Part 2: The Mind, Body and Energy Link
contributed by Nancy Nesyto-Freske, RYT
I hope I have you thinking about the possibility of a life of graceful and easeful movement. A life where not only your Yoga class is way more enjoyable and effortless, but all of your activities are that way as well. There may even be a shift in your belief in who you are and what you can accomplish!
Take for instance the person with the rounded shoulders and depressed chest. This is an easily recognizable posture in many older people, but take a look at young people, especially young women. Office workers, those who are on a computer for many hours per day are developing this posture. People of all ages who spend a lot of time on their electronic devices, head dropped forward looking at the screen, holding the device in their hands. There is so much stress put on muscles just to hold that position, and we do it for hours every day.
Here again, the brain likes efficiency, so now this becomes habitual. We stay in this “shape” even when we’re doing something else. This posture causes a contraction in the belly muscle, called the rectus abdominus. This is a huge muscle that expands from the mid-chest to the pubic bone! It is powerful as well. This muscle is the one that we notice in people who work that area strongly – 6 pack abs. Well, consider if this muscle is chronically pulled down. The chest becomes depressed, the pubic bone pulls up and our breathing is affected (among many other things). So, if our breathing is affected, it affects our brain because our brain relies so heavily on oxygen! Our brain uses at least 25% of the oxygen intake of our entire body! How can one not help feeling depressed if they are being pulled forward in a constant state of contraction?
The next thing that happens is our head gets pulled forward because our eyes must focus on the horizon, not the floor. So our neck, upper back and upper chest muscles become affected – either chronically tight or continually pulled on. Now all sorts of compensations happen, our muscles are in a constant state of working, there is no ease.
We start getting more frequent tension headaches. Our necks and shoulder ache. The spine becomes mis-aligned. Our energy is low and so are our spirits. We may not feel as optimistic as we once did, or we perhaps believe less in our abilities to accomplish something. It truly is amazing the spiraling effect that happens when our posture has shifted into this depressed posture.
Again, forcing ourselves upright, holding our shoulders back won’t change anything. In fact, it may even start causing co-contractions and more problems if these become habituated.
What will make the changes permanent are certain slow, thoughtful movements that allows the brain to start a different means of communication that what is now routine. The key here is that the cortex, the learning part of the brain, must be involved for change to happen.
Stay posted to learn more about making these changes...
This blog series, The Myth of Aging and Somatic Yoga Therapy, is contributed by Nancy Nesyto-Freske, RYT.
Nancy is a Certified Yoga Instructor and Certified Yoga Therapist and a
member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She earned
her 200 hour certification with Moksha Yoga in Chicago, and was
certified as a Yoga Therapist through Functional Synergy, Calgary, AB,
Canada, by Susi Hately, in 2012. She is currently studying with Steven
Aronstein at the Somatics Systems Institute in Northampton, MA.
Nancy became passionate about helping people continue to enjoy the vitality they experienced when they were younger, so they could enjoy their active lifestyle, now and long into their retirement. She feels there is no reason we have to settle for less!
contributed by Nancy Nesyto-Freske, RYT
I hope I have you thinking about the possibility of a life of graceful and easeful movement. A life where not only your Yoga class is way more enjoyable and effortless, but all of your activities are that way as well. There may even be a shift in your belief in who you are and what you can accomplish!
Take for instance the person with the rounded shoulders and depressed chest. This is an easily recognizable posture in many older people, but take a look at young people, especially young women. Office workers, those who are on a computer for many hours per day are developing this posture. People of all ages who spend a lot of time on their electronic devices, head dropped forward looking at the screen, holding the device in their hands. There is so much stress put on muscles just to hold that position, and we do it for hours every day.
Here again, the brain likes efficiency, so now this becomes habitual. We stay in this “shape” even when we’re doing something else. This posture causes a contraction in the belly muscle, called the rectus abdominus. This is a huge muscle that expands from the mid-chest to the pubic bone! It is powerful as well. This muscle is the one that we notice in people who work that area strongly – 6 pack abs. Well, consider if this muscle is chronically pulled down. The chest becomes depressed, the pubic bone pulls up and our breathing is affected (among many other things). So, if our breathing is affected, it affects our brain because our brain relies so heavily on oxygen! Our brain uses at least 25% of the oxygen intake of our entire body! How can one not help feeling depressed if they are being pulled forward in a constant state of contraction?
The next thing that happens is our head gets pulled forward because our eyes must focus on the horizon, not the floor. So our neck, upper back and upper chest muscles become affected – either chronically tight or continually pulled on. Now all sorts of compensations happen, our muscles are in a constant state of working, there is no ease.
We start getting more frequent tension headaches. Our necks and shoulder ache. The spine becomes mis-aligned. Our energy is low and so are our spirits. We may not feel as optimistic as we once did, or we perhaps believe less in our abilities to accomplish something. It truly is amazing the spiraling effect that happens when our posture has shifted into this depressed posture.
Again, forcing ourselves upright, holding our shoulders back won’t change anything. In fact, it may even start causing co-contractions and more problems if these become habituated.
What will make the changes permanent are certain slow, thoughtful movements that allows the brain to start a different means of communication that what is now routine. The key here is that the cortex, the learning part of the brain, must be involved for change to happen.
Stay posted to learn more about making these changes...
Nancy became passionate about helping people continue to enjoy the vitality they experienced when they were younger, so they could enjoy their active lifestyle, now and long into their retirement. She feels there is no reason we have to settle for less!
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