Human movement is a finely tuned dance of muscle contractions and other tissue actions managed by the nervous system to create joint actions that get certain movement tasks accomplished.
As we age, a focus on mobility is essential for continued health in the tissues that support and hold us together as we strive to bend our own aging curves and keep doing all the tasks/actions we need for daily living and exploring our world.
Embracing the wobbles in terms of balance means learning to accept that losing our balance can be a learning opportunity. Our nervous system requires us to lose our balance in order to adjust and adapt. This is neuroplasticity at work…. neurons that fire together wire together. What if we played with our balance and did so with a neutral mindset not worrying about whether it was right or wrong, but just is? We might then have the opportunity to work with both the mental and physical wobbles.
I’ve been taking a fairly long sabbatical this summer. And, yes, I do plan on coming back to teaching after this, which should be interesting considering the new variant of covid. I sense some more “pivot” coming our way. When we traveled to Oregon in May I realized how exhausted Read more…
External loading/Loading our tissues is not a bad thing, in fact, it’s imperative for staying strong and functional as we age. Sometime we are not prepared, we do too much, and we do it too soon and that equals pain, discomfort, or injury. Give your tissues time to adapt rather than deciding a movement task is inherently dangerous or wrong.
\ Link to Part one of the Series:https://mewithlauriebb.com/plantar-fasciitis-part-one/ Part 2 describes what the plantar fascia does during the gait cycle.I’ve tried to keep it simple, but sadly that’s not necessarily my forte, and this part of understanding plantar fascia function can be a little dense. Why is it important? What Read more…
Plantar Fasciitis – Part One This is part one in a four part series about plantar fasciitis. From here on out, I’ll use PF instead of spelling out plantar fasciitis. Part One is an introduction and overview of the plantar fascia structure, symptoms of PF, and who “gets” PF. Part Read more…
We may “know” that our yoga and movement practice has changed us, but there may be some science to back that up. Not only do we “feel better” after we move and breathe with attentional engagement, but over time the act of using attentional engagement may actually help us keep more volume of neurons in the part of our brain that is responsible for executive function and memory.
Squatting is a full body movement, allowing us to function in the world around us. Without the ability to squat, it becomes difficult and/or impossible to lower ourselves towards the earth, to sit, to toilet, and to get back up again.
Squatting is a motor skill. Motor skills involve precise movement of muscles with an intent to perform a specific act. The precise movements for squatting are developed through a series of movement components we begin practicing in infancy.
Teaching yoga and movement classes gives us the perfect opportunity to explore the components that actually combine to make a squat.
The psoas is often blamed for hip tightness, low back pain, and more. The psoas is misunderstood. Read this post to learn a few interesting tidbits about your psoas and what it actually does.
My Husband got a Cramp…. My husband got a calf cramp while riding his fancy pants new bike up a steep trail the other day. Scientifically speaking, muscle cramps are sudden, involuntary and painful contractions of muscular tissue. He made the mistake of telling me about it while we were Read more…