Body Alignment

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Think of your body as a playdough puppet with a million strings, that may be pulled from above.  Then, when pulled up from above, the whole body would straighten up.   Yet, many parts below could be twisted or out of alignment.  

This is why every morning, I hang up and upside down, do a hand stand, twisted warrior, turtle, child pose and others, which I list in this post.  

When we get hurt, we may get out of alignment.

Stay well!

******

My stomach seems like a "go to" place every time I get emotional.  It also may be caused by a bad sleeping posture as I adjust to either a cat or a dog laying next to me :)  My husband feels that I need stronger stomach muscles, though I do have some.  My stomach is small, and especially when I can't eat much, hence I feel that any disturbance anywhere in my digestive tract may cause the stomach valves to open (think of a long balloon used to make animals - push air in one place, it will stretch in another) .  Even feeling cold, I may tighten my back muscles, painfully affecting my stomach now.

I do not go to doctors, as I have gone that route a long time ago and realized that they only chase after the symptoms instead of doing the whole body / mind analysis.  Symptoms is how our body gets back into balance.  Instead of suppressing the symptoms, we need to assist our body.   I fix what I broke myself :)  - I tune myself :)

About a week ago, I fell on ice which was hidden under the snow.  I fell on my butt, which is not padded a lot :)  As usual, I didn't pay much attention to my fall until a few mornings later, when I was exercising - the place I hurt was painfully tight.   Time to stretch and make sure my alignment is good.  I gently relaxed and let go of pain, exhaling and stretching.

Whenever we get hurt, physically or emotionally, we may tighten up somewhere in the body.  For example, when I got hit by a car, the first thing I did right away was to let go of the traumatic fear and relax.  

One morning, I caught myself thinking and analyzing too much what and why I've done in the past and present.  I realized then that it was tiring and pointless - it's so much simpler just to live and be yourself.  Yes, we go through life, hopefully maturing and learning.  We are different at each age.  Then, I simply relaxed every muscle in my body and focused on listening to the sounds of nature outside our home.  Just staying peaceful.  I do this now at night too, when I go to bed - relax my neck, especially.  This is where our vagus nerve is.  

Relaxation is so important.  In fact, when I had broken ribs years ago, I listened to the relaxation tape to fall asleep.

I wrote this page initially for a friend of mine, whose hips seemed misaligned.  I had him lie down on his back and checked the alignment of his feet and knuckles 

Why do we get out of alignment?

You may answer - bad posture.

What else?  Being in an accident?

Do you think your internal organs play a role in it too?  

• Stomach pulling forward, 

• Congested colon having changed its shape and  pulling and pushing your muscles.  

• How about tight muscles which may even be contracted in some places?

• And what about congestion anywhere in your body?

It is ALL CONNECTED.  

Eat energy- and life-giving nutrition and your whole being will flourish!  You'll be flexible, strong and happy!

How do you get flexible?  

1.  digest what you eat, so then there is no accumulation of unwanted matter

2.  do the exercises for flexibility every day - don't lose what you got, and improve

Every single day I pay attention to my body alignment to support my health.

There are simple ways to diagnose the misalignment.  I included some at the start.   I go more in-depth in Staying In Tune With  Yourself  and What Spine Got To Do With It 

I do different exercises, picking the sequence as I feel appropriate.

Here is the list:

1.  Walk on 4, on the grass too 

2. Nishi exercises

3. Yoga twisted worrier 

4.  Hanging upside down and doing a handstand

5.  Ballet hip relaxation movements

6.  Another Yoga twist - I will include my video link (sitting on the floor)

7.  Yoga child pose

8.  Stretching the back of my leg - downward facing dog - tight muscles pull on other muscles

P.S.   I have a separate file and videos (private) what I did for my sciatica and twisted stomach. 

Nishi system and exercises focuses on proper spinal alignment and blood flow in the capillaries. 

Nishi, a Japanese wholistic practitioner, has developed his system when he was very young, a sickly child the doctors didn't believe would live long (sorry, I need to refresh my memory as I read about him many years ago).

"Nishi system theories are characterized by the idea that the while the human bone structure and positioning of the internal organs are basically the same as in mammals  that walk on four legs, human beings have adopted a different upright two-legged life style. This dissonance causes certain structural strains on the human bone structure.  

To be healthy, it is essential that the nervous system functions properly and free from any interference caused by subluxations. 

Another principle of Nishi system is based on theory that the network of capillaries play a role of the driving force for the blood flow and also act as the "second heart". 

Here is more detailed information: Nishi Health System 

Here is the link to the exercises:  Nishi system and exercises 

Yoga twisted worrier  posture

I started doing this posture when I had problems with the valves of my stomach.

Hanging upside down to stretch my spine, release my neck and to loosen up my whole back, and doing a handstand 

I started doing this posture when I had problems with the valves of my stomach.

Ballet hip relaxation movements

I noticed that many people as they get older start having problems with their hips.   

Hip joints supports the weight and alignment of our whole body.

Here is an in-depth information about the importance of the hip muscles:

https://aclstrong.com/why-strengthen-hip-muscles/  and hip joints: http://www.susaningraham.net/hip-joint.html

The exercises for the hips I do standing up and holding onto a rail, standing on one foot:  

• draw an imaginary number 8

• swing one leg forward and backwards, from side to side, swinging the arm in the opposite direction

• side leg raises, lifting one knee to the side, parallel to the back

• when sitting on my legs (knee to foot) A. sit back between my legs  and then lie down  B. sit to each side, holding the arms up, palms together  

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQUKw9_U0JQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-64ETlY0hY 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9psTyfNNzGc&list=PLKXbc4lYPTKZ2AvaKyRdarB6nxurp-Y4S&index=126&t=38s 

In my Tai Chi list

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvQUttWLVWc&list=PLKXbc4lYPTKZF4BFbevXPkuYXVXoQXDF8&index=10 

Yoga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoSGMt_BLeo

Copying this part from private blog

Many of you have probably heard about this cruel way, forgive me for being too graphic, some people kill a chicken, by holding it by its head and spinning the unfortunate bird. 

The reason it works is because our brain is connected to the rest of the body right in that location.  In anatomy, it is called medulla oblongata. 

Unfortunately, many people do not have a good posture, and often right in their neck, or upper spine.  This is where vagus nerve is located, which has 13 branches connecting to vital organs such as heart, lungs, stomach, liver, large and small intestines, kidneys, liver, spleen, esophagus, and larynx.

To maintain the correct neck posture, I like to do the Tao turtle exercise daily. 

I have included below the instructions for you, from The  Compete System Of Self-Healing Internal Exercises by Dr. Stephen T. Chang.

Enjoy and stay well!

With love,

 Always,

  Rev. Eugeniya