UN-DO the Stuck Stress & Tension in your Body

 

As the Midwest summer quickly passes by, we are busy DO-ing all sorts of fun things outside to soak up all of the nice weather activities while we can. Walking around farmer's markets, festivals, enjoying lake life, and summer parties are all so much fun, but can lead to tension and stress getting stuck in our tissues. Instead of being focused on all the we are DO-ing, I've been teaching people how to UN-DO the stress and tension that gets stuck in the body due to connective tissue dehydration with the MELT Method. If you haven't already heard me gush about this amazing method, MELT is a simple, self-care treatment that enhances mobility, stability, and performance and is clinically proven to reduce chronic pain while restoring overall well-being. Using specially designed soft balls and rubberized foam Body Rollers, you can rebalance your body's nervous system and rehydrate the connective tissue system. 
 

It has been amazing to witness the changes in the clients who have adopted this method as part of their home wellness program. It was also fun to hear some of the feedback at the workshops held in July when people noticed immediate changes in their bodies. 

"My whole upper body feels relaxed, yet I feel energized at the same time." -- Carol S

"I can put my shoes back on without any hip pain after the workshop!" --Lynn M
 
"I can't wait to see what my co-workers say when they see me MELTing at my desk!" -- Heather B

I'd love to share more about this method or have you attend a workshop to learn how you too can take matters into your own hands to MELT your issues away! 

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Join me for another  MELT Method Hand and Foot Intro Workshop on
Saturday August 12,  from 10-11:30am at 1212 Bodyworks, Brookfield.
($45. Product discounts for attendees)

You'll learn a gentle, self-treatment for your hands and feet, using the MELT soft ball system, and your whole body will benefit!  

Space is limited, so be sure to click this link to register soon.

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Have you been feeling limited with your daily activities because of pain or uncomfortable movement? Want more information about the upcoming workshop? Curious about a custom MELT Method treatment session?  Or, just need a reboot to get your body back into balance?

Simply call, text [(414) 405-3956] or email [1212bodyworks@gmail.com] to schedule your next session.

I'd love to help you feel your best and enjoy the rest of the summer! 

 

Keep Moving Well! 

-Emily-

PS: If you were forwarded this message, email me to receive a free copy of my article

                                                    "How Mary Ditched Her Cane and Her Pain"  

5 Daily Habits of Healthy, Independent Seniors

 

Last week, a sweet 98 year old woman really impressed me!! I was called by her son, a long term client of mine, to do a home visit and assess her back pain due to a recent fall. Mary was amazing!! She still lives by herself and doesn't take ANY medication!! She's able to maintain some independence and has caregivers come into her home to help her with hygiene, dressing, and home care activities. I was impressed at how well she is still moving around with her walker, despite having some intermittent back pain. This experience got me thinking about what types of daily habits it takes to live a long, healthy and independent life. Keep reading if you are a senior, know one, or plan to be one someday!!  Movement is Medicine When I asked Mary if we could do some "exercises" to help alleviate her back pain she said "I don't like exercise." When I rephrased it and asked, "Can we try some "movements" together?" she smiled right away and said "YES!" Even I don't LOVE the idea of exercising, per say. But "Movement" seems like a less intense activity and less challenging than lifting weights, doing squats, and lunges. (Those are great movements, but not necessarily appropriate for a senior who doesn't love exercise.) We kept things basic and performed some gentle body movements while seated and standing. Her daughter-in-law and I moved her dining room table slightly so she can do laps around the table with her walker when her caregivers are present. She enjoyed moving and it actually made her back feel better.  Daily movement habits could include practicing yoga, walking, biking, swimming, weight lifting, taking exercise classes, gardening, or doing laps around your dining room table. Movement helps to get our blood pumping to bring oxygen to our tissues and organs, as well as pumping our lymphatic system to remove waste materials out of our body. Movement is some of the best natural medicine available to keep your body healthy for decades!! Be sure to get your daily dose.  Balance is Key Unfortunately, the reason for Mary's home visit is that she took a fall, which is a common occurrence among the elderly population. She took this fall like a champ, but that is not always the case with seniors. Sometimes a fall can be the "beginning of the end," especially if someone breaks a hip, as it is difficult to make a full recovery. Balance reactions decline as we age, so it is important to incorporate daily activities to maintain or improve our balance. Doing simple activities like calf raises (rising up onto your toes), standing on one leg, performing side steps, and marching in place can challenge your balance. These are all easy to do while standing behind a dining room chair or near a counter so you can use your hands for support. These can also be performed without holding on if your balance allows. Just be sure to keep yourself safe! By incorporating balance activities into your daily routine, you too can maintain your health and independence as long as possible.  Hydrate for Health Water is the elixir of life! All of our cells and organs require these essential molecules (hydrogen and oxygen) to perform their many functions to keep us alive and well throughout our lifetime. Water not only helps to keep skin soft and supple, but it also helps to digest our food and move our bowels, which is a function that can become sluggish as we age. Healthy water intake is recommended as "twice your body weight in ounces per day." A slice of cucumber, lemon, or orange in your glass or water bottle could be just the simple addition you need to make drinking water more palatable. It's like having a little party in your water, and the nutrients in fruit can help you absorb and assimilate the water molecules even better! When your cells and whole body function and move at their optimal levels, your health and independence will follow!  Don't Wait As much as our bodies are amazing and capable of healing themselves even in our senior years, some issues are better left up to the professionals! Mary's son contacted me soon after her fall because of her back pain complaints rather than waiting weeks and weeks to see if things got better on their own. By being proactive with your health maintenance and any concerns that arise, it is much easier to overcome injuries or imbalances than if you wait until you are miserable to seek professional help. My senior clients who are in the "Maintenance" Mode of their care plan with me are committed to their regular monthly "tune-up" sessions as they feel the benefit of each session and how they all contribute to keeping their mobility at its best. Sure, we can always schedule a session when pain issues are acute or flared up, but I'm not gonna lie...it is much easier to keep people functioning well than it is to do "damage control" therapy. By staying in-tune with your movement abilities and body sensations on a daily basis, you are sure to maintain your health and independence much more easily!    Laughter is the Best Medicine "One minute of anger can weaken the immune system for 4-5 hours. One minute of laughter can BOOST the immune system for 24 hours!" This quote recently came across my internet feed and although it shocked me initially, it actually makes sense. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Mary's home visit was the laughter we shared. She was pleasant the whole time, despite having some pain when she transferred from standing to sitting, but we shared some good laughs together. I'm confident that her positive attitude and sense of humor are 2 of the main reasons she has made it to 98 years old and is still going strong, despite all the ups and downs that each decade can bring. Smiling and laughing do so much good for our heart, soul, immune system and our mental health state. Be sure to prioritize reading, watching programs, and sharing time with the people in your life who fill your spirit, make you smile and laugh, and warm your heart! Keeping your sense of humor is sure to help you stay healthy and vibrant for years to come.  As always, I'm here to help keep your body functioning efficiently to stay healthy and independent for as long as I possibly can! (Written June 2020)

Head to Toe Healing in ONLY 20 Movements!

Back, neck, hip, knee and foot pain are the most common challenges faced among Physical Therapy clients of 1212 Bodyworks.  A smaller majority of clients experience issues in their shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand. Some clients also report feelings of tightness, limited mobility, impaired balance, and weakness. Over the past 2 decades of working with clients to resolve the muscle imbalances at the root of their frustrating symptoms, some common areas of muscle weaknesses have been discovered. As part of the celebration of my 20th Anniversary of being a Physical Therapist, I'm letting you in on my discovery! Below is a comprehensive list of 20 movements to perform for yourself to activate these key areas of weakness. Your whole body will receive a natural boost of energy as you move through these various positions. Remember to listen to your body's signals as you keep your movements within a comfortable range of motion. Tune into the sensations you feel from your right and left sides of the body and take note of the areas that feel different or have less movement available. Take healing into your own hands and KEEP your body moving well from head to toe! 

Begin by lying on your back. 

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing: Draw air into your belly, allowing your shoulders and chest to stay relaxed, as you inhale. Let your breath out slowly as you exhale and relax your body. Repeat as many times as needed to activate the diaphragm muscle below the lungs and allow it to do the work of inspiration that it was designed to do!

2. Ankle Dorsiflexion: Extend the top of your foot and toes toward your nose. Repeat 3 times. 

3. Toe Extension: Reach your toenails up to your shin as you spread the toes out wide, as if putting on a pair of toe "gloves." Repeat 3 times. 

4. Ankle Inversion: Rotate your ankle and foot inward so the bottom/sole of the foot faces the opposite foot. Repeat 3 times. 

5. Knee Flexion: Bend your knee as you slide your heel all the way back toward your hip/buttock. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

6. Hip Internal Rotation: With your knees straight, rotate your thigh bones inward so your knee caps face the midline of the body. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

7. Hip External Rotation: With your knees straight, rotate your thigh bones outward so your knee caps face the outside of the body. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

8. Hip Flexion: Keeping your knee straight, raise your leg up toward the ceiling. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

9. Hip Abduction: Keeping your knee straight, slide your leg out to one side, keeping the knee cap facing the ceiling. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

10. Pelvic Approximation: Bend one knee and place that foot on top of the opposite thigh. Use your lower abdominal muscles to lift the pelvis up and allow the bent knee to reach toward the place where the ceiling meets the wall. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

11. Trunk Sidebend: Bend sideways at your waist as you slide your upper body all the way to the side, as you slide your hand down the side of your thigh toward your knee. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

12. Shoulder Abduction: Keeping elbows straight, reach your arms out to the side and up toward your head as if trying to make a snow angel. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

Now roll over onto your stomach. Place a small rolled towel under your forehead so you can breathe or allow your head to come off the bed with your chin resting against the edge of the mattress. 

14. Shoulder/Scapular Retraction: Squeeze your shoulder blades together toward your spine. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

15. Spinal Extension: Lift your head and shoulders off the bed up toward the ceiling. Repeat 3 times.

Finally, come to a comfortable seated position. 

16. Shoulder/Scapular Depression: Sink your shoulders down away from your ears and feel the shoulder blades slide down the back of the ribcage toward your back pockets. Repeat 3 times on both sides. 

17. Shoulder Flexion: Keeping your elbows straight, raise your arms up toward the ceiling bringing your arms as close to your ears as possible. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

18. Shoulder External Rotation: Bend elbows to at a 90 degree angle, keep elbows next to your side/ribcage and allow your shoulders to rotate outward. Your forearms and hands will reach out to the sides as if pulling an accordion apart. 

19. Cervical Side Bend: Sitting tall, bend your neck so your ear comes down toward your shoulder but keep your face forward without turning your head to look down. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

20. Cervical Rotation: Sitting tall, rotate your head to one side as if you are trying to look over your shoulder and behind your body. Repeat 3 times on each side. 

How do you feel? How fluid or symmetrical are your movements? Is one side of your body more limited in several of the positions? Keep track of the sensations or how far you move so you can maintain your current level of mobility and function. If you begin to notice changes over time as you move into more comfortable range of motion, that is a sign of progress!! If you feel discomfort as you move into a position or throughout different points along the journey that doesn't resolve on its own, you could benefit from some assistance to get to the root of what is contributing to the imbalance or discomfort. Take advantage of 1212 Bodyworks' Complimentary Consultation if you are a new client to share your concerns and learn how I can help you resolve the issues you are experiencing. For current clients, you can take advantage of the 20th Anniversary Special throughout the month of May 2019 and get 20% off of your next treatment package! 

Here's to 20+ more years serving others to help them MOVE, FEEL and LIVE better!!

Spring Prep 101: The 3 Key Steps to Ease Into the Outdoors

This time of year always brings a new energy as we make a transition from Winter to Spring. The cleaning and yard work activities of the Spring, including bending, lifting, squatting, kneeling, and more, involve a lot of muscles that may not be quite ready to roll after the long winter with less activity. Follow these 3 Key Steps to prepare your body for Spring, ensure well-balanced muscles, and optimize your healthy immune system:

1. Alignment Check: Before you head outdoors to work in the yard, you want to be sure your skeletal alignment is efficient and optimal so you can prevent stresses, strains or injuries. Your muscles will work the most efficiently from a symmetrical and well-aligned skeleton, as our bones are the stable base from which our muscles anchor and create movement when they contract.  To perform your own "alignment check" when you are standing, be sure your feet are pointed forward (not out like a duck), and that your knee caps are aligned in the front of your leg (not rotated out or in), and pelvis is neutral (not tucked or tipped). Be sure your ribs are aligned over your pelvis and that your lower ribs are not "thrusted" forward. Shoulders should line up over the ribcage, on the same line as the hips, if drawing a line from head to toe from the side of your body. Finally, your head should line up over the torso with your ears on the same line as shoulders and hips. Easy enough? If you can achieve this alignment, chances are your mechanics will be more ideal too. If you are having trouble achieving any of the above positions, let me know. 

2. Breathe Easy: The Diaphragm muscle is our largest breathing muscle, located underneath our lungs. For efficient breathing mechanics, this guy should be leading the way or else the "assistants" in our upper chest, shoulders and neck get overworked, leading to more stress and tension. Lie on your back with knees bent. Take a deep breath in through your nose and notice where your breath goes. If you're using the diaphragm correctly, the air should come into your torso and push your abdominal contents up and out, as if there is a balloon in your belly. Your shoulders and upper chest should only move minimally at the end of the full breath. Exhale and release the air as your belly flattens.  If you can easily breathe in this manner, your lungs and diaphragm will be more efficient for all of your daily activities, inside and out of your house. If you are prone to seasonal allergies, this efficient breathing technique can be especially helpful in allowing the tiny hairs in the nose to trap allergens and prevent them from getting into your system. I have really enjoyed diffusing my doTERRA "Breathe" Essential Oil in my home and office, as it really helps to open up my airways and cleanse my breaths. I even apply it to my chest before bed, like Vick's Vapo-rub (except without all the nasty petroleum-based chemicals and carcinogenic properties of Vicks). Breathing easy sets the tone for a healthy immune system, a deep and sound sleep, and even more efficient daily activities the next day!

3. Movement Scan: Another great way to prepare your body for the movements necessary for Spring cleaning and yard work is to perform a whole body range of motion scan to see if you notice any asymmetries, which can be a sign of sleepy, or inhibited, muscles or a problem waiting to happen!  To perform your own self-assessment, notice the sensations on both sides of your body when you: Rotate your head both ways, bend side to side, forward and back. Roll your shoulder blades up, back, down and around. How do those feel? Any popping or clicking noises?? Bend your elbows, then straighten. Bring your arms straight up over head all the way as high as you can. Do both arms reach as high? Now, bring your chin to your chest, lean forward and try to reach your hands down the front of your legs all the way to the floor. How far did you get? Any discomfort along the way? Now roll yourself back upright one vertebrae at a time. You may need something to support yourself and balance for these next few movement scans. Bring one knee to your chest, then the other. How do those compare? With one knee bent, rotate your thigh bone internally and externally to see how far in and out your lower leg goes as you rotate the hip. Bend one knee all the way and straighten it. Flex your toes toward your shin and point all the way down. Roll your foot and ankle in circles, clockwise, then counter clockwise. Any stiffness or popping noted here? Now, squat down to the ground and stand back up. How did that feel for you? These are all great ways to assess and warm up your body for all sorts of activities, especially this time of the year. If any of these activities feel difficult or limited, it is a great idea to get it checked out before it becomes a greater issue or prevents you from doing the things you love to do! 

I'd love to help you be sure your body is prepped and ready to go for Spring. 

For the rest of March and through April 2016, I am offering a 

FREE Breath, Alignment, and Movement Screen 

to help you work though these 3 Key Steps.

To take advantage of this valuable offer, call/text (414-405-3956) or email (1212bodyworks@gmail.com) me today and let's schedule your free session! 

Move Well, my friends!