Frequently, when I’m working on a client, I come across an adhesion, a triggerpoint, a knot-whatever you like to call it. I stop there with my thumb, elbow, knee-whichever tool I happen to be using-and ask the client to breathe deeply.  Between the two of us, it’s an attempt to break up the adhesion and release the bunching up of the muscles and fascia.

The client usually experiences a tenderness or sensitivity or even pain at this point. The common response is, “Do you feel that?!”. I always have to chuckle & think to myself (sarcastically, because that’s just how I am), “No, I just thought it was a good place to park my elbow.” I don’t say that, because I know what it feels like. When I get worked on by anyone with a clue, they stop on my triggerpoints, and MY natural response is to ask the same thing, “Do you feel that?!” It’s always so surprising to feel those painful points.

The deal is this: adhesions limit the ideal range of motion of  the muscles  where the adhesion is, but also limit and affect the movement of the joints to which those bunched up muscles are attached. In addition, adhesions limit blood, lymph, nerve, and energy flow, and, if gone unchecked, can cause pain, dysfunction, and disease.  How do we get adhesions?  Trauma to the area, faulty movement patterns and bad postural habits are almost always the cause.  They may also occur due to dehydration and poor diet.

I personally don’t suffer from any structural (muscle, joint, or nerve) pain (knock on wood), but I have in the past so I know what it’s like.  However, whether or not we have structural pain, EVERYONE  has some myofascial restrictions.  I don’t have pain until someone gets into my myofascial tissues and starts digging around. Getting this kind of deep work releases any of  bound up areas, and I feel better than ever.

The point is this: pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong, and adhesions in your muscles and fascia gone unchecked for long enough will almost always lead to some kind of structural pain.  Getting worked on is a pretty obvious and easy solution.  Why wait to have an issue to get worked on? Do you feel “That”?!

Especially if you’re in pain!

The good news is that posture and movement patterns are habits, and habits can be changed.

Here are some factors that influence our habits:
-Our development and positioning in utero (we do what we do and it starts from even that early on!)
-Our development in early childhood and into adulthood and the posture and movement patterns of those closest to us
-Trauma – including physical, mental and emotional
-Repetition without being aware of what we do or the way we do it over years
-Gravity

Just like everything else in life worth having, good posture, which fosters and suports good health, takes attention. At least a little. We can’t control gravity. We can’t foresee accidents or injuries. But we CAN minimize the effects.

In her book, “The New Rules of Posture,” Mary Bond, Movement Instructor at The Rolf Institute, states, “Remember that your posture is a dynamic activity, not a static position you can assume and then forget about.”

Take notice to how you stand, sit, walk, and even sleep, and other activities such as work, sports and play.

One of the easiest, fastest, cheapest things you can do to ease pain is notice what you’re doing when you have pain!

In future blogs we’ll talk more about this, but, for now, sit up straight!  You’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll feel right away.

1) It’s never too late to feel better.

You can start to minimize the damages already done and enjoy a quality of life where physical limitations are a non-issue, TODAY.  You might never get 100%, indefinite freedom from pain, dysfunction, disease or injury.   You CAN choose to try now, and what do you have to lose by trying?

2) It’s not always easy.

For some people, getting out of pain and staying healthy requires changing their entire lives-replacing old, unhealthy habits and learning a new way of being in the body, the mind, and the world.  That takes an above average kind of person. What kind of person are you?

3) You have HAVE HAVE to move your body the way it’s meant to be moved.

At the VERY least – stretch where your tight and strengthen where you’re weak.

4) And listen!  You have to have adequate rest, food and water.

While this seems like a no-brainer,  for some reason, sometimes common sense is the least common thing around.  We’ll get into this, but information about this is available ad nauseam.

5) When the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change, that’s when we will change.  The thing is, we don’t have to wait til we’re in pain to take care of ourselves.

Are you in enough pain and tired of it?  Get Advanced Bodywork!

Why does this matter? If I’m metabolizing, I’m creating energy for myself-for my body and ALL my systems to use, including the immune system, endocrine and the respiratory systems, for instance   I can easier fight off viruses and bacteria as well as balance my hormones. The energy can be used to help my heart and lungs work, so I can get healthy blood to my muscles, joints, and lungs. Thus, I can continue to be able to move easily and maintain structural integrity. In other words, I have energy to keep burning calories so I can create more energy to burn more calories. Indefinitely.

Of course, this is an oversimplification of the process. There are some details which are helpful to learn and incorporate in order to most effectively Always Burn Calories. A few of these include:

1) A healthy balance between the calories you consumed daily and daily physical activity.  Move more, eat more.
2)  Learn an exercise routine, including strength and endurance training, and how to do it correctly.
3)  Learn a good self-care routine, which includes stretch, self-myofascial release and hydrotherapy.
4) Regular hands-on bodywork, which might be deep tissue massage, chiropractic or whatever helps to align your structure.
5) Adequate rest.

The point is, get moving. Do some strength training. Sweat. And learn the ABC’s of your body:

Always Burn Calories. So your body can continue to metabolize, to work.  If your body’s not working, if you can’t get it moving properly, Advanced Bodywork can help get you started!

YOU DON’T COME OVER AND  LIE THERE WHILE I RUB OIL ON YOU.

While that IS good for your skin and circulation, you can get that kind of massage anywhere.   I will help you determine the source of the  ”issues in your tissues.”  We can address muscular imbalances that are causing structural misalignments and pain, or the cause of the problem. It CAN be addressed.

THIS IS NOT A ZONE OUT,  TAKE A NAP KIND OF SITUATION.

This is Advanced Bodywork.  Do you get it?

However, genetically, some people get a Kia and some people get a Lamborghini.

Most of us are Kia’s.  A Kia may not be the most comfortable or the fastest, or the sleekest ride, but it will get you there. Healthwise, Kia people may not be the strongest, the fastest, but with the right care, like a Kia they can get good mileage and hold up over time.

A Lamborghini, on the other hand, is powerful.  A speed demon – rare and refined.  Healthwise, these people are athletes: bigger, stronger, faster.

Now, I’m not a car gal. I have one. A nice one.  But don’t ask me to tell you how it works. I know that I can get into, start it up, and it gets me from point A to point B.  I know I have to take it in for regular maintenance in order for it do this well.  I also know that it helps to put higher octane gasoline in my car.  It’s relatively easy.

But I do know that whether or not you have a Kia or a Lamborghini, it’s just as easy to take care or your car as it is to take care our our bodies.  We have to go in for regular check ups. We have to have routine maintenance.  Just as tires on a car have to be periodically aligned, so do our bodies.  The higher octane fuel we get, ie good food and water, the better we will operate and the longer we will be able to do it.  Can you imagine putting lawn mower fuel into a Lamborghini?  Well, that’s the equivalent of a professional athlete eating fast food.  Even an athlete won’t last long.  So if you’ve got the genetic equivalent of a Kia, but you take care of yourself, ie eat healthy, unprocessed foods, get regular check ups, exercise and get worked on (aligned), you could outlast, yes, even outrun the guy with the genetic equivalent of a lamborghini who smokes, drinks and sits on the couch.

Take care of your vehicle and become a classic. It’s not that hard. Come and get Advanced Bodywork!

One of my favorite quotes is on my sister’s Facebook page: “A thing need not be just because it has been”.  If I don’t like the way something is or seems, I want to know why and want to figure out what needs to be done to change it.  I have indeed experienced a fair amount of consternation in my days for being stubborn and/or “uppity,” having to be right when maybe it really didn’t matter, (especially with men in positions of authority (what is up with that?!)).  But truth be known, I like to ask questions.  I want to know the details. I want to know the source. I don’t take things at face value, and I can’t help but to question authority.  I realize part of that is a control issue, but when 67% of the population is obese, when a huge percentage of all visits to doctors are stress-related, why aren’t more people “stubborn” and asking questions?!?!

Both sides of my family are structurally large people, and, in a world made for Twiggys, it’s never been easy.  I am a big girl, plain and simple.  However genetically related my size is, I had some “issues” over the years.   I used to suffer from low back pain because I was fat AND frail, which was simultaneously caused and perpetuated by some mental and emotional issues I had starting as a child.   Athletics was not on my radar, and, unfortunately, I was not the most active child.  Luckily, I “fell into” massage therapy and working out.  Now, I treat my “issues” AND my congenital predisposition to being heavy in part by working out.  I’m still a big girl, but I’m stronger and healthier than I’ve ever been.  I changed some habits, and now I have no more back pain, and I feel great!

Another adage I often think about is Einstein’s Definition of  Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  I’ve learned to apply this to the body (mine and clients’).  You body is supposed to move a certain way.  When it doesn’t,  and you experience pain as a result over and over, again, what do you need to do to stop the pain?  Get your body in alignment, change your bad habits!  I especially love it when a friend, family member, client, or work out partner has what I call an “Aha!“ moment: when their body gets better aligned and some movement that used to be hard or painful is suddenly easy.  THAT’S HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE!   When it comes to my health and my quality of life now and as I age, if something hurts,  if there is AN ALTERNATIVE that works that is natural, uninvasive or nonaddicting, it would be crazy not to check it out, right?!    I’m here to share with as many people as I can, especially my loved ones, what I have learned by being “uppity” or “stubborn”, or as I prefer to call it “inquisitive” and “questioning” and by TRYING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

It’s part of the human experience to attempt to come to terms with what helps or hinders our self-actualization; to deal with our issues, good and bad.  I believe my issues are part of what makes me good at what I do.  My inherent urge to be in people’s faces is what originally and continues to motivate me to learn about my body and to help other people learn about theirs.  I couldn’t be more grateful, because working on myself and working with thousands of people over the years, combined with being  (a little) stubborn and (insatiably) curious, has become my passion, my obsession, my career, and my life.