Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death. Ahh there is nothing quite like getting a good nights sleep. You feel refreshed and ready for the day, during sleep we are enhancing our learning and memory and even helping us to look our best as all our cells are given the necessary time to regenerate. I wrote in the last blog post the importance of making sleep a priority and wanted to go into more detail in this blog how vital to all of our bodily systems sleep is and if you have trouble sleeping some tips to help get the best sleep you can. Stress causes poor sleep and poor sleep causes stress. Depending on the number of hours sleep someone has had can determine how we react to stress both big and small, if we have had a good nights sleep prior to a stressful event we are more likely to be able to cope in a better way than if we have been sleep deprived. Lack of sleep has been know to cause all sorts of health disorders from lowered immune systems, weight gain, fatigue, moodiness, increased risk of accidents, concentration and memory problems, depression and other mood disorders, diabetes mellitus and metabolic disorder, your risk of developing cancer rises and you are 45% more likely to have a heart attack if you have 5 hours or less sleep a night. So how do we know if we are sleep deprived? If you have any of the following you may be sleep deprived:
Do any of those sound familiar to you? So what can we do to develop a healthy sleep routine?
1. Value sleep enough to go to bed. So often when we lead busy lives we put sleep at the bottom of our list of priorities, who can afford to spend so much time sleeping anyway? But creating enough time to sleep can positively affect not only our health but also our quality of life, who wants to spend our life's constantly cranky and tired? 2. Go to bed around the same time every night preferably about 10pm. It is thought that for every hour you are asleep before midnight it is equivalent to two hours sleep. As well as going to bed at the same time try to wake at the same time each day too, even the weekends! 3. Avoid stimulants in the evening. It is well known that caffeine, alcohol and nicotine all disrupt sleep, not only making it harder to get to sleep but also prevents deep sleep which will cause disrupted sleep. 4. Stop watching TV or using the computer after 8pm. Many programmes and movies are high action and very stimulating and without us even being aware of it can cause a release of adrenalin making it very hard to wind down and even if they are not obviously visually and mentally stimulating these activities stimulate the brain rather than helping the mind to calm down. The artificial blue lights from screens also disrupts and can inhibit the release of melatonin which is needed to regulate your circadian rhythms. 5. Create a bedtime routine. Transition into a relaxed state and create a ritual around bedtime. Around an hour before bedtime run a warm bath, while the bath is running you can perform abhyanga (oil massage) on yourself which according to Ayurveda is very grounding. Adding relaxing oils such as lavender, neroli or chamomile to the bath can enhance the relaxing benefits. You may find journaling before bed helpful for releasing any worries you may have so you don't take your stress into your sleep world. Listening to relaxing music or white noise may be helpful to soothe your mind. Any relaxation techniques, meditation, restorative yoga or breathing techniques that you know would all help to calm and soothe the mind and begin to tap you into your parasympathetic nervous system or what is also known as the rest and digest system. 6. Create the perfect sleep space. Keep anything non sleep related away from the bedroom, so no work or computers or TV's. Make it a relaxing space, a dark, quiet, cool environment is ideal. 7. Exercise. Exercise is a great stress buster whether its a brisk walk or an hour in the gym, just make sure not to do it too soon before bedtime, if possible try and exercise earlier on in the day. 8. Massage. Massage is highly relaxing and can be a great way to de-stress the body and mind from tension. 9. Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra or yogic sleep is a deeply relaxing guided relaxation that rotates your consciousness around your body allowing you to release deep seated tension. So many of us go to bed full of all the tensions and worries that we've accumulated throughout the day hoping that sleep will help us feel refreshed upon waking when in fact if we don't release those stresses before we sleep our sleep won't be as be restful as it can be and we will often wake feeling groggy and not as refreshed as we can be. 30 minutes of yoga nidra is equivalent of 3-4 hours sleep. (Look out for a Yoga Nidra YouTube clip coming from KMTC soon). What are your favourite bedtime routines? Or what have you found helpful to promote a wonderful sleep?
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Everyone at some point or another experiences stress and burnout. I think it's important to point out that there is good stress or eustress as endocrinologist Hans Selye coined and then there is bad stress or distress, everyone has different perceptions of stress so what your wife, husband, brother, sister experience as really stressful you may find exhilarating and will provide you with a sense of fulfillment and vice versa. Due to everyone having different perceptions of what is stressful it's important to notice your own telltale signs of getting distressed and take the necessary action to enable your sympathetic nervous system, the nervous system that enables us to get things done and gets us fired up to take action a chance to take a back seat for a while and allow the parasympathetic nervous system to kick in. The parasympathetic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that allows our body's to go into healing and repair mode and it is important for EVERYONE to take time to tap into this state daily but it is essential for people who are going through health challenges and stressful life events. The human body is incredibly intelligent and it doesn't need a huge amount of time to be able to flip the switch from sympathetic to parasympathetic, you can feel the difference in just a few minutes. So the great news is it isn't expensive, you don't need any fancy equipment and it doesn't take masses of time :) All you do need is a commitment to your wellness and to be able to find some peace and quiet for a certain amount of time per day. The first thing I recommend to all my yoga and massage clients is to learn how to breath properly and efficiently, there are many different types of breathing practices or pranayama but the most simple and effective breathing technique is learning how to do diaphragmatic breathing. So make yourself comfortable..you can do this in any position but to first learn it's easier to start by laying on the floor so you can allow your abdominal muscles to relax. Allow yourself to rest in a comfortable position and place your hands on to your belly, just begin to observe the breath first of all so you can draw your awareness inside, allow the breath to slow down and lengthen and feel the subtle sensation of movement under the hands, get a sense of the dome shaped muscle at the base of the lungs beginning to move downwards with each inhale and drawing up with each exhale. You can stay with this breath for anything from 3 minutes upwards and you will feel the difference in the cells of your body. Put a timer on your phone so you can take little pauses throughout your day so you can reconnect with this breath little and often. Another way to be able to tap into your parasympathetic nervous system is restorative yoga and as a bonus you get a chance to practice diaphragmatic breathing. Restorative yoga is so wonderful in this busy world of doing because we can just allow yourself to be and allow your body/mind to sink into stillness and you may find that the more you allow yourself to do this the more your body craves it. If you find the only time that you allow yourself to relax is when you sleep you are missing out. My three favourite restorative yoga postures are- Supta baddha konasana or reclined cobblers pose. If you don't have a yoga bolster all you have to do is get a couple of big towels and fold them in such a way that when you lean back onto them you get a nice elevation through the chest, bring the soles of feet together and allow the legs to drop open placing a couple of pillows or blankets/towels under the legs so it doesn't feel like they are hanging in mid-air. To make yourself more comfortable you may want to place a small towel under the head and cover the eyes with an eye pillow or small towel. Put some relaxing music on and stay here from 5 minutes up to 20 minutes. Viparita karani or legs up the wall. I haven't met one person who dislikes this pose even the most active and sporty people love hanging out in this delicious pose. Grab a pillow or blanket and place under the pelvis, it can be a little tricky to get into as you have to come into it side ways but trust me it is so worth it. So sit sideways on the pillow or blanket and then shift yourself round so the butt is flush to the wall (if your hamstrings are on the tighter side you may need more of a gap), shuffle yourself into the most comfortable position you can find, press play on your favourite relaxation music, cover your eyes, tune into your breath, let go of all external distractions and enjoy! Restorative balasana or child's pose. This is such a nurturing delicious pose, it may take a few props to get really cosy but I promise its worth it. So again grab some pillows and blankets, bring the big toes together and take the knees wide, pile the pillows and blankets as high as you need to so you can relax down into their support, you may need a towel in between the hamstring and calf muscles if you don't have full knee flexion and if you don't have much mobility in the ankle joint place something under the shin. If you're turning the head to the side make sure to turn the head both sides for an equal length of time. The beauty of restorative yoga is its simplicity it may take some time setting up and getting as comfortable as possible but once there you just allow yourself to sink deeper and deeper into relaxation, focusing on smooth deep breaths and allowing the pose just to work its magic.
"Our world is becoming more busy and noisy. Busy seems to be the mantra on everyone' lips lately...Oh no I'm far too busy to fit that in to my life, I've been up the walls, I'm up to my neck with it, I haven't stopped, I don't have time and my favourite I haven't had time to stop for a breath. People wear busy with pride as if busy is a shining example of leading a full, productive and successful life, but if busy is making you stressed out, is affecting the relationships you're in and stopping you from doing the things that bring you joy and happiness then perhaps it's time to reassess your relationship with busy. Sometimes busy can't be helped and if you find that you're getting stressed easily from having to juggle lots of commitments and want to keep your health and your sanity these are my eight top tips to help keep you on the right track.
1) Put Self-Care At The Top Of Your To-Do List- This is a must! Self care is the thing that gets shoved to the bottom of the pile the busier we get, this has to change. You will not only feel physically, mentally and emotionally depleted you will find yourself more susceptible to colds, flu's and illness if you continue to tend to everything but yourself first. When I talk about self care it doesn't have to be an indulgent, luxurious spa weekend away (although that's good too), self care SHOULD and NEEDS to be a built in part of your day just as much as brushing your teeth. It can be as simple as waking five minutes earlier than normal to sit in meditation welcoming what ever quality you want to infuse your day with into your body and mind, having a gratitude diary and writing five things that you're grateful for so you start the day with a more positive outlook, it could be a few minutes of gentle yoga stretches to open your body and mind for the day ahead. It could be as simple as setting a reminder on your phone to pause and find the time to breathe, doing 2-3 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing is a must in my life, it helps turn off the stress response helping you to tap into the "rest and digest" part of the nervous system helping to calm your body-mind and not only does it feel calming but it can also have an energizing effect as you begin to bring more oxygen into your body-mind and allowing more circulation and energy to circulate rather than being stagnant. For more self care tips please see my previous blog post http://www.killarneymassagetherapycentre.ie/1/post/2013/10/self-care-for-you.html. 2) Watch The Fillers- We live in a technological age where we can be contacted and are accessible 24/7 this has many advantages but can eat away at your time giving the illusion that we are busier than we actually are. So schedule in email, social media and web time and turn all social media notifications off and if you want to see how much time you can free up try having a web free day or if you really want to challenge yourself go for a week. So when you find yourself with some free time practice some form of self care instead of reaching for the smart phone/tablet/laptop, can you just allow yourself to be and not to constantly do, find the off button from external stimulus for just a few moments each day and reap the rewards. 3) Create A Morning Ritual- How do you set the tone for the rest of your day? Do you jump out of bed after pressing the snooze button one too many times and hit the ground running at 100mph or do you start the day as you mean to go on in a calm, peaceful way? You don't have to spend hours preparing yourself for the day there is very few of us that has that luxury but if you start your day in a whirlwind of activity feeling stressed and rushed chances are you will feel like that for the rest of the day. Ask yourself how you would like to start your day, what would provide you with the tools to be the most productive and also the nicest person to be around in a morning? Personally I like to ease myself into the day by making myself some warm water with lemon and apple cider vinegar and then either sit for a meditation practice or do some movement depending on my mood, I then make a big green smoothie full of veggies and fruits and then shower followed by abhyanga and oil pulling and then I am set for the day. I didn't start all of these things at once I brought one thing in that I wanted to incorporate into my morning and did that for however long it takes to become a habit (some say 21 days some say 40 days) and just added to it. So take baby steps to achieve how you want your morning ritual to look. 4) Prioritize- Observe what you do throughout the day and notice any time vampires that may eat up your precious time and energy, simply put them aside for another day or let them go if not needed. Another way of prioritizing is making to-do lists, the things of utmost importance go at the top of the list and things of lesser importance can either be left for another day or forgotten about. 5) Make Sleep A Priority- In order to extend the hours in the day many people stay awake longer in the evening, in the last century we have reduced the amount of time asleep by two whole hours per night. It is recommended for an average adult to sleep 7-9 hours per night although this does vary on individual needs and the best quality of sleep comes before midnight when your circadian rhythm is at its lowest point (10pm - 5am). Coming up in the next blog post I will be exploring sleep in more detail. 6) Cut Out The Junk- When people get busy the fast, processed food rears its ugly head as everyone proclaims they don't have time to cook. This couldn't be further from the truth how long does it take to make a soup or a salad or a stir fry not that long. When you are busy you need more than ever to be eating healthy nutritious food so that you are not depleting yourself with eating sugary, processed gunk which does nothing but taxes the body and doesn't provide us with the nutrients we need to be running at our best and most productive. Plan ahead if you're making soup one day double the recipe up and freeze half and you can do this with so many dinners curries, chilli con carnes, sauces for pasta e.t.c. 7) Book A Massage- If you're busy and you're finding yourself getting stressed book a massage not only is massage relaxing helping us to move out of the stress response but it also targets any areas of your body that may be suffering from driving for long periods, sitting at a desk, over use or repetitive injuries from sports or activities that we may be training for. You may find that when you are stressed all of the niggles and aches and pains in your body rear their head as cortisol and prolactin levels in the body rise which increases the body's sensitivity to pain including muscle aches, headaches and low back pain. 8) Take A Yoga Or Tai-Chi Class- Learn to breathe properly and efficiently, take some me-time in your day, learn to move in a new way and learn relaxation techniques. Yoga and Tai-Chi practices leave you feeling clearer and calmer as you melt away the layers of tension that we tend to accumulate during our day or week so that you are able to leave the class feeling clearer, calmer and more in control of your life so that you can see things from a new perspective and vantage point and are then able to prioritize what's important in your life and what's not so important. Learning to do less also makes us more productive. The following stretching routine is really effective for those suffering from an achy, stiff lower back, doing this routine regularly will really help to stretch out all the muscles that may be tight, tense and contributing to low back pain. 1. Ardha apanasana (knee-chest pose). Start lying down on the floor, wearing loose, comfortable clothing and remove shoes and socks. Start with both feet flat on the floor and hug the right knee in towards the chest, this helps to stretch the gluteal muscles, if you have limited flexibility stay with the left knee bent, if you have more range of motion lengthen the left leg long actively pressing the thighbone down towards the ground. Keep the head and shoulders relaxed down to the ground and stay for 20-30 seconds before switching to the other side. 2. Supta padangusthasana (hamstring stretch). Grab a yoga strap if you have one, if not you can use a tie or a dressing gown strap or anything else that resembles a strap and place it around the big and little toe mound, straightening the leg to create a stretch in the hamstring, if you have very tight hamstrings start with the bottom leg bent and the foot flat on the floor, for those with more flexibility lengthen the bottom leg along the floor and actively press the thigh towards the ground. Relax the shoulders here and stay for as long as 5-10 breaths or between 30-60 seconds per side. 3. Supta matsyendrasana (supine twist). Draw your right knee in towards your chest and release the knee over to the left, take your right arm out to the side and rest your left hand on your right knee to create an anchor, if the knee doesn't come all the way down to the ground you may place a pillow or blankets underneath so that it doesn't feel like it is hanging in mid-air. Release your right shoulder down to the ground and if its comfortable on your neck gaze over your right shoulder, stay for 5-10 breaths before switching to the other side. 4. Sucirandrasana (eye of the needle pose). Place both feet back on the floor and place your right ankle onto the top of the left thigh, if you begin to feel a stretch here then stay just gently guiding your right thigh away from your face with your right hand, if you want more of a stretch thread the hands or a strap around the left thigh guiding the left knee in towards the chest as you use your right elbow to guide the right elbow away from your head. You should feel sensation into the outer right hip, lengthening the lateral rotators of the hip particularly the piriformis muscle which can get tight and impinge on the sciatic nerve causing piriformis syndrome. Stay here for 5-10 breaths, just breathing into the strong sensations in the hip area, then repeat on the opposite side. 5. Anjayanasana (hip flexor stretch). If you spend a lot of time sitting chances are your hip flexors are going to be tight. Starting off from hands and knees bring your right foot in between your hands, take your back knee back enough so you can begin to feel a sense of opening on the front of the left thigh, place your hands either on your front thigh or on your hips and allow the pelvis to release down as you lengthen your tailbone down and begin to peel your belly away from your front thigh. Keep your hands on the front thigh or on your hips or sweep your arms up over head lengthening the sides of the waist. Stay for 5 breaths before repeating on the other side. 6. Ardha bhekasana (half frog pose). Come to lay on your belly, place your right forearm horizontally in front of your belly bending your left leg and taking hold of your left foot with your left hand, moving the heel towards the left hip making sure the knee is in line with the hip, drawing your belly in towards the spine as you lengthen your tailbone down towards your heels and lengthen up through your heart. Stay for up to 5 breaths before repeating on the right side. 7. Ardha adho mukha svanasana (half downward facing dog at the wall). Come to a wall space and place feet hip distance apart, place palms of the hands shoulder distance apart against the wall spreading through the fingers. Bend the knees first of all to create the curvature in the spine, if you find when straightening your legs that your lower back rounds then stay with the knees bent moving the tops of the thighbones back to create length through the spine. If you can keep the lumbar curve with straight legs then moving the legs towards straight and stay for 5-10 breaths creating length through the full length of the back body. 8. Parsva tadasana (sidebending mountain pose). Stand with feet hip distance apart, inhale arms up overhead, interlace fingers and press palms up towards the sky, lengthen the sides of your waist as you root down from the pelvis and legs into the ground, exhale over to the right rooting down even more into the left leg stay for 3-5 breaths returning back to centre and exhaling to the left. You can repeat 2-3 times really feeling the skin, muscles and connective tissue beginning to lengthen on the side body. This is a wonderful stretch for the quadratus lumbormum and latisimus dorsi muscles on the side body which often get neglected. This whole sequence should take 8-10 minutes to complete and works to release the muscles that assist to support and stabilise the low back. Enjoy! And I would love to hear how you get on with this little sequence, please comment in the comment section below.
"If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young." Joseph Pilates We all know someone with back pain or have probably experienced it ourselves at some point, statistics suggest that 4 out of 5 people will suffer with it at some point in our lives. Often the causes of low back pain are mysterious, you can have all the tests and MRI's that are available and still be none the wiser as to the cause. More often than not the cause of low back pain is damage to the soft tissue, which isn't picked up by x-rays and MRI's. The muscles, ligaments and fascia can be adversely affected by habitual poor posture, injury or trauma and chronic misuse and under-use of the soft tissues in the area. Studies suggest that trigger points (contraction "knots" in soft tissue) are a component of up to 93% of the pain seen in pain clinics and the sole cause of such pain as much as 85% of the time. (Gershwin; Fishbain quoted in Travell and Simons: Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual Volume 1.) Trigger points are knots in the muscle which most often refer pain to a site distant to where the trigger point is located, so trigger points found in the Erector Spinae group, Quadratus Lumborum, Piriformis, Psoas and Gluteals can all contribute to pain in the lower back. Posture plays a huge role in the health of our spine and all the structures surrounding it, there is a common belief that when we go to the gym or go for a run we are training our body which we are, but more importantly every single moment of every day we are training our body in the way we sit, the way we walk and this is even more important than the hour or two we spend each week or even each day we spend doing "training". Sitting in chairs is one of the worst things we can do for our postures it often encourages a posterior tilt of the pelvis, over stretching the musculature of the back and shortening the hip flexors on the front not to mention collapsing the diaphragm and making less space for the organs. If sitting in chairs can not be completely avoided then there are several things you can do to encourage a healthier posture, sit with your behind behind you and not in front of you, sitting on your ischial tuberosities (the two bony points in your buttocks) encourages the natural curvature in the spine avoiding the c-shaped "slump and dump" spine and helping to maintain the natural s-shaped curvature of the spine. Get up and move regularly, the spinal discs are spongy and cushion the vertabrae, but they naturally have poor blood supply, movement allows fluid to circulate around the discs. Sorry ladies you're not going to like this (and maybe some gents too if you're into that sort of thing), what we wear on our feet is of huge importance not only to the health of our feet but also to the rest of our body. High heels completely throw the alignment of the body out, in order to maintain balance the calf muscles, hips and back have to tense so that we literally don't fall forward causing the muscles to fatigue and cramp. So if you want relief from low back pain ditch the heels, heels compress and damage the lumbar spine increasing osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease in the low back. Take a moment to think about how many movements you take your spine through every day.... Did you come up with many? Our spine is able to flex and extend (think forward bend and backward bend), laterally flex (side bend), and each of the vertabra in the spine are also able to rotate (twist). Ideally you should be taking the spine through its full range of motion everyday, if you don't use it you lose it. One of the main culprits of low back pain is weak butt muscles, gluteal muscles not only stabilise the tailbone they help support the function of the low back muscles. If the glutes are weak, the lower back muscles have to work harder than normal to stabilise which makes them fatigued and sore. Squats are a great way to tone the gluteal muscles. So if you have low back pain or discomfort, have a think about how you are using your body every day, bring some healthy movement patterns in to your body and book in with a skilled body worker who can release some of those troublesome trigger points that are causing pain and can show you some self care stretches you can do at home!
"Your breathing is your greatest friend. Return to it in all your troubles and you will find comfort and guidance.". – The Teaching of Buddhist Master I'm a big fan of taking time for self care and find that if I don't make the time for caring for me I either get sick or I get exhausted which forces me to take time off. Self care is vital especially if we are parents or care givers and find we have many tasks and responsibilities that we need to take care of. These are my favourite ways of taking time out of my busy schedule and making time for me so I can more effectively do all the other things that are demanded of me in the rest of my life. 1. Start and/or end your day in silence. I know this isn't always practical, especially if you have young children or jump out of bed at the sound of your alarm and from then on your day starts at 100 mph but if we can spend even 2-5 minutes at the beginning of our day just to start and end the day in a meaningful way it can set the tone for the kind of day you want to create and end the day with a sense of closure so we can have a more sound sleep. 2. Breathing techniques. This is my go to when i'm overly stressed or tired, one of my favourites is sectional breathing where you lay flat on the floor (if you have any low back issues you may want to place a pillow under the knees). Place your hands on to your belly and begin to gently feel the belly rise and fall as you begin to slow the breath down, continue for a few rounds. Then place the hands on the rib cage and feel the breath moving into the ribs front, sides and back concentrating on slowing the breath down, continue for a few rounds. Following this place the hands on to the upper chest and begin to breath into the upper portion of the lungs, allowing the muscles surrounding the neck and shoulders to relax and receive the breath rather than them getting recruited into working to bring the breath into the lungs, continue for a few rounds. You can either end the breathing practice here or if you have more time you can integrate the three sectional breaths into one complete breath by breathing into the belly and pause, breathing into the rib cage and pause and breathing into the upper chest and pause and then slowly exhaling all the breath slowly out of the lungs, continuing with this breathing technique for as long as possible just feeling all the stress and tension just melting away with each exhalation. 3. Unplug and get out in nature. One of the best ways to unwind is to get out in nature, technology is everywhere and we can often be contacted 24/7, which can leave us a little overwhelmed so unplug and leave the smart phone at home and get out in nature. Taking a gentle stroll can be a great stress buster and the combination of the fresh air and the exercise can aid in giving us a good nights sleep. Just the simple act of sitting by the sea can be really re-energising. 4. Make sleep a priority. If I don't get enough sleep I am more likely to be reactive to small things, less likely to make healthy food choices because i'll be tired and looking for convenient food and foods that will wake me up. The amount of sleep needed is individual but generally around 8 hours of sleep is optimal, what seems to be more important than the amount of sleep we have is the actual hours that we sleep, sleep before midnight are the most rejuvenating in fact some researchers suggest that for every hour you sleep before midnight is equivalent to two hours sleep. 5. Make healthy food choices. We all already know this but cutting down on processed, refined and sugary foods and choosing foods that are close to nature will give us the correct amount of energy that we need throughout the day. Eating sugary, processed foods causes a spike in blood sugars and then a crash which often leaves us reaching for our next sugary fix, so start the day as you mean to go on. 6. Meditate. You don't need to learn any fancy techniques to meditate or a huge amount of time, just giving yourself time to find the pause and stillness during the day where you can check in with how you're feeling in your body/mind as you begin to slow down and tune in to your inner world. We spend so much time externally focused which is absolutely essential in the world we live in, its completely unrealistic unless you live in a cave to spend your whole day dedicated to your inner world, but to live a balanced live its essential to dedicate a portion of your day to your inner surroundings, in doing so you will be less reactive and more calm. Just dedicating 5-10 minutes a day can be hugely beneficial and if you find it hard to find 5-10 minutes start with 1 minute, yes just 60 seconds to slow down and tune in to the breath, every one can spare 60 seconds out of their day and often when you do 60 seconds you want more and you can grow your meditation practice from there. Taking time at the start or end of your day or even finding little pauses throughout the day can be as beneficial or even more beneficial than dedicating an hour or two a week to your meditation practice. 7. Yoga. This is my number one method of self care, whether it includes breathing practices to re-energise me, restorative yoga practices to de-stress me or the yoga postures to open and strengthen my body depending on my needs on any particular day, taking just 5-10 minutes a day can really change my perspective, alter my energy levels and make me feel wonderful. One of my favourite restorative yoga postures is viparita karani (legs up the wall), so simple and easy to do and is it is restorative so you just allow yourself to sink into the shape, perfect after a busy day on your feet and the bonus is you can do the above breathing technique while you're there, I don't normally recommend multi-tasking but there is always exceptions to the rule! So all you need to do is find a wall space, you can use a bolster or pillow underneath the pelvis to elevate the pelvis or simply snuggle your seat as close to the wall as possible and ahhhh relax and enjoy! What are your favourite methods of self care? please share in the comments below I would love to know.
Over the past few months i'm noticing more and more how my massage practice is being informed by my Yoga practice, they may seem very different from the outside, but I apply the same principles to both.
The beginning of a yoga class sets the tone for the whole class and I always begin the practice both when I teach and when I do my own practice at home with a few minutes of "grounding", this very simply means to begin to connect with and deepen the breath, to let go of to do lists and slowly allow my mind to quieten so I can be more "present" rather than thinking of the journey to work or what I am going to eat for dinner. I have the exact same ritual prior to doing my massage treatments this enables me to be able to feel what's happening underneath my fingers, knuckles, forearms, elbows or whatever is in contact with the client, so i'm not just going through the motions. When I am able to be present with the person in front of me whether they are on my massage table or in line at the checkout that's where the magic in life happens, not when we are checking out from life and all it has to offer. Whilst many people will be familiar with the Asanas or the physical postures, Yoga's underpinning philosophy is based on Patanjali's eight-limbed path the physical postures being just one of these. The first and possibly the most important is Ahimsa which is often translated as non-violence but can also be thought of as doing no harm in thought, word or deed. Fortunately for many people massage and harm couldn't be further away from each other, but for others especially in the sports massage world they often come hand in hand. Many people have the outdated belief that there's no pain without gain and that bruising following massage is the norm. Causing pain and trauma to the body in any way is craziness! Thankfully many sports massage therapists are coming to the realization that a gentler approach often gets even better results, this is especially true with Myofascial Techniques. For those of you who are familiar with the physical Yoga practice there is a fine line between finding a comfortable level of sensation, where your body is opening, you can feel the change occurring in your muscles and connective tissue and you can soften in to it rather than feeling like you are fighting with your body and that everything is tensing up in response to that, putting yourself in a position where you may be causing yourself pain and possibly injury and to quote Erich Shifmann "Somewhere between these two points is a a degree of stretch that is in balance: intensity without pain, use without abuse, strenuousness without strain. You can experience this balance in every posture you do". For those of you who come to my yoga classes you will know my classes are very breath centered for several reasons one of which if you are able to breathe smoothly and deeply whilst in a posture the chances are you're not going to be pushing yourself further than you should in any given position. If the breath is strained in any way its a good indication you've gone too far and should back out to a place where you can find that sweet, juicy spot. Every time I place my hands on a clients body I am refining and deepening my "listening touch", I work slowly so that that I can feel through the layers of the clients body, waiting for the clients tissues to allow me in rather than pushing my way through in an invasive way and I feel for the softening in the muscles and the connective tissue so I am then able to work deeper if necessary. Sometimes during a massage there are areas in the body that are tender to the touch but it should never be painful, your muscles should still stay soft and not feel like you are bracing yourself and the breath should be full and deep, if you are holding your breath waiting for it to be over that's not a good sign! At the end of each massage session I end with some still work either holding the feet or the head depending on what part of the body I have been working on, it's like a mini shavasana or relaxation that happens at the end of the yoga class where all the effects of the massage or Yoga practice can be integrated into the body, it's a really beautiful and magical moment as it has a powerful effect on the nervous system. Deane Juhan so beautifully wrote "When you touch someone they are touching you back" its a magical exchange that happens at the end of the session as I simply cradle the clients head and have a moment of stillness and silence and feel that its not only calming their nervous system but a feeling of calm just washes over me and I feel like I could sit there all day! One of the most common conditions I see at Killarney Massage Therapy Centre is neck and shoulder pain and I think we all have at some point in our lives felt like we have pieces of cement on our shoulders especially at times when we have a lot of physical and emotional stress. If you are a cyclist, someone who spends a lot of time driving or who spends a lot of time at a computer or on a hand held device you may find yourself with neck and shoulder pain due to overuse and/or misuse, without you even knowing it you may be encouraging neck and shoulder pain by the way you perform everyday activities. Technology is a wonderful complement to our lives but spending too much time at a computer or on a hand held device can wreak havoc to our posture causing our heads to move forward putting a huge amount of pressure on to the small muscles of the neck and the upper back. In fact for every inch your head moves forward it gains 10lb in weight causing the muscles to work that much harder to stop the head from dropping forward. Muscles never work in isolation so this then has a knock on effect to the muscles in the upper back resulting in hyper kyphosis where the upper back rounds more than it should, this then also affects the front of the body shortening the muscles around the chest which in turn limits breathing capacity which then can affect our energy and mood and a range of other things. It is also thought that neck pain is the cause of 90% of undiagnosed headaches. Whether you are on your computer, hand held device, reading or driving try to maintain a neutral spine, this often means drawing the ears back so they line up with the shoulders, try to have what you are looking at whether book, or computer e.t.c at eye distance to avoid looking up or down which strains the muscles of the neck. Allow the elbows to rest by your sides and the shoulders to be relaxed. Neck and shoulder pain is often accompanied by stress so try to avoid any stressors in your life if possible, if they can’t be avoided then giving yourself some time for self care whether that be a warm bath or time for relaxation or meditation even if it’s only 5-10 minutes for you so you’re able to better deal with the stress in your life. Heat treatments often give a welcome relief from tight, painful muscles, just simply placing a heat pack or hot water bottle on the area can remind the muscles to soften and let go. (Heat shouldn’t be used on acute conditions (the first 24-48 hours) ice is best in these instances) So often when we spend long periods of time on our bikes, at our computers or driving our heads are fixed into one position for long periods of time our muscles love movement so doing some gentle neck stretches can help to release the muscles around the head. Here's one of the simple neck stretches and exercises you can do: ~Sit in a neutral position looking straight ahead. ~Stretch your neck downward, moving your chin toward your chest. Hold for 10 seconds. ~Slowly tilt your head one inch to the right, and to the left. Another helpful tip is to release the chest muscles by using a rolled up towel along the bra strap line (for guys horizontally underneath the shoulder blades), lay down on the floor with either something underneath the knees if you have low back issues or flat on the ground, relax down into the rolled up towel and stay for as long as you can preferably for at least 5-10 minutes to allow the muscles to relax. This is a great way to counteract all the forward oriented movement we do throughout the day and avoiding the hyper kyphotic curve that can develop in the upper spine. Pain is the body’s way of telling you something is wrong! Our muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia are designed to work in harmony to keep us perfectly balanced. So when one of our muscles is strained or over used, or our pelvis is out of alignment, our entire body works hard to protect and correct the problem. All the while we continue to push ourselves while experiencing the emotional and physical stress of our jobs and lifestyles. Eventually we start to ache and everyday movements become painful simply because our bodies can no longer function correctly.
Clinical massage uses a range of advanced techniques such as Trigger Point Therapy, STR (Soft Tissue Release), Myofascial Release and Sports Stretching to achieve positive, measurable results, usually a reduction in muscular tension or pain and an increase in range of motion but it could also be to improve sporting performance, to reduce the risk of sports injury or even making the simple act of day to day life that bit easier. All techniques are non invasive and sensitive to the needs of you the client. Many people have the misconception that remedial and deep tissue massage is all about the "no pain, no gain" factor and if the practitioner goes deep and hard enough the pain and muscle tension will go away, this is not the case and often has the opposite effect where the muscles will guard themselves and grip and tighten in response .Although in a deep tissue massage the emphasis is more on realigning the deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue and releasing muscular restriction, you should leave feeling relaxed and taller. Clients consult Killarney Massage Therapy Centre following diagnosis of a range of chronic pain conditions and acute pain or sports injuries including: Recurring headaches Neck and shoulder tension and pain Chronic whiplash Sciatica/Piriformis Syndrome Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Hip and pelvis pain Low back pain Leg, knee or foot pain Fibromyalgia At Killarney Massage Therapy Centre the massage is completely tailored to fit you following an in depth consultation to find out why you are seeking massage therapy and going through a range of motion of the area affected I can then work out what muscles and structures are involved and using some or all of the above techniques to tailor fit the right massage for you. Most clients feel a significant decrease in pain conditions and an increase in range of motion after just one treatment, however if you want to have long lasting benefits and to notice a significant difference in your body 4-6 weekly treatments are recommended to create lasting change in your body’s tissues. Studies suggest that trigger points contribute up to 93% of the pain seen in pain clinics and are the sole cause of pain as often as 85% of the time. To find out more or to book an appointment please call Sara Cooper 087-2922851 www.killarneymassagetherapycentre.ie Its not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it. April 1st marks the beginning of stress awareness month and it is widely reported that up to 98% of all degenerative diseases are caused by stress, so learning how to manage the stress in your life is crucial.
To understand stress we need to know how the autonomic nervous system (ANS) works which regulates the function of our internal organs such as the heart, stomach and intestines and also controls the muscles in our body. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is vital in two situations- ~When we perceive a threat physical or mental to our survival (think sabre toothed tiger trying to attack you) our fight or flight mechanism kicks in and is where we either run away from the perceived threat or you stand there and fight the sabre toothed tiger in front of you. ~When that threat has gone or is no longer a threat the rest and digest should set in. When we are faced with a sabre toothed tiger absolutely our stress response should kick in and do what it needs to do for survival, but in our society we are not faced with sabre toothed tigers thankfully. Our sabre toothed tigers are not a threat to our survival but consist of daily living stress, trying to juggle family and work, deadlines, money worries, relationship troubles e.t.c. But the same physiological response happens within our body's, as the sabre toothed tiger approaches, our blood pressure and heart rate increases, breathing becomes more rapid and takes in more oxygen, blood flow may be increased 300-400% to give added fuel to muscles, brain and lungs, our immune systems go on hyper-alert in case we get injured and our digestive system gets shut down. So we have all this extra energy and blood pumping to our muscles,brains and lungs and the chances are we can't run away from our family and work commitments and we can't fight the person in the car in front of you who is holding you up in traffic. If not properly metabolized excessive stress can lead to high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, disorders of the hormonal and immune system (creating susceptibility to infections, chronic fatigue, depression and auto-immune diseases). How then do we protect ourselves? By paying close attention to the unique signals of the fight or flight system, noticing when your heart rate begins to increase, when your breathing becomes more shallow, when you are sighing deeply, develop a dry mouth, your muscles begin to ache and pain, you get frequent headaches and digestive problems. You may also experience emotional or psychological symptoms such as anxiety, poor concentration, depression, frustration, anger, sadness or fear. By recognizing the signs of stress you can begin to take steps to handle the stress overload in your body. If we have all this extra energy and blood being pumped to our muscles and vital organs getting ready to fight or flight one of the most obvious ways of dispersing stress is physical exercise, any form of exercise where we work up a sweat for 5 minutes will do, jumping jacks, running on the spot, sun salutations. Mini exercise sessions are perfect for stress reduction and you get the added benefit of endorphin release when we exercise which are our feel good hormones. When we feel good are thoughts are clearer and more positive, when we don't feel good we can tend to focus on whats not working so well in our lives and this in turn can create more stress in our lives. Coming up in the next blog I will be focusing on the rest and digest system of the Autonomic Nervous System which is vital for health and wellbeing and following that I will be offering simple tips to help reduce the stress in your life. Please comment below on what you find helpful to disperse your stress hormones, I would love to know! |
AuthorAdvanced clinical massage therapist and yoga teacher. Archives
December 2023
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