Travelling Well
People ask me all sorts of versions of, “How do I keep my body A1 for my holiday?” I often have people asking me, “how do I prepare for this?” There’s the million dollar question. How do you dodge having body pains taking the shine off your adventure or limiting your ability to get out there and do those things you were eagerly anticipating?
Standing Desks
I wanted to remind you why I continue to advocate for standing desks in your workplace ~ both in the office and when you’re working from home. The essence of it is that you only have one body. One spine. You can work with it, or against it, but you will have to deal with the long-term outcome of your daily choices in terms of quality of days going forward. Here’s my argument for including a standing desk in your tool kit for living life well.
Time Sensitive
30 minutes doesn't sound like long, but in the context of our speedy nervous system, a lot can happen in this timeframe. Good and bad. Read on to find out more about stiffness, smudged brain maps, shrinking brains and centrally mediated protection systems ~ the time dependant pros and cons of neuroplasticity.
How Active Are You? ~ (c) 10,000 Steps
Walking is a great option as it’s free and you can do it when it suits you, but does it cut the mustard on reducing our all cause mortality? Can we use walking to raise the METs required to keep us healthy and strong for as long as possible?
How Active Are You? ~ (b) How Much Exercise is Enough?
How much exercise is enough to optimise the quality and quantity of our days? How much exercise do I need to do on a weekly basis to keep me healthy?
How Active Are You? ~ (a) Sedentary Behaviour
How active are you? How active should you be?I can hear you thinking, “How long is a piece of string?” or tallying your exercise regime and angling for a gold star for effort.Active and healthy…how do we quantify that? How much exercise (frequency), doing what (type) for how long (duration) to be healthy? What is the optimal equation?
To Stretch or Not to Stretch...?
"Stretching always helps me start my day in a good way." Nyjah Huston
Fascia, the bits in-between
Fascia is in fashion! Until relatively recently it's been tossed in the bin and considered inconsequential. As we discover more about fascia, and its role in the function (and dysfunction) of our bodies, we're learning what a vital tissue it is.
Getting up off the Floor Safely
It's a rude shock when you discover you can't get up off the ground.
Forward Head Posture
Carrying your head in front of your body, or forward head posture, definitely disrupts the biomechanics in your neck ~ to a greater degree than you'd probably imagine. The problems don't stop there though. New research indicates forward head posture also creates distorted feedback to the brain and, subsequently, less than ideal instructions from the brain back to the body.
The Intervertebral Disc
Many people come into our practice with back pain fearing that they have a problem with a disc, and in their heads this means they are suddenly on a very scary slippery slope towards spinal surgery and lifelong back issues. These days spinal surgery is less likely to be the solution, as research shows that outcomes are not great, but it is still a useful strategy in those few cases where conservative care has not borne fruit. As we’ve spoken about in previous blogs, knowledge and understanding about what is really happening in these people’s bodies is a vital step in the path back to good health and quality of life – so let’s talk about intervertebral discs (IVD).
Loving Your Curves (Scoliosis)
It’s true bodies come in all shapes and sizes. We also come with a myriad of different combinations of curves. Some are perfect and just as they should be. Some challenge us and our health. Some upset the apple cart entirely. It would be easy to assume I’m referring to body shape here, but I’m not. I’m talking about the curves in our spine.
You’ve got to Move It, Move It!
We are often admonished to “just get moving” because we have to “use it or lose it”, but why? Why is movement so vital to our health? There are many reasons…
Falling (Gravity and Other Myths)
Veteran acrobat Jascha Boyce stares fear in the face every time she trains and performs. If a routine goes wrong, Boyce knows she has to immediately get up and do it again.
How chiropractic care can help with stiffness
If we put aside some nasty kinds of arthritis and some sinister neurological dysfunctions, most of us would consider STIFFNESS to be a relatively innocuous symptom... just our body grumping at us a bit to get moving - fair enough given our increasingly sedentary lifestyle.