What you do between appointments matters. Especially if what you’re experiencing in your body has built up over many hours or days, weeks, months and even years. For maximum progress, at the end of the appointment I will demonstrate ways you can deepen and extend the work we do together on your own time based on your assessment and treatment outcomes.
Not all home care is equally effective or accessible, which is why I sought unique training in restorative movement that gives me the best results, and why I allow time to make sure you can do the movements safely.
Work with Gravity
- At rest to reduce damage – sleep and resting positions can be either beneficial, neutral, or damaging. We can evaluate your rest environment for possible risks and advantages to your body over time. Use bolsters made out of folded blankets/towels and other common household items and inexpensive tools to make resting positions more beneficial.
- In movement – when we position our body so that bones bear our weight instead of our muscles, we conserve energy and reduce wear and tear. We can often trace discomfort back to habitual misalignments and repetitive strain in the absence of a distinct injury.
We are ultimately either working with gravity, or it is working against us. Time will tell, but why wait when we can improve our relationship with gravity in every moment by how we chose to occupy space with and inside of our bodies.
I’m only chipping the iceberg on our relationship with gravity and it’s already given me more energy and strength.
Technical term: ground force reaction
Concept: our joints can oppose the pull of gravity and benefit from it
Method Summary: press into the earth; plant yourself; ground yourself.
(there are umpteen different ways that are beneficial; anything but slowly falling onto the earth)
Restorative Movements
These address most common tissue issues faced by modern humans
Forward pelvic thrust
This challenges our habit of ‘anterior pelvic tilt’ by pointing the tail bone down and even forward
-if pelvis were a bowl, spill water out the back vs habitual front pouring
-when leaning back against the wall, try to flatten the arch of the back and peel the tailbone and subsequent vertebra away from the wall
-press into the feet and engage the abdominal muscles while standing
Wall angels
-like a snow angel, but on the wall
-press low back, back of skull (chin down), and back of arms including wrists into the wall
-feet hip width apart, toes parallel. can be against the wall or a step away
-slowly press equally into wall and slide arms upward and then back down again
-slower is better
-if arm elevation is uncomfortable, they could be in an “A” shape pointing diagonally toward the floor instead
-palms facing up (as though to feel rainfall) can be benefical
-this engages the posterior chain/extension with resistance to balance our flexion dominance
Single straight-leg standing (deep stabilization)
-aka pressing into the ground, planting, grounding, triggering ground force reaction
-stand high up on one leg (become as tall as possible on one leg; the other may assist with floor contact)
-un-arch the back/point tail bone forward
-spread and relax toes
-lift toes (keep balls of foot and heel down) to intensify the effect
-demonstration – https://youtube.com/shorts/
-variation with rotation for more dynamic stabilization – https://youtube.com/shorts/
-this is not the same as balancing on one leg, which can bypass some of this finer deep stabilization
-press the head upward as though balancing a heavy box on it (eyes level, chin tucked, back of neck long)
Dynamic Kicking
-elevate one leg eg stair, couch seat, bench, couch arm
-standing leg can do a slow squat by ending all joints (ankle, knee, hip) while the elevated leg can get a stretch with the resistance of the elevation surface
-or stand tall on the standing leg and let the elevated leg push off the surface too (engaging as though about to jump)
-variation – rotate toward/away from the point of elevation (eg lifted leg could be pointing toward back, side, front, or anywhere between) and then sink or push as in previous points
Foot placement when standing
-prefer parallel or slightly turned in to turned out as the latter puts the outer leg and foot arches at a disadvantage as well as restricting the sacral area
-spread and relax toes
-lift toes to increase foot arch activation/height
-do the feet contact the floor/earth evenly? if not, how is the contact different between feet?
-explore increasing contact in forefoot/heel; inner arch/outer arch; left foot/right foot.
Self massage of feet with small bouncy ball
-place one foot ahead of the other and place the ball under the arch of the front foot
-gently rock onto the ball within your comfort zone and then rock off
-this should look and feel like slow, careful walking
-deep, slow breathing with eyes straight ahead helps the body to adapt without tensing
-this mimics walking on tree roots and stones to stimulate the whole body with gravity through diverse terrain
-place ball on a thick rug folded blanket/towel if it feels uncomfortable
-rolling on the ball does not help nearly as much as dropping body weight onto it.
-discomfort is a good sign that this is needed, and to go more slowly and gently
-use and store the ball in a long sock or stocking to reduce hazards of it rolling away (easily lost or risk of tripping on it)
-based on evidence (see Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman)
–Barefoot Science insoles partially simulate the experience of walking on diverse, natural terrain with a prominence in the arch of the foot. It’s like getting a foot massage in every step. The firmness/density can be changed as you get used to it. These got me walking again when I first succumbed to plantar fasciitis. I’m fond of the full version unless trying to fit shoes that are on the tighter side.
Straight-leg Walking
Also known as pelvic list, removing knees from the walking equation lets ankles, toes/forefoot, and hips shine in propulsion and muscle balance
-walk using only ankles/forefeet and make toe-off/end of stride as slow and complete as possible
-walk using only hips
-knees are gently locked in both cases
-both hips and ankles/forefeet can work together without knees and potentially go unnoticed
-this adds power especially uphills
Rolling wall plank
This is not at all intuitive but helps many people with ‘protracted shoulders’ and ‘winging scapulae’ immediately
-place foam roller on wall and roll slowly up from elbows to wrists with hands in chopping position (pinky side on roller). keep body in plank (unarch back). pause at top and lean into wall. alternatively replace foam roller with towel and slide up and down the wall on forearms.
-demonstration – https://youtu.be/FwbDqzDhahA
-more background and variations on how to address the same set of symptoms – https://theprehabguys.com/
-also helps to rotating palms outward so arms are straight out like a scarecrow or bent in a W shape (this is supination to balance our pronation dominance)
-engaging feet and legs as described makes a big difference here – this is not just an upper body task
Single arm sideways hanging
this is to be submaximal force while haging from overhead bar or window/door frame
-keep weight bearing pain free
-aim to have arm perpendicular to spine and shoulder socket facing the bar/hanging point
-use legs to control/reduce amount of weight
-rotate gently to balance tissues
-compare left and right sides
-this is different from hanging from both arms or doing chinups
Self Massage of Neck with a Stick
-stand with feet and legs helping the neck to release the weight of the head upright (vs bent forward)
-hands should be fairly relaxed while guiding the stick behind the head
-rock, roll, or even drag the stick along your neck anywhere but right on the spine
-reach the side of the neck or jaw by guiding one hand and stick end all the way behind the head while the other hand and stick end come forward
-works with bamboo, drumsticks, some rolling pins, wooden spoon handles, and more
-demonstration here https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpWvhbKjqH2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Engage abdominal muscles in any plane whenever you want more power or stability
This reduces lumbar spine compression, lets back muscles relax, helps feet and legs and neck. Doing a few ab exercises does not replace ab engagement throughout day-to-day life. Core strengthening can also be done by pressing into the floor, but this can be experienced as abdominal strength or pelvic stability. Standing high up on one leg can also help with ab/core strengthening.
Deep, Slow Nasal Breathing
Some amount of neck and shoulder tension can come from a habit of shallow or mouth breathing or both because these make less use of the powerful diaphragm and more use of the muscles around the upper ribs and lower neck. It also makes less rib movement, which makes less shoulder blade movement on the rib cage. Sometimes when I’m having difficulty mobilizing shoulders or collar bones, I ask the client to take a deep, slow breath through the nose allowing the rib cage to expand in all directions, and it makes a huge difference. Can’t hurt to try! And if nasal breathing is very difficult due to congestion or other obstructions, it can still be useful to try as this strengthens the area and can improve functioning over time.