Letting go isn't easy - but it IS worth it!

A wise teacher of mine once looked me in the eyes when I was struggling to release into a movement and said 'letting go isn't easy'. It was a simple statement but the intent behind his words were powerful.

They have stuck with me every since, and time and time again the statement floods into my brain when I am struggling with movement, or with life!

I have a love / hate relationship with letting go! I actually love the feeling of release in my body when it happens and the sense of moving forward into a new outlook. But the process of getting to letting go can be fairly tumultuous for me!

I have a previous history of long term stress, anxiety and mental illness (a blog for another day which I promise I will write). For a good couple of decades I held onto fears, beliefs and feelings that were no good for me and certainly no good for my body. I held myself so tightly together for fear of falling apart, that I could endure ridiculous physical pain and not even feel it. I once got root canal treatment done without any kind of anaesthetic. Says it all really! It was just normality for me though as I knew no different. Letting go was a concept far removed from me! 

Slowly over time I have learned to feel, and to let go - both physically and emotionally. Talking therapy healed my head, but movement and body work has been the truest healer for me. The same wise teacher sat with me as I bawled my eyes out in a session after moving my legs in a particular fashion, allowing me the time and space to cry. I couldn't understand why I was crying because I felt I'd done enough therapy and enough crying to last a lifetime, and, anyway, all I'd done is move my legs about. But he explained that releasing tension creates a shift of the previously trapped energy which once released needs to go somewhere. This can come out in various expressions of that energy. It could be a feeling of joyful energy, active energy or laughter. It can equally be in some ways in which we tend to socially control our reaction, for example crying or shaking. But either way, in order to fully release the held in energy we need to let it out as our body needs to express it. It was an eye opener to me that movement could cause such a reaction. Nobody was talking about this and I wondered how many other people were holding themselves back for fear of bursting in to tears. But it made sense to me, and during many sessions with my teacher as I released tension, I felt a sense of relief as the stress dissipated and as I allowed the held in emotions to come out. Talking therapy had done a lot but it had not fully tackled the physical patterns of holding and guarding that were left in my body. Here I could release without talking, just with knowing that I would not be judged for my reactions.  

My own movement training (pilates) was, eh, interesting! I held back nothing in order to learn both about myself and how clients might feel. Thankfully there were only a few outbursts of emotion. One where I famously told my trainer to 'f*** off out my face' before I went fleeing to the toilets in tears, another where I spent the afternoon with 15 relative strangers and with continuously wet and leaking eyes. The former is a classic example of the tumultuousness (is that actually a word??) that can happen prior to my letting go. The latter was much easier (for everyone!).

Letting go ISNT easy hard! For some people (like me), letting go needs to be given time, space and support in order for the process to happen. Force, pressure or feeling that something should be happening at a particular pace, or at all, will only serve to annoy the nervous system. For me, there is a lot going on inside. Physically I feel the stirrings of change inside and it is usually accompanied by an increase in my heart rate. This usually leads to anxiety of some degree about what is going to happen, how it will feel and how it will change me. A lot of self talk happens. Sometimes it's more an excitement about a change happening which I have been working towards for a while. Either way, my sympathetic nervous system (flight / fight / freeze) is being activated. I need to be in a supportive and calming environment where I feel I can allow the change to happen when it is ready, so that the parasympathetic (calming) nervous system is at play instead. Or else, tumultuality abounds (I'm sure that's not a word but I like it!)! That tumultuality (I'm sticking with it!) comes from my system essentially being stuck in acceleration with the brake on at the same time.... Not good! Holding on IS indeed harder! 

I find that the time between something stirring and the actual release and change can be so potent to tap into what is actually happening and why the tension exists in the first place. I can be so connected to my emotional system at that time that I am experiencing feelings that emulate those of previous situations  I have been in. A gamete of emotions may come up to the surface. When given time it can feel like watching a film for the second time, but with a wiser knowledge. To rush this, is to cut off this process of separating the held physical feeling from the historical facts which is where we learn to let go of our past and to live in the present.  

    

Now, I have to say that these days I seldom burst into tears spontaneously. I've learnt to calm the system enough and I know when certain environments or teachers won't work for me. I also go through phases of being content with where I'm at and others where I'm actively seeking help and support as I release and let go deeper. (I am working with a wonderfully talented bodywork therapist just now who is helping me to let go of some very long and deep held patterns - whimpering and shaking seem to be order of the day here!). Some would say I'm sensitive, and some days I'll agree. I've been called complex and complicated too - but aren't we all? I've learnt what works for me, and I'm perfectly happy with that! 

What I have also learnt though my last 6 years or so of letting go is to respect where others are at with this concept. Being that person and place of safety and support for someone as they let go and express themselves as they need to is probably the most rewarding aspect of my work. I understand completely how vulnerable that can be, and how privileged I am to be given that trust. Simply 'holding space' for someone to express fully can do so much healing.

I wonder at times what might have happened if that wise teacher had said instead 'just let go', as if it was so simple.... Would I have bullied my way though a movement never really understanding the depth to which it could take me? Would I have found another way to let go and heal my poor body and brain? Either way, he didn't say that and I'm always glad for the words 'letting go isn't easy'. 

So, I'm sharing them with you, with a little extra wisdom gained from experience... Letting go is not easy but it is so worth learning, because holding on is indeed harder and limits you from living the fullness of your potential. 

Til next time...

CT :-) xx 

Ballooning on day 50 of 50!

A few years ago - oh, probably about 5 or 6(!), I wrote the following little story. Ever since then Claire, Susan and I have given each other balloons as gifts at any opportunity we possibly can. We are quite literally ballon seekers. 

For as long as I can remember, I have said to them both 'I want to write and inspire others'. They have continually told me that I have nothing to fear and they have waited patiently for me to actually get my ass in gear and find a way to write outwith my private diaries. 

My lovely balloons, on Day 50 it seems so apt to share our wee story and say 'I did it'! 50 blogs and I have no intention of stopping now. Thank you both, I love you so dearly xx 

ANCHORS OR BALLOONS

Every month or so myself and two friends, Susan and Claire, get together for a bite to eat and some chat. We have all known each other for over 20 years but we still come away from these get-togethers with a greater understanding of each other, and ourselves. Sometimes we put the world to right, sometimes we put ourselves to right and sometimes we just have a giggle. Usually one of us (at least!) has some kind of 'self enquiry' which the other two will listen and respond to. We seem to know instinctively what is needed. When it's sympathy and soothing words, then they are said. When it's straight talking that's needed, then that is what's delivered. We know the deal and we have an implicit trust in each other which is probably why it works so well!

We met up last Sunday and had such a great evening! We talked about everything from sparkly stationery to pensions and we discussed our ambitions, our fears, and our successes. We 'seal clapped' with excitement and joy regularly.  When we left we had big smiles on our faces, felt we could achieve anything and that we are pretty damn good! Two days later I still have a smile on my face!

Claire and Susan are two balloons in my life. They lift me up when I need it and they lift me even higher when I'm soaring. Just being in their presence creates lift in me. My alignment lengthens, I hold my head up higher and my heart lifts.

Unfortunately not everyone is a balloon. 

Life also contains anchors. Anchors will weigh you down as you try to grow. They will talk you out of doing something you want to do. They will point out all the reasons why not to - even though there are far more reasons why to! They will question your ability rather than applauding your bravery at trying.

Anchors are scared. They are scared that your success will highlight their own inadequacies. By keeping you where you are, all is safe for them. You will usually find that what anchors want most in their life is the very thing that you are trying to achieve. By sabotaging your attempts they are confirming to themselves that it is not possible and so they can stay in their own comfort zone. Do you really want to be someone else's proof of impossibility? Or do you want to be someone else's inspiration showing that anything is possible?
Being in the presence of anchors drags you down. Everything feels heavy, and your posture sinks. 

Do not fear anchors. They are just there to test us, so that we can ask OURSELVES if we are on the right path. But do not get comfortable in the presence of anchors. Release their hold, seek out balloons and then you will truly soar, flying as you are meant to fly. 

Til... Well, sometime next week :-)) 

CT :-) xx 

Get out of that rut! 50 day blog - day 49

Do you know that feeling when you are stuck in a rut and everything just seems TOO HARD? 

Days seem to roll on from one another, with nothing changing, yet you can't seem to do anything about? You might find yourself struggling in vain to do something, but your energy is so drained that you carry on as you are, promising yourself that you'll do something about it. Yet before you know it, its tomorrow, next week, next month and its still the same old same old. 

That, my dears, is negative inertia. 

Inertia is the principle that says an object will retain its state of rest or motion until an external force is applied to alter that state. 

So if something is stationary then it will stay that way until something forces it to move. As long as you are not doing anything about looking for another job then there's not going to be another job. As long as you are not doing anything about your fitness then you are not going to get fit. The same applies for negative eating habits that have crept in, dealing with that pain that constantly niggles way, or a relationship that feel unfulfilling. What every it is that you are feeling in a rut about, it's not going to change without something happening.  

Logically we all know this. But when inertia is really in its grip, knowing this isn't necessarily helpful. When we're floored from inertia it can become easy to see all that we DON'T want or we can seem so far away from where we DO want to be. And it all seems just too blooming darn hard to do anything about......! Voila negative inertia. 

But, inertia also means that when something is moving then it will keep moving until it is made to stop. So if you get things moving then they will continue to do so and will take on a momentum of their own and eventually you'll break out of the rut. It needn't be anything big. Starting small is change in itself. Just make sure that you pick something that is taking you in a positive direction (or else you'll start a whole new cycle of negative inertia!) AND focus on knowing that once you keep moving then it will become easier .

If you are looking for a new career, but don't know where to start then make a list of the things that you enjoy doing in life, or jobs that appeal to you (whether or not at this point you believe that you could do them or not). Talk to someone that does work that you are drawn to. Before you know it your brain will be in a different space and without necessarily being in a different job you'll already creating a new career for yourself (even if you still don't know what it is!). 

If your eating habits are getting you down then change one thing. Change your breakfast as it's usually the one that we tend to get stuck with. Start the day as you mean your life to be. Each day you'll be doing something that you want to be doing and this will lead to more changes (change you snack, add in more vegetables, change to organic) and taking you towards a healthier diet. 

The same principle applies for whatever it is that you are stuck in a rut with. Got a niggle, then talk to people who have had similar and see what worked for them. Get in touch with a professional bodyworker. If they can't help then chances are that they'll know someone who can. If you are desperate to get fitter then start with a short walk, or perhaps a run (start small with a few minutes of running for a few second and then walking for the same).    

Getting started is the hardest thing. But until you do start then nothing is going to change! With each change you make focus on the fact that you ARE making positive change, rather than on everything else that isn't changing. Negativity breeds negativity, positivity breeds positivity. 

One change will lead to another and another and eventually you'll be far away from where you are now, living the life that you always wanted to live. 

It IS that simple. So.... what's stopping you? 

Til tomorrow :-) 

CT :-) X 

 

The nervous system in brief: 50 day blog - day 48

I love the fascia system. If you've read a few of my posts then you'll know that I love the fascia system!

Let me now say that I am also deeply in love with the nervous system. 

Imagine then just how much I love the neurofascial system (an integrated system of nerves and fascia throughout the body)?!!. 

Let me however, for today give you a brief overview of the nervous system! 

Like fascia, the nervous system is a whole body system. This means that if it were possible to take away every other part of the body except the nerves then we would still see YOU. We would see your brain and spinal column that makes up the Central Nervous System, and we would see all the other nerves radiating out from this that make up the Peripheral Nervous System. Nerves  reach out from the central system into every other nuance of your body, through the organs and right out to the very outer layer of your skin.

I often imagine it as being like a tree full of. The Central Nervous System is like the trunk, and the Peripheral Nervous System reaches out as increasingly smaller and smaller branches finally reaching into all the nooks and crannies of the leaves making up the whole shape and life form.

This Peripheral Nervous System (all these branches, twigs and leaf veins) is grouped into the Automatic, Somatic and Sensory Nervous Systems. The Automatic Nervous System is then further sub divided into the Parasympathetic, Sympathetic and Enteric Nervous System. Phew! How you doing?  

Ok..... so the Automatic, Somatic and Sensory Nervous Systems can be described as follows:

Automatic

Functions as a control that generally works without us consciously making it happen, and generally includes visceral functions such as your heart beating, breathing, perspiration and organ function. 

Somatic

Associated with the voluntary control of muscles in the skeletal system. Some of these nerves transmit feeling to the central system, some transmit from the central system to make muscles work.

Sensory

Responsible for processing sensory information, such as sight, sound and taste. In some sense these bring the physical world to our mind where we interpret them and then create a perception of the world around us.   

And finally, subdivisions of the Automatic Nervous systems can be described as such:

Sympathetic System: 

This system is sometimes known as the 'fight, flight, freeze'* system in the body. Personally I find this too limiting and prefer to think of it as the system that is used to call the body to action. It uses energy and your heart beat increases, blood pressure rises and digestion slows down. The sympathetic nervous system branches out from the middle and lower back areas of the spinal cord. 

Parasympathetic System: 

In contrast this system is often known as the 'rest and digest' system. It works to save energy so that your heart rate can slow, your breathing can return to normal and your digestion can process again. The branches of the parasympathetic nervous system originate in the cranial and sacral area of the body (if you've ever had cranial sacral treatment, it is working with this nervous system to calm and return the body to a less vigilant state.    

Enteric System: 

This governs the function of the gastrointestinal system. At this point I put my hands up here and say that I don't know much more than that, but I intend to find out more! 

Right descriptions, and lesson, over! Aren't you glad that I haven't gone into segmenting the Central Nervous System up into all the brain segments?! 

My fascination of the nervous system stems around the link between this, our inner (and outer) responses and our different levels of consciousness. There is so much, I believe, that we can work with on a non physical level to cause changes in the nervous system, which then causes physical changes in the body (in association with the workings of the fascia and lymphatic systems (the 3rd holistic system in the body, another day perhaps!)).

I hope to delve more into the nervous system in future blogs, linking to movement, behaviour, actions, feeling, and whatever seems appropriate to write about. For now I'm going to have a rest from segmenting all its parts onto page, activate my parasympathetic system, and go and have a bath!

Til tomorrow..... 

CT :-) x

* fight and flight are often used when describing the sympathetic nervous system. Freeze is often missed as a third step which we reach when we can neither fight or flight. Essentially it means playing dead. A fourth stage called disassociation is reached when none of these stages takes us out of danger, and so the body in effect switches of from feeling. I will most definitely write about this at some point int he future, as I find this area of the nervous system particularly fascinating!

  

Roll, spread, stretch, space and use your feet: 50 day blog - Day 47

Yesterday I talked about why we would want healthy moving feet and toes (The Mighty Big Toe. Let me today share some simple tips to help you bring greater alignment to yours: 

1. Rolling some fascia release: 

Use a soft tennis ball to massage all over the sole of your foot. It needs to be a soft tennis ball to get the best response from the fascia (get the cheapest tennis ball you can find). Roll the ball under your foot, using as much of your body weight as you can. Make sure you cover your heel, inside and outside of foot and the base of all toes. See Best Foot Forward  for a fuller description. 

2. Encourage spread:

Years of being scrunched up in shoes and / or not utilising our full toe potential when we walk leads to toes sitting closer together. This reduces their ability to act as stabilisers and limits the power they can contribute to our movement. 

To best way to start spreading your toes is to use spacers of some description. I initially started of with tissues between each toe and then moved on to using the inserts you can buy for painting your toes. I have just ordered a nice comfy pair of toe spacer socks from amazon (only £3!) which I am looking forward to receiving and popping on each night. 

3. Stretch:

If we don't encourage our toes and feet to move in different ways then they are never going to! Start by gently but consistently stretching across the front of your foot and through the calves. The bottom diagram shows how you can stretch the front of your foot. You might start of with this one feeling a bit tender, or even a little sore, but persevere working just within your pain limits. Once the fascia starts to release and move it can be a really enjoyable stretch.  

4. Give them space! 

This one is fairly logical: if your toes are scrunched up because you wear shoes that scrunch them up, then stop wearing shoes that scrunch them up! Scrunched up toes mean scrunched up elsewhere in the body (sacrum, uterus, psoas are just three potential victims!). If you do insist on wearing pretty but movement deadly shoes then at least do the other 4 things on the list to minimise the shoe damage! 

5. Use! 

Use your feet and toes as much as you can. So go barefoot in the house, wiggle and spread your toes regularly, try to do a mexican wave with your toes (I'm serious, give it a go!). 

The great thing about working on your feet is that you can do it anywhere! If you sit at a desk you can kick your shoes of and stretch them, or wiggle your toes. You can also use your tennis ball under your foot. When you are at home you can walk about and consciously practice pushing off through your big toe, or stand and stretch while you are in the kitchen. 

Love your feet :-) 

Til tomorrow..... 

CT :-) X

Thank you to my model Mr Toshack for the use of his feet. Thought you'd all appreciate them more than my renowned toenails! 

The Big and Mighty Big Toe - day 46

Big toes are hugely amazing and massively important! 

For such a seemingly small part of our whole body it indeed does have a very large responsibility. The tip of the big toe is (in theory) the very last part of the foot to leave the ground before your whole leg is airborne when you are walking. It is therefore keeping everything in balance and coordinated before you are finally moving your whole body forward on a single leg.

Try this: Stand with both feet on floor, about hip width apart. Slowly peel one foot off the floor, consciously lifting the heel first and finally lifting the big toe off slowly. Now do the same lifting the whole foot off in a one-er (same speed, no cheating by using momentum).

  

Big toes also help us in standing to balance from the most central part of us. They take a direct line upwards to the inner calf, inner thigh to the pelvic floor and deep internal support. The baby toe in contrast takes a line up through both lateral sides of the body (furthest from the most central core) and acts as a counter balance with the big toe (the other toes help spread the load between the two).    

In the practical example above, once your leg is lifted, consciously feel the spread between the big toe and baby toe (and heel) of the standing leg. Perhaps press down a little on the base of the big toe to help you stabilise. To feel the difference, instead take the weight slightly over to the outer edge of the foot and minimise the big toe's help in holding you.

   

Now, how able your big toe is to help you there is dependent on its alignment. Good alignment has the big toe spread slightly apart from the 2nd toe (infact all toes should have a bit of spread between them) alignment. Good big toe movement means it should be able to wiggle out and in from the 2nd toe, and lift up and point down separately from the other toes. Just like your hand can fan out so that the spread of the fingers is wider than the width of the heel of the hand, so to should the toes be able out spread out so they are wider than the heel of the foot. 

If this is not how your feet are (and to be honest, that's a LOT of people), then working on your feet can be ridiculously beneficial for you. It can making walking, standing, running easier for you. It could prevent knee, hip, pelvis, back, shoulder, neck issues. 

And with those thoughts for today, I'm going to leave you to ponder for now on your own personal big toe placement and wait, I'm afraid, until tomorrow for my tips on better enabling your big toes to do what they are meant to do! 

So, til tomorrow.....

CT :-) X   

Who really determines what your life will be? 50 day blog - day 45

Ok, so here's something to consider... We are all born with the potential for our feet to have pretty much the same dexterity as our hands do..... Surprised? Yup, I was too. That is until you then consider the amazing skills of some people without arms, who choose to use their feet instead (not to mention some of the outstanding art that can be produced).

Now, here's the thing... After writing that paragraph I went on a search through Youtube, to see if I could find some videos of foot artists so we could look at their dexterity. I found some, but I also found the video I have link below. 

It caught me on so many levels: his foot dexterity, his positive outlook, his spirit, the obstacles to him just surviving in the first place. 

So, I don't really want to warble on about feet, and take away from all that this story is. 

What it really says to me is that if we are born to do something, then somehow we can and will find a way.

Please watch (the 14 minutes it takes are an investment in the positiveness of rest of your day!) 

Enjoy. 

Til tomorrow (when I may well ramble on more about feet!)

CT :-) X

Coz you gotta have faith (or stick with the fungus!): 50 Day blog - day 44

Ok, so I have to be honest, I've wobbled a little bit the last couple of days on my 'detox'. (Yes, They are my toenails!) This is my first detox, and it's a big thing for me! I've absolutely stuck 100% to the foods that I need to through thick and thin, but I've allowed doubt to creep in a little. 

Doing a detox is a big thing for me. It's my first, which some people find quite incredulous given my attitude to health and wellbeing. But nope, I've never done a detox, I just did anorexia (and then years and years of bulimia) instead! 

Having struggled throughout my 20s and early 30s with eating disorders, I spent a lot of years, and a huge amount of determination, getting to a place where no foods were restricted, where food (and my body) stopped being the enemy, and my mental health was, well, healthy. It was undoubtedly the hardest thing I have ever done, but I did it nonetheless. It has made me who I am today, which I'll forever be thankful for. 

To now put food right back up there at the fore, well, it's quite a thing really! And the doubts? They sounded a bit like this in my head yesterday:

• What if it's true that I will always be susceptible to eating issues, as I've been told before?
• What if I go mad for food again at the end of this and have a massive binge?
• What if I lose weight and I like it so much that I can't stop?   
• What if others think that I am developing an eating disorder?! 
• What if it doesn't work and it doesn't heal my toenails?

Doubt is an infectious wee bugger if you allow it to take hold of you.

I have never accepted that I will be vulnerable to eating issues for the rest of my life, so why now? And I fundamentally believe that nutrition (along with movement and positive thinking) is the best medicine. So why should I think any different now??? Why the doubts? 

The doubts are here because this is new to me, because I feel vulnerable, and because I feel like I'm getting through on faith alone. 

So really the doubts are just there because I'm questioning my faith. That has to be an ok thing to do? Really I'm just checking in with where I am at, and consciously deciding whether to go forward or to retreat. When faced with that, then it's always forward for me, and if a sense of faith is what guides me forward then, I guess it's good enough for me. Faith's got me through lot harder before, this is small stuff! I believe i'll come out of this detox a healthier and stronger person (and with beautiful toenails to come), and if I just keep reminding myself of that, then the rest is plain sailing. 

A little inspiration doesn't go amiss however, so please let me share with you this amazing Youtube diary clip of Arthur Boorman which I have watched many a time before, and several times today. I still can't watch it without crying. 

I guarantee that you'll feel ready for anything after seeing this :-)  

"The truth is that our finest moments are likely to occur, when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers" M.Scott Peck

Feel it in your bones: 50 day blog - day 43

I'm all for making life simple!

When it comes to alignment, life is a lot simpler if we feel and sense from our bones. By this, I mean using our bones as a framework for how we place ourselves in space and how we align ourselves with gravity. 

I am often asked 'which muscles am I working?' or 'should I be feeling this in my xxx muscle?' While that may potentially seem a simply answered question, it's not! When one muscle is moving one way, another is moving in contrast to it, and a plethora of muscles are stabilising the action. When you move your whole body (which in reality we are always doing in some sense), the answer to the 'which muscles am I working?' question is, 'all of them!'! 

And then when you take into account individual fascia patterns then it can blow all muscle movement theory completely out of the water (see So Heres Where We Start With Fascia ).

Muscles are complicated. They work in a whole set of strings and pulleys throughout the body, with varied roles depending on the job in hand. They lengthen and shorten as we move (think of them all as mini little pistons) and hold various degrees of tension when we need them to stabilise us. Even with all my training and experience my head sometimes wants to explode when I try to think 'muscularly'!

But muscles also move bones! 

So, if we strip things back to feeling our bones moving and getting them in the right place, then everything else (muscles, ligament, tendons, fascia) will organise to support that alignment. Simples!  

For example, in standing, try this:

• Stand with your feet about hip distance apart. 
• Feel the bones of your feet soften and plant on the ground. 
• Place your pelvis above your feet, neither too far forward, not too far back, but just right (like Goldilocks porridge!). Imagine the bowl of your pelvis floating about your feet, with your legs bones suspended from your hip sockets. If your knees want to sink then lift your pelvis a little higher. If your knees feel locked, then soften the knee bones, imagining them floating between your thigh bone and shin bones.  
• Visualise your ribcage and place this above your pelvis, the centre of your rib cage above the centre your pelvic bowl. 
• Place your skull above the centre of your ribcage, like a dot on the top of an i. And feel that your head is being held high by an imaginary strong string.   
• Allow your arm bones and shoulders to drape down the side of your body. 
• Feel the movement within your spine, as you stand. Nothing is ever completely still within your body, so allow the bones the freedom to ever so slightly sway as you stand, like a tree responds to the lightest breeze. 
• Know that you have space between your bones, and in a sense your skeleton floats within your whole body. 
• Understand that everything else in the body is doing what it needs to do, even if it now feels that you don't have to work hard in this 'posture'! 

Next time you go for a walk, let the bones move you. Feel where your head placement is in comparison to your ribs, your pelvis and your feet. Let your thigh bones initiate each leg lift and let your whole skeleton float forward over your feet as you step forward. Enjoy the sensation of moving from your bones, as that's real 'core' work! ;-)

Til tomorrow.... :-)

CT :-) x 

 

Dynamic Psoas Release: 50 day blog - day 42

The psoas muscle is incredible.

It is essential for balance, alignment, rotation and range through joints. It influences the organs, the diaphragm, the pelvic floor. 

We have two psoas muscles (psoai, I believe is the plural). Together they link our trunk to our legs and acts like the strings of two pendulums. A healthy and efficient psoas will swing our leg forward as we walk and help to massage the vertebrae and organs as we walk. That sounds nice! 

Much more common however, these days are shortened and overworked psoai. Psoas is very sensitive to stress, tension and fear and in essence will retreat inside us, essentially pulling our leg inwards into a functionally shortened position. 

If you are told that you have one leg shorter than the other, it is most likely functioning shorter, and most likely due to an overworked psoas. (Very few people actually have one leg shorter than the other, in terms of the  bone length being significantly different.)

So, how do we give our psoai the respect that they deserve, by helping them to work efficiently and let them have some chill time? 

One thing that we can do is a to give them a complete rest, as I discussed in a previous blog (Lovely Psoas Relaxer)

We can also be aware of them as we walk and give them the freedom to swing as they deserves to.

Imagine your legs as two pendulums swinging forward from the back of your lower ribs. Feel that your foot is the weight through which momentum can travel. Let your foot meet the ground with softness, allowing gravity to have the final pull downwards. Gravity is your friend as it grounds you and weighs you down. You need not 'give into gravity' by crumpling, but instead feel it help you to release your leg's full length, and so allow you to be your full height, from your pelvis and torso. 

When I do this I like to imagine my legs falling away from my torso, while my eye gaze and upper body remain floating forward without deviating from their height. 

If you find this a little difficult to feel as you are walking, it can be really nice to feel your psoas release with gravity's help by simply swinging your leg back and forward. Stand with one foot slightly elevated (on a step or a small pile of books). Let your swinging leg feel its full weight. If it feels heavy then you've got it! Keep swinging this leg back and forth, with its full heaviness. the stand on the floor with both feet on the ground to feel a difference. I'm betting you'll be straight back to the step to do the same with the other one! 

Enjoy the release, enjoy walking with a free-er psoas :-) 

Til tomorrow :-) 

CT :-) X        

 

Let the sunshine in: 50 day blog - day 41

I'm sure like me you are all enjoying this beautiful sunny weather that we are having. It feels so good to get outside, feel the warmth on your skin and do things which you may otherwise not do.

While we know that we need to protect ourselves from too much sun, being in the sunshine is very good for us. 

1. It strengthens bones and immunity

Just like plants, we metabolise sunlight, turning it into Vitamin D. Vit D regulates the absorption of calcium and phosphorous and is a building block to a strong immune system. Regular exposure to the sun is therefore important for the healthy growth and development of strong bones and teeth and can reduce risk of developing osteomalacia (soft bones) or osteoporosis (fragile bones). It can also reduce the likelihood of getting flus and cold. 

2. It improves sleep quality

During the daytime on a sunny day, the optic nerve sends a message to the gland in your brain to decrease it production of melatonin, the hormone that makes you feel drowsy at night. Exposure to sun helps regulate the body's 24 hour cycle and helps you feel tired when the sun goes down. 

3. It improves mood

Sunlight increases the levels of serotonin, in the brain. Serotonin is one of the happy hormones in the body, which helps regulate appetite, sleep, memory and mood. It helps those with mild depression and in general we tend to feel better and brighter on sunnier days. 

In addition to these benefits, we tend to make different choices when the sun is shining. We are more likely to socialise with others, be more active, leave work earlier, relax, eat healthier, all of which have positive effects on our whole body system. 

So, go out, get in that sun and enjoy every single ray of it! 

Til tomorrow.... :-) 

CT :-) X