Dog comes through in the clinch – again!

As I was sitting on the porch, admiring my cup of coffee (hey, everybody is good at something!), I became fascinated by my dog, Ziggy. Yes, this is the brain power of my mornings.

I was reminded of a few things this morning as ZigDog tried to get his kibble out of the Buddy Ball feeder.

1. Get the low hanging fruit (er, kibble)
If what you want is laying right in front of you, just grab it! No excuses of “that was too easy” or “I don’t deserve it”. It’s there. You want it. It doesn’t NEED to be difficult to be worthwhile.

2. Do one thing at a time
Forget the multitasking. It doesn’t work. REALLY. It doesn’t work and you do not need to be the exception. If you are eating, eat with all you’ve got. If you are playing ball, play with all you’ve got. You don’t need to eat AND play ball. (I got that one because I threw the ball out to the yard in the middle of feeding time. I got a blank,  rather disgusted stare as if to say “Seriously? What do you think I am? I’m eating here!”)

3. Don’t give up if you are going after what you want.
Just keep trying. And try again. Or, like Dori in Finding Nemo, “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.” You don’t need to explain it to others. You don’t need to feel stupid that you are trying the same thing that didn’t work moments before; Or running around trying from all different angles and positions. Each attempt from each angle may change the situation just enough, that when you come back to the beginning, it looks just a bit different and easier to solve.

4. You can still be scared by what you know.
ZigDog took a break from eating to sniff the grass. The Buddy Ball feeder rolled under ZigDog’s legs and hit his back paw. He jumped about a foot high, then saw what it was and resumed eating. So I remembered, it’s OK to be scared by the familiar. AND, if you are scared by something familiar, you have two choices:

LEAVE or GET OVER IT

There do not need to be any other decisions made. You know the situation, person, object so if your gut is telling you it’s scary, LEAVE IT. But if you figure out it was just a momentary awakening, then get over it an move on. Once again, no need to wander around feeling bad that you got scared by that which you already knew.

So, thanks, Ziggy for helping me see things a little clearer today. Now go get your leash, I want to explore the neighborhood again. There may be something new to sniff!

 

New Moms and Dads

Welcome! July and August are the most popular months for being born, according to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. So, that means there are a LOT of new parents out there!

There is much advice and knowledge out there on raising your child and bringing in a new baby.   I know you can find it. I am here to shout about taking care of yourself and your partnership or marriage during the process.

Your love and relationship is what made you want to create this precious gift of a child in the first place. Keep celebrating it when you can steal the moments by:

• Holding hands, not just the baby, when you go for a walk
• Looking into each others eyes for a full minute just after the baby goes to sleep
• Trusting in each others parenting – avoid standing over your partner correcting each mistake
• Lowering your expectations of what NEEDS to be done – a dirty living room will, in fact, be okay for tonight. Rest and take some time together rather than cleaning!
• Supporting each other to make an appointment for your OWN hour of bodywork so that you have the capacity to deal with all the excitement and energy around you.

Remember, babies are resilient little humans that forgive and forget your daily mistakes much quicker than we do as adults. They respond to energy and feeling first, so creating a calm environment with love and relaxation actually IS much more important than washing a dish or doing another load of laundry. If you forget how to do that on your own, give yourself the gift of calling BodyLogic so we can chat about how to get you back into your body to become a full and meaningful part of your own life, your baby’s life and your partnership.

 

The gift of thought

If I were meant to be like everyone else, I never would have been given the gift of thought, because to follow the crowd takes no thought at all.  — Richard Bach, The Bridge Across Forever

And yet…and yet…WHY is it so hard to make our own decisions? To do what we KNOW is right; WHEN we know it’s right. Why are we creatures that can think ourselves back into problems that we have already solved?

Because, we are human. Wonderfully, uniquely human. And our gift of thought has two sides, just like everything else. The wonderful gift of thought and emotion that can help us dream, imagine, laugh, feel and touch our soul. And the “gift” of thought that keeps us spiraling towards “the norm”.

Recently I have been speaking to so many people who feel compelled to follow the crowd because it’s just easier than continuing this feeling of swimming upstream. However, the strength you build by following your own thoughts and feelings is so, so, SO much stronger than just floating along, being swept into the ocean.

So, USE your gift of thought. Ask your internal questions and don’t be afraid to follow YOUR answer. Yes, it can feel awkward at first, but like Richard Bach states in “The Bridge Across Forever” if you were meant to be like everyone else, you wouldn’t have been given the gift of thought. We’d be pure instinct. And that, my friend, good or bad, is what sets us apart from most of the animal world.

 

The essence IS myself

I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake.  No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place.  An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, but individual, detached, with no suggestion of its origin.  And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory – this new sensation has had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me, it was myself.  I had ceased not to feel mediocre, accidental, mortal.
– Marcel Proust

“I had ceased not to feel mediocre, accidental, mortal.” All from a sip of tea. When we can slow down, and notice, with great attention to detail, the mundane aspects of life, THAT is when we really live.

Finding enlightenment is not an evening of firecrackers, songs, dance and jublience. In fact when it is grand, it usually fades into the distance quickly, leaving us with a sense that something just happened…but what? Enlightenment is not something to seek, to attain, to hold on to.  It is the ability to see our day to day life with wide eyes and open hearts and great love for the details, the space in between the details, and find love for yourself and all that surrounds you. Even if the moment sucks.

The essence of life is not AROUND you. It is not even IN you. It IS you.

 

Scar Tissue Removal – Self Care

First of all, congratulations on wanting to heal your injuries! So many of us continue to live in pain for years and year, wishing there was a magic cure. In reality, we know there is no magic, but every day we go without healing is another day of pain and another day longer it will take to heal.

When we look at healing a chronic or long term injury, a good rule of thumb is that it will take as long to get out of pain as it took you to get into pain. For example, if you hurt yourself 6 months ago, and just started scar tissue removal or other forms of therapy, you can estimate it will take you 6 months from your first treatment to get back to peak performance – and that is if you work with the injury EVERY DAY!

“But…but…but…I first hurt my shoulder 20 years ago in high school!” Do not get discouraged! Many people heal faster; it’s just that you need to be prepared for LONG TERM recovery and patience, and to do the work at home on yourself. That’s where we work on the emotional and spiritual side of recovery. Back to scar tissue…

What is scar tissue?

Scar Tissue develops in muscles all the time. Generally, when a muscle is pulled, stretched too far or torn, it does not replace itself with new muscle. We grow scar tissue which is made from brittle, fibrous and inferior tissue. It takes a long time for this to be absorbed back into the body and the more scar tissue, the longer it takes.

Scar tissue can develop on the surface or skin level, like a post surgical scar or general cut or scrap. It can also develop deep in our bodies on our muscles and organs. The deeper the scar tissue, the more difficult it is to work with.

Immediate response to an injury with Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation will help. But if you are past that point, what do you do?

How to get rid of scar tissue

If you wait to take care of scar tissue, it can develop into serious problems and pain, including numbness in the nerves, decreased flexibility and ultimately compensation of body mechanics and prevailing body pain. This is not the type of injury that will go away over time. You need to work with scar tissue to heal effectively.

One bodywork technique for scar tissue is called cross-fiber. The work will be uncomfortable, but should not be painful. You CAN DO THIS YOURSELF, but if you do not know the technique, it’s best to work with an experienced therapist for a few sessions first.

Technique

Start with a cream or lotion. Anything will do, but sports specific or massage creams do not absorb into the body as fast as household body lotions. If the skin starts pulling or your fingers are not gliding across the skin, add more lotion.

You always want to work across the muscle fibers. So, if a muscle like your quadriceps is injured (the long muscles in your leg that run from your hip down to your knee), you’ll want to work from right to left across the muscle. You rub the scar tissue across the muscle, deep enough to be uncomfortable, but not causing pain. You will have to decide what that feels like to you and your specific muscle. The pain will decrease over time so don’t worry too much at first that you can’t apply the pressure. And, do not start with the “no pain, no gain” mentality or you will end up with a worse injury!

You can use your fingers, knuckles, rolling ball or foam roller. Actually, even a can of soup works, anything that creates pressure; but remember you want to pinpoint the exact area, not just a general muscle pressure, so fingers, the back of a spoon or something small works best. Whatever you use, the technique is to go across the muscle and it takes time.

You will actually cause minor trauma to the muscle and tissues when you use cross fiber that promote healing, but you do not want to create so much trauma that you re-injure the area.

Use of Hot and Cold

Cold therapy makes the blood leave an area by constricting the blood vessels and reduces sensations by numbing the nerves. Heat makes blood flow more to an area by opening up the blood vessels.

Use ice or cold therapy before cross fiber so that you can work the area with less discomfort. You can work the deeper tissues when the area is numb and you will be able to reach more scar tissue. When you are finished, apply heat so that blood flows back into the area. You do not want too much blood to flow in or you will have increased swelling, so 15-20 minutes should be sufficient.

How often should I do this?

In general, work with the tissue as often as you think about the scar or injury. It is possible to overwork an area, but it is unlikely unless you are working with it for hours each day. Try it for 10 minutes every day. Or 15 minutes twice a day. Or 5 minutes every hour. Whatever works into your schedule – just try it! Again, if you are not familiar with the technique, ask an experienced therapist to work with you a few times AND show you what to do.

Sometimes it just feels better to have someone else work on you, or perhaps your scar is in an area you can not comfortably reach like your back or shoulder. Then you will need to have someone else help you but a friend or partner can do this as well. Just make sure you communicate how much pressure to use and try to be nice to your helper – they are learning along with you!

Be patient! Our organic physical bodies can take a while to heal, but if we treat ourselves right, our bodies are amazing organisms that have the resources to get us back to a working condition. If you insist on continuing training or parachuting or housecleaning during recovery, your body will take longer to heal.

Again, not magic! But adding a stretching or positional release program into your daily routing will definitely help your body remember it’s natural resting position and speed recovery.

In Summary:

• Start with ice.
• Cross fiber – work across the muscle fibers (look up the muscle on the internet if you don’t know what it looks like)
• Finish with heat.
• Add a stretching or positional release program.
• Be patient and kind. Heal.

 

Iliotibial Band Syndrome – Running and Cycling

There are many knee pains and injuries that can be very painful. One of these is called Iliotibial Band Syndrome (or IT Band Syndrome). It can be a frustrating and debilitating injury that effects the knee and hip.

IT Band Syndrome is an example of an injury that generally occurs over time, not like an acute back spasm or ankle sprain. It usually starts as a nagging injury, or nuisance feeling and quickly progresses into something that can take even the most elite and highly trained athlete out of all sports. It is very common in runners and cyclists.

What is Iliotibial Band Syndrome?

Iliotibial band site of inflammation

The iliotibial band is really a long, flat tendon that is an extension of a muscle called the Tensor Facia Lata (TFL). Two other muscles that insert into the top portion of the IT band are the Gluteus Maximus and Gluteus Medius (yep, your big butt muscles!). It runs from a bone called the Ilium, or pelvis, down the outside of your leg and attaches to the knee at the tibia (and blends with one of the quadriceps muscles called the Vastus Lateralis at Gurdy’s Tubercle).

The TFL muscle is responsible for hip flexion and abduction (lifting your leg to the side without rotation). The Gluteus Maximus and Medius muscles also play an important roll in hip abduction.

The main problem happens when the tensor facia lata muscle and IT band become tight. This causes the tendon to pull the knee out of alignment and rub on the outside of the joint. The rubbing causes irritation and swelling of the tendon, leading to a frustrating pain that seems to never go away.

What causes Iliotibial Band Syndrome?

IT band syndrome can occur because of functional (biomechanical) issues or overworked muscles.
Functional issues include things like:

• one leg being shorter than the other
• pronation (rolling) of the foot
• muscle imbalances (weak gluteal muscles) due to other injury or birth
• flat feet

Overworked muscles can happen by:

• running on concave surfaces, which actually causes one leg to become shorter for a prolonged period of time
• weak gluteus muscles, causing the tensor facia lata muscle to overwork and pull the IT band tight
• increasing exercise intensity or duration too quickly
• improperly fit bicycle or running shoes
• excessive circular track running (strengthening the inside leg due to the angle of the body)

What to do about Iliotibial Band Syndrome?

First, be sure to remove or reduce the cause of the problem, be it an overuse or functional problem. This may include:

• stopping or reducing activities
• purchasing new equipment
• changing your workout – consider water and non-weight baring activities
• side stretching (see below)
• strengthening the gluteal muscles
• seeking professional medical attention or sports injury education

From there, the immediate treatment is basically the same as for any injury – rest, ice, compression and elevation for 48 to 72 hours.

Then you MUST look for ongoing treatment and prevention or the injury will reoccur and could progress into a debilitating chronic condition.

Ongoing treatment may include:

• Positional release therapy (to release the tight hip muscles)
• Deep tissue massage for the hip, back, leg and thighs
• Instruction in proper and thorough warm up and cool down techniques to increase oxygen to the muscles
• Instruction in proper stretching techniques – you can injure yourself further with overstretching! Make sure you consult a professional trained in sports specific stretching

Side Stretch

This is one of the best stretches for the tensor fascia lata, side of the leg and back.

• Stand upright and cross one foot behind the other.
• Then lean sideways towards the foot that is behind the other. Try NOT to rotate your body.
• Hold this stretch for about 15 to 20 seconds, and then repeat it 3 to 4 times on each leg.

 

It’s in the perspective…

A simple but bizarre thing happened to me the other day.

I was making coffee and I was with a friend. No, THAT is not bizarre.  I make slow drip coffee party because I love the process, it makes the MAKING of coffee part of the ritual rather than just slamming the cup of coffee (although the joy of that is not lost on me some days! I boil the water, grind the beans, and use one of those single cup reusable filters.

Sounds good, but I generally make a mess. The other day, I poured the boiling water too fast and it splashed the grinds over the edge of the filter and down the cup.

Why am I writing this to you? Just to paint the picture that my friend saw this process – water, grinds, mug. Well, I went to clean up the coffee and in order to clean up my coffee mug, I ran some water on the handle, around the rim and some water went into the cup. My friend was astounded that I didn’t pour out the coffee, clean the mug and start again. Her exact words were “BUT, now you put tap water in your coffee. Doesn’t that make it grosss? Like water in your milk?”

WHAT? She just saw the entire process of WATER through the grinds. Coffee IS water, why would more make it gross?

So, it dawned on me that once again, it’s all the perspective. To my friend, once you run water through the grinds it becomes something else, entirely unrelated to water.

It’s like a class I took in college called “Deviant Behavior”. The professor asked a girl to spit in a cup for 1/2 hour while he lectured on something about acceptable behavior and context for social behavior. At the end, he asked the girl to drink the cup of spit. Gross, right? But what’s the difference of doing it that way versus swallowing your saliva all day just because that’s what we do as humans? It’s the perspective.

So, what is there in your life, that if you looked at it from a different perspective, might make more sense? Is there something you have or do that is like coffee, that maybe you forgot came from water? Are you trying to do something that is seemingly too difficult, but if you changed your perspective, you may find a more natural way to accomplish it?

Oh, I should tell you, my “friend” watching me make coffee is 6 years old. Does that change your perspective on the story?

And, her comment caught me off guard because for an instant, I thought, “oh yeah, I should pour out the coffee. That IS gross.” Does that change your perspective or me? oops!

 

5 Body-Mind exercises for pregnancy

In a previous post, I mentioned the generalities of your changing “core” during pregnancies. Now, what can you do about it? Following are 3 EASY exercises you can do during all stages of pregnancy, for ALL your bodies (physical, cognitive, emotional and spiritual).

1 – Stand in silence

Stand and spread your feet about shoulder width apart (and yes, that IS TOO slightly more than hip width apart no matter what you tell yourself). Put your hands on your lower belly, just above the pubic bone below your belly button and close your eyes (well, after you read this). Now, GENTLY rock forward so your weight is on your toes. Then rock backwards so your weight is on your heels. Go back and forth a few times then slowly come to what “feels” like the middle. Now, rock to your right side; then your left. Again, go right and left a few times and slowly settle into what feels like center. If you feel off, gently rock some more.

Slowly open your eyes and notice where you are standing? Are you more forward than you thought you were? Leaning to one side? No answer is right or wrong. Just NOTICE. This position will change as you and your pregnancy develop. The more you do this centering exercise, the more you will become familiar with how you feel and how your center changes day to day.  Noticing this will help you make other subtle changes throughout the day.

2 -Hip Circles

Stand with your feet hip width apart. Double check your stance! Most of us pretend our hips are about 3 feet wider than they are! Place your hands on your hips. Slowly circle your hips clockwise, sort of like you were playing with a hoolahoop. Try keeping your shoulders still. Then try moving your shoulders. Circle counter clockwise, both with your shoulders still, then with moving your shoulders.

Go a little faster. 5 or 6 times in each direction. Be careful not to go too fast or you’ll feel it in your back. Then stop. Stand quietly. Notice any sensations created from the movement. Yes? No? Again, this is letting your body, mind and spirit become familiar with where your center and core are in that moment.

3 – Cat/Cow

Get yourself comfortable on your hands and knees. Use a pillow under your knees if you need, or kneel on the bed. There is a variation below if your comfort level does not allow you to go on your hands and knees. Keeping your hands and knees ON the ground, round your back UP like a cat does when she stretches. Let your head fall forward and your hips roll in. Feel the curve and length of your spine.

Then ARCH your back, like the sway back cow. Look up towards the ceiling (do NOT strain your neck) and stick your bottom out.

Go back and forth. GENTLY at first as you warm up your spine. Then hold each position for 3-5 seconds. This allows your spine to wake up and start moving – especially as your center of gravity changes daily!

If you cannot get on your hands and knees, lie on your side. Use your arms and legs to curl into a ball (as much as your knees and belly will allow that day), then move your legs down and back, keeping bent at the knee, move your arms overhead and feel your chest and belly open up.

–

If you can start each day with these 3 simple movements, your body will become accustomed to how it feels THAT DAY. This allows your brain and nervous system to start making adjustments for more balanced movements. In turn, this allows your spirit to feel calm and your emotional body to stabilize enough to better deal with any roller coaster the day brings.

–

PS - OKAY, FINE, this works if you are not pregnant too, male OR female!

 

Learn ONLY the lesson

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it – and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again, and that is well; but she will never sit down on a cold one either.                       — Mark Twain

Being born and raised in Northern California, I have been “trained” to find the meaning in EVERYthing.  I love this reminder to find only the wisdom that we need.  I run into this with clients all the time – sometimes a hurt back is just a hurt back and the lesson is to rest.  Sometimes it can be connected to something more – subtle energy, communication, fear – but the message is the same.  SLOW DOWN and listen.  Then get out of your own way and move on.

Listen to the message.

Take it to heart.

Then celebrate your understanding and LIVE.

 

A BodyLogic approach to the Physical Body

Your story about your pain is unique. Your pain may be one that will go away. It may be one that you learn to manage by modifying or deleting certain activities from your life. It may be one that will become your dance partner in life; here to teach you lessons in all kinds of unexpected ways.

Through self-correcting therapies (manual muscle therapy, massage, movement, strength training), you can begin to release your physical aches and pains. This is done by working with the existing patterns of your body. For example, if your neck hurts, we look at where it hurts (front, back, side, general, specific, etc) as well as how it hurts (sharp pain, aching pain, non-specific annoyances, crackling, etc) and when it hurts or when it feels good (hurts turning to the left, feels better when the shoulder is up, feels comfortable bent forward, pain begins when looking up, etc).

This explains the beginning of what muscles are holding you in pain, and the “pattern” of that pain. Then, we use your body to place that muscle, or group of muscles, in the most comfortable position. This is usually the way the muscle is already contracting. By doing what the body is already doing, but with less effort, we begin to send signals to the brain and nervous system that the muscle can relax and your body can realign.

Sometimes this is done passively, meaning the therapist does most of the work and you focus on relaxing. The moves can be gross, or large, movements of the entire leg, arm or back; or the moves can be very subtle, a vertebra, a section of muscle, a knee cap.

At other times, the therapist may have you participate in the movements. This helps your body integrate the changes and teaches your physical body how to move in a different way. Again, the movements may be large as in walking, sit ups, or rolling; or they may be subtle, moving the rib cage, rotating your wrist, or flattening your back.

Needless to say, when your physical body is in a comfortable position, you emotional, cognitive and spiritual bodies will also feel safe and begin to express themselves as well.