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    • Pain Science
    • Pilates-based rehabilitation
    • PRRT™
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    • Spine Rehabilitation
    • Sports Rehabilitation
  • Programs
    • Bike fitting
    • Dance Medicine
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10/21/2019 0 Comments

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO BREATHING EXERCISES - REDUCING STRESS AND PROMOTING SELF-HEALING

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Breathing exercises are powerful tools that are often ignored. Our ability to control our breath and actively alter our breathing patterns can give us a greater control of our stress response, anxiety, and promote our body's natural self-healing abilities. Below are four breathing exercises to help get you started. 
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Belly Breath 
  • Put one hand on your belly and one hand near your collar bones, open your mouth, close your eyes and take a couple of breaths, notice which hand moves Is your top hand moving up and down slightly or is your bottom hand moving out? Is one moving more than the other or a combination of both?
  • Change your breathing so your upper chest doesn’t move and try it the other way to feel the contrast. 
  • Get a stitch when you're breathing? That’s OK! 
  • Practice in front of a mirror with visual cues of the belly moving if you are having a hard time finding your belly. 
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Diaphragm Extensions 
  • Lie on your back and place a stack of books or weight right above your belly button. 
  • Take a belly breath and try and make the books raise as you inhale. 
  • As you exhale, slowly lower the weight back down and see how far you can let the weight sink down. (20 reps) Try the following progressions. 
    • Exhale progression: See how far you can narrow your waist. 
    • Don’t brace your body. (No hands!)
    • Add a kegel with exhale.
  • Graduate to a kettlebell! Hold with one hand and move to different parts of your tummy. (20 reps)
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 Rock and Roll Breathing 

  • Sit on a chair or cross legged on the floor. On the inhale, expand your belly as you lean forward. 
  • On the exhale, lean back as if you are slumping on the couch and contract your abs to push the air out, hollowing out your belly. Repeat this 10 -15 times. 
    • Note: This is the exaggerated version that will be more subtle with normal breathing.
  • Moving the hips helps coordinate the breath with lower body movement and gives you some good spine movement.
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Cat and Cow 
  • Start on your knees. 'cat in a hissing posture' 
  • Head up like you are mooing. (Be the cow!)
  • Exhale audibly and arch up blowing air out toward belly button.
  • On the inhale drop your body, relaxing your belly toward the floor.
  • Do this for 10 reps.​ 
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10/14/2019 0 Comments

BASIC ERGONOMICS FOR THE OFFICE

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WHAT AND WHY?
Ergonomics simply means arranging your environment to fit your needs, NOT arranging your body to fit your environment. It's important to prevent injury or promote healing if we've been injured. Too often we don't change our environment until we're already hurting. 

Three factors are considered with an ergonomic assessment: 
- POSTURE: aiming for neutral. 
- FORCE: level of force our body can tolerate is relative to the strength and condition on our tissues (i.e. muscles, joints).
- REPETITION: this can be repeated movement or sustained position, but our tissues need breaks. Breaks can be changing a task so we are putting different stress on our body, it can be taking a quick stroll around the office after sitting for 30 minutes. 

WHAT IS NEUTRAL?
Neutral simply means that our joint(s) are in a position where there is the least amount of stress on our tissues on every side of the joint. Examples are:
i. The wrist is in a natural line from the forearm. 
ii. The shoulders are not shrugged up to the ears.
iii. The neck isn't turned one direction to look at the keyboard.
iv. The natural curves in our spine are maintained. 
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BENEFITS OF NEUTRAL POSTURE
i. Provides the greatest strength and stability.
ii. Places the least stress on muscles, tendon, joints, etc.
iii. Results in the lowest risk of repetitive strain injury which are the most common work related injuries. 

SETTING UP YOUR OFFICE SPACE

Chair:
- You want your feet to touch the ground. You can use a footrest if needed. 
- Your hips need to be higher than the knees. 
- Seat depth is approximately 2-4 fingers from the back of the knee. 
- Chair back: Office work is typically forward so chair needs to promote forward work. Position: Neutral or forward, not reclined while working. 
- Lumbar Support/Roll only helps if: 
   1. You sit all the way back in the chair. 
  2. Pelvis is in neutral position so your spinal curves are maintained. Are you sitting      on your 'sit bones' (good) or your tailbone (bad)?
- Armrests: at elbow or slightly higher so you can relax the shoulders. 

Monitor: 
- Distance: take a piece of paper with print about the sam size as your computer screen and determine at which distance your eyes have to work the least. Measure from the eye to the paper - this is the distance the monitor should sit from your eyes. 
- Height: our relaxed line of sight is 10-15 degrees below the horizon (slightly down). 

Keyboard: 
 - Elbow angle 90-110 degrees (opened up).

Mouse: 
- Same height as your keyboard. 

Desk Arrangement:
- Limit reaching for frequently used items. 

LOOKING FOR ERGONOMIC OFFICE SUPPLIES? 
Check out our friends at MT ERGOFIT !
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10/1/2019 0 Comments

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP, ACCORDING TO A DOCTOR

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Author: Brace Hayden, DPT

Sleep is something that is vital to the human body. Every system in our body needs sleep to function efficiently. Many people struggle with getting sufficient quality sleep.  Getting inadequate or poor-quality sleep is linked to a variety of health-related disorders and reduces your body’s ability to heal. Fortunately, getting more quality sleep is a skill that can be improved with ‘sleep hygiene’ practices. Here are some strategies we have gleaned from the current research (see references below) that can help improve your sleep.

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Reduce Anxiety and Stress
Anxiety is a massive sleep killer. Do everything you can to banish it from your bed. There are ample methods to reduce anxiety: counseling, making lists, self-calming techniques (relaxation, meditation, deep breathing, coloring).

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Make Sleep a Habit
Set a routine and stick to it.  Your sleep clock or circadian rhythm can get off balance with variations in your sleep-wake cycle schedule. Set a desired wake-up time and a bedtime routine that you can consistently stick with 7 days a week.  On average, most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep. Seniors (over 65 years) require less sleep and tend to wake more often throughout the night. Training your body for optimized sleep requires a set routine. Go to bed early, as studies have shown that people feel more refreshed and awake when they get more hours of deep sleep before midnight.

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Nap Time
“Power napping” during the day for 20 minutes or less can be beneficial if you are feeling sleepy.  A nap duration for more than 20 minutes can negatively effect on your sleep routine.
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Dark, Cool and No Devices
Keep your bedroom dark and cool. Blackout shade or heavy curtains will help keep you asleep during the longer daylight spring and summer months. Avoid electronics in the bedroom (phones, tablets, TVs, and night-lights). 

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Exercise Regularly
Regular aerobic exercise will improve sleep.  Try to get 5-7 days of aerobic exercise for at least 40-60 minutes (walk, jog, bike, swim, etc.).  Avoid stimulating activity and vigorous exercise within three hours before sleep. 

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Liquid Intake and Caffeine
Limit liquid intake (water, alcohol, milk, etc.) in the evening for the 2-3 hours prior to your bedtime to avoid multiple bathroom breaks during the night. Avoid bladder and brain irritants (alcohol. caffeine) in the evening, especially after 7 pm.  Limit eating or drinking caffeinated drinks or food (chocolate, tea, coffee, etc.) after 2:00 p.m.
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Close Your Eyes
If you wake up in the middle of the night or can’t fall asleep after 30 minutes of winding down.  Get out of your bed, go into another room, and reset your pre-bed relaxation routine. Try to do something that is not too interesting or stimulating for 30-45 minutes (listen to relaxing music, meditate, practice taking long slow deep breaths, color, or read something dry).  Tossing and turning trains your body and brain have a negative relationship to being relaxed and sleepy in your bed. Beds are for sleeping (and sex).

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REFERENCES (available online or at your public library): 
The sleep solution: why your sleep is broken and how to fix it
Author: Winter, W. Chris

Quiet your mind & get to sleep: solutions to insomnia for those with depression, anxiety, or chronic pain
Author: Carney, Colleen
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