Category: Health

Understanding human psychology and chronic pain - part 1

3/6/2018

To truly understand why someone has chronic pain and why they are not enjoying better health, and to help them achieve a pain free active life and enjoy peace of mind, we must understand their psychology along with their physiology. Only addressing someone's physiology and ignoring their psychology is often why people lose 30 pounds only to gain it back 6 months later, or go in and out of episodes of back pain, or have repeated surgeries for chronic pain.

One way to understand our own psychology is to look at why we do what we do. What are the driving forces behind the choices we make and how can we learn to make more positive choices?

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E-cise of the Month: Wall Drop

2/26/2018

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The Wall Drop is an Egoscue e-cise that uses a Slant Board to create bilaterally symmetrical ankle dorsiflexion which creates a chain reaction throughout the body to improve postural alignment.

How does the Wall Drop affect posture?
The Wall Drop takes advantage of gravity and uses the position your feet are in and the wall to cause reactions and postural changes throughout your body. When you position your feet hip width apart and straight you are creating symmetry and balance in your foot position and this will create a chain reaction up your legs, into your pelvis, up your spine, and affect every joint and muscle in your body.

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What is a successful exercise program?

1/9/2018

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In this blog post I'm going to talk about the components of the successful exercise program. When I talk about successful, I'm not talking about helping you lose 15 pounds over a month or two, or helping you drop 2 dress sizes, or getting you in shape for your wedding.

Successful to me is a lot less about short term visual goals and a lot more about long term health and wellness. If you're overweight, losing 15 pounds is great, but if you don't keep the weight off for good, it had little to no real benefit to your life.

Successful exercise programs help you:

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10 Things To Make This Your Best Year Yet

1/2/2018

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How can you make this your best year yet?

I have 10 things you can do that I believe will help you make this your best year yet.

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Happy New Year!

1/1/2018

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10 Things That Hijack Your Baby's Physical Development

12/12/2017

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Nature designed a beautiful and fool-proof way for newborn infants to develop into strong and capable children and then adults. A newborn human baby goes from completely helpless to walking in the first year of life because of this beautiful process. During the first year of life, this process involves 10 sequential yet overlapping phases of physical development which I discussed here. When this process happens as nature intended it, we get healthy, strong, and happy toddlers.

There are however 10 things that can hijack your baby's physical development which can mean your baby is not as healthy, happy, or strong as they could be. When this development is hijacked, your child might be more susceptible to injury, obesity, and chronic pain throughout life.

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Immobilization, braces, and body casts

12/7/2017

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With 206 bones, over 300 joints, and over 600 muscles, the human body is designed to move. Movement is what keeps our bones, joints, and muscles healthy. When a joint stops moving things start to break down and get weaker. Bones lose density. Muscles lose strength and size. Cartilage thins. Bad things happen.

Yes, there are times when immobilization is helpful and a good idea. If you break your arm it's a good idea to get a cast to protect your arm as it heals. If you severely sprain your ankle it can be helpful to wear an ankle brace for a week or two. But most immobilization we experience is not that type, but rather body casts that we don't even think about. Anything that limits joint movement is a body cast and will have negative effects on the body.

Here are examples of things that cast or hold the body in a certain position or limit movement:

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Move it or lose it!

12/6/2017

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Importance of the 10 Baby Physical Developmental Phases

11/30/2017

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You have a newborn baby and want more than anything that he/she grows up to be a healthy and happy child and then adult. In this blog I am going to explain the important phases of gross physical development that are the essential to developing a strong and capable body. Missing or skipping these developmental stages can mean less efficient movement patterns, being more injury prone, and being more likely to develop physical pain throughout life.

To fully develop their physical strength and function needed for life, your baby should go through and master each of theses phases: wiggle & kick; superman & swimming; rock & roll; army crawl; crawling; sitting up; squatting & standing; cruising; walking; running; and jumping.

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Key To Health: Community

11/20/2017

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As humans, there are certain things we need for survival (food, water, shelter) and there are other things we need to thrive and be healthy. One very important thing we all need if we are to maintain good health and be happy is community.

Community is a unified group of individuals, brought together by common location, history, characteristics, circumstance, interests, or goals.

Humans are social beings and we need to feel love and connection to other human beings. A community give us support, encouragement, love, and a sense of belonging. This gives us the very important messages that:

you are not alone
you belong
things will get better

Community is the antidote to isolation, loneliness, and low social status, all of which have been shown to lower a person's sense of well-bring, intellectual achievement, immune function, and overall health.