The holidays can be a challending time for people. I’m not going to lecture anyone about overeating and underexercising.
What I will talk about is your body usage patterns. In time of stress, people tend to revert back to their original/familiar movement patterns. This is why when we get back around family or friends we don’t often see, everyone slips back into familiar roles, even if everyone is different away from that setting. We feel safe in those old habits and unconsciously know that.
So, remember if you are being stressed around family and suddenly notice old body issues you thought you had dealt with coming back, take a second and take stock. Go through any new routines you’ve learned about getting into your body, and when you are alone again (even if just at night), take those few minutes and work your way from your old patterns to your new patterns. Your body will thank you.
Rolfing is about learning how to communicate with you body and being aware of how you use it. Even noticing slipping that you are slipping into old habits furthers that goal.
Filed under: Daily Tips, Rolfing® Structural Integration
Posted December 15, 2008
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North Star Integration has been under, shall we say, technical difficulties for the last month or so. Needless to say, everything is back up and running. Sorry for the lack of updates to the blog. This shall be rectified.
Filed under: North Star Integration
Posted December 15, 2008
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The financial times sure are tumultuous right now. And many people are wondering about what’s a good investment, or how to deal with the stress of the times.
If you wondering about something to invest in, invest in yourself. The return on that investment is always positive. Not a great time to make sure your body is functioning well and free from restrictions.
Put some time, energy, and money into yourself. Exercise is a great way to fend of the effects of stress. Plus, we live in an information saturated world. This breathing time–quite literally breathing time–lets our brains unplug and reset. Go out and take a walk, play with your kids or pets, read a good fiction book.
Basically, any time you spend on yourself can only benefit you in the end.
Filed under: Daily Tips
Posted October 17, 2008
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A recent client interested in Rolfing recently asked me this question. And it’s a valid question, as Rolfing does generally cost more than a normal massage (at least as long as you aren’t going to a “spa”–you’d end up paying more than for a Rolfing session).
Well, several answers come to mind. One primary difference is that Rolfing isn’t really massage, and shouldn’t be equated as such. Massage therapy schools require their students to train in multiple modalities–Swedish, deep tissue, spa-like treatments (hot stones, salt scrubs, etc). This results in a practitioner who has some skill at a lot of different things. As they go into practice, they may specialize in something or take classes for even more styles.
Rolfers, on the other hand, spend their ENTIRE training learning only Rolfing. So we come out of school being really good at one thing. And, such specialization/depth-of-training and skill level demands a premium.
Many types of massage are geared only toward relaxation. This is a worthwhile goal in and of itself, but it doesn’t get to the root of body issues or help you to learn new patterns. Other types of massage are designed with more of a therapeutic mindset, but they tend to miss the mark. Rolfing is not meant for relaxation, even though many people find it relaxing. It is meant to transform your body and evolve your structure. And its unique holistic approach sets it apart from anything learned in massage schools or naturopathic colleges. Make no mistake about it–Rolfing changes your body and the mind-body connection.
And duration of the effects is probably the biggest reason why Rolfing costs more than a normal massage. Most people, even though who love massage, admit that the relaxation or muscle relaxation usually only lasts for a couple of hours or days. In this regard, the massage acted more like an aspirin to dull a headache. Sometime the headache goes away on its own, and sometime you need more aspirin.
The effects of Rolfing are felt for hours, days, week, months, and even years later. People who don’t get additional work after a 10-Series can be viewed much later, and their body will have continued to improve over time. Rolfing isn’t an aspirin for the headache, it’s helping to resolve the headache so no aspirin is needed.
Massage can be effective, especially if the body issue is recent or temporary (like a pulled muscle). But for deep, chronic, systemic, non-local body issues, Rolfing is the way to go. You often would need to constantly go to a massage over and over as the effects wear off and the issue returns. This would be penny-wise and dollar-foolish.
I’m not going to say that Rolfing is cheap, but it is cost-effective and it’s an investment in your self. You won’t be disappointed in the return on your investment.
Filed under: Rolfing® Structural Integration
Posted September 30, 2008
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If you watched any of the Olympic Race Walking, please don’t take your walking lessons from them. While they may be able to walk fast, they are not walking with whole body wellness in mind. They do have some great hip mobility, but most of the motion is restricted to side-to-side movement, and not in all three planes of motion. Their knees all seem to be buckling, and almost every single one of them was only using the outside part of the feet.
However, the biggest tell-tale that their walking styles are not free flowing, natural, easy walks is their torsos. You may ask yourself, who cares about the torso in walking? Well, quite frankly, you should. Your spine should be able to respond to your walking by compressing and lengthening pike a spiralled spring. This action allows the stress of walking to transmit through your body, and it also activates all of the various pairing of muscles to allow efficient walking. If you spine can’t or isn’t allowed to handle the motion, other parts of the body have to take over. That is why most of the race walkers were pumping their arms like no tomorrow and their heads were sliding side to side. Plus, from the Rolfing perspective, it seemed like most of their motion was coming from their sleeve and not from their core–lots of motion with not so much stability.
If you see any of the race walking events, just watch the participant’s torso. If you look around at about their sternum or breast bone, if there any motion there, or it just seem like a quiet place with everything else in their body moving around it?
I think it would also be interesting to see these athletes walking around normally. Do they still have traces of the “race walking” gait, or it entirely just a motion they do for events. I’d guess that they at least bear the trace of their race walking in their everyday walking as well.
Filed under: Daily Tips, Sports
Posted August 22, 2008
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The Internet world and sporting world is a buzz with Kinesio tape.
If you’ve watched any of the Olympics, you’ve probably seen it. It’s the black tape on shoulders of athletes like volleyballer Kerri Walsh. And no, it’s not a tattoo, but it may have helped her and her teammate, Misty May-Treanor win some gold. You may have also seen it various pink or blue colors on a LOT of other athletes as well. Do only Olympic athletes use this mystical, magical tape? No. A lot of other superstar athletes have used it including Lance Armstrong, Serena Williams, and whole slew of others. Sure, the makers of the tape say it’s good for athletes, but it’s also good for the everyday athlete and more run of the mill things.
So, what is the magical tape good for other than winning gold medals and Tour de France? Basically, you could think of it as athletic tape on steroids (and from the planet Krypton). Normal athletic tape is used for taping up weak joints and muscles to get someone moving again. It’s not very stretchy, it’s not the nicest to remove from body hair, but it does do it’s job.
This is where Kinesio tape takes the cake. It is significantly stretchier than normal tape–the makers claim it can stretch up to 130-140% of it’s normal length. Try that athletic tape! Plus, their some sort of sticky magic, I’ve seen it applied to a (hairy) forearm, and removed without even the slightest grimace. It’s stretchy nature also allows for two types of applications–stretched and unstretched. The way you use it depends on whether you looking to increase fluid flow to an area to aid healing, or if there is a musculoskeletal injury you’re trying to support. So, it can be used to help support injured joints and muscles to (according to the manufacturer) relieve pain and speed healing. This is of obvious benefit as a palliative measure to anyone whose had these issues but still needed to make full use that area–so pretty much everyone. Some of the athletes are using it in post-surgery situations to help protect them as they get back to their activities.
Another advantage over normal athletic tape is it’s width. This allows the Kinesio tape to be cut into those fun shapes you’re seeing all over the Olympics. The shapes are designed to follow the natural path of the muscles across the body. I’ve only ever seen athletic tape really used to help shore up joints by wrapping them tightly in place, usually adding support at the expense of mobility. As the name “Kinesio tape” evokes, it allows the wearer to still move with the tape in place.
The tape is also water resistant, which is why some swimmers/water polo players are wearing it, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen happen with any from of normal athletic tape.
It’s an interesting product, and I’m curious if it would be any supporting benefit to the Rolfing process. The added lymph flow would definitely be an assist in any area that has a lot of fascial adhesions that have just been broken up to help get the re-released toxins out of the area.
Filed under: Anatomy, Sports
Posted August 22, 2008
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Well, the 2008 Olympics have been going on for awhile now. If you haven’t watched, then you’re missing out on some prime examples of functional bodies and motions.
Primarily, if you watch the gymnasts and swimmers warming up. If you see them swinging their arms around, you might notice that there is a LOT of motion in their arms. You might even think it looks like fatty tissue moving around–which seems odd since you don’t normally see any fat on the atheletes’ bodies.
Well, what you’re looking at is relaxed muscle tissue. When muscles and the associated fascia are at a properly lengthened and toned state, they should feel like a gel and you should be able to gently press though the entire muscle belly to the tissue/bone beneath it. It is tight, restricted muscles that get the “hard muscle” feel that many associate with strength. Actually, the relaxed muscles will be stronger. When you contract that muscle, the gel turns into that “hard muscle” that you expect. If the muscle is always in that state, it’s wasting energy by being partially contracted (or resisting being pulled apart) all the time.
So, if you feel like you have these tight muscles and not the gel like ones, what can you do? Well, a great idea is to stretch. Yes, it is always said, but who actually does enough? Frankly, EVERYONE can benefit from some more stretching. Animals do it instinctively when they get up after sleeping or laying down for awhile. Take a few minutes and stretch when you wake up in the morning or after getting up from sitting for a long time.
For those with Restless Leg Symdrome, some leg strecthing before going to bed can be beneficial as well. While not as direct as doing Rolfing, it does provide some benefit. And stretching is a excellent adjust to furthering your Rolfing progress as well.
And most importantly, after doing anything “athletic” (even if you define that as house work), take those few minutes and give your body some breathing room.
Filed under: Anatomy, Daily Tips, Sports
Posted August 19, 2008
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Make sure you get a drop to drink. It’s hot out there in Portland and the surrounding area right now. Make sure you stay hydrated.
Water is one of the most important building blocks of life. The human body is essentially a mobile bag of salt water. If you don’t have enough water in you, the basic processes of life are limited and you just won’t function as well. Plus, chronic dehydration can set up the situation for your body to create fascial adhesions easier. These adhesions can be thought of simply as dehydrated laters of fascia that end up sticking together and then limiting motion.
So….get those glasses of water in. A helpful tip to drink more water can be to add some flavoring. Add a nice lemon wedge or something similar. Just that little bit of flavor encourages us to drink more just “plain, boring” water does.
Filed under: Daily Tips
Posted August 15, 2008
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Do you sit? Chances are that if you’re an American (or any modern culture), sitting is an activity that people do more than they think. People use to squat a lot during work or other activities, but not much anymore. We live in an increasingly sedentary culture and sit for longer and longer periods of time.
How should we sit? That is a complicated question. Most people sit passively. Or in other words, they just plop into their chairs and stay however is comfortable. While it might feel good, it’s not the best for our structure. The easiest way to start sitting better without worry about mechanics is to sit actively–sense how your body feels and reacts as you sit and move around. Are you even moving around? Can you feel breath moving through your entire lungs and even through the rest of your body?
Most furniture isn’t designed for proper ergonomic sitting. It tends to encourage rounding of the back and rolling backwards off of our sit bones. This tends to make up sit on our tailbones. Have you ever seen an animal sit on their tail? Your seat should allow your hit joint to be at least slightly higher than your knee. If you can image a drop of water being able to roll down your thigh, you’ve found a good height. For non-adjustable chairs, you can think about sitting on a folded-up blanket or some other semi-firm material to get you higher. On stackable chairs, try stacking one atop the other to get a different height. If it is already too high, find something to place next to the chair so your feet are able to contact a firm surface.
Lumbar support if often counterproductive as well. Try putting some support behind your sacrum (the back part of the pelvis at the base of the spine), and see how that works for you. Chances are that it will help you feel more upright with less effort.
Finally, the sitz bones themselves are very important to place correctly. The sit bones (or ischial tuberosities) are the knobby bones you can feel where your legs merge with your butt. You should have one on each side. A good sitting position will have your pelvis rotated so that you are sitting just on the front edge of the sit bones, almost like you are sitting on top of the back of your thigh.
These are just a few tips on how to sit. Sitting can be a very involved activity, and there are a lot of places to focus on sitting to support your structure and prevent soreness and pain. Often, just trying different positions can help you narrow down what feels best for your own body. Remember, sitting should be active.
Filed under: Application, sitting
Posted May 23, 2008
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The annual children’s clinic went well this year. It was my second year in attendance. There were four Rolfers present this year, and we were able to help 8-10 kids (you try counting when they are running all over the place).
Even though children’s bodies are still developing, Rolfing can be extremely beneficial for them. Kids are still learning how to use their bodies, and the earlier to help them find and use different options for movement, the better off they will be in the long run. It can also be surprising how much tension can be found in kid’s bodies, so Rolfing can help in that regard as well. Also, children getting therapeutic touch now (as well as loving touch and contact from their families) sets them up for much more emotional/psychological success in the future.
However, kids can’t process as much neurological input as an adult would, so sessions then to be shorter. It is also important the child want to receive the work, and not just the parent wanting them to get it. Just like any session, the client should be involved and want to be there.
Filed under: Local, Rolfing® Structural Integration
Posted April 20, 2008
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