exercise

For thousands of years, people in the orient have been tapping acupuncture points to relieve headaches, improve their immune systems,and treat a variety of health complaints. In the past thirty years or so, several Western energy therapies have been developed, based on the acupuncture system. Many of these therapies also use tapping on the points for healing.

One of those methods, EFT, is great for dealing with post traumatic stress, allergies, phobias, and many stress related symptoms. You can learn the self-help basics of EFT here. If you are interested in EFT and find that you need more than self-help, contact me. I am happy to provide consultations, by phone or email. See my About page for my email address.

Beating Heaven’s Drum is a traditional technique for relieving headaches, dizziness, and waking up the brain. Cover your ears with your palms and tap the muscles at the base of the skull. Tap gently for about one minute.

Knocking at the Gate of Life is another traditional Chinese technique. The gate of life is the area where, according to Chinese Medicine, our basic vital energy is stored. Tapping the points associated with it helps to increase the flow of energy and gives a feeling of vitality. There are two points. The first one is about two inches below the navel and the other is on the spine, directly opposite the navel.
Stand with your feet a little wider than the width of your shoulders and place one fist just below the other and the other on your back opposite your navel. Then begin to turn your body, at the waist from side to side. As you turn, let your arms swing around. As you turn left your left hand should tap your back and your right hand should tap your belly. As you turn right your right hand should tap your back and your left hand should tap your belly. The arms should be very relaxed. Let the turning of the waist swing them around, without using any arm strength to tap your body. Do this exercise for a couple of minutes, every day.

Taping to boost the immune system. This is a modern technique, as far as I know. There are three points to tap. The first point is the last point on the Kidney channel. The Kidney channel is also associated with the Gate of Life. The point is just under the collar bone, in the depression just outside of where the collar bone meets the breast bone. The second point is on the breast bone, about two inches below the top. The thymus gland, an important immune system organ, is directly below this point. The last point is near the bottom of the rib cage. It is about level with the bottom of the little bone that sticks down from the bottom of the breast bone and about three inches from the midline. You will notice a little dip in the rib cage in that area. Tap between the ribs. These points stimulate the Spleen and the Liver, both of which influence the Immune system.

Tap each point, in order, about twelve times. The first and last points can be tapped on both sides at the same time. Breathe slowly and deeply while tapping the points. You can do this once or twice a day.

Well Spring has truely arrived, here in the Northwest. That means all of my spare time is spent out in the garden. So I’ll be slowing down a little on the posts, for a while.

Gardening is great exercise and organic, home grown food is the healthiest food. So stop looking at your computer and get out in your garden. Even if you live in an apartment you can plant salad greens in pots.

There are two aspects to maintaining a pain free experience while working at a computer all day; posture and functionality.

One way to look at the importance of posture is to think in terms of friction. If you have new shoes that rub your ankle, you will get a blister from the friction. The same sort of thing happens with carpal tunnel syndrome and other computer related pains. If you move your fingers while in a position that causes friction on your carpal tunnel, you will develop pain there. However, the source of the pain is not at the wrist. The position of the upper back, shoulders and arms determine the position of the wrist, and whether or not there is friction there.

Functionality refers to our ability to move our bodies appropriately. If you are sitting at a desk all day long, certain posture muscles grow weak and unable to do their job of maintaining your posture. Other muscles, not suited to the job, attempt to compensate. Two problems result from that. One is that the the muscles doing the work get overworked and sore. The other is that with the wrong muscles doing the job, the body’s structure gets pulled out of alignment. This can set up conditions for the kind of friction mentioned above, as well as creating a negative spiral of dysfunctionality.

So we need to both have “proper” posture at work and maintain functionality of our bodies. The former being largely dependent on the latter. Much of current ergonomics is designed to help with posture without taking function into consideration, which can lead to a worsening of the condition in the long run. The net effect of most ergonomic advice is that you move less. You need to move more.

Exercise programs like yoga and Pilates will work for most people to regain and maintain function. However, if you are already symptomatic, you probably need an exercise program tailored to your body. If you are in a small yoga class with a very good teacher, you may get the exercise you need. The best choice though, would be to have an exercise program tailor made for you by a postural alignment specialist, such as one trained in the Egoscue Method.

Although some of the following suggestions may be silly or ridiculous, they get you thinking about how you tend to move less and less in a modern work environment, and about how you can move more.

• Move the waste basket to a different spot every day (never within easy reach).

• Place the phone on the far side of your desk.

• If you are right handed, answer the phone with your left hand.

• Never use a telephone headset.

• When possible, take calls standing up.

• When put on hold, inhale and exhale deeply using your diaphragm for the duration of the wait.

• Make it a point to stand when a colleague enters your work area to conduct a conversation.

• Stand up at the end of each discrete task.

• Change the height of your chair every day.

• Change the style of your chair every week (and the less chair the better).

• Change your monitor position each morning and afternoon.

• Raise or lower your keyboard every day.

• Place working materials and references on the floor so that you must bend over to get them.

• Rearrange the furniture in your work area once a month.

• Place frequently used materials on the top shelf of a bookcase.

• Place frequently used materials on the bottom shelf of a bookcase.

• Use a restroom that is on a different floor or in an inconvenient place.

• Take a walk or get some other exercise for half of your lunch hour.

• When the boss isn’t looking, lean back and put your feet on your desk.

My last tip, today, is to read Pain Free at Your PC, by Pete Egoscue (which is where the above tips came from).

Available at Amazon.com

and Amazon.ca

Study shows why exercise boosts brainpower.

We have so many reasons to exercise. The latest is that it keeps our memory in good condition. Researchers have found that exercise improves blood flow to the part of the brain that is responsible for memory, and builds new brain cells there. The more you exercise the less likely you are to get dementia as you age.