Posts Tagged ‘exercise’

July Tip of the Month: Self Care for the Neck

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

I’ve been noticing a lot of neck tension lately, both on myself and my clients – someone recently described it as a feeling of being hung on a hook from the nape. So I thought it might be a good time to offer a few techniques for unhooking ourselves. If we think about it metaphorically for a moment, we can see the neck as the bridge between the mind and the body. If there is any conflict between them it will be the first to register. Maybe conflict is a big word, so we can think of it as an energy imbalance – our mind is full of things we need and want to do, but our body and/or our emotions are needing some quiet time or attention. Here are some ways to give the body attention:

SLEEP & REST MORE

1. OK, maybe this seems obvious but it’s the advice I personally could use most and the part of self-care that gets least attention in our hectic city lives. It’s also the one thing I am sure will work for everyone! Your head weighs about ten to fifteen pounds, so if your body is tired, you can imagine it’s going to want to take a break from carrying that load, especially if beyond the physiological weight you’re also carrying emotional baggage in there. As my Thai Massage master used to say to almost every westerner that walked into his studio: take off your backpack, at least for an extra hour or two.

USING YOUR FINGERS

2. On the Shoulders: sitting or standing, curve your fingers and place them on the back of the shoulders (trapezius muscles), close to the base of the neck. Keep the fingers hooked and simply pull the elbows closer in to your body to increase the pressure of the fingers without having to press harder. Let the muscles soften, breath deeply and relax your eyes and forehead.

3. On the Neck: sitting or standing, curve your fingers and place them on the back of the neck, right along but not directly on the spine. Apply pressure but not so much that you strain the fingers. Keeping the head straight, chin slightly down, gently press the back of the neck into the fingers on an exhale in order to increase the pressure. Then, keeping the pressure of the fingers into the neck, tilt your head back on an inhale and forward on an inhale. Play with moving the fingers up and down a little – getting the middle finger right into the base of the skull and tiltling back can feel very nice.

4. On the Head: sitting or standing, curve your fingers and place them thumb side down on the back of your head, right along the centeral line of the skull. Move along this center line, from the base of the skull up and over to your third eye, the point just above your eyebrows, applying pressure into the skull. Repeat from the base of the skull to forehead rather than reverse. Then, shampoo your entire head, especially around the temples and don’t forget your jaw.

5. Nutcracker: interlace the fingers behind the neck and pull your elbows in towards each other (below the chin) to create gentle pressure. For deep pressure, release your thumbs from the interlace and place the thumbs along the neck and then pull the elbows in.

USING THE FLOOR

6. Head Rolls: Lie on your back with your knees up, feet flat on the floor and gently pull your chin down towards your sternum, without creating tension in the front of the neck. You should feel the back of the neck lengthening and the back of the head widening into the floor. In this position, press the back of the head into the floor and maintain the pressure as you roll your head from side to side. Exhale as you roll the head to one side, inhale to center, and exhale to the other side. Stop anywhere along the way where the pressure feels good. Move on the exhale to the end of your range, but without straining.

7. Nose Circles: Keep the jaw, eyes and forehead relaxed and draw small circles clockwise with the tip of your nose. Feel the head moving fluidly through the circles – if there are any criks or snaps make the circles smaller. Reverse direction.

USING YOUR HANDS

8. Hanging over: Either standing up or sitting in a chair, let the weight of the upper body and especially your head hang down. To make sure the weight of the head is fully released, do little nods yes and no and check that the head can move freely, as if it were dangling off the spine. Now use your hands to pet the back of your neck, from the base of the shoulder down along the skull, as if you were wiping water off of yourself. You can use a lot or very little pressure – even touching very lightly with the fingertips as if you were tickling yourself can be effective, depending on what you need and like. Otherwise known as “nice nice” in Thai speak.



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June Tip of The Month: Self Massage for the Back (Part 2)

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Here are some techniques for relaxing and working the kinks out of your own back:

USING THE FLOOR

1. Lie on your back and pull your knees in: wrap your hands across the front of the knees, but be sure to keep your shoulders relaxed -no need to add extra tension in one place for the sake of relieving it in another. Take deep breaths and as you exhale, pull the knees in, and as you inhale allow them to gently move away from your chest. Repeat as many times as you like. Keeping the knees pulled in, rock them gently forwards and back, using the pressure into the floor to massage across the low and mid back; then rock from side to side, using the floor to massage across the hips and ribs.

2. Rocking side to side: using the same position as above, rock from side to side, using the floor to massage across the back and hips. Breath easily as you rock for thirty seconds to a minute, then rest with your feet flat on the floor, knees bent.

3. Rocking forwards and back: using the same position as above, but this time with your hands in the crease behind your knees, rock the knees in and out for thirty seconds to a minute, then rest with your feet flat on the floor, knees bent.

USING YOUR BREATH

4. In Child’s Pose: that is, kneeling with your butt on your heals and your head relaxed on the floor, arms either ahead of you or to the sides of the body, breath deeply into the back. Begin by consciously bringing the breath to the tops of the shoulds, feeling the shoulders and neck inflate with air as you breath in deeply and deflate and relax down as you exhale. After a few breaths, begin to send the breath further down between the shoulder blades, then to the low ribs, then to the low back, and finally all the way down to the buttocks. Finish off with a few breaths into the entire length of your back.

USING YOUR HANDS

5. Sacrum: With your feet flat on the floor, knees up, place your hands palms down under your buttocks and gently rock the knees from side to side. You can move the palms around and you can also try rocking with your knees up into the chest.

6. Low Back: Make fists with your hands and place them palms down under your low back, with the knuckles just outside the spine. Keep your feet flat on the floor, knees up, and just relax and breath deeply, moving the fists up or down as needed.

7. Mid-Back: Sit on the floor with your legs crossed, open wide, or soles of feet touching and relax your head down towards the floor. Make light fists with your hands and throw them over your back, pounding gently up and down along the sides of the spine

USING A TENNIS BALL

8. For Deep Pressure: Lie on your back and place a tennis ball under any point or area you feel tension. Relax, breath deeply, and allow the weight of your body to drop down into the ball. Shift slowly, by rolling on the ball or rolling to your side to move the ball away. You can use two tennis balls wrapped in a cloth or bound together with tape to roll symmetrically up and down the spine.

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Posted in Back Care, Chronic Pain, Massage, Mind Body Wellness, Self-Care, Stress, Tip of the Month, bodywork, self-massage | 2 Comments »

Tip of the Month: Morning Stretches

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 2/5/10)

GETTING UP IN THE MORNING CAN BE HARD, I know : ) Especially when your body is still exhausted from the previous day and is about to get thrown out into the cold for another day of running around. Once we get going, it’s hard to stop, and without a chance to shake off the previous day’s tensions, we often end up carrying them with us into the next. No wonder we get increasingly tired and achy! There’s nothing like sleep for resetting the body and mind, but usually our NYC lives don’t allow us extra hours of sleep to account for the season (never mind the emotional weather patterns moving through us!) Taking a moment before the rush to gently stretch is another way of resetting, a chance to tune in with the body and help ease it into the day ahead.

A WORD ABOUT STRETCHING: There are many ways to stretch. But first thing in the morning, I tend to avoid deep, long static stretches, which are best saved for when the body is warm and energized. My morning stretches focus on loosening the joints, making space between the bones, waking up the breath and getting the circulation going. They are a way of gently tuning in with the body and asking it “what’s going on today? what needs a little attention and TLC?” The stretches below are simply suggestions – there are as many possibilities as there are people out there, so find what works best for you. As long as you are aware of breathing and keeping the joints soft, you will only be doing yourself a service.

A WORD ABOUT ROUTINE: I know, just the thought of having one more thing to do every day can be hard to bear. Sometimes even the thought of how great you will feel after isn’t enough to motivate you to do it. So here are two suggestions for fitting a little bit of stretching in every day.
1. Only commit to as much stretching as is feasible for you. You probably wouldn’t leave the house without brushing your teeth, and you probably take at least 60 seconds to do that, so another 60 seconds to stretch is not unreasonable. If you can spare three minutes, then take three minutes, and if it’s a morning where you have a lot of time and the stretching is feeling good, just keep going until you have to stop.
2. Brushing your teeth is probably automatic at this point, and ideally a few moments of stretching will soon be too. Work those sixty seconds of stretch in to your morning routine by repeating them at the same point every day: i.e. right after brushing your teeth, or right before, maybe first thing when you roll out of bed. Do this every day for five days in a row and likely on the sixth it will happen on it’s own.

MORNING STRETCHES:

1. Rolling the joints: standing up, roll through all the joints of the body gently, almost with the quality of still being asleep. Work in the range in which the movement is smooth and lubricated and avoid big snaps and cracks. Start with the head: three (or more) rolls to one direction, then three to the other. Repeat this with the shoulders, elbows, wrists, ribs, hips, knees and ankles. Stretch your arms above your head, yawn, shake the whole body out and repeat if you so please.

2.Child’s pose/kneeling: sit back on your heels and relax the upper body forward over the knees, reaching the arms ahead or allowing them to rest to the side of the body. Keep the toes together but spread the knees apart so that the belly can relax down easily. Breath deeply, using your breath to open up the back of the body – with every inhale, expand into the spaces between the ribs, the shoulders, the neck, the low back. After a few breaths, come up on all fours on an inhale, bringing the wrists right below the shoulders, and circle around the wrists, a few times to either direction. Push back to child’s pose on an exhale, and now repeat the movement from child’s pose to all fours, inhaling to come up and exhaling to push back. Repeat the wrists circles, if you like, take an extra moment to breath in child’s pose if that feels good, for those who know it, you can throw in a gentle cat cow on all fours.

3. Lay on your back and pull the knees in to your belly, placing your hands on your knees. Pull the knees in and out gently a few times, making sure to keep the breath moving, then begin to circling the knees- both knees circle out (away from center and one another) on an inhale, and back in on an exhale. Reverse.

4. Lay on your back with the knees bent and feet on the floor. Rock the knees gently from side to side, allowing gravity to do the work of dropping the knees down. You can try exhaling to drop the knees to one side and inhaling as they return to center – this is just a suggestion, as long as you’re conscious of breathing, do what feels best. If you feel comfortable, allow the head to join in and roll from side to side – play with rolling the head to the same direction as the knees, and opposite them. And for extra credit, roll the arms in and out simultaneously.

MORE STRETCHES IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER… Meanwhile, feel free to email me with any questions or comments. And if you’d like to work on creating a repertoire of stretches that are specific to your needs, mention this tip to receive $10 off a private session.
XO Ophra

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Tip of the Month: Self-Care in the New Year, From the Ground Up

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 1/4/10)

If one of your resolutions for the New Year is to take better care of yourself, may I suggest that you start with your feet? Your feet are the key to balance and alignment, to feeling grounded and to leaping to great heights. Since we know that body and mind are one, I’ll let you play with the metaphor. Meanwhile, here are a few excellent ways to attend to your feet – on the go, at rest, and as focused exercises.

Stretch: sit on your heals, with the toes tucked under and the weight on the balls of the feet. The more you allow the weight to fall towards the big toe and the torso to sit upright atop the heals, the greater the stretch. Be prepared for intense sensations if you haven’t done anything of the sort recently! Stay as long as you can bear it, breathing deeply and keeping your focus parallel to the floor and your peripheral vision wide. When you need to rest, un-tuck your toes and sit back on the heals again, stretching out the front of the foot. Alternate like this for 2-5 minutes (or more if you so desire : ), keeping the focus and the relaxed breath as you change from the one position to the other. You can do this as part of a stretching routine (recommended), but you can also do it while watching TV or a DVD.

Massage: You’ve probably all rubbed your feet with your hands at least once: do it often! Use your elbows, too – if you sit cross-legged on the floor, or in a chair with one leg crossed over the other, the elbows can be used to drop a lot more weight than the hands, and they can give your hard-working hands a break. The key to releasing tension in the feet is not so much kneeding as it is focused pressure and traction. Think of stretching the bones of the feet and toes apart, and circle the joints of the ankles and the toes to lubricate their movement. If you have bunions, do extra some extra stretching for the big toe. And tennis balls and foot rollers are always good props. Keep one under your desk or kitchen table and roll the foot out while sitting.

Walking Meditation: Since us New Yorkers have the priviledge of walking so much, and since we love to multi-task, here is something to do while transporting yourself from place to place. First of all, keep your focus parallel to the ground (vs. dropped) and your peripheral vision wide. Move your head around every once in a while to make sure it’s not stuck in any one place. Allow your internal focus to drop down to your feet and notice the texture of the ground – how hard or soft is it? How bouncy? Then choose a texture and imagine you are walking on it: i.e. dry sand (I’m headed to the beach right after this!), wet grass, melting snow (unless you’re by the beach like me, perhaps this one doesn’t require as much imagination these days : ), etc. Notice how your feet respond to the suggestion! Switch it up, don’t get stuck on any one texture too long, and then come back to trying to feel what the ground you are walking on “really” feels like.

Love,
Ophra

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Tip of the Month 2: Get Your Back

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 11/30/09)

This week’s tip is short and sweet, and hopefully you’ll find this little exercise as effective as I do. It’s inspired by the weekend workshop at the Shambhala center that I participated in, during which I was reminded how wonderfully simple and effective this exercise can be for centering our mind and body, relaxing the system and opening the awareness. You can do it any time, anywhere, and you don’t have to wait until you’re feeling stress or tension, but it can be especially helpful in those moments.

Wherever you are – sitting, standing, walking – take a moment to feel the space behind you. Try to sense all there is behind you – people, objects, a wall, trees, etc, and imagine the distance, shape, texture, and density of the space between you and them. Do the same thing for the space on either side of you, the space above and below you, and finally, the space in front of you. Keep your focus relaxed and wide as you do this, taking in as much of your peripheral vision as possible. When you’ve sensed all six directions, check in and see how you feel.

You can do this in a matter of thirty seconds or thirty minutes, or you can just check in with various directions throughout the day. Make note of any changes you feel – in your breath, in the quality of light or color, in sensations on or inside your body.

If you try this out, let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear from you about it. And as usual, feel free to contact me with questions and suggestions for future tips…

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Tip of the Month: Relieving Stress

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 11/17/09)

We’ve all heard about what living with stress does to us: weakens our immune system, increases our chances of developing everything from a flu to heart disease, leaves us tired and cranky. There are as many excellent ways to relieve stress as there are causes for the stress, and some will be more effective for you than others. Here are lots of good options, complete with a walking meditation to try next time you are on your feet:

SLEEP: GET MORE OF IT! The season is changing and wouldn’t it be great if our daily rhythm would too? If there’s one thing you do for yourself to relieve stress and stay healthier, let it be more sleep. When your body tells you it’s tired, listen – don’t push through things to get them done, chances are you’ll do a better job when you are more rested. If you have a hard time getting to sleep because of all you have on your mind, try creating a simple routine that you do every night, about an hour before bed: reading, stretching, meditating and taking a shower are all great pre-bed activities. BTW, more sleep has also been associated with weight loss, so don’t delay getting to bed unless it’s really worth it : )

BODYWORK: We take on so much living in the city, that usually what we need most is to lay down and do nothing while someone trained helps move energy along in the body and release blocks and tension. This is by far one of the most effective and enjoyable ways to relieve the body of stress! There are many many kinds of bodywork, and some will suit you better than others… Click here to read more about the bodywork we offer, and about the bodywork special we have right now to make it even easier for you to take good care.

SELF-MASSAGE: Not quite the same as having someone work out the kinks for you, but there is a huge amount to be said for taking care of yourself. The best kind of self-massage in my experience is for the feet – there’s a whole science, Reflexology, dedicated to healing the whole person through the feet, and Thai Massage always begins with accupressure and joint manipulation of the feet, to open the gateways to the rest of the body. Massage your feet daily – while sitting at your desk, watching a movie, or before bed – and you are sure to notice differences in your body’s ability to manage stress. And if you’re too tired to massage, try soaking them in hot water.

MIND-BODY EXERCISE CLASSES: i.e. Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and Chi Gong. Here’s a metaphor: your nervous system is like a crying baby, if you ignore it, it’s likely to scream even louder, and if you bring attention to it, chances are it will calm down. Weekly classes are a great way to bring routine attention to your physical and nervous system, especially with classes that focus on breath, attention and mindful movement. Currently we offer Pilates and Yoga classes – click here to see a class schedule.

MEDITATION: There are many kinds of meditation, and if you find that sitting for long periods of time is not the best way for you to relax, there are plenty of other options. Meditation is mainly about mindfulness, so here’s something you can try while walking: keep a wide focus as you walk, allowing your eyes to take in as much of the periphery and never locking them on one thing (especially not on asphalt). Notice your feet – what is the quality of contact they are making with the ground on every step? Are you rolling through the whole foot, leaning more to the outside or inside of either foot? Stay aware of the feet and of your focus, and now notice your breath – is it shallow or deep? are you holding it in at the top or letting it right out? Notice if the breath is coordinated with the steps you are taking, and try to gently bring them in to alignment, i.e. take three steps on every in breath, three on every out breath. Do this for at least three minutes, and take note of how you feel afterwards.

As usual, feel free to contact me with questions and suggestions for future tips…
xo Ophra

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Tip of the Month: Getting More Out of Your Stretching (10/09)

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 10/25/09)

This month’s tip is a quick and easy way to focus your intention while stretching in order to gain more length, alignment and strength. The “secret”, so to speak, is to visualize how you are stretching your bones as opposed to thinking about stretching the muscles.

For example, an excellent way to stretch your hamstrings and lower back (your entire spine, in fact) is to sit with your feet flat against a wall, legs extended, and relax your head and torso towards the legs. Breath deeply and as you exhale, think of stretching your heels towards the wall while extending your sits bones down into the floor and away from the heels. Visualize the length of the shin bone from ankle to knee and the length of the femur from knee to hip socket; feel how the femur can traction away from the hip socket as the heel stretches into the wall. This is a good stretch to hang out in for anywhere from 2-5 minutes, and you can flip this same position into a different plane of movement by coming on to your feet and allowing gravity to assist in stretching the spine, skull, and ribs towards the floor, even as the heels continue to lengthen down and the sit bones to reach up and away from the heels.

Consider that the function of the bones is to bear weight, whereas the function of the muscles is to move and support the bones. So if you focus on stretching your bones, the correlating muscles will necessarily respond, and your ability to carry your own weight in an elongated position will increase. If you stretch your muscles without any consideration of how the elongation is affecting your bones you may find some temporary relief from tension, but you’re likely to be missing out on the greater benefit of the stretch.

Feel free to email me with any questions you might have, or come by to the Open House this Wedensday eve and have your questions answered in person. If you enjoyed this tip and would like more stretches and hints on how to make them work better for you, I am available for private sessions at super affordable rates. You might also consider experiencing having your bones, muscles and joints opened and elongated while you rest on your back in a Thai Bodywork session : )

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Tip of the Month: The Good & The Bad (8/09)

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 8/10/09)

People often ask me what activities they should and shouldn’t do when dealing with an injury or chronic pain. There are of course specific exercises that can be helpful in strengthening or alleviating pain in certain parts of the body, but the real answer is, any activity you do consciously is good, and any activity you do unconsciously is bad.

To do an activity consciously requires both your mind and your body to be aware of what’s happening from moment to moment – a seemingly daunting task, but one that we can easily break down into a number of smaller, more manageable ones. Here are four things you can attend to that will keep you very safe and help you heal through any activity that you do.

The first two tasks are for the brain. It’s important to remember that your brain and your body think very differently, and your brain is NOT the expert on what’s good for your body. In fact, the brain is pretty much useless for making qualitative judgements about your body, but it is extremely useful for quantitative observation! We keep the brain busy by having it attend to alignment and engagement. Alignment refers to the placement of the bones, and engagement refers to the muscles that are supporting and mobilizing the bones. For example, if you are suffering from knee pain, then you should pay attention to the angle of the knee in relation to the ankle and to the engagement of the quads and calves.

Once your bones are aligned and your muscles are engaged in such a way as to support them, you can access the body’s innate intelligence by becoming aware of the dynamic of the movement, that is, the force and direction of the energy moving through your body. A good question to ask of your body is, does the movement feel elastic, i.e. stretchy? Your brain can look for an equal and opposite pull through the bones and muscles, your imagination can visualize it, and most importantly your body will feel the stretch and space that is created.

Even when you’re not sure what the best alignment, engagement, and dynamics are, you can still know if the activity is good or bad, you just have to ignore your brain for a moment and listen only to the body. The body, unlike the brain, is a great judge of what is and isn’t good for it and if you listen to it, it will be happy to tell you when things feel good and when they don’t (this goes for food and sex as much as for exercise!). The most important exercise you can do is to listen to your sensations from moment to moment: what are you feeling? How much weight do you feel and where is it falling? What is the sense of internal space in the injured area? DOES THE ACTIVITY FEEL GOOD? If the answer is no, then stop.

If you have specific questions about what alignment, engagement, and movement dynamics would best serve you in dealing with your specific injury or chronic pain, then I am happy to set up a private session. Once you have the tools to work with your injury consciously, your body can heal doing the very thing that may have injured it in the first place! I am available for private sessions at super reasonable rates: $80 for an initial meeting, and $50 for the next four sessions. I do sliding scale and am always open to barters. As always, you can email or call me at 646-644-9743.

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Tip of the Month: Stop Setting Goals (7/09)

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 7/22/09)

Setting goals is often a great way to motivate ourselves to get into action, but I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of setting goals and then not finding the motivation to fulfill them. Often, the goals that fall by the wayside have to do with taking care of our bodies and, from my own experience, I’m pretty sure that is most likely to happen when the goals are aimed at some kind of ideal body or ideal lifestyle rather than at individual and practical needs.

Rather than setting goals, which so often dictate some kind of end-product that we should work towards, we can begin by honing in on what our current state is and what our intentions are. A very good question to start off with is, How can my body-minded work (aka workout) best serve my overall needs at this particular moment in my life? Here’s an obvious example – if you are pregnant, then the yoga or pilates you do is in service of supporting your body, mind and spirit through the process of pregnancy. If, on the other hand, you find yourself suffering from constant back pain while sitting at your desk and are struggling to find more ease and focus, then the yoga or pilates you do will be in service of helping you strengthen your core and become more aware of your alignment. If you’re clear about your needs and your intentions, then it’s not about what and how much you do as it is about doing things in such a way that your personal needs are best met. Sometimes this means that relaxing is the best ‘workout’ you can give yourself!

Some questions you can consider in honing in on your intentions are: What is happening in your life right now? What are the professional, personal, and interpersonal challenges that you are facing and what are you working towards in these realms of your life? To best be able to deal with these challenges, what is it that you would most benefit from right now? More stamina? Less tension? Knowing how to better access relaxation? More confidence? Being able to stay focused for long periods of time? Often just asking these questions will give you an intuitive sense of what it is you need and what the best way for you to work with your body is.

Once you are aware of these larger, or umbrella intentions, pay attention to what is happening and how you feel from day to day. Maybe what would give you most pleasure, ease and benefit today is a gentle approach, or maybe today is a day where you can push the limits of your strength and stamina… The more you can adjust to your personal needs from day to day and moment to moment, the easier it will be to develop a regular practice and enjoy it!

If you would like some assistance in developing an approach and a repertoire of exercises, stretches and activities that best suit your individual needs, I am available for private sessions at super reasonable rates. As always, you can email or call me at 646-644-9743.

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Tip of the Month: Fire The Boss (6/09)

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

(Originally included in the Force and Flow newsletter, 6/25/09)

If you’re like most people I know (myself included!), you spend a lot of time hounding yourself for the ways in which you’re not being good enough to your body: “I’m not working out enough,” “I’m eating too much,” “I slouch too often.” We seem to be operating on some kind of assumption that if we scold ourselves often enough, we’ll begin to do the “right” thing. As if there were an ultimate “RIGHT” way to treat your body!

Obviously, every body is unique, and all of our bodies are changing from moment to moment in response to the environment around us. If you’re like me, you want your body to be able to respond creatively and spontaneously to every situation throughout the day, for your mind and body to be flexible rather than rigid, and to have a large range of motion rather be constricted by truisms that may not be true for you. I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last time that scolding led me to be more spontaneous and creative.

Here’s another simple approach to try: make a list of the physical conditions that you are working to improve for yourself, and a list of activities that make you feel good. Start from simple observations of what you are experiencing throughout the day, for example, if you notice that you suffer from a lot of shouler tension, that you’re not breathing very deeply, or that you slouch while sitting and end up with lower back pain, write these down as the things you are working on. Then, at the end of the day, go over your list and write down any little thing that you have done to better your situation. It really doesn’t have to be a big thing – just noticing that you are slouching or holding your shoulders, or remembering to breath more deeply once during the day counts.

If your mind is talking to you in a bossy, condescending way about what you’re not doing enough of, fire it from the job. Your mind is there to observe, it’s your body that’s ultimately going to do the work, and the better the “work” feels, the more likely your body is to do it. If breathing more deeply feels good for your body, and your mind takes the time to observe when it is or isn’t happening, you’ll find yourself naturally taking in more air, without your mind having to command it to do so.

The key is to write down what you want and to keep track of what you ARE doing to make that happen. When you have time and energy to do more, refer to the list you made of activities that make you feel good and do one: go for a walk (on the beach or in the hood), take a class or a nap, go out dancing – whatever makes you happy : )

If you would like help developing a repertoire of exercises, stretches and activities that are specific to your needs, I am available for private sessions at super reasonable rates. As always, you can email or call me at 646-644-9743.

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