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Releasing Neck Pain In Tuesday night's yoga class we did a fun experiment with spinal release and Chin Lock (a position which allows you to measure range of motion in your neck). Every student in the class doubled their range of motion in their neck, after only 3 poses! One student who had a lot of neck pain experienced a huge decrease in pain. What was so interesting is that we didn't do any poses directly for their necks. We did poses to release muscle tension in their lower spines. How do your tailbone and sacrum relate to neck pain? Issues at the top of your spine (your neck and shoulders) relate down to the base of your spine (your tailbone and sacrum). Tight muscles surrounding your spine and extending through your pelvis and hips pull on your spine. These muscles are holding on like there is no tomorrow. It's as if you did a chin-up, and never came out. After a while, your arms would get really tired, wouldn't they? They'd probably hurt too. And then eventually, you wouldn't be able to feel your arms - they'd go numb. This happens with your spinal muscles too. Imagine an eternal chin-up - this is essentially what your lower spine is doing. The muscles in your low back are holding on constantly, especially for people who suffer from neck pain, back pain, vertebral issues or knee misalignments. Even many digestive problems and constipation stem from spinal tension and misalignment. These spinal muscles have been holding on so tight for so long, that you can't actually feel most of them, or purposely release them. As you may be able to imagine, this steals a lot of your energy, because these muscles are always working and using energy that you would otherwise have available to you. Experiment: Without touching your back, can you move your tailbone (coccyx)? Can you even feel your tailbone? If you said no to either, you have some tight, numb spinal muscles. They pull your tailbone so that it tucks under (like a dog tucking her tail), and that pulls the rest of your spine out of alignment - it's similar to a domino effect. This pull on your spine causes the vertebrae in your spine to compress and jam closer together. For some people, this leads to herniated discs - the substantial compression in your spine puts pressure on your vertebrae, and in the case of a herniated disc, that pressure begins to 'squish' the disc. Happily, because of the way the Core Release yoga I offer unravels spinal compression, it easily and reliably heals herniated discs (check out the story at the end of this article). The domino effect happens in reverse through the 'spinal release' poses we do in my classes and 1-on-1 sessions: when you release the muscle tension in your lower spine, your tailbone un-tucks, your spine de-compresses and gets longer so there is more space between your vertebrae, and your spine and body settle into a more healthy alignment. Your neck gets improved range of motion and pain relief! Incidentally, decompressing your spine also improves your posture; you will automatically stand straighter and sit more upright, without even trying. Want to try it yourself? Contact me to see if a Core Release yoga class is right for you. Herniated Disc Story "I have suffered for years from a cervical herniated disc...basically bone on bone. I had diminished movement abilities and debilitating pain...I did physical therapy, chiropractic care, two rounds of cervical steroid injections, ate 800 mgs of ibuprofen + advil pm every night just to sleep (not to mention various muscle relaxers, etc. the doctor put me on). Nothing really helped. "...Last spring I discovered Core Release yoga...I had previously done Iyengar, Body Flow, etc. but none of the other styles really did much for me. I liked Core Release yoga initially because it was easy and I loved the Shavasana! But after about 8 weeks of only going once a week (and no home practice) I realized that I was no longer hurting all the time. My mind was calm and I felt much less stressed. I eliminated my chiropractor and was able to eliminate all the meds I was taking. People were asking me 'What are you doing? You look so fresh and calm!' "At 52, I knew I had found something that was truly do-able and affordable for all of us baby boomers!" - Kerry P. BodyTalk Access is the self-care portion of the BodyTalk system. I have found, personally and through observing the results my clients get, that these techniques are powerful tools for increasing general health and well-being. The Cortices balancing in particular, one of the 5 BodyTalk Access techniques which you can learn through this video or in a 1-on-1 session with me, is a powerful brain balancing tool. It can be helpful for relaxation, focus, helping your body cope with an emergency (like bee stings, cuts, shock, falling...), headaches, and more. BodyTalk Access is revolutionizing healthcare in areas of the world where people do not have access to healthcare. It enables families to take care of their own health maintenance, as well as many healthcare needs. I would like to share BodyTalk Access around the world, as many BodyTalk Access teachers are already doing - it has now been taught in 47 countries! One such teacher, Britt Jorgensen, recently wrote about her experience teaching Access in Rwanda. It's a beautiful article, which you can read here. One of my long-time fantasies is to be a wildlife photographer. And I have a long-time love for and fascination with elephants. I hope you enjoy photographer Peter Delaney's account of this photo as much as I did. Along my way to this photo, I learned about Etosha National Park in Namibia, Africa. This park covers 22,270 square km. 114 mammal species, 340 bird species, 110 reptile species, 16 amphibian species, and 1 fish species live there. I now have a new fantasy to some day visit there in person! If you'd like to learn more, you can find a plethora of photos and information online. In the last couple Inspire Notes, I've shared with you two of my nature meditations - the Nature and Earth Meditations. Have you had a chance to explore these yet? I'd love to hear what you've been observing in your practice. What I have found is that when I connect with the expansiveness of the natural world, I connect more deeply with my own inner expansiveness. Nature can be a vehicle to become more grounded, more connected to Life, and more present. Yoga philosophy teaches that we each have within us the expansiveness of the Universe. Within you is that infinite diversity and depth. And the more you consciously and actively connect with this awareness, the more you can live in it, in your full empowerment as a conscious being in this life. You become lit up from within. I have found many tools that help me find this connection, and they each have their own unique qualities.
And being in nature, for me, is an honoring of and relationship with Life - my own life, the life all around me, and the creation of life - that spark that precedes the light. As I connect more with that pulse of life I feel in nature, I connect more deeply with life pulsing through me, and also the heartbeat of Life - which moves through everything everywhere. People call this pulse of Life, this indescribable quality of aliveness, many names - Consciousness, Universal energy, Source, God, Shiva/Shakti, and more. When you are connected with this pulse of Life, you move within vitality; you heal, you have more energy, and you develop a special radiance. People are more drawn to you. Every practice and therapy I offer is for the purpose of helping you reach this multi-dimensional vibrancy. Healing occurs as a result of removing the obstacles to this natural connection within you. This is an expanded life. I love this program! This 5 minute video is sure to bring a smile to your heart. To find out more about Tower Gardens, visit my website: www.rabbitsdance.towergarden.com. Some day, I'd like to bring Tower Gardens to schools and give more kids the opportunity to experience growing food as part of their education. If you're interested in cultivating a Tower Garden program near you, let me know! Last year I discovered a whole new sustainable (and unique) way to grow vegetables, which I highly recommend to you! Sustainable how? Let me count the ways:
Additionally, veggies grown in Tower Gardens are nutrient dense - this means they have a very high level of nutrients, higher than most produce you can grow or buy. Did you know?:
Make your gardening experience easier and more fun! ✰Contact me to purchase your own Tower Garden. Learn how Tower Gardens are used at The Greenhouse in Orlando. |
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