The physical body
There is a balance between movement and non-movement, doing and not-doing. It may be that you need to increase your level of fitness, but if you're body has been running on empty, you may need to slow it down to allow your body to catch up and heal. The most important part of physical body health is knowing where you are at each day. Start to form a relationship with your body and increase your awareness of what your body is telling you it needs. Our body is not trying to keep secrets about when it is out of balance, and often it gives us subtle clues at the onset of imbalance. The key is simply listening to the body talk.
Massage and hydrotherapy (sauna, steam, cold plunge, contrast baths, etc.) are designed to increase your vitality and support healing through lymphatic movement, so while these might be passive modalities, they can be very important pieces to overall wellness and fitness because they relieve stress and move the blood.
When it comes to strength and flexibility, this again is about balance. Many injuries occur because of either lack of warm up or from an imbalance of muscular strength and flexibility. Repetitive movement causes these imbalances, much of which happens in everyday life. Focus on alignment before you focus on heavy weights or high repetitions, and this will often require one-on-one training. It is worth the investment in yourself and your health to get a private trainer, yoga instructor, etc, so that you are starting from a strong foundation. No matter what modality you choose to partake in, the most important part is the breath, as it is the first thing you did in this world, it will be the last, and is what sustains you each day in between.
Massage modalities:
Fitness Tip:
The power of the Plank
Start with a 15 second plank daily.
Increase by 15 seconds each week.
Set a goal of how many months you are going to plank.
(if your low back is sagging or your head has dropped, do not continue to hold the plank, be sure to stop before your form starts to suffer)
The Resources page will give you links to yoga, fitness, massage, and hydrotherapy.
There is a balance between movement and non-movement, doing and not-doing. It may be that you need to increase your level of fitness, but if you're body has been running on empty, you may need to slow it down to allow your body to catch up and heal. The most important part of physical body health is knowing where you are at each day. Start to form a relationship with your body and increase your awareness of what your body is telling you it needs. Our body is not trying to keep secrets about when it is out of balance, and often it gives us subtle clues at the onset of imbalance. The key is simply listening to the body talk.
Massage and hydrotherapy (sauna, steam, cold plunge, contrast baths, etc.) are designed to increase your vitality and support healing through lymphatic movement, so while these might be passive modalities, they can be very important pieces to overall wellness and fitness because they relieve stress and move the blood.
When it comes to strength and flexibility, this again is about balance. Many injuries occur because of either lack of warm up or from an imbalance of muscular strength and flexibility. Repetitive movement causes these imbalances, much of which happens in everyday life. Focus on alignment before you focus on heavy weights or high repetitions, and this will often require one-on-one training. It is worth the investment in yourself and your health to get a private trainer, yoga instructor, etc, so that you are starting from a strong foundation. No matter what modality you choose to partake in, the most important part is the breath, as it is the first thing you did in this world, it will be the last, and is what sustains you each day in between.
Massage modalities:
- Injury treatment
- Thai massage
- Deep tissue
- Neurofascial technique
- Craniosacral therapy
- Visceral Manipulation
- Kinesiotaping
- Sports massage
Fitness Tip:
The power of the Plank
Start with a 15 second plank daily.
Increase by 15 seconds each week.
Set a goal of how many months you are going to plank.
(if your low back is sagging or your head has dropped, do not continue to hold the plank, be sure to stop before your form starts to suffer)
The Resources page will give you links to yoga, fitness, massage, and hydrotherapy.
