Monday Move: Full commitment to the Exhale

Life has been pretty unsettled over the last few months, but now I have reached a slower season and am returning to my Monday Move blog posts.  My imagination was ignited to post about the breath when I saw this posting on Mike Reinold's webpage about breathing pattern disorders.  Yoga is all about movement and the breath.  The third principle of Alignment Yoga is "full commitment to the exhale."  The two studies that Mike quoted in his article about breathing pattern disorders show that for us Westerns this principle of full commitment to the exhale is lacking in our daily life activities.  Here is Mike's review of the two studies:

• Two studies that document the correlation between breathing and some of our daily activities.
• In one, the study examined typing on a keyboard and showed that EMG activity of the scalenes and trapezius increased and thorax and abdominal activity decreased while typing.  Perhaps this is a primitive reflex but it causes us to breathe more shallow, with less diaphragm, and with more upper chest and neck.  Since we all likely spend a good chunk of our day typing, this is very prevalent.
• In another, the study showed that people held their breath, increased their respiratory rate, and experienced sympathetic arousal when sending AND receiving text messages.

After reading about the first study Mike mentioned and thinking about how much I sit at the computer made be want to jump start those breathing muscles that might not be fully turning on during my daily activities.  So for my next few Mondays - I am going to be dedicating some serious time to the breath. 

First things first.  Let's start today with just observing the breath. The first action is non-action. Lie on your back in Constructive Rest Position (see above picture).  Start here for 3-5 minutes.  Try not to manipulate or control your breath.  Evaluate and observe the breath, just as a physician evaluates a part of the body that might not be working properly, observe your breath. What body parts move as a result of the inhale?  What part moves as a result of the exhale? Where does your grounding come in this position?  Can you tuck your shoulder blades underneath you more to get more connection with the earth, or grounding, through your shoulder blades?  No crazy tricks of the trade today...just breathe.

• 
  
• 
  

Monday Moves: The Brugger Cog Wheel

Today's Monday Move picks up where we left up with posture.  It is really a thought with a great picture that you can apply to any seated position.

Alois Brugger, a Swiss neurologist, demonstrated his concept that there is an interplay between the spinal segments with the cog wheel model.  If you think about the segments of the spine acting like a cog wheel you can see the effect that one direction has on the other.  It also demonstrates the Phyics principle: "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."  You can see the difference in actions between the two pictures and also see the different outcome.

Simply grounding down through the sit-bones, can cause a reaction of a lift chest bone bringing one to a more upright posture.  Also, it seems like using this method exerts a whole lot less effort than the typical way we react when we are told by our mothers to "stand up straight."  This concept is not a new one.  But I think the model that Brugger created gives a great picture for us.  It reminds me of the first principle of Alignment Yoga - grounding.

Now you're turn.

Monday Moves: Prone Mountain

We are continuing the Monday Move series on posture.  Check out last week's post on the Brugger Exercise, as all the posture exercises together will play different parts on transforming your posture.  This week it is all about changing our orientation to the floor to improve our posture.  So often when I was a kid and I heard my mother say, "stand up straight," I (with an eyeroll) stuck my chest out and pulled my shoulders back.  This "better posture" may have lasted for about 1 minute and then I would return to my normal slouch.  In yoga class, you often hear the teacher say "pull your shoulders back" while standing in Mountain pose and once again this correction typically lasts for a only a few minutes.

Prone Mountain exercise was created by Scott Anderson at Alignment Yoga.  He found that moving to the floor could be beneficial in learning how to stand.  So this exercise begins with your belly on the floor.  Your hands are flat on the floor on either side of your lower ribs. Now bring your chest bone (aka sternum) and flesh of the chest firmly against the floor.  In doing so, most people will find that their nose and chin also are pressed firmly against the floor in this position due to the forward position of the head.  Simultaneously as you press the chest toward the floor lift the nose and chin about an inch off the  floor.  Keep the head parallel to the floor and stretching the crown of the head towards the front of the room.  The toes stretch backwards.  Your bottom muscles relax.  You are grounded to the floor through your hands, sternum and pubic bone.  Take deep breaths, fully and naturally committing to the exhale.  You can start out by holding this position for 5 breaths and move towards holding this position for several minutes.  Even though this may seem like an incredibly simple exercise, students report that this pose can be one of the most transforming on their posture.  What are you waiting for...get on your belly!

  

Monday Moves: Back in action

No, I have not forgotten about Monday Moves.  I did take a brief hiatus as lately my life has been in a state of constant movement.  Since November 14th, I have moved from Madison, Wisconsin, started a new job, visited South Georgia and Chattanooga, and continued to settle in (as much as possible) to a new schedule and job setting.  Life is good.  God provided a short-term job and even though it may be making me feel slightly crazy at times...it is a good thing.  It has been fun to be back in the traditional athletic training setting.  I do believe that everything is preparing you for the next thing...you just never quite know what the next thing is.  The athletic training room has been the perfect spot to practice this belief as there is a lot of preparations for the next thing going on constantly.  It seems like a place where you continually "hurry up to wait."  There is also a lot of movement going on and that is what the body is made for - so, I'm sorry for my neglect of Monday Moves  these past few weeks.  But we are back and for the next few weeks we will be hitting movements that are action packed for the posture.

The first weekend of November I attended a CEU course that focused on "Assessment and Treatment of Muscle Imbalance" using the Janda Approach.  It was a quick introduction to the teachings of the late Professor Vladimir Janda, MD who was a pioneer in treating muscle imbalance and chronic musculoskeletal pain.  This workshop was definitely an information overload weekend for me.  I am still trying to understand and put into practice some of the principles from this workshop.  One thing that resonated with me was assessment of the posture and how it contributes to our movement patterns.

Living in this day and age so much of our function is performed in front of our body.  Whether it is typing on the computer, fixing a meal or dribbling a basketball, our focus is placed in front of the body.

Today's exercise incorporates movements that reverse this habitual posture.   Start with wrapping a long theraband around your wrist.  Then from this computer sitting posture, extend your fingers and wrist.   Rotate your forearms upward as though you are holding a soup bowl.  Begin to lengthen the distance in between your hands by extending your elbows and arms.  Then repeat.

Check out this video with a demonstration of this Brugger Exercise.

It would be great to add this exercise into your daily life by keeping a theraband at your desk or in your living room.  And since extension movement are stimulating to the nervous system try this exercise in the afternoon instead of reaching for a caffeine jolt. 

Monday Moves: There is no place like the finish line

I got to cheer on my friend Bronwen last weekend as she ran her second1/2 marathon.  She did a great job and tore 20 minutes off her last time, claiming a new personal record.  Great job, B.!

That being said, I'm going to wind down this series of Monday Moves dedicated to the female long distance runner.  Next week, we will start a whole new series of Monday Moves!  But before we move on, I wanted to stress the importance of cross training.  Our bodies are only meant for so much pounding, so once you've met that goal or finished your race, it is a great idea to change up your exercise routine.  You don't even have to wait till the end of your training to add in some cross training. Runners can choose from a wide variety of cross training options - weight training, swimming, cycling, and yoga are all good options.

If you step into any yoga class you will most likely be asked to perform the asana (or pose) Downward Facing Dog. This pose is great for decompressing the spine and opening the shoulders.  It can also be a helpful pose for stretching the hamstrings, but this benefit is further down the list and there are other asanas that can target those hamstring muscles in a more beneficial way.  Now let's get going.

Start out on your hands and knees.  Widen your hands so that both pinkies touch the outside edge of your mat.  On the next exhale, lift your knees away from the floor.  Feel free to keep your knees bent and your heels lifted off the floor.  Begin to shift your attention to the bones that you sit on when you are sitting in the criss-cross apple sauce position.  We call these sit bones in yoga.  They're anatomy name is actually the ischial tuberosities.  So think about lifting these sit bones up to the ceiling and back to the wall behind you.  If you have tighter hamstrings, you  can keep your knees bent.  Remember, we are not as concerned here about stretching the hamstrings.  We are more concerned about lengthening your spine in this mildly inverted position.

Your grounding comes from your the palm of each hand.  You can even think of your palms like a suction cups or plungers, pushing the earth away from your palms.  Lengthen through the arm pits, keeping the shoulder blades firm on your back.  Continue to keep your abdominals firm.  Take 3 to 5 breaths here.

These are some of the basic instructions for Downward Facing Dog.  I'm sure there will be more Monday Moves dedicated to this one if the future.  There are so many more aspects of this asana that  we can uncover.

Monday Moves: Bridge Exercise

We have had a total of 4 Monday Moves dedicated to the female long distance runner in honor of my friends putting in their mileage for their upcoming half-marathons.  Just a reminder:  these exercises will be great to add into anyone's exercise routine...so don't stop reading if you don't find yourself in this demographic or activity.

We are continuing our focus this week on the core and gluteus with the Bridge Exercise.  This is a common rehab, yoga and pilates exercise.  It is great for activating the your abdominal muscles as well as your gluteus maximus and hamstring muscles.  Activation of the abdominal muscles starts while you are laying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground about should width apart. Push your low back against the floor to initiate the rectus abdominis (your six pack).  Keep this six-pack muscle tight as you lift your hips off the floor.  Feel the straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Push your feet into the ground, as you take several breaths with your hips lifted.

Since it has been around the corner once or twice, there are some common errors that occur when performing this exercise.  First, take cause to not overarch your low back.  Starting with your ab muscles firing by pressing your low back into the ground is helpful in preventing this error.  While your hips are lifted think about knitting your lower ribs into your belly to keep the abdominals engaged.  Also, visualize your low back and back of your lungs expanding while your hips are lifted.  This visualization will help prevent this most common error of hyperextending your low back as you lift your hips.

I like to make this into an endurance exercise by holding the hips lifted position.  Start by holding the position for 3 to 5 breaths.  Repeat 5 to 10 times.  As you get stronger you can hold this position for longer - 5 to 10 breaths.  Also, there are many modifications that you can add on to this exercise for a greater challenge.  Next week we might just discuss the Bridge Exercise further.