MORNING MOVEMENT
Written by Daniel Shaw (Myotherapy / Remedial Massage)
Morning movement is part one of a three-part series to open your life. The aim of this series is to help you feel happier and healthier than ever in your own body and in your life.
Being sedentary for most of a day can have numerous effects on the body and can have cardiovascular and immunity consequences. The body needs movement to assist in breaking down and absorbing nutrients, to facilitate activation of the lymphatic system and to ensure that muscles aren’t restricted. In extended or extreme situations this can develop into underuse conditions such as “frozen shoulder”, fluid retention and more.
But don’t worry, there is always hope! The simplest thing to do is to add some more movement to your day!
Move your neck…… Can your chin touch your chest? Side to side, over your shoulder, up to the sky! “Look” at all the possibilities!
If you feel a stretch or some resistance, this is your body’s way of letting you know something is a little tighter that it wants to be. Pause for a moment. Holding the stretch for 15 seconds is usually enough to elicit a response in the muscles. Do you feel pain? If you feel pain in movement remind yourself that it isn’t something you have to put up with, don’t push through the pain, notice where it is and back off from the movement. From there, go and say hi to your local practitioners! They will be able to help you figure out why you are getting pain and work with you to minimise it and ensure happy and health movements.
Now let’s play with your arms! Swing them around a little, slow movements to start. Can you reach above your head? How about the old disco finger popularised by John Travolta?
Next, your back and spine…. Slow movements now, try to lean forwards and touch your toes. Side to side. How about twisting?
The hardest part about starting your movement journey is TIME. Many people know that they should move, try to walk more, do that extra work or head to the gym when they have … time.
Many people I have talked to don’t feel like they can stop for 15 minutes to do a workout routine and get the body moving. So how do we fit movement into our crazy lives and busy schedules?
One fantastic way to get on top of it would be James Clear’s methods in the book ‘Atomic Habits’ which explains how to set up a healthy habit to move and find the best options for you in your everyday life ie. do a few squats & lunges in the kitchen while waiting for the kettle to boil. We can dive deeper into habits another day as one can go on and on discovering this topic.
Don’t be distracted by broad spectrum promises that pop up on your social media, as if they know who you are or how you live your life - “50 ways to get to your goal”, “this will get you shredded in 30 days”, “what YOU need to do to get healthy” etc. Everyone’s lives are different, so how can we expect one set of exercises or nutrition facts to be cookie cutter and perfect for everyone?
Practitioners can explain movements. They can help create relevant and unique set of movements just for you, to assist your unique set of symptoms. You don’t need to fork out hundreds and thousands of dollars to know more about your body and try to figure it out for yourself. Ask your local practitioners for targeted information for your life, experience, and situation.
Our recommendations would be a food expert (most common would be a nutritionist) for what your body needs to sustain itself, a muscle and nerve expert (a Myotherapist, Physiotherapist, Osteopath etc.) in order to know what you are feeling in your body, a brain expert (Psychologist or Psychiatrist) to understand your emotional health, how you think and how to best implement new things in your life. And lastly an overall body function and holistic specialist such as an Acupuncturist to double check that everything else is in order.
If you would like to book a Myotherapy or Remedial Massage appointment with Daniel you can call the clinic on (03) 5429 3610 or book online by clicking the link below.