Achy, stiff or painful joints?
When I talk to menopausal women who complain of stiff hips & feet or sore shoulders knees, I always ask how much movement does she do.
You see, as we age it is so important to move more because we lose collagen, oestrogen and most importantly fascia becomes less mobile when we don’t move much.
Many of you are now working from home and may miss the walk to work or the walk from the car or station – no matter how short it may have been, you were still moving more each day.
Look at your movement patterns
So, can I ask you to take a look at your average week. Think about or jot down:
- how long do you sit down (generally) each day?
- how often do you move through the day?
- when you move – do you move in the same direction OR do you shake out your hips or your shoulders?
- Do you ever roll your feet/ankles?
- how stiff are you generally?
Can I suggest – if you find you sit for too long periods, you:
- set an alarm or a reminder to get up and move every hour /45 minutes.
- start moving your hips in a figure of 8,
- start rolling your shoulders, twisting and shaking out your body for a 30 seconds.
The aim is to actually move your WHOLE body in multi directions to try and get the fascia moving to prevent more stiffness. Fascia is like a sheet or bands of fibrous connective tissue enveloping, separating or binding muscles, organs and other soft structures of the body. It is how the body is connected.
Try this – if you feel quite tight in the hamstrings or hips – start with your feet! Roll a tennis ball up and down & across the feet – it can have a positive impact on the hamstrings & the pelvis.
How is your posture?
Do you think about your posture at all? If you do you probably only think about your shoulders and maybe how tight they are or that you hunch your back.
How about starting to think about your pelvis. It is in the centre of your body, so we want it to be in a more neutral position, ‘neutral spine’ as it is often called. Try this posture position and whenever you are standing in a queue, brushing your teeth, speaking to someone try this:
- Rock on your feet and keep your weight in the central position – not too far back or forward
- then very gently slightly unlock your knees, so they aren’t totally locked – notice does this suddenly change the position of your pelvis slightly?
- then rock your pelvis – are you tight in the front or back of it? (If so try to start rolling your hips a bit more). Try to rock the pelvis backwards, then forwards and try stopping in the middle position.
- Then shake out your shoulders & think ‘shoulders down’ rather than pushing them back.
- lastly I say ‘lift up your heart’ but check where your chin is – not sticking out – as if you are being pulled by the top, back of your head.
Obviously you will need to practice but little and often just start trying it – especially if you notice you are always holding onto your bum or tummy. It can really help some releases through your body.
Its about creating a habit – Start with SMALL STEPs:
- literally moving the joints in all directions.
- standing to talk on the phone
- dance around the kitchen every day (it’ll make you smile too!)
- get a tennis ball, yoga ball & start using it on your feet every day
- use the tennis ball against the wall on your upper shoulders/back muscles
- try and do the alphabet daily with your ankles /feet
Remember, it’s about MOVING! It costs nothing – except for a few minutes of your time.
Look out for my next Holistic Core Restore® Rel-ease class.
