dads on board...the first Sunday in September is Father's day in Australia, NZ and PNG...maybe even everywhere other than the US. I am thinking we might have changed this date as Labor Day dominates the first weekend in September in the US. Regardless, having a second Father's Day gave me time to reflect on my Dad and his amazing blueberry and walnut pancake syrup. For a second, I could even taste it...then the boat started to rock and the pan started to smoke, and I had to pull my mind out of South GA and back to the South Pacific.  But it encouraged me so much in that moment knowing I have a Dad that is proud of me. So I buttoned up my overcoat and finished those pancakes for the 14 dads that we had on board. I was told they were pretty good, but I know where to get the best pancakes of all time. Anyone else have any favorite meals with their dad, as we celebrate the second Father's Day of the year?