AVOIDING THE DOWAGERS HUMP!

A dowagers hump is just one of the many conditions that can occur if we don’t have optimal alignment of our body. This can lead to an unsightly and painful condition. 

   

Many women are familiar with this hump and have concerns they will end up buckled over looking at the ground with a pack on their shoulders. This also happens to men.

Quite often friends and family can be more aware of the hump than the person themselves.

In medical terms, the dowager's hump is called hyperkyphosis. It is an increase in the forward curvature of the spine – usually in the lower neck and upper back areas where spinal joints have glided forward and have got stuck there.

• Symptoms Poor quality breathing, neck, shoulder and arm pain, nerve impingement, headaches, continual strain to muscles ligaments and joints.

• How it occurs: Lack of awareness of correct body position and weakness in the upper back and core muscles allowing the body to collapse. When the head is sitting forward of the upper back over time the body builds up a fatty deposit to try to stabilize the weight of the head, which becomes the hump.

• What can be done The optimal position for the head is directly on top of the shoulders. The ear should be in line with the shoulder, or the cheekbone in line with the color bone. The neck needs to be strong enough to hold the head in position as we sit at work, run around and play sports or do general chores.

Rather than the regular cues of pulling your shoulders back, try lifting your chest to come into a more optimal position.

I have helped many people reduce or rid their hump with specific postural correction exercises and awareness. It takes a bit of time but the rewards are many.

• An exercise to help:  Lie face up on the floor with a 10cm diameter foam roller placed horizontally below your upper back. With your fingers interlaced behind your neck slowly bend backward over the roller without moving your lower back. This will only be a small movement. You may perform a gentle rocking movement to assist mobilising your spine. Perform a few repetitions then roll to the next joint and repeat – working through the shoulder blade area. Do this daily.
Call or email for more assistance.

Michelle Owen Wellness: THE SECRETS TO BUILDING GOOD IMMUNITY!

Michelle Owen Wellness: THE SECRETS TO BUILDING GOOD IMMUNITY!: The cold weather is here and it’s the perfect time to bump up immunity Immune health is highly influenced by stress so look at...

THE SECRETS TO BUILDING GOOD IMMUNITY!

The cold weather is here and it’s the perfect time to bump up immunity

Immune health is highly influenced by stress so look at where you can take the load off. Stress can be emotional, nutritional, physical, chemical and more.

The body does not know the difference; it just has a stress response and over-produces hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin. This can lead to fatigue, muscle breakdown and poor digestion.

If the immune system is over-worked it will make the body feel tired in a bid to conserve energy and try to recover.

Some 80% of the immune system is housed in the gut, so if you have problems there you will suppress immunity. Taking a high quality probiotic will help you in many ways.

If you are eating poor quality or processed foods, or foods that you are intolerant to, this will over stimulate the immune system and can lead to chronic fatigue. This makes it hard to recover from injuries, exercise or other stresses.

 

Ways to help

• The slow cooker is one of the most convenient and nourishing ways to prepare winter soups and casseroles. You can use cheaper cuts of meat such as neck, shoulder bones or shanks.

The bones are full of minerals, marrow and glucosamine, which in turn is great for your bones and gut health. Boiling up bones into a broth is the perfect way to make soups and stews. Any left over can be frozen for next time.

• Vitamin C is a well-known remedy for the common cold and immune health. In his book Doctor Yourself, Dr Andrew Saul treats just about every ill with large doses of vitamin C, among other vitamins and minerals.

His mantra is “Take enough ‘C’ to be symptom free, what ever that amount may be.” He goes on to say this is to bowel tolerance – as much as you can take before loose stools. Whole food vitamins A to E and zinc all help immune health.

• Try fresh lemon, ginger or both in boiling water with a touch of honey as a hot drink and winter health booster.

• This is the time for saunas; treat yourself to a regular massage and then sit in the sauna and drink lots of clean filtered water.

• Putting a pinch of sea salt in water can help with electrolyte replacement. This is a great way to clean up your body. The solution for pollution is dilution.

• Hibernate – get more rest in the winter months. Early to bed is a good way to ensure quality sleep. Magnesium will help you sleep deeply.

• Throw out your microwave: this method of food preparation is devastating to immune health

• Put a filter on your bath or shower – the chlorine in a hot steamy bath or shower is absorbed straight through your skin and into your organs.

STRETCHING SCIENTIFICALLY IS A KEY TO MUSCLE BALANCE!

There’s nothing worse than tightness and restriction in particular areas of our bodies.  This is especially with so many people working long hours at desks.

Stretching can be an amazing tool to keep bodies feeling loose, free and connected.

You will notice animals naturally stretching; dogs and cats both stretch on rising.

Stretching scientifically is the wise approach to getting good results. Our muscular system has two types: tonic muscles and phasic muscles.

Tonic muscles

These are slow twitch fibre dominant and more postural or stability based. Their nature is more inclined to shorten and tighten under faulty loading or incorrect positions.

Neck muscles, for example, get short and tight. They can pull on spinal vertebrae, block nerves that supply the arms, create headaches or just make us feel uncomfortable.

Phasic muscles

By contrast, phasic muscles have a tendency to weaken and lengthen. They are more fast twitch dominant and respond to more explosive style training. Abdominal muscles are predominantly phasic.

Tight muscles can pull joints out of their optimal position and create a lot of pain and discomfort. Weak long muscles can also allow this to happen. This destabilises joint structures through out the body.

Targeted stretching

Stretching everything does not make any sense. Identifying only the tight muscles is valuable for long-term structural health. Then you can learn to be specific and powerful with your stretching.

When you only stretch tight muscles, this creates a postural balance within the body and an optimal positioning of the joints as you strengthen opposing muscles.

Muscles can also become tighter on one side of the body. This rotates the pelvis and trunk, causing pain and dysfunction.

Have a look in the mirror and see if you have one shoulder sitting higher than another. This causes a scoliosis, which is a lateral or sideways pulling of the neck or spine.

This happens throughout the body and once again stretching evenly side to side will not change this muscle imbalance 

You can find out what specific muscles to stretch to correct your body structure, eliminate pain and increase the health of joints. 

An example of this is a hamstring. This should be about 170 to 180 degrees: if it measures 130 degrees it is short and tight, and needs stretching.  However, if it is 180 degrees it needs strengthening. 

To stretch muscles that are already too long will make the body weak and distort it more.

Muscles can also tighten up because of lack of stability in other muscles - just because they are tight does not mean they should be stretched - it means they should be assessed.

 A postural and orthopedic assessment is a scientific measuring of the whole body to know exactly what is needed.

If you don’t assess then you guess. An educated scientific approach is definitely the key.

DOUBLE YOUR ENERGY! - AUCKLAND SEMINAR!

• Want more energy for the things you love? 
• Want to feel better in your body?

 DOUBLE YOUR ENERGY
    
BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE

Spend the whole afternoon learning how to feel better every single day.

Learn how to significantly boost your energy and keep it up all day long.

Join Michelle on Saturday 17/08/13 at my lovely Eden Terrace studio in Auckland -  1pm to 5pm with a SUPER nourishing, healthy afternoon tea provided.

Come in comfortable clothing that you are happy to move in.

Have sustained energy and feel comfortable in your body!

You will learn:

How to choose and balance your food for optimal energy and

strong healthy bodies – its easy and fun.

How to get a good and sound night’s sleep and feel recovered

in the morning.

How to have youth and vitality – you don’t have to wither with age

How our thoughts and emotions affect our health and what you can do about it.

About how important posture is visually and functionally.

Practical skilled stretches/mobilizations to take home straight away to help your posture and relieve pain

What sort of exercise is right for you and when?

How to make small changes in each of these key areas to

bring huge improvements in overall health and wellness, and

to give you the energy to keep you doing what you love and

sustain long term health…and much more!

TESTIMONIAL:     Working on work life balance: 

 After Michelle’s presentation I quickly realised that I was not a role model in terms of promoting good Health.

       Poor breathing technique

       Poor posture

       Poor hydration (20+ cups of coffee a day)

       Poor nutrition and eating habits (Main meal sometimes late at night)

       3 to 4 hours sleep a day        Long hours at work (sitting at computer)

       Poor work life balance  

       Below are the changes I have made so far:

       Breathing diaphragmatically

       Better posture

       No more coffee, now drinking lots of water

       Started eating breakfast and light meals at night (found this hard to change)       

       Up to 6 hours sleep a day       

       Reducing hours at work (included are lunch time river walks)     

       Working on work life balance

Personally I got a lot out of this presentation and it has encouraged me to make quite a few life style type changes.

Much appreciated.

Rick D

FONTERRA

Investment: 99.00
email me for more details and to book a space michelle@michelleowen.co.nz