posture

How to Get a Strong, Flat Belly for Back Pain Relief and Head Pain Relief

Would you like to have a stronger, flatter belly?

I’ll show you how. You can strengthen your “stomach muscles” most easily if you lie on your back.

You have 4 layers of muscles on your abdomen and they go in 4 different directions–crosswise, vertical and at angles to your midline. You may find, over time, that you can isolate the different layers. Some are more toward the side, some more toward the midline.

What are the benefits of strong stomach muscles?

You have probably heard of core training? That means making the muscles of your torso strong so you can stay upright and not collapse forward or sideways. When you have strong abdominal muscles, your posture will be better.

You will feel better and look better and better posture means less back pain, neck pain and head pain.

Your muscles will be holding you in the posture you were designed to be in! 🙂

Here’s how:

The idea is to squeeze or draw your belly button inward toward your spine. Make your belly move toward the bed or floor as you lay on your back. Squeeze, squeeze.

If you do this with your arms overhead, the abdominal muscles are lengthened as they become stronger. That’s what we want: long and strong!

Here is the link to a YouTube video that will give you a good visual demonstration of your abdominal muscles.

Some of the movements this expert does may seem very strange to you, but I assure you that you have the same muscles he does. It’s just that his are well-trained from years of practice.

Watch as he pulls his stomach muscles in toward his spine. He does this several times in the first few minutes of the video. This is the movement you want to do–even a tiny bit–and over time your muscles will get stronger

And you will have stronger abdominal muscles, too!

August 23February 9

What’s The Best Way To Correct Your Posture When You Are Seated?

Do you start having back pain when you are sitting for a while? Here are a few quick tips that can help.

Here are some arm movements to do when you are home or work. They will help relax the muscles around your chest, shoulders, arms and upper back.

Pretend an arm is a windmill. If you can, rotate your arm in a full (or pretty full) circle. Go forward and then backward. Always do a new movement thoughtfully and gently and see how it feels to you.

Noodle is a type of stretching movement to do at home unless you have a private office at work. It will help you open and stretch your chest muscles.

Also, imagine there are long, strong cords attached to your breastbone and to the crown of your head and they are pulling you up to heaven.

Do you feel that correction to your posture as you imagine those cords pulling straight up? Your chest lifts and your natural curve returns to your lower back behind your waist. 🙂 Your head moves back over your body where it belongs.

A rolled towel placed behind your waist when you are seated will also help you sit up straighter.

Now you have some nice and easy ways to correct your posture when you are sitting.

August 15November 2

What’s the Best Way to Improve Your Posture?

Why do you want to have better posture anyway?

You will feel better. You will have less pain.
You will function better. Your joints will be in neutral instead of overloaded by poor posture.
Your organs will work better. You will be able to breathe and digest better and your heart won’t be squashed.
You will look younger.

What’s the best way to improve your posture? Here are seven ways:

1. Remember the old ‘walk with a book on your head’? This is a variation on that. Present a string is attached to the crown of your head and is lifting the crown of your head to the sky.

2. Pretend a string is attached to your breastbone and is pulling you to the sky.

3. Have you lost the small curve behind your waist? Stick your butt out a bit to get it back. (You are supposed to have a small curve behind your waist.)

4. Get arch supports for your shoes if you have flat or fallen arches. The arches of your feet are the support structure of your body. If your arches have collapsed, your posture collapses, too. You Continue reading “What’s the Best Way to Improve Your Posture?”

June 23November 3

Easy Way To Improve Your Posture And Help Your Back Feel Better–Video

If you are slumping and have back pain, I can help.

Your poor back muscles are complaining. They hate being stretched when your heavy head is out in front of your body. It’s supposed to be over your body.

But lots of positions that we work or sit in let our heads move forward. Not good.

And, lots of times we get into habits like sitting on our tailbones instead of on our sit-bones. Also, not good.

This can give you knots in your back.

But, here’s an easy way to improve your posture and start to feel better.

Think “long in front and strong in back.” That’s the goal–long muscles in the front of your body and arms and a strong backside from knees to head.

Here’s a little video to help you get started:

Whenever you do a new movement, do it thoughtfully. Pay attention to your body.

Where are you feeling the stretch? How does it feel? How much is enough?

When you do the movement in this video gravity works with you. That’s a really good thing because most of the time gravity is not your friend.

You can also place the noodle off-center and use it as a pivot point to get even more stretch in your chest muscles. Place the noodle lengthwise along your spine but between one shoulder blade and your spine. And don’t do this until your chest muscles have adapted to the movement in the video.

I’d love it if you leave a comment here and let me know how this simple method of improving your posture worked for you.

Remember, bodies are logical. If you do certain things that they don’t like they will complain. They will give you pain. 🙁

Lengthening the front of your body and stretching your chest muscles will help you get rid of the pain in your back caused by poor posture. 🙂

November 21November 6

Sciatica – Causes and Natural Cures of that Nervy Pain in Your Hip and Leg

Sciatica is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve. The pressure can be from bones or from muscle. Most often it seems to be muscle. The good news is the pressure can often be removed from the sciatic nerve without surgery.

Sciatic nerves are really large.

They are about the thickness of your index finger and run from the lower part of your spine through the bony hip area. The nerves pass through thick muscles in your buttocks, one on each side.

The gluteal muscles are the powerful muscles in the back of your hip (your buttocks). One of those muscles–a deeper one–is the piriformis. The piriformis muscle can be a cause of the nervy pain in your hip and/or leg. When it is, it is often called “pseudo-sciatica.” (Pseudo means false.)

If the nerve is being compressed by the spinal bones, it is Continue reading “Sciatica – Causes and Natural Cures of that Nervy Pain in Your Hip and Leg”

October 27November 7

How to Get Better Posture for Back Pain Relief

Back pain is often caused by posture. When your posture collapses–you “fall forward” with your head leading the rest of the group–the muscles in your chest get short and tight. That makes it hard to breathe, hard to hold your head up, hard to have good posture.

At the same time, the muscles in your back get overstretched and strained and so they complain. (They hate being stretched too far!) They give you pain to call your attention to the fact that something is wrong.

Collapsed posture also causes lower back pain, headaches and migraines, constipation and lots and lots of other problems.

It’s a primary cause of “old age.”

You had wonderful posture when you were very young and with a bit of help from you, you can have it again.

In a very small nutshell, strengthen the muscles of your backside from knees to head. Lengthen (stretch) the muscles of your calves and the whole front side of your body from knees to head.

If you happen to see a baby, a cat or a dog stretching, imitate them. 🙂 They are stretching the correct muscles to be functional and pain-free!

August 25November 7

Pain on Lower Half of Shoulder Blade Can be Relieved

Shoulder pain can occur in a variety of places around the shoulder and almost always muscles are at the root of the problem.

Unhappy muscles cause most pain. Our goal is to keep our muscles happy.

The following request for help is very specific about the location of the pain: the bottom half of the shoulder blade and the outer side of the shoulder blade near the armpit. Using a movement with the arm in front of the body makes it worse.

Here is the email:

“I really need your help for my shoulder problems from which I am suffering from past many years.

I am getting pain on my right shoulder, on the lower half of the scapula muscle(Teres minor and major area) of my shoulder. The pain exists at approximate all the time but increases if I repeatedly do an activity (A simple activity like holding a book will aggravate the pain). I can always feel their is a difference between my right shoulder and left shoulder because of the pain.

I have shown to many doctors and had done many tests but they could not come out with any conclusive results. Their advice was just to strengthen my shoulder muscles and to do some physical activity.

Whats the best way to strengthen my shoulder. Will joining gym will be a good option or doing Aerobics .

Please suggest if something better can be done.

Thanks,”

Here is my response:

Based on the information Continue reading “Pain on Lower Half of Shoulder Blade Can be Relieved”

July 11November 7

Flexibility Helps Relieve & Prevent Painful Stiff Backs

Is your back a little stiff? Do you wish your posture was better? Are you as flexible as you’d like to be?

Are you feeling “stuck”?

I will always believe that massage is the best thing to help muscles relax but stretching is the next best. So, here’s something that’ll help you get “unstuck” and relieve your stiff back.

Are you familiar with the stretches called “cat” and “dog?” I’ve also heard them called “camel” and other variations.

Sometimes they are done on all fours, on the floor, but I’m going to share a seated version with you. If you are so stiff that it’s hard to get on the floor, you will appreciate this version.

These are good movements because they get your spine moving from front to back and your ribs moving. These movements warm the muscles of your back and whole torso, or trunk. They get your circulation going and can help to strengthen your back.

Here is the seated version:

Move to the the front edge Continue reading “Flexibility Helps Relieve & Prevent Painful Stiff Backs”

May 6November 7

3 Common Causes of Aging and the Pain of “Old Age”

You’ve seen people who are only 40 who already look “old.” And you’ve probably seen folks in their 80’s or 90’s who still have a spring in their step or a sparkle in their eyes.

Why do some of us grow old so quickly and other stay youthful?

Here are 3 reasons:

1. Attitude. Optimists may not always have the most realistic outlook, but they live longer, healthier lives than pessimists and enjoy living more. Attitude can be learned and unlearned. A healthy attitude includes gratitude and happiness.

2. Nutrition. People who give their bodies all the nutrients it needs are much more likely to be healthy and feel better longer. This gets harder and harder as more of our “food” comes from factories rather than farms and gardens, but it CAN be done. The best place to buy your groceries is in the produce section, and if possible, the best ones to buy are organic. Try to eat a lot of different colored foods (and Froot Loops don’t count.)

3. Posture. When you lose the fight to gravity, and gravity is winning, your heavy head moves in front of your body. Then, gravity can pull you forward even more! Your posture can be corrected, at least enough to relieve some of your pain. Posture is a BIG key in aging. When you collapse forward, your organs gets squashed. How can your heart function its best when it is being compressed? How can your intestines and stomach do their best job? This is a common cause of constipation. You can overcome poor posture by stretching the muscles in the front of your body and strengthening the muscles in the back.

George Burns, the comedian, said: “It’s okay to get older, as long as you don’t get old.” I’m sticking with George!

April 30November 7

Yoga and Headaches – 6 Ways Yoga Gets Rid of Head Pain

How can yoga help relieve your headaches? Oh, let me count the ways:

It relaxes the muscles around your chest, ribs, shoulders and neck. These are the same muscles that get tight and cause headache symptoms.
Yoga helps reduce your stress. When you’re feeling all stressed, your muscles “clamp down” on nerves that go to your head.
It helps strengthen the muscles of your backside and makes you long and strong; it creates muscular balance. A strong back and a long, strong body helps you have good posture. Good posture, with your head over your body instead of out in front, reduces headaches.
Yoga gets your circulation moving and that helps move the metabolic (body) wastes out of your body. It reduces swelling which can also be a cause for head pain.
It helps you become more “in tune” with your body. When your muscles start to complain or your head starts to hurt, you will be able to figure out the cause and correct it.
Yoga can help reduce your blood pressure, but if you are having high blood pressure headaches, you’d better get to a doctor immediately!

Yoga is a full-body stretching and strengthening movement program with a lot of benefits.

If you take a class, always remember: It’s your body. If a move doesn’t feel appropriate to you, or feels like it will make your head hurt or your headache feel worse, DON’T DO IT. Instead, practice a different movement (pose) or breathing.

So, yoga helps take the pressure off the muscles around your head and neck, and helps you relax, and reduces stress, and improves your breathing (shallow breathing could also be a cause of your headaches by not giving you enough oxygen.)

That’s how yoga can help you get rid of your headaches.

Here’s another way I can help you get rid of your migraines and headaches: Head Pain Natural Relief

April 8November 7

Is Your Posture Good Or Poor? How Can You Tell?

Is your posture good or not-so-good?

People with poor posture look like they are leaning or collapsing forward.

Often their head is way forward in front of their body (“forward head posture.”) The curve in their neck is either too much or too flat, and so is the curve behind their waist. Their shoulders round forward.

Poor posture impacts a LOT of your body! Almost every part of your body is affected by collapsed posture.

Here are several things you can check so you will know whether your posture is good or not-so-good.

1. Stand up and hold your arms at your sides in their usual position. Look down. If your thumbs are pointing to each other, your shoulders are rounded forward. Your chest muscles are tight and shortened. They are pulling your shoulders forward. 🙁 But, if your thumbs point straight ahead, your shoulders aren’t rounded forward. 🙂

2. Are you constantly straightening up and constantly collapsing forward again? That’s a clue that the muscles in the Continue reading “Is Your Posture Good Or Poor? How Can You Tell?”

April 8November 7

Does Poor Posture Cause Pain? How Do Arch Supports Help?

Can your posture cause pain?

Oh Boy! It surely can! In fact, it does.

Poor, or collapsed, posture can cause pain in your head, neck, feet, legs, hips, hands, arms, upper and lower back. Why?

Because being out of muscular “balance” means that you are using muscles to do the job of bones.

With poor posture, your muscles are trying to hold you upright, but that’s the job of your bones. Muscles are for moving. Bones are for supporting.

All of your muscles attach to bones. When a muscle is overworked or overstretched because of poor posture, it causes pain.

Poor posture can even cause your organs–heart, lungs, intestines, stomach–to have difficulty functioning. Why? Because you are collapsing forward.

As you bend forward, all of your organs are compressed, or squashed. It is much harder for your organs to do their best job when they are squashed.

What can you to to correct your posture?

One important thing is to get arch supports (orthotics) for your shoes if your feet are “flat.”

How can you tell if your arches are flat?

Stand up with your weight the same Continue reading “Does Poor Posture Cause Pain? How Do Arch Supports Help?”