Stand Tall

Hi Friends,
Can you believe that another week has come and gone? So tell me, how did you do with writing in your gratitude journal? I hope that you found an opportunity this past week to take a few minutes to sit back and be thankful.

So, I was waiting in a long line at the grocery store yesterday, attempting to practice patience by breathing deeply when I couldn’t help but notice the woman in front of me. She was lethargically standing with her shoulders slumped over, her chin extended, leaning on one hip, adorning an over sized purse (more like suitcase) slung over her shoulder. I felt like reaching over and giving her a posture adjustment. The wellness tip of the week is “stand tall”. A straight-up stance makes you appear more confident and trims inches from your waist. Let me share a few tricks with you. Imagine an orange between your shoulder blades. Shift them down and together as if squeezing the fruit. Doing this will roll back your shoulders so you don’t hunch. Do you ever catch your drooping self in a storefront reflection? The second point to remember is that how you walk may actually be a secret source of pain. Bad walking posture can injure your back and stress out your joints and muscles. When walking think about; keeping your shoulders back and down, holding your head up, bracing your abdominals. When you walk mindfully, you will also find yourself tightening your buttocks and clenching your abs and when you do this, you feel cheerful because you realize that you are the only one who knows that you are clenching your buttocks! Lastly, if you spend a great deal of time at the computer or desk, it would be a wise idea to sit on an exercise ball for part of the time. Jim practices this and would agree that sitting on the ball, not only strengthens your core, but it forces spine alignment and allows you to keep from slouching. He is also an advocate of the ball as a chair because he says it is fun and makes people smile when they see this big guy sitting on a bright orange exercise ball. Here is a humorous video (it is a long video, but just watch from 1min55 sec to 3:00min)… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pw_eX97TUw

The January 2010 edition of Prevention magazine highlights a very old exercise regime called gyrokinesis, developed in the late 70’s by Juliu Horvath, a former ballet dancer from Romania. Gyrokinesis can be done while sitting on a low stool or chair making it easy for people at any fitness level and a perfect at-your-desk workout. Advocates of the method maintain that regular practice fosters increased mobility, assists the body’s regenerative capacity and opens energetic pathways, increasing blood flow and oxygenation. The result, they say, is a renewed sense of vitality and well-being. I have copied a link to the exercises I have listed below so that you can check it out. www.prevention.com/gyrokinesis or find gyrokinesis classes at http://www.gyrokinesis.com/.

One exercise that Prevention offers is called Arch and Curl. Since you are conveniently located at your desk, while reading this email, let’s try it!

1) Arch and Curl- Sit with feet more than hip-width apart, toes out, hands on thighs. Inhale and arch spine, lifting chest and gazing at the ceiling. Keep shoulders over hips. Exhale. Inhale and sit up, lengthening spine. Keep abs pulled in throughout. Exhale and round spine forward, looking at floor about 6 feet in front of you, feeling a stretch in the lower back. Don’t let chin drop to chest. Inhale as you sit up.

It is recommended to do each exercise four times, moving slowly from start to finish.

If you liked how the Arch and Curl felt and want another taste of gyrokinesis try this one!
2) Spiral- Sit tall, hands on thighs. Inhale as you lengthen spine, pulling in abdominals. Exhale and rotate torso to left as far as comfortable, sliding left hand to hip, eyes gazing over left shoulder. Inhale as you return to center. Repeat, switching hands as you rotate to right.

If you want additional core toning and a chance to increase spinal flexibility try these…
3) Side arch- Sit tall with legs wide. Inhale as you lengthen spine and pull in abdominals. Exhale and reach right arm out to the side, then overhead, bending to left (left hand presses toward floor). Push left foot to floor, feeling stretch along right side. Inhale as you hold. Exhale and return to center; inhale. Repeat with left arm, bending to the right and pressing right foot to floor.

4) Wave- Sit tall with hands on thighs, feet wide. Inhale, arching spine; exhale, lower torso toward the floor as far as you comfortably can, keeping back arched. Round spine, curling up one vertebrae at a s time. As you inhale and lengthen spine, returning to start position.
Goal for the week: Try to repeat this series three times.
Have a wonderful weekend and remember to stand tall!

Hugs,
Andie

Welcome -Gratitude

Friends,
January is a time of resolutions, reflection, rebirth, rejuvenation and REPROGRAMMING. I begin the first of my weekly emails by saying WELCOME to a NEW YEAR! Let's begin 2010 by jumping off the scale and just taking baby steps to attain lasting results with regards to your health goals. Let's use this new year to rewire your brain to feel comforted by healthy behaviours. When we focus on just a couple small changes at a time (taking the stairs, parking further from the door, walking five minutes more everyday, doing mini bursts of strength training activities, such as dropping down and doing ten push ups, savouring your snacks), you begin to ingrain some healthy habits that last for a lifetime, rather than trying an all-or-nothing approach that fails because it becomes an arduous task. Trust me, you will feel stronger; inside and out!

One recent study from Kaiser Permanente found that people who received weekly emails about diet and fitness for 16 weeks substantially increased their levels of physical activity and intake of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables while cutting back on trans and saturated fats. Thus, for the next 16 weeks I will be your motivation to help you move more, eat healthy and look and feel better than ever!

TIP #1 of 16
Since this is the first of my emails for 2010, I feel it is appropriate to begin with the reflecting portion of what a new year brings. Think about everything that you are thankful for and focus on the positive things in your life. Grateful people report being more content and hopeful, which has direct health benefits. Start a gratitude journal. According to research by R. Emmons, Ph.D. people who write down what they're thankful for are 25 percent happier, exercise 33 percent more a week, sleep 30 minutes longer each night, and have 10 percent lower blood pressure. He suggests journaling for five to ten minutes three times a week. Think about the moments in your day big or small-that felt like gifts, and reflect on them.

For the next 16 weeks, I promise to be vigilant about my posts.