Maternity Leave
June 1, 2010
Queen’s Park Therapies is temporarily closed while Sara is on maternity leave. Listed below are referrals for therapists, instructors and yoga studios which have been personally vetted and will provide reliable, trustworthy services in Sara’s absence.
Therapeutic Massage
Brigitte Wellman, www.brigittewellmann.com
Sue Carberry, www.integratedbodywork.com
Pregnancy and Postnatal Massage & Reflexology
Sally Ibbotson, www.nw10therapies.co.uk
Pregnancy and Postnatal Craniosacral Osteopath
Simon Prideaux, www.cranialosteopath.com
Pregnancy and Postnatal Yoga
Rebecca James, The Special Yoga Centre, www.specialyogacentre.org.uk
Tara Lee, The Life Centre, www.thelifecentre.com
Anna Redway, The Life Centre, www.thelifecentre.com
Julie Krausz, www.juliekrausz.co.uk
Yoga Tune Up® At Home Program
Yoga Fitness delivered directly to your doorstep. Practices are designed for your needs, taking into account your fitness and experience level, age, and any physical ailments you may be having. This bespoke practice is formatted each month on DVD and shipped directly to your home. Quote Sara’s Ambassador Number EWV0148 and receive a 10% discount: www.yogatuneup.com
Therapeutic Yoga
Anna Blackmore, www.yogabodymind.co.uk
Baby Massage
The Life Centre, www.thelifecentre.com
The Special Yoga Centre, www.specialyogacentre.com
Triyoga Primrose Hill, www.triyoga.co.uk
Birth Preparation
Karen Mander, Breathe to a Better Birth: www.specialyogacentre.co.uk and Hypnobirthing: www.hypnobirthinglondonclasses.co.uk
Katharine Graves, Hypnobirthing: www.thehypnobirthingcentre.co.uk
Sally Ibbotson, Massage & Shiatsu for Labour: www.nw10therapies.co.uk
Health Tip for June
June 1, 2010
Sitting at a desk occupies a signficant portion of many people’s days. Office environments and desk configurations are not usually tailor-made to an individual’s height, weight and left or right-handedness – which can lead to poor posture. Unfortunately, we are all too often aware that our posture is not good because our muscles tell us – back ache, neck ache, shoulder tension. Likewise, it is difficult for us to know what good posture is because for most of us, it is not our habitual way, so when we do approach what we think is good posture, we start using core muscles that have become weak from lack of usage and therefore new aches and pains arise as the body must shift to allow for this change in our alignment.
Furthermore, our idea of what good posture is does not always accord with what is biomechanically the most efficient and effective way to sit, stand or move. We think good posture means chin up, shoulders back and back straight – but in fact, good posture means something different for each person’s individual body needs. With the exception of a few core muscles in the torso, hips and legs, our muscles are not required to hold us up against gravity. Our spine is formed in such a way to be able to do this by itself (mostly). So what can be done to improve one’s posture? I.e. to transfer the work away from the muscles that habitually ache (lower back, shoulders, neck etc) and back to the very deepest core muscles and more importantly, the spine.
There are any number of movement systems that explore this process: The Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Yoga, and Pilates to name a few. I encourage you to explore these options to see which method you prefer. Each system explores how we use our bodies, and how we can increase the efficiency of how we move (or remain still). This process often involves the relationship between the mind, body, and the breath. Just as we all have different ways of learning, so too do our bodies. And the body does need to learn good usage, it cannot be imposed. So one option is to explore these different systems to see which one you connect to best, which one achieves the greatest shifts for you and which one leaves you walking away feeling longer, lighter, more expansive and relaxed.
This option of course involves time and money. So let’s also look at ways to improve that are free! Firstly – are you a visual learner? If so, when was the last time you looked at an image of the human spine? It isn’t straight at all but curved, for good reasons, to allow shock absorption with impacts great or small, flexibility and ease of movement. The bones of the skeleton, such as the collar bone, pelvis and femur, allow for the weight of the arms to distribute evenly across the torso, and for the weight of the torso to drop down through the hips and legs to root you into the ground. Having a clear image of the skeleton – the body’s primary support system – can be a very useful first step to improving posture. The stronger an image you have of the skeleton – the stronger images of relaxation can be: such as imagining your muscles hanging off the skeleton like a coat on a hanger, thereby helping you to drop in and respond to such images throughout your day.
On a more practical note – assessing your desk and working environment is also important. Does your chair have adequate support? If not, you have every right in the work place to request one that does. When you are sitting in the chair, what height is it? Your knees ideally should form a 90′ angle between your hips and the floor, with your hips no lower than the height of your knees. For many, alternating the chair height between this position and having your hips slightly higher than knee height is helpful in keeping lower back muscles relaxed and lengthened.
A Postural Exercise
It requires your imagination. Having the image of your spine in your mind (or even an actual image on your desk) will help. Start by making sure you can feel your sit bones (the base of your pelvis) pressing into the chair. From there, imagine your skull resting on top of your spine – the joint where the skull and the spine meet is approximately midway between your ears, much higher than most people think. So imagine that there is an air bubble in that joint which allows the skull to float like a helium balloon up and away from the top of the spine. Because it is still attached to the spine however, eventually as it floats up, it will start to carry the spine along with it, so that air begins to fill each joint along the spine – providing a buoyant cushion between each vertebra (24 total) from your head to your sacrum. Meanwhile allow your shoulders to relax across your chest so that the muscles just melt off your collar bone and ribs, creating space and width along both the front and back of the chest. Little air bubbles can fill the joints of the arms from the shoulder down to the elbows, wrists and tips of your fingers. Meanwhile, as your head, neck and spine are floating up, imagine a small weight hanging off your tailbone that allows you to find length along your lower back as you release further into the chair through your sit bones.
Alternately, this exercise can be done standing, in which case the base of the spine can release in the opposite direction to the skull. Air bubbles can fill the joints of the legs and hips, allowing the pelvis to float slightly off the legs as the leg bones release down into the ground, buoyed by little cushions of air at the knees, ankles and feet. The leg muscles melt off the bones and allow your weight to drop down into the earth…Now your spine is supporting you.
Last but not least, let’s look at the computer. Does your screen sit at the height of your eyes when they are gazing straight forward ( at the natural height achieved once you’ve gone through the above exercise and found more length in your spine as you sit)? If not, you will always end up slumping, no matter how hard you try, because your gaze will pull your body down with it. This will lead to shoulder, neck and jaw tension and compression in the lower back. If you cannot find a screen that is the right height, try propping telephone directories under the screen to raise it – any thick book will do.
And yes, as you explore these options, you may find that new muscles start to engage that previously were inactive, so if there is some shifting and more working of new muscles, that is a good thing. As long as you give yourself breaks and allow yourself to go back to the habitual way whenever you need a rest, so that you don’t strain muscles in the process.
What’s most important is to gain awareness of the habits you want to adapt, and to experience these new places physically, at the same time as you come to identify the habitual patterns you are trying to let go of. Let your mind and skeleton do the majority of the work for you as your muscles enjoy the journey!
