Take a break every 20 minutes. During one of your breaks try the following:

• Sit at the front of the chair with your feet firmly on the floor and about shoulder width apart.
• Bring your arms up to the sides, parallel to the floor, at shoulder height. Make loose fists.
• Rotate your arms down so that your thumb moves toward the floor. Try not to drop your arms and keep them at shoulder height. Feel your shoulder blades rounding forward.
• As you rotate your arms, look to the floor, feel your chin coming closer to your chest and gently exhale. As your head drops, imagine your neck getting longer.
• What do you feel happening in your chest around your breastbone? Do you sense any weight shifting on your sitting bones – e.g. does your pelvis move forward or back a bit?
• Return to the upright position and repeat a few times.
• Pause for a few moments with your arms resting on your lap.
• Bring your arms to shoulder height again and make loose fists.
• Rotate your arms the other way – so that your palm begins to turn toward the ceiling. Feel your shoulders rotating back, toward your spine. Inhale and look upward as you rotate your arms up. Again notice the response in your pelvis, sitting bones and back.
• Stop after a few rotations.
• Pause and then combine the two movements.
• Drop your arms and rest for a few moments before getting up and taking a brief walk before resuming your work.

Fall Awareness Through Movement® classes begin next week, September 14. Call (604.729.0060) or contact us for more information or to register.

• The adage that less is more certainly holds. Don’t carry more than 10-15% of your body weight.
• Fitting is important to ensure that the shoulders are not rounded causing the spine to lean in one direction rather than keeping its organic position
• See the attached article with accompanying links for tips on what to pack and how to carry a pack.

Watch for our September newsletter this week with lots of information on Fall #Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® classes and special workshops, starting September 14.

Call or email us today to book your private session.

Try the following to gently lengthen the hamstrings:

• Stand on the floor, feel the weight into your legs. Walk around a little.
• Sit on the floor or your bed, your legs long.
• Place your hands on either side of your left leg, at the top of your pelvis. Your right hand will be on the inside of your leg, the left hand on the outside.
• Gently stroke your left leg with both hands, starting at the top of your pelvis. Feel that you are lengthening your leg down toward your feet.
• Feel your head and back bend as your reach down your leg. Exhale as you move your hands down your leg. Notice what happens behind each knee as you move down your leg.
• When you reach down as far as you can, lift your hands and come back to the upright sitting position.
• Repeat several times, breathing easily and gently. Feel that you are giving your leg a massage.
• Pause and compare the feeling in each leg and how they rest on the floor or bed.
• Gently stand up and notice the feeling in each leg and foot. Slowly walk around. Does one leg feel stronger, more supportive? Does one foot strike the ground differently than the other?
• Repeat with the right leg.

In the following we explore movements of the ankles to help with balancing over the feet.

• Stand behind a chair, holding onto the back of the chair for support (don’t stand too close to the chair).
• Bring the feet together. Shift your weight a little to the left and right by tilting your whole body. Feel your body moving right and left as a unit. Sense the weight shifting to the outside edge of the left foot when shifting left. As you shift to the right feel the weight moving through the whole foot to the outside edge of the right foot.
• Move slowly and easily right and left. Relax your jaw and breathe easily.
• Rest in standing or walk around.
• Return to the chair with your feet together. Now tilt a little forward and back. Pay attention to the movement in the ankles and feel the pressure change from the heels through the middle of the foot to the balls of the feet.
• After a few movements begin to reduce the amplitude of the movement until you stop and sense that you have good support under your feet.
• Gradually remove your hands from the chair back and stand for a couple of moments and then walk around. Notice the sensations under your feet, the movement in your ankles and how you feel when walking.

There is evidence for the effectiveness of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes in improving balance and balance confidence. Anyone can benefit from maintaining good balance.
Try a class before the summer is over; there are two more weeks of summer classes. Click here to view our schedule. Fall classes begin on Sept 14.

Try the following to gently release neck tension:

• Lie on your back, on the floor, on a firm surface or on a bed.
• Bend both knees and place your feet on the floor, hip width apart.
• Slowly roll your head a tiny bit right and then back to centre and then to the left. Try to pay attention to the feeling in your neck as you roll in each direction. Only go as far as it is a perfectly smooth movement.
• Lengthen your right arm overhead and if possible bend the elbow so that you can hold the left temple or left ear.
• Use your right arm to help bring your head and shoulders to the right. Move the head and shoulders in the same plane so that the back of the head slides to the right and does not roll. Your face stays oriented toward the ceiling
• Return to the centre, still keeping the same orientation of the face. Pause before repeating the movement a few times
• As you move your head and upper body to the right, think about lengthening and loosening the muscles on the left side of your neck.
• Make the movement of your head and shoulder to the right a small one and don’t make a large effort. Do your upper back and chest arch off the floor or bed as your make the movement, which indicates tension and holding in these areas? Try to let go and breathe gently and see if the back sinks more into the surface.
• As you inhale feel air moving into the ribs on the left side and feel them open.
• Pause for a few moments. Then gently roll your head right and left and notice any difference from earlier.
• When you are ready repeat the movement to the other side – place your left arm on the right ear and gently move your head to the left while keeping your face oriented toward the ceiling. Repeat a few times.
• Take a few moments to rest quietly before getting up. Or you can do this in bed before going to sleep. Sleep well.

#Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes continue through August 25. Drop in and join us anytime. Click here to view our summer schedule.

• Protect your back by changing positions, and activities, at least every 10 minutes. For example, kneel, sit, stand, and bend over; prune, dig and plant.
• Stand up every few minutes to take a break.
• In standing, gently bend your knees a little and feel your pelvis tuck downward. Gradually allow your knees to bend a bit deeper.
• Stay in this bent position and breathe gently, feeling your ribs expand out to the sides.
• Let your shoulders drop, your arms hang down and your neck lengthen.
• After a few moments, gradually straighten your knees without locking them.
• Walk around for a few moments before resuming gardening.

Try something as simple as walking:

• Walk for a few minutes, outdoors if possible, at your normal pace.
• Continue walking but now hold your breath. Does your pace change? Does your lower back start to tense? Do you feel other areas of discomfort?
• Continue walking but consciously breathe gently, paying attention to expand your ribs out to the sides. Notice if you feel any difference in how your walk and in how your body feels.
• Try the same explorations while walking up stairs.

If you remember to breathe, your summer walks will be more pleasurable and you might be able to walk more.

Does this picture resonate with you? Do your shoulders and neck hurt if you work at the computer for more than a few minutes?

We can get so focused on the screen and on what we are doing that we don’t realize that our head starts to assume a “turtle neck” position, evoking the image of a shortened turtle’s neck protruding from its shell. This position, especially if prolonged, can contribute to neck and shoulder tension.

The following can help you sit with more support and thus help to organize your head and neck more comfortably:

• Sit in the front of your chair with your feet firmly on the floor. Ideally your knees are slightly lower than your hip joints.
• Close your eyes. Gently roll forward and back on your pelvis until you can feel you are sitting right on top of your sitting bones.
• As you move forward and back how does the shape of your spine change? How do your head and neck respond?
• As you come firmly onto your sitting bones, the weight going into the sitting bones will help your spine lengthen upward and your head to find its optimum place on top of the spine, allowing the neck to attain its natural length. This is because as weight goes down into the pelvis and sitting bones, an equal and opposite weight moves up allowing the spine to lengthen and head to assume a more natural position.
• When you are sitting comfortably, notice where your face is oriented and whether your chin tilts downward slightly. This also helps the neck to lengthen.
• Turn your head a little to each side and notice the freedom of movement in the head and neck.

Do you want to learn more about safer, more comfortable computing? Join us at our next workshop, Safer Computing, this Sunday June 27, 10 am – 1pm.

We will explore the conditions for health and easy movement in the shoulders, neck, arms and hands while working at the computer. For details and to register click here.