week 4

SIT DOWN STAND UP.
What is your position in life?

I'm going to copy and paste directly from Katy Bowmans blog Nutritious Movement (go there immediately after this and read EVERYTHING) for this weeks 'become an opportunistic mover' task because she says so brilliantly..

"So, we’ve got a situation where sitting constantly is creating disease and standing constantly is creating disease. Do you see the theme? Although the research and media are going to probably miss the boat on this one, the problem isn’t the sitting (or the standing, for that matter), but the constant and continuous use of a single position.

...As many anthropologists know, the way we move is mostly a result of our cultural inheritances and has very little to go with genetics. Clothing, terrain, temperature, gender, class, and fear are only a few of the many factors that affect how we adjust our joints when sitting and standing. Gordon W. Hewes reported on about 100 resting postures of the world, and I have posted this image from the study so you can see, perhaps, why our Western joint health and metabolism (which is dependent on muscle length) is the poorest in the world.

So, we need to think bigger. There is more than just sitting and standing. Create ten different options of each! If you have a standing work station, stand a few different ways every hour. When you sit, sit a few different ways every hour. Open your mind and open your joints! When you get home, stay out of your chairs and try out a lot of these Worldly Options. (Note: If you don’t have a spear, a broom may work…) Circle the ones you can’t maintain for longer than five minutes and make a note to practice that posture at the beginning and the end of an exercise session. And, parents, don’t insist that kids sit in the same fashion as us stiffer folks and allow them to explore other options. And, join them! They can teach you something about natural movement.

Also, if you do spend a yoga/stretching class cycling through10 or so of these postures, know that while this cycle is a good thing, getting back into the sitting position the other 6-10 hours of the day reduces your health just the same. Adjust the way you sit, as often as possible for a real, deep, and cellular change."

Bravo Katy. I concur!

week 3

Your eyes are full of language.

A little bit of eyeball movement for this week prompted by my joining Instagram. I don't need more excuses to stare at my various screens so I'm a little annoyed with myself...

Overtime I will be giving you a few simple exercises for your eyes, but for now lets keep it simple and ask yourself this; What was the last horizon you set your sights on?

The muscles in your eyes will change shape in response to focusing on what’s in front of them. A computer screen, for example, will prompt the reflexive behavior of the eye to hold the position of your lens. Now those lensballs were made for seeing near and far and if you don't use them you loose them so...

1. LOOK AWAY FROM YOUR SCREEN, I'm presuming so do forgive me if you are gazing at something else, to something as far of in the distance as you can as many times as you remember throughout the day.

2. If remembering is not your thing then add this nifty little programme, Time Out, to your computer to remind you to take eye breaks

3. Send me a picture of the next horizon you see.I like pictures.

With thanks Katy Bowman and Ruth White for enabling me to see a little better with all your advice.

week 2...

Since you already have you feet out...you do don't you? Then why not make them do a little extra work for the good of your legs, pelvis, spine, shoulder, brain and SOUL.

Please note, the following can be done at any time, in any place and as many times as you deem fit and you DO NOT have to consult your doctor before wriggling your toes, but you might want to show him or her what great feats of sole-fullness (get it? hehehe) your feet can accomplish next time you are in....

1. Roll through your ankle joins and feet and just generally explore the ranges you have.

2. Can you press the big toes down whilst lifting every other toe up? Try one foot at a time and then both together and notice any other parts of the body that try and get involved unnecessarily.

3. Can you lift the big toes up whilst pressing down every other toe?

4. Lace your fingers inbetween your toes and alternate between squeezing your fingers with your toes and your toes with your fingers. When you are done with this non-sense then see if you can take you toes off your fingers rather then just removing your hand.

5. Wrap a plastic band/hair tie or resistance band around your toes and see if you can spread your toes evenly. This is nice alternated with number 4.

6. See what you can pick up with your feet!

Inspiration taken from Jules Mitchell, Katy Bowman and Dr Andreo Spina.

 

EXIST

'There’s simply no greater feeling in the world, save perhaps for cold pillows and warm towels, than having nothing to do and nowhere to be — just a wonderfully itinerary-free day that starts without alarm clock and ends without threat of the next morning’s call time. That’s how I plan to start 2014: with no agenda...'

-- Amelia Diamond

I think this is true.

I have hard-work on the brain for this year, but mostly I'm just going to resolve to continue to EXIST. An awful lot of brilliant things fall under that category.

This Year.

Libra: This year’s going to be bright and fast and really great for you, full of friendship and good news and hard work. Feel this as the gift that it is and still, don’t forget to let yourself be dreamy. Make time to laze around alone, and to go on long rambling walks, and to sit under trees or swim in the ocean or let strange spinning thoughts grow inside you. Make time for beautiful things, make time for the weirdest parts of yourself. This year, spend time with babies or spend time with animals. This year, practice being very tender.

-- Madame Clairevoyant

I'm going to work hard to make this one come true.

Resolutions

Sod this, let's go for a wine

Author Emma Forrest calls for a 2013 free of pressure

The quest for perfect is over. Author Emma Forrest calls for a 2013 free of pressure, where real women reign…

One of my true heroes here in LA is Richard Simmons, who came to fame as an Eighties aerobics instructor but still teaches three times a week at his Beverly Hills gym. There is no other class in this city where people who are very elderly or overweight can exercise as part of a community, one where we have all signed up to have a 65-year-old Jewish man dressed in a kilt (or as Black Swan or Rainbow Brite) bark, as he blasts Gloria Gaynor: “You will NOT survive, I will follow you home!” I remember the first time I stirred his ire, with a half-hearted jumping jack: “Hell no!” he snapped, “I did not waste $40 of make-up for this shit!”

I mention Simmons to illustrate this point: at some pivotal moment in his life, Richard must have realised he was not like other people, that he was an eccentric and an outsider and that there are even doctors who might cast him on the spectrum of mental illness. Instead of trying to fix himself, he parlayed that madness into his fame and fortune and a life where he feels good and makes others feel good. New Year’s resolutions should always be avoided if you want to be your best self. They are like methadone – as damaging to the body and soul as the very thing you’re trying to quit.

click here to read on...