Moving Into Harmony

MOVEMENT & BREATH: HEALTH - FITNESS - WELLNESS

Your Health span is more important than Life span!

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Explore this essential value from someone who has been around a while.

I’ve been around a while in the arena of health, fitness, performance, and wellness. And I’ve come to realize many things.

HealthSpan is the time having the capacity of wholesome balanced body and mind that is maintained over a period of time. Often health is defined as the state without a condition of disease or dysfunction. I see it differently – I see potential. In my arena of health and fitness, health is the foundational status as the spring-board for furthering one’s capacities. The foundations are based in measures of functional mobility and breath function from which fitness, wellness and performance rise from. Healthy foundations allow a person to stress the body-mind complex in the pursuit of promoting positive adaptations and furthering capacities. These strengthen, or cultivated, capacities are then available to ward-off degenerative and dysfunctional imbalances, and fostering resourceful supports for what a person wants to do in their lives.

Unfortunately most health systems and practitioners focus on treating people’s pain, dysfunction and/or illness and all attempts go toward prolonging life and preventing pain. This happens under a narrow scope of services aimed at the dysfunction or disease, rather than on the promotion of one’s available and attainable resources to surround the healing process. Results of limiting pain, illness or disease leave a person dependent on the given remedies and practitioner for the answers to their suffering. Dependency on a system that does not promote health and life, and little faith in one’s own capabilities. Few are given the opportunity to move beyond just being less in pain, or illness. And thus health is seen as a baseline level of living, instead of the vast capacities possible with the right actions. Little or no guidance is offered, referred or given to what the next steps are beyond maintaining a low-level status quo. Very few are encouraged to seek potentiating their own capacities for a more vital life experience.

As I look around on the trails, in the gyms, and in the movement studios of Pilates and Yoga, I see more flawed and debilitating movement and breathing patterns than proper and strong patterns. And I don’t blame people. I point to the lack of proper guidance and body-breath awareness that is essential to exercising well. So instead of exercise to promote health and fitness, people are exercise to promote un-necessary stress and imbalances. And then the exercise becomes the “injurer” of the injured. Instead, it was the person performing without the proper guidance that injures themselves.

In addition, there is incredible confusion and misguidance as to how to exercise for promoting health and fitness. And from all angles – the doctor who is not a professional in the movement and breathing arts, the therapist who can only focus on the body part in pain for multiple forces placed on them to provide therapeutics, the trainer who is choose to go for strength in power and core moves, the psychologists who encourages a deep breath every time one experiences a stress situation, the motivated fitness pursuer who is inundated and manipulated with images and messages in the fitness world market, the false quick fix promises that project from the bullhorns of the so-called know the best thing without backing, the messages of weakness and stiffness are the problem, and the unattainable goals set by self or other. The confusion is the poison that sickens the one who wants to be healthier through some form of exercise or stimulating activity.

I am not promoting my approach is for everyone. My approach requires a desire to move and breathe toward the best self. My approach puts the responsibility on you to put in your best effort, your best feet forward, and the hunger for experiencing your life from your best self.

I do have over 35 years of personal, educational and professional experience. Personally tested many ways for periods of time to see their benefits over time – more than 3 or 4 weeks. I’ve also invested time in being with the top professionals in the fields of movement and breath to potentiate my practical knowledge and implement the well tested methods – clinically, scientifically and longevity (practices that have withstood time and evolution 500-1000year wisdom).

I also have seen time and time and time again the results of participating in their health and well-being. With the clients who have followed their individual guidance AND participated to the best of their ability in the suggested program(s) given – even simple, minimal time methods – they ALL have experienced the change they’ve wanted, experienced life changing possibilities by furthering their capacities for what they want to do in their lives.

From my own disabling injuries and painful experiences that I overcame and grew tremendously from, I feel I have some idea of what it takes. From the many fortunate years of clinical practice, not manipulate by the industry or 3rd-party influences, and being able to see a multitude of people with a wide spectrum of challenges I trust my ability to assess and figure out best ways forward. And with the passion to both be at my best with each client, AND offer the best that I know (or get them to someone who does) I believe I have something very supportive, valuable and effective to offer.

The Amazing Health Benefits of the Nasal Breath – Nitric Oxide

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Nitric Oxide was originally discovered in 1986 by Dr. Louis Ignarro in his lab. And he and two of his colleges were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1998. This naturally produced gas is as important for the health of the human body as Vitamin D. YEP!!!!

From Dr. Ignarro are the key benefits he found with Nitric Oxide. Through nasal breathing this substance is stimulated and circulated from the paranasal sinuses into the respiratory tract. The lining of the respiratory tract has a strong affinity for nitric oxide for support with immune function, tissue health and healing, and circulation/exchange of respiratory gases. WOW! NOW you know how smart the body is, and how the nose is intimately tied to your health.

Here is a lecture by Dr. Ignarro

This video goes over the sequence, modified for biomechanical advantages, injury prevention while doing them, and aspects of the breathing……and hummmmm-ing.

As for the importance of healthy nasal passages – the ole osteopaths, Dr. Andrew Still & Dr. William Sutherland, referred to the ethmoid bone (the passages from which the air through the nasal passages pass into the skull to vibrate the pituitary gland) are the “lungs of the cranium.” BOOM!

Here is another video/podcast with Dr. Ignarro with some great insights:

This is one of the scientists that discovered the molecule – a great presentation

The amazing 3D aspect of your health and well-being

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There is an amazing inter-dependent relationship for your health and well-being.

The 3 arenas are

Breath

Feelings

Sleep

Article by Shawn M Flot, MPT. He is now a Certified Oxygen Advantage® Instructor. Combined with his 25year experience in Exercise Physiology, Physical Therapist for health and performance, and a dedicated Yoga practitioner is making for a power-house to help many people succeed in re-discovering their own health, healing and well-being.

Re: Men’s Health – do you feel strong and ready for adventure?

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Breathing is essential to Men’s Health

A vital question for men and men’s health – Is your tent still erect at sunrise?
Are you up and ready to meet the the adventure of the day?
Or is it too much effort to rise to what’s lies ahead of you?
For men’s health this has many levels of relating to your health, vitality and feelings of security in your relationship. Even in the field of physical therapy, Men’s Health magazine explains how erectile function is impacted by breathing and the pelvic floor.

For women who care about their man’s health & well-being – how does your man rise in the morning? How is the tent post…..under the covers? or is he groogy, slow to move, run down and unable to be motivated for the day’s adventure?

This is a subject a lot of men and women are shy to talk about. Erectile Dysfunction, or ED as the mainstream try to streamline the taboo and insecurities around the word – erect. And if you shelter up in the wild backcountry, exploring great adventures, you understand the importance of a secure erect shelter, or tent.

For men’s health, the morning of a good erection is the sign of a healthy pelvis, and a great day of adventure ahead. How can this be you ask? Let’s explore this vital topic.

Rear view of two young people holding hands enjoy the morning scenery of the mountains on which the fog descended. View from inside a tent

And one the repeated message I hear when studying with Patrick McKeown – breathing expert, master teacher and author of several books on Breathing Health & Performance – is one sign of a man’s good health can be measured by the natural erection that occurs in the morning upon waking. Yes, a good sleep allows dependent on your breathing determines your ability to rise to all occasions and adventure ahead of you.

At this point in the interview Patrick McKeown, founder of the Oxygen Advantage, talks about breathing and erectile dysfunction

Sleep is the number one vital component for a successful and enjoyable adventure. It out-weighs the weight of the pack on your back, the food you prepare and devour, or how many miles you travel that day. Without the proper sleep, your body will not recover and the consequences of less than vital capacities leaves you at risk, less that able to perform, and worse …. unable to rise to the occasion when the adventure needs you the most.

What makes for good quality sleep? Let’s unpack the components that can make sleep optimal for you:

Quality

“I had a good night’s sleep”

How do you know? You may feel okay because you have habituated to the quality of sleep you are missing!

Do you wake up with a tent propped? Doesn’t have to be every morning but more than not, I suggest your erectile nature in the wakeup is indicative to your body getting the rest and circulation it needs. You can’t make love, have sex, when you are running from a tiger!

Refreshed feelings, clear head & eyes, flexible body, moist mouth, and a great BOLT score (click here to measure) are good measures to a good night’s restorative sleep. The BOLT score is especially important if you are exploring at altitude to see how well you are acclimatizing to the higher terrain and thinner air.

Breathing & Sleep

How your breathing at night has a major effect on how you recovered during sleep AND how much resources you have available for the day ahead.

How you feel and the circulation in your pelvis relates directly to how your breathing was in the night.

You may want to ask your partner you are sharing a tent with if there was noise. It can be from the mouth….VERY BAD!!! or it can come from a shut mouth……GOOD! but a very turbulent nasal breath……BAD!

I suggest to everyone to trial mouth taping during the day, to avoid freak out at night pulling the tape off your lips….ouch! and then mouth tape at night and compare how you feel….and perhaps if something is now holding the tent up.

Deep recovery and deep restoration during sleep require quiet and soft breathing. This is often a very under-valued part of your adventure. It can make or break your trip. Nocturnal hypoxia is the number one factor in people who get high-altitude sickness and don’t do well.

Day =>>> Night

How you breathe during the day determines how you breathe at night. The biggest change you can make is to breathe thru your nose unless your activity gets very intense. Surprisingly your ability to breathe thru your nose, especially at night is directly related to your pelvic health…. men’s health.

If you had a very taxing day and there was a lot of labored, heavy breathing, then the night time will be somewhat more turbulent or even loud.

It is best to cultivate a daily functional breathing pattern that incorporates the appropriate type of breathing for the level of the activity.

The gears of breathing are related to the intensity of the exercise or activity. If you can address habitual tendencies with awareness of how your breathe AND know what types of breathing to match the intensity instead of default you can remarkably improve your capacity and your ability to minimize the suffering, that unfortunately gets accepted when you are exploring the great outdoors with everything on your back.

Breathing is primary, and if it suffers the fate of unconditioned response, then you will suffer unnecessarily; your confidence goes down, AND more importantly you loose the memory of a good trip because your mind had to deal with you suffering; and surviving your unnecessary suffering does not make you a great explorer.

The Fire, Cleansing & Transformation

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Thoughts of changing course in life or diet, transforming life, and cleansing ring inside and out. Many express the desire and some need to change, transform, cleanse. It is fall, nature and the body are giving signals of slowing down and releasing the results of the growing season – leaves turning color and falling to the earth. And friends, practitioners, and local communities are gathering to participate in cleansing. The focused necessities of what we eat, what are we going to eat, what supplements are we going to take to support our cleanse are missing one vital component.

How are you going to vitalize the fire for the cleansing process?

Do you know the state of your digestive fire (Agni)? or the transformative fires of all the tissues in your body that you are focusing your cleanse toward? Without a strong vital fire, anything you take or any diet you choose to follow will make minimal results at best.

I highly recommend you take care of and nourish the fire inside.

How?

Traditionally the Hatha Yoga system was a system of internal purification and health. Ayurveda is it’s sister science that focuses on lifestyle and diet that are the external realms of purification and health. Through cultivating the intelligence of the body with these, the body has the capacity to digest and transform all “food”. “food” means anything you take in……by mouth, by eyes, by ears, by hands, etc. The transformational fires (Agni) also have the ability to transform all toxins and impurities through its amazing alchemy – just like turning carbon to diamonds, lead to gold. The incredible wisdom of the Ayurveda and Hatha Yoga systems honor this and have a very effective way to stimulate, nurture, and stabilize the internal fire, Agni.
Please inquire if this resonates with your innate wisdom for self healing.

Here are concepts to consider regarding the transformational fire:

Agni, the fire, is dependent on your state of being. A harmonious balance of your autonomic system, your emotional and mental stability, and your ability to negotiate/tolerate the stressors that you encounter every moment of your life are key factors for mind and body healing.

    • Consider your ability to eat, digest, assimilate and eliminate. If you are in fight/flight/freeze mode of functioning in daily life you ability to perform any of these functions is severely diminished. Discernment, identifying what is appropriate for you and what is not is a function of the fire. If the body is unable to discern or digest, the undigested “food” is stored as toxins, or ama, usually in the form of fat. This can be the observable fat in the belly, around the belt rim, in the legs and arms as “cellulite”, and unobservable places such as in the organ (such as a fatty liver), and the bone marrow (as yellow marrow) limiting function of the system. Fat is the most stable substance, and the body can be trained to store and pack it away. The good thing is with a harmonious nervous system, the body can be redirected to burn and transform the fat; caution as the elimination process which requires fire, is necessary for the “release” of the toxins from all aspects of your mind and body.
    • Consider your state of stillness. Constant movement significantly affects the above functions. Movement is not just physical, as our emotional stability is essential – “e”motion. As one of my clients stated “Emotions are like a moving truck going downhill, once you get it moving it is sometimes hard to stop, especially when it is loaded.” Movement is associated with wind. What does wind do to a fire? Wildfire!!!! or lets put it another way…..Burnout!
      One of the best stances is Goat Pose for cultivating stillness. Click here to read about it.
    • Consider your ability to stay grounded, rooted in your center. The bones, especially of the legs, allow us to maintain spinal stability, balance and supported. If the nervous system senses it is not supported, it will pull the supportive tissue systems up to create stability, producing tension in the mid and low back which significantly disturb the fire. The leg bones also pull the fire downward, through the grounding force, apana vayu. Apana vayu, one of the subtle winds in the body, governs the health of the digestive fire, pulling it in a downward direction for proper digestion, assimilation, and elimination.
      See article on digestive fire.
    • Consider your tolerance to stressors. We adapt all the time to stressors. Our body has incredible capacities. And we have a threshold to the amount of stressors we can adapt to. This is a given threshold at birth. Some of us have more of a threshold than others. The key is to not go over the threshold, which is a state when the body begins to degenerate, and signs and symptoms of a dis”eased” body show up. You can prevent this with many modalities such as self care routines, working with a practitioner on supportive preventative means of health and well being, a routine practice such as Yoga, and of course the cleanse you are ready to embark on. See article on the body’s adaptability.
    • Consider the driving force in your body – Prana. Where you direct your attention, your mind, your senses, your intention . . . . Prana will follow. Prana is the driving force of life. AND it is in service to the transformative element of fire, Agni.

Feel free to download The Fire

From an Ayurvedic perspective all physical dis-ease (diseases) have their root cause in disturbance of Agni (S.Blossom). As stated by Dr. Robert Svoboda – “it is the condition from which all other disease conditions arise. In a sense indigestion, the inability to digest any physical, mental, or emotional input, is the sole disease of living beings. It usually begins in the mind as an “offense against wisdom” and is projected from the mind into the physical body.”

 

I wish you well in your transformative cleanse.
If you wish to recieve guidance Please inquire.