During the holiday season you’re out of your normal routine and it’s easy to put your self-care on the back-burner while you prioritise commitments to family and friends. Then when you go back to work, you are so busy catching up on the work that has mounted up while you were away, you still neglect your self-care and it can be a while before you start to carve out time for things that benefit your well-being.
Why is self-care so important? Read More…
Get your butt into gear with Kinesiology!
… over the years I have worked with many people suffering with lower back and hip pain, frequently associated with weak gluteal (“butt”) muscles and tight or over-working hip flexors (the muscles that lift your thigh to move your leg forward).
This syndrome has been dubbed “dead butt syndrome” or gluteal amnesia by mainstream medicine and if these issues aren’t addressed, the chances of long-term relief from pain is unlikely.
Dead butt syndrome commonly occurs in people who sit for extended periods. The glutes aren’t designed to bear weight for long periods of time and blood flow is restricted when tissues are compressed in a seated position. The glute muscles then start to shut down or ‘fall asleep’ and lose the ability to work when needed.
These muscles should be incredibly powerful but when they aren’t working properly other smaller, weaker muscles are called on to do the job. This causes strain on those smaller muscles and associated joints.
The constant flexed position of sitting can also cause the muscles at the front of the hip to become tight. The glute muscles are then unable to move through a full range of motion, causing them to become weaker.
You may be surprised to know ‘dead butt syndrome’ is not exclusive to sedentary people. Read More…
Taking a break!
“Take your rest! You can’t go hard for the next set if you don’t take your rest!” This was the voice of the coach this morning at swimming training.
You see I am a slow swimmer and in a mistaken attempt to keep up with the group I was skipping the 10 second rest break and continuing to swim the next lap. After all 10 seconds isn’t going to make much difference right? Wrong! I discovered even a short rest meant I could swim harder and faster the next lap.
Every training program I have seen for triathlons, marathons etc, always have rest days as part of the schedule as well as rest breaks within the daily programs. This shows me that if endurance athletes, who are training to push themselves beyond normal limits, take rests, then the benefits of rest shouldn’t be underestimated.
One of the most common reasons people come to see me is because they are tired and burnt out. Frequently, these people have been pushing themselves to stay on top of their workload, whether it’s from their job or from personal or family demands. Read More…
The New Year is a great opportunity to set goals and achieve change. Whether it be to quit smoking, get fit, lose weight, write a novel, complete a degree or buy a house … success depends on our willingness to make change.
We might be willing to change on a conscious level but unwilling at a subconscious level, especially if the problem is a crutch we have come to rely on.
Once we are aware of and understand subconscious blocks, we can work on letting them go. It is difficult, but not impossible.
A while ago, I worked with a university student who came to see me when she was in the last semester of completing her degree. Previously she had been a diligent student but now found herself unmotivated, avoiding study, procrastinating about assignments and generally sabotaging her ability to complete her courses to graduate.
In her Kinesiology session we found that for the past few years her goal had been to complete her degree. When that goal was imminent, she began to sabotage her success because she feared life in the “real world” as a graduate. She subconsciously wanted to stay in the “safe world” of university. Read More…
Last week I received my favourite kind of bonus payment after an appointment – a hug from a very happy client.
I noticed she had difficulty sitting up from lying down. She told me that even though she regularly exercised to strengthen her abdominals she had very little success in even feeling them work. I asked her if she would like me to see if I could help.
After a few tests and corrective techniques she was able to sit up more easily, and could actually feel her muscles working. She will still need to exercise to develop strong abdominals, but it should be easier and more productive from now on.
Sturdy abdominal muscles are an important part of developing a “strong core” – the area of your body commonly referred to as your midsection or torso. A strong core involves all your muscles from the front, back and sides (plus more) to work together effectively to stabilize and support your entire body.
Would you like to have a flat belly? Do you suffer from back pain? Do you have poor posture? Have you tried abdominal strengthening exercises but can’t seem to get the muscles to work? Read More…
Stress seems to be one of the main causes of imbalances and dis-ease in your body and one of the most important things I address with you as a client is your stress levels. Trying to relieve pain, body imbalances or dis-ease without addressing stress is unlikely to be successful in the long term. In fact, I frequently find that, reducing and managing stress better, goes a long way in resolving the problem the client has presented with.
Kinesiology is based in the knowledge that your body is a self-healing, self-regulating, self-perpetuating (replacing its own tissues) organism. Essentially everything we need for survival apart from food, air and water is found within the body itself.
Sometimes your body loses the ability to efficiently perform these activities resulting in pain, illness, low energy etc. Kinesiology uses a variety of processes to help your body re-balance and re-connect with the ability to heal, regulate and perpetuate itself.
To achieve long term pain relief, several things need to be assessed and resolved. Because Kinesiology incorporates many techniques, it can be an effective and thorough therapy to help you find the relief you are looking for. Read More…
Rena muscle testing an arm muscle related to lung meridian
As a Kinesiologist I generally talk in terms of providing “balances” rather than “treatments” for clients
This is because the goal in a Kinesiology session is to restore your body’s natural balance so you can heal yourself rather than “treating” specific diseases. The focus is to concentrate on your health and how to maintain it, rather than on illness and how to cure it.
One of the first balances I learnt in my training was a 14 muscle balance. In this basic balance I do a series of specific muscle tests to find indications of imbalances in your body. Read More…
When the physical, bio-chemical and emotional sides of your life are working in harmony, balance is achieved. Kinesiology uses this “Triangle of Health” to provide equilibrium and complete bodily health.
Kinesiolgists use muscle testing to detect and correct imbalances related to stress, nutrition, learning problems, injuries and energy. By looking at the whole person and the way they function and interact with their environment – rather than focusing on symptoms or named diseases – Kinesiologists can determine how your health and well-being is affected by imbalance and make necessary corrections.
Let’s look at how imbalance can affect your health. Read More…
