waking up

Inexcusable absence, sure, but that's the way it goes sometimes friends. I'm going to skip the apologies on account of how they are boring and move on to the good stuff which is...

...IT'S SPRING!

Yes, spring! What with the sun and the relative warm weather and the flowers and everything! I love winter and the way it quiets and focuses and sharpens that sense of survival, but each year by the time spring rolls around I am absolutely desperate for it. My brain is itchy and I feel restless and irritable and then I see those first crocuses pop up on my walk to the subway and I am so relieved that I actually stop and applaud. So far the flowers seem indifferent to my embarrassing public show of approval, but who knows, maybe they're just playing it cool.

I've been really fascinated by the unfurling action of all the leaves and flowers that have been doing their thing these past few weeks. Because really, doesn't that look like it just feels good? It makes me think of waking up. Not that ripped from the sanctity of my bed by the alarm clock kind of waking up, but the way it feels to wake up when you have actually had enough sleep. I realize this may be a fairly distant memory for some of you but reach back and see if you can find it anyway. There's that slow bleed of awareness, that first big yawning gulp of oxygen, and that awesome full body stretch. Good stuff. So enjoy the spring, friends. Go out in the sun and be all leafy and yawn and stretch and enjoy waking up again.

winter

Oh it is winter. It really really is. It is varying degrees of extremely cold. It is frequently wet and windy. It is inhospitable outdoors and your body knows it. There is a distinct winter tension pattern that I watch swing around every year with the following key elements:

Nose In Scarf: The upper trapezius and levator scapulae are lifting the shoulders up up up noseward to try to keep the face warm. That's hard work made harder by the way we hold our heads forward against the wind or as though we might get where we're going an inch faster.

Core Protection: The shoulders curl forward and inward in effort to keep the core of the body warm. It's instinctive, sure, but let's face it, we've got layers of wool or down or polarfleece or somesuch wrapped around all those vital parts, and the thoughtful efforts of our pectoral muscles (which, incidentally, when chronically tight tend to overstretch the mid-traps a bit. Anyone feeling achy between the shoulder blades lately too? Mmm hmm...) just aren't going to make a big difference in how warm we feel.

Walking On Ice: We do the most absurd things when walking on slippery surfaces. We tighten up everything from our feet to our hips, as though we could pull ourselves right up off of that ice and just float over it. So that leaves us (a) walking in a way that we never walk otherwise and are therefore unpracticed in on a (b) challenging surface after we have (c) effectively impeded the ability of ankle, knee, and hip joints to bend, shift, or react in any way. Right. No wonder we fall.

If you can remember to relax your neck, shoulders, and legs when out and about in the frigidness you can cut down on that sore and stiff feeling that lurks around all winter. You can trade that hard fall on the ice for a soft and gentle tumble if not a smooth sail across it. And if the subzero temps have frozen your brain I'll let you off the hook this once, but do have a nice wiggle and stretch once you get back indoors, OK?

taking stock

Like many folks, I spent three quarters December working way too hard and the rest of it sitting on my duff and eating a small mountain of cookies. Now that the holidays are over and life has just settled back into a more familiar schedule and a quieter level of chaos, it's time to take stock of how my body is feeling.

When I am working with a client, I frequently hear things to the effect of "I had no idea that area was so tight/sore/painful/etc." They have mixed feelings about the realization, and I can understand why. While looking forward to feeling better, we also wish the problem wasn't there, and we wonder if maybe it would have been nicer to just not know. If we don't know, we don't have to deal with it...yet. But the catch is that what we don't know sometimes can hurt us, and this sort of checking in grants us the priceless opportunity to nip things in the bud. You know, things that left to their own devices maybe just might develop into tendinitis, pinched nerves, or all other sorts of delightful repetitive use injuries and chronic pain problems. It's the old "ounce of prevention" saying and it sounds worthwhile to me.

Here is an incredibly simple exercise to focus attention in toward the body one part at a time.

The Body Scan

Let's start with the feet. Think about your feet. Can you feel them? Feel your shoes? Feel the arch of your foot and your toes? Wiggle them around a little if you have trouble getting your brain down in there. How do your feet feel? Tired? Sore? Strong? Tense? Relaxed? Strained? Comfortable? Cramped?
Now move up to your ankles and do the same.
Then up to your lower legs, calves and shins...
...knees...
...thighs, front and back...
...hips, pelvis...
...lower back and abdominal muscles...
Feel the full length of your spine.
Feel your ribs (breathing helps)...
...all the muscles of your mid and upper back...
...chest and shoulders...
...neck...
...jaw, face, head.
Now slide back down to your shoulders again...
...upper arm...
...elbow...
...forearm...
...wrist, hand, and fingers.

And ta da! That's all of you. If you want to go into super deep communion with your phalanges this could be a very lengthy exercise, but for the average check in we're looking at 2-5 minutes. Most of us have 2-5 minutes to spare a few times a day, and you if don't, well, yikes. That's another issue for another blog.

In the meantime, you now have a small stash of new information about how your body is feeling. What can you do with it? Shoulders up at the ears? Try relaxing them on down. Forearms feel tight? Time to stretch. Back feel cramped? Stand up and give it a wiggle. Gently, and with plenty of affection. This is not a desperately trying to fix everything right now or else kind of moment. This is no pressure, friendly information gathering, calm responsibility taking kind of moment. Checking in like this a few times a day helps you become better acquainted with your body. It helps you learn to discern little problems from big problems, what you can do about them, and where you need help. And all of these things are steps to helping you feel better all the time, because, as my 9th grade history teacher said over and over and over again, knowledge is power, kids.

Don't know much about...

I think it's pretty wonky that we (at least I) never studied anatomy in grade school. Honestly, what could be a more relevant, basic science than the study of this thing we live in? So to encourage a little personal continuing ed, here are three of my favorite books.

The Anatomy Coloring Book by Wynn Kapit and Lawrence M. Elson
An easy way to learn because coloring is fun.

The Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain
This one is slightly dancer-centric, as noted by the leaping cover illustration. It's also a great bridge between what all these parts are and how they work. The occasionally silly pictures are just a great big bonus.

Trail Guide to the Body by Andrew R. Beil
Geared toward bodyworkers, this is still a great concrete guide to finding where all those muscles in the pretty pictures are on an actual body, like, you know, yours. I love this book.

Give yourself one for your birthday. And stars in your crown if you get 'em at your local independent book store.

foot thoughts

My mother was dealing with plantar fasciitis a few years ago. For those of you unfamiliar with the condition (and just take a moment to thank your lucky stars as well as your feet if that is the case) it is an inflammation (itis) of the fascia (fasci) of the bottom of the foot (plantar). Isn’t Latin fun? We’ll spend some time in the future talking at length about fascia because it is some seriously cool stuff but for now let’s just get on with the story. What this condition boiled down to for my mom was searing pain on the bottoms of her feet every morning when she took her first few steps after getting out of bed. Not a good time to say the least. So as she was telling me her foot woes, she mentioned the impact that the whole situation was having on her mood every morning. She said that upon waking, she would just lay there for a while thinking hateful nasty thoughts at her feet, dreading the searing pain that she knew was coming.

I thought “hmmm…..”

Now, I certainly don’t believe that my mother’s thoughts created the condition in her feet. A number of different factors including bad shoes and bad luck created her plantar fasciitis. However I am quite sure that those moments before she got out of bed were not serving her or her feet in any way. Things get a little wonky when we start thinking of our bodies or parts of our bodies as the enemy. It’s easy to do because we don’t like pain and we don’t like illness (who would?) and it’s always convenient to have something to blame. But the truth is that the body is always trying to heal. It may need some help along the way but it is always trying. And you gotta give some props for that.

What if the foot conversation went something like this:
“Good morning feet. How are you guys doing? Just wanted to say thanks for carting me around all day yesterday. You guys rock. I know this plantar fasciitis business isn’t a cakewalk for you either. I know you are doing your best to heal and I’m going to help out in any way I can. So lets wiggle those toes and roll those ankles and get everything warmed up and stretched out a little before we stand up and start this day, ok? Alright, team, here we go…”

Possible results? Well, we’ve got a good shot at less pain because the stretching and movement will loosen the fascia before standing up. And at the very least there’s the added bonus of not starting the day in a big old moody funk. Not bad.

When we think kindly of our bodies, we tend to use them with more awareness and care. It’s well worth doing because, let’s face it, this is the crew we’ve got. It behooves us to do what it takes to get along. Especially if what it takes is just a thought.