The TRICK to TREAT Yourself Well

 Treat Yourself Well

Fall is in full swing with kids/grandkids back in school, sports schedules pack the evenings and weekends, and yard cleanup from summer gardening and raking leaves keeps us all so busy! This is the time of year when colds and flu bugs start ramping up, so it is important now more than ever to keep yourself well so you can enjoy the upcoming holiday season.  There is so much advice on what we could be doing to take care of ourselves, but it can be overwhelming to put it all together and find the time in your day to actually DO the recommended things! So many of us are caregivers and are in the habit of putting other's needs before our own. Remember the advice from the flight attendants to "Put on YOUR oxygen mask before assisting others" or you may have heard "You can't pour from and empty vessel." I'm on a mission to simplify things and help my clients (and myself...) learn to "Treat Yourself Well."  

I've come up with an easy activity to remember and perform that will feel good and help enliven key muscles in your neck, shoulders, upper back, and core to energize your mind, enhance your ideal alignment and posture, minimize pain, and keep your immune system boosted, and the best thing is that you don't need any extra equipment. Sound too good to be true? If you can remember 3 letters, you'll never forget this game-changing "trick" that I've already shared with a handful of clients. 

This "trick" is very practical and versatile, as it can be performed while sitting, standing, lying down, and walking.  This simple activity involves making 3 positions with your arms. If you want to "Treat Yourself Well" and can remember the first letters of each word in the phrase, T Y W, you will always remember this easy trick! 

T stands for Treat

Make a "T" shape with your arms stretched out to either side with your palms facing forward. Be sure to keep your shoulder-blades down and back, anchored to your ribcage. Take a full breath into your belly and as you exhale, engage your shoulder-blades down and back as you reach out through both of your middle fingers to feel the elongation/stretch through the front of your neck, chest, shoulders and arms. Hold this position for 3 full breaths, relaxing slightly as you inhale, and reaching as you exhale. Allow your body to move gently from side to side or any way it feels natural and easy to fully enjoy the benefits of this position. 

Y stands for Yourself

Move your arms into a "Y" shape, as if you are at a wedding and doing the "YMCA" dance move. Be sure to keep your shoulder-blades down and back again, just like during the T position, and position your hands so your thumbs face the back of your body. Take a full breath into your belly and as you exhale, engage your shoulder-blades down and back slightly more as you reach up and out through both of your middle fingers to feel the elongation/stretch through the arms, shoulders, armpits and ribcage. Hold this position for 3 full breaths, relaxing slightly as you inhale, and reaching as you exhale. Allow your body to move gently from side to side or any way it feels natural and easy to fully enjoy the benefits of this position. 

W is for Well

Move your arms into a "W" shape with elbows bent out at your sides, palms facing forward or with pinky fingers facing the back of your body. Take a full breath into your belly and as you exhale, allow your shoulder-blades to engage down and back on your ribcage and feel the elongation/stretch through the front of your shoulders, arms and chest as you reach your pinky fingers back. Hold this position for 3 full breaths, relaxing slightly as you inhale, reaching as you exhale. Allow your body to move gently from side to side or any way it feels natural and easy to fully enjoy the benefits of this position. 

So there you have it! It's as easy as TYW to Treat Yourself Well! When you "embody" these letters and perform these simple movements, you truly are participating in a form of self-care. This easy trick will help you fill your own cup so you can continue to pour out for others.  Let me know how this goes for you and what you notice in your body and in your life as you make this a daily practice. You deserve to take the time to TYW! 

8 Key Elements to a Well Balanced Life: "D" is for...

I've been naughty this year. I've been teaching my clients to perform exercises specifically for their unique muscle imbalances, but I haven't done my exercises faithfully. I have all sorts of exercise equipment at home and at my office, but do you think I use them often? No. I haven't been practicing what I preach as much as I should have been this year. However, a good friend of mine once said, "Don't ever "should" on yourself" and I have always appreciated that comment. I have realized that it is important to focus on all of the good things I have done this year instead focusing on what I "should" have done.  

In August, I finally broke down and hired a personal trainer to help keep me accountable for taking care of myself, as I had been focusing on taking care of others and let myself go. I am also making great strides in overcoming leaky gut syndrome and the resultant autoimmune conditions that have created challenges with my health and energy levels by educating myself on  how to use food as medicine. I am helping my family to also improve their health and energy levels so we can keep up with our 5 year old! Prioritizing time with my family and friends has also brought a lot of joy into my life in 2016. I also just formed a "Meet Up" group called "Get Moving Mil-WALK-esha" to get people together for walks around Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties. These good things in 2016 have helped to move me closer to living a well balanced life. 

Over the past 8 months, you have discovered how to live a well-balanced life also through Breathing, being mindful of your body's Alignment, moving around or being "Locomotive", bringing Awareness to your body's sensations and movement limits, eating a Nutritious diet, Circulating your body's important life giving and cleansing fluids, and enhancing your Environment to maximize health and minimize toxins. Finally, as the year draws to a close, you will discover the final key element to a well balanced life. 

The journey toward health and wellness is not an easy one. Pain, tightness, limited movements and mental blocks can all get in the way of our ability to enjoy life. Many of us seem to be wearing many hats and burning the candle at both ends, as they say, and time seems to fly by before our eyes. The final key element in BALANCED is one of the most important elements but can also be one of the most difficult: Dedication to taking care of ourselves and living a healthy life. 

Dedication means taking the time out of your day to breathe. Dedication means taking a moment to look within and be aware of how you are feeling, and then take action to improve upon that feeling if necessary. Dedication means taking the time to plan out, prepare and enjoy nutritious meals, snacks and drinks. Dedication means doing the best you can on any given day, or at any given moment, to commit to your well-being and make the best decisions you possibly can to care for yourself.  

Dedication is NOT perfection. (I have to keep reminding myself of that one.) Dedication means cutting yourself some slack for missing a workout, and getting back on the horse as soon as possible. Dedication means having the right network of family, friends, coaches and helpers to keep you moving toward your goals and truly living a well balanced life. Dedication means taking care of yourself so you can continue to care for others. (I have to remind myself of that one, too!)

Congratulations on your dedication so far along the journey toward your well-balanced life. The journey keeps on going until our time is up on this planet. I'm dedicated to being here for you to support you on your journey as I continue along mine. 

Keep moving well!  

8 Key Elements to a Well-Balanced Life: "B" is for...

Take a deep Breath. Fill your lungs with oxygen, the most important element our bodies need to survive and to achieve full healing. Is it easy for you to do this? Are you feeling any tension, tightness or discomfort anywhere? Where do you draw your breath in...your chest, your shoulders and neck, your belly? Are both of your lungs equally balanced as they bring in air? 

From our first moment of life to the present, our breath has always been with us. Inspiration, or taking in breath, fills us with the oxygen needed for our body to survive and produce energy, and expiration allow us to get rid of carbon dioxide and waste products no longer needed by our bodies.  Although breathing is natural, spontaneous, and automatic, we often take this process for granted until we have difficulty breathing.  Our fast-paced lifestyle, habitual forward-flexed postures, and exposure to environmental toxins contribute to impaired respiration and build up of toxins in our system. A lack of oxygen has been linked to decreased mental states, and increased heart disease, stroke, and cancer. This element is vital to life of most ALL species! 

Learning to breathe properly and efficiently is a valuable tool for everyday rejuvenation and vitality.  The muscle we were designed to use most efficiently for breathing is called the Diaphragm muscle. It is a large, thin, dome or parachute-shaped muscle that sits underneath our lungs. When it contracts, this dome pulls downward and helps our lower ribs to expand, creating space for the lungs to fill with oxygen molecules to be absorbed by the lung walls. 

Learning to breathe with your Diaphragm is most easily done lying down on your back, in a comfortably supported position. You can also do this while sitting. Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest. Take a deep breath in through your nose, and feel which hand moves first and which hand moves more. If you said, "belly hand," then you are on the right track!! Imagine filling your belly like there is a balloon inside of it. Feel it expand downward, forward and to both sides. Go ahead, let your belly muscles relax, stop "sucking in" your gut, and enjoy the expansion and natural energy boost of breathing with your Diaphragm muscle! Doesn't that feel good? 

If you said "chest hand," then you, like many people are primarily using your smaller, less-efficient-in-the-long-run "accessory" breathing muscles. These helpers in the neck and shoulders help you to take in air during stressful situations, like being chased by a bear. Unfortunately, our fast-paced, overpacked, under-mobile lifestyles often result in people overusing these little guys and feeling like their shoulders are tight, sore, and that they sit up by their ears!! Sound familiar??

Just like any other muscle, you can train the Diaphragm to get stronger and work better for you. I love isometric exercises, as these are a gentle way to contract, increase our body's awareness of, and re-educate muscles, so let's try some isometrics for this super important muscle:

Draw your breath into your belly for about 4 seconds, hold your breath for 5-6 seconds, slowly release your breath again for 4 seconds, and hold with the lungs empty for 5-6 seconds. As with other strengthening exercises, begin with one set of 10-12 reps, and add more reps and sets as the initial set gets easier to do. You can also do several sets throughout the day as you go about your daily routine. 

If you are lying on your back and you are ready for more resistance, place a small weight on top of your belly and feel the added resistance as you "pump iron" with your Diaphragm! Who knew your breathing muscles could get such a great, easy, isolated workout? 

Once you have practiced this efficient form of breathing, your neck and shoulder muscles can relax, you will feel a sense of calm come over your entire being, and you will have increased confidence that you are on your way to a well-balanced life! 

Move well, my friends!