Moving Into Harmony

MOVEMENT & BREATH: HEALTH - FITNESS - PERFORMANCE

Therapeutics

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 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:

https://vimeo.com/56206930
This is one of the scientists that discovered the molecule – a great presentation

Are you strong enough and ready for your 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.

Your Potential is at the Doorway’s Threshold.

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“We’re living in a time where we each need a tremendous amount of courage —
a fierce kind of attention and intentionality.
The doorway is always through your pain and vulnerability,
the experience where you are open to the world whether you want to be or not.
I’ve come to consider vulnerability
as a form of imaginative intelligence,
and the good news is that it can be cultivated.
The real challenge is the pain that comes with vulnerable living.
When pain arises, it is tempting to say to yourself:
‘If this is the way that God is playing, no thanks, I’ll back up.’
Self-compassion is needed to understand this.
During and after the season of pain,
the question that comes up is:
‘Will I turn back to vulnerability, to living a wholehearted life?’”

~ David Whyte

When pain arrives at the doorstep of your awareness, do you move into the message from your body with courage? Do you recognize your ability to intentionally attend to any part of your body – a fierce kind of attention and intentionality – to follow what your body is calling for?

Living a wholehearted life.

Pain is described as a signal from within. It is not external. It is not foreign. It’s the language of the body asking for help. Asking for a different way to do things. The real challenge is the pain that comes with vulnerable living; the vulnerability to accept, once you listen to the body’s calling for balance and ease, to move in the direction of harmony and self-healing. How do you rediscover the flow of harmony?

The doorway is always through your vulnerability.

And in the vulnerability to life do you move with courage or do you fight, flee, or freeze? Courage comes from the root Norman French word cour, meaning the amount of heart you have in your life. Is there courage to participate in the unraveling of your being, to witness the shadows of your existence? Trace your shadows back to their source, toward expansion and receptivity. This is vulnerability.

Or, do other factors stronger than your courage send you in a direction of contraction?  These come from reaction, inaction and the mind’s directions that pull you away from harmony and your source of vitality.

When pain arises, it is tempting to say to yourself:
‘If this is the way that God is playing, no thanks, I’ll back up.’

Actions of fight, flight or freeze create fixations in the body. Fixation requires the body to adapt. The body must compensate around these, sometimes in ways that shut off other vital functions that are initially unnoticed but, over time, become noticed. My teacher, Frank Lowen, says the body has amazing abilities to adapt, but that this is a finite amount, a finite space of living. Signs and Symptoms don’t become conscious until we use up the capacity to adapt. Meaning when the body has used up its abilities to adapt, it signals, “I can’t do this, this way anymore. Help!” These signals show up as degenerative processes, dis”ease” and pain.

copyright Moving Into Harmony, inc. 2015
Body’s Ability to Adapt Graph

When pain arises, can you discover ways to find more space? Can you have courage to step into the dark, into the unknown, into the silence inside yourself to willingly learn something consciously new from life itself?

A wedge of freedom inside your heart.

I say this with a great deal of compassion; Self-compassion is needed to understand this. With 20 years of clinical experience, I’ve observed many expressions of the body’s signal described as pain, and the responses to the body’s messages. Undoubtedly, pain is real, and the expression of pain is as individual as there are people in the world. Sometimes the volume of the pain signal is so loud, nothing else can be heard or felt. We can try as professionals to objectively measure pain, but to scientifically categorize this phenomenon is negating the individual experience, and therefore their interpretation and self-discovery.

“I’ve come to consider vulnerability as a form of imaginative intelligence,
and the good news is that it can be cultivated.

David Whyte describes imagination “is about your faith in the images inside you, the images of your particular way of belonging in the world.” A form of intelligence – imaginative, expressive, cultivated – from your ability to intentionally listen, discover and learn about the natural state of your being. We all have one thing in common: We are all trying to find our way back to harmony and experience divine Love. And our body “knows” this inherent desire, and will do anything to maintain a harmonious state. How amazing to know you have the potential to cultivate a deeper understanding and awareness to your existence with life. Cultivated from inquiry, the action of stepping through the threshold, out the door, exploring, discovering, recognizing, and integrating new experiences full of life; and knowing what you do on this day will make the days ahead greater.

Not new, but wholeheartedly and consciously new.

The Thread you follow and weave in life

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William Stafford – The Way It Is (August 2, 1998)

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

Integration into your Life:

Once you have found yourself on a journey of healing, do you have faith in the thread that is unseen.
A faith in the circulation and movements of your natural, innate nature.
A faith that enables you to continue, despite the small bumps on the path.
Do you believe in something that is not visible?
Do you believe in the possibilities, right down to your bones?
Do you know it in your heart?
A thread that does not involve the control, cognition or volition of our everyday existence, but rather our connection to what is essential to our own healing pathway.

Integrating with all that life has in store for you.

One of my mentors, Michael Meade, reading the poem:

Why is the Talus so important in the Foot’s Movement?

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The Talus is the keystone bony structure in the body!
All vertical support balances on it,
AND all fluids are regulated by it.

Where is the Talus bone located? The Talus is situated between the foot and the lower leg bones, considered the “top of the foot.” It’s half-dome surface articulates with the tibia and fibula, lower leg bones, to form the talocural joint. Inferiorly the talus articulates with the calcaneous, or heel bone, to form the subtalar joint.  Distally, the talus articulates with the navicular to form the talonavicular joint and a small, integral relationship to the cuboid to form the midfoot. The midfoot incorporates the transverse arch spanning side to side, with the longitudinal arch spanning the length of foot from the calcaneous to the metatarsals, or toes.

What is the role of the Talus? The Talus has an important role in the ability to translate horizontal and vertical forces. All vertical support is balanced and governed by its dome shaped surface. Can you comprehend how challenging it is to balance on a ball, and what is required to maintain this balance? This vital role requires the talus to float freely in all planes of movement (coronal-side bending, sagittal-forward and backward bending, transverse-rotating, vertical compression and distraction-closed and open qualities between two structures). This unique ability also requires that the talus not be directly influenced by our voluntary actions, as evident by no muscular attachments to it. Only ligaments!

The ligaments are the bridge between all interdependent bones in the body. Their role is mostly understood as stability in the bone-to-bone connection. However recent clinical observations by my manual therapy teacher, Frank Lowen, and others who practice Dynamic Manual Interface, have discovered the important role ligaments play in fluid dynamics (see my review on his new book). There appears to be a communication between all the ligaments (and all visceral functions) that respond to create optimal alignment of the bones for optimal adaptive function for a given activity. Frank has clarified many times, “movement occurs in the joint space first, then the peri-articular tissues (joint capsule, tendon) respond to this articular balance, followed by the tendons and muscle contraction to produce movement.”

Interestingly, in late medieval castles, the talus had an important role in the castle’s fortification, which “consists of a sloping face at the base of a fortified wall” (Wikipedia). Fascinating this “design” is in the body, as the talus is at the base of the fortified bones of the leg. My yoga teacher, Scott Blossom, refers to the shin bones (the tibia and fibula), as the “shaft which bears the weight of the body”.

What else is important about the Talus? Electromagnetically, the Talus has the second highest measured electromagnetic field, the first being the heart. Yes, second only to the heart. Any notion why? It has to do with the forces that are translated at this vital junction in the body. The activity at the Talus generates an electrical field, an effect referred to the piezoelectric affect – produced when bone, or any connective tissue, is placed under significant force, because of the internal torquing and fluid dynamics of the tissues response to stress, or forces placed upon it. This piezoelectric effect is said to generate response in tissue regeneration, adaptation and circulation. The piezoelectric effect also has an affect on the general circulation and the heart.

Furthermore, in reference to the subtle body, the Talus and the ankle joint are important for pranic circulation (your vital force). Both Frank Lowen and Zhander Remete observe the vital role of fluid regulation at the joint spaces of the ankle. The talus and ankle joint are closely associated with the functions of the heart and kidneys, and have a key relationship with the autonomic nervous system and the motor-sensory system.

  • The lateral foot relates to sympathetic nervous system and the motor system, generating more of the power side of the foot, and sets the tone for any reactive response the body may need to accomplish.
  • The medial side of the foot is more associated with the parasympathetic nervous system and the sensory system. It is the more sensitive side of the foot and is more accommodating than the lateral side of the foot. This accommodating quality is important for the foot’s adaptability to the ground with standing and walking.
  • The midfoot, or heart of the foot, is important for circulation. It is here where the interchange between the smallest vessels in the arterial and venous circulation occurs. (my 8 years of hospital experience play back in my memory banks; an A-V Impulse Pump was used on the bottoms of patients’ feet for the most effective blood clot {or DVT, deep vein thrombosis} prevention device in post-surgical and post-trauma recovery non-weightbearing rehabilitation protocals.)

A simple exercise to feel this is to place attention and notice the four corners of your foot

    • – at the front part of the foot – the soft tissue just behind the inner and outer mounds of the toes
    • – at the back part of the foot – the inner and outer surfaces of the soft tissue in front of the heel

If you were to imagine, or lucky enough to place your foot in the sand….

    • Do these four points make equal impression in the sand?
    • Do you have a tendency to “ride” on the outside of your foot, on the lateral border?
    • Do you collapse into the inner points or the medial border (or commonly referred to as “the arch”)?

This can provide you a great deal of information about your interaction with the earth, and also the state you are in……Equanimity is key!!!