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Be Lazy With Child’s Pose

By on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 | No Comments

Being very lazy, this is another one of my favorite exercises to do on waking up.

This passive stretch helps to lengthen the lower back and relax all the muscles of the back. There is no effort or strain in doing child’s pose. You just let gravity and time do the stretching.

Kneel on the bed or the carpeted floor or on a mat.

Sit up straight to start. If this is too much on your knees, take a towel and roll it up and put it behind your knees.

Now that your quads are stretched, separate your knees as much or as little as you like. I like to have my knees separated so that my torso fits between my legs when I lean forward.

Lean forward and lie on your thighs, or it your knees are separated, between your thighs.

You can put your arms in front of you on the floor and get a nice shoulder stretch at the same time, or keep your arms at your sides.

If your head does not reach the floor, put a pillow in front of your knees for your head to rest on.

Some people feel a little claustrophobic doing it, but if you separate your knees wide, you will feel fine.

Think of this like the first back stretch in Morning Exercises but you are flipped over onto your knees instead of your back.

You can see Beth do it here when she is pregnant with Ava:

Reduce Stress and Think Better

By on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 | No Comments

This is a lot like the body scan exercise I wrote about yesterday, but a little less focused.

This exercise, simple as it is, is the best way to reduce stress which is a big contributor to back pain.

It has many other benefits.

I find that if there was something that I was thinking about, the right decision becomes clear to me after doing this. After the back pain goes away, this is a huge reason to continue doing this every day, as I do.

Try this first thing in the morning right after a few minutes of the morning exercises before breakfast.

Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor.

Sit in a chair without arms. Sit forward at the edge of the chair, don’t lean on the back of the chair.

Place your bare feet flat on the floor hip distance apart with the inner part of the feet parallel.

Have your knees point forward over your second toe.

Sit with the bowl of your pelvis flat neither tipping forward nor rolling back.

Hang your arms down at your side, and then place your hands on your thighs. Doing it that way keeps your shoulders relaxed.

Feel that there is a string attached to the top of your head right over your spine and someone is pulling the string straightening out your spine.

OK, now you are sitting up straight.

Set a timer, if you want, to go off after ten minutes. I do this for 30 -40 minutes every morning. To start, any length of time will do.

Close your eyes and keep them closed throughout.

On the inhale count silently 100, on the exhale count silently 99. Continue counting down until you get to 1. If you lose count, don’t worry, I lose count by 86 usually. Just start again at 100 counting the even numbers on the inhale and the odd numbers on the exhale.

Leave a comment below and tell me what you think of this one.

Scan Your Body Without X Rays

By on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | No Comments

When I first started doing this about ten years ago, I didn’t think that anything was happening. But, when I skipped a day after doing it for a few months I noticed the difference right away. I felt out of balance, off kilter, not quite right.

This is something that I do every day – first thing in the morning.

I have waited this long to tell you about it, because you weren’t ready.

Now you are ready.

Try this first thing in the morning right after a few minutes of the Morning Exercises before breakfast.

Sit in a chair without arms. Sit forward at the edge of the chair, don’t lean on the back of the chair.

Place your bare feet flat on the floor hip distance apart with the inner part of the feet parallel.

Have your knees point forward over your second toe.

Sit with the bowl of your pelvis flat neither tipping forward nor rolling back.

Hang your arms down at your side, and then place your hands on your thighs. Doing it that way keeps your shoulders relaxed.

Feel that there is a string attached to the top of your head right over your spine and someone is pulling the string straightening out your spine.

OK, now you are sitting up straight.

Close your eyes so that you can do the body scan.

Now feel how your feet are resting on the floor, start on one side, say the left, follow up the left side of the body to your left knee and inner thigh, and upper thigh. Continue to your left hip.

Continue in that way and feel each part of your body as you rest your attention there. If you lose track, don’t worry, just restart the body scan.

You will learn a lot without the radiation dosage of X rays.

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