Welcome to Motion Forword - Words of a Therapist! Number 8!
Motion Forword is about discussing the combined benefits of movement with a positive mental attitude. Using my personal/professional experiences, evidence-based research and some of your own experiences.
Bringing some hope, positivity, happiness and maybe usefulness to those, perhaps like yourself, that needs a pick me up.
Something about me - Acroyoga
I seem to recall the ability to do cartwheels and handstands ever since primary school…
This playground rhyme springs to mind:
‘I’m the best at handstands,Oh no you’re not. The one that lasts the longest,
Un, Deux, Trio!’
Who knew that in my adult life I’d find myself doing handstands and cartwheels again!
Before Christmas I discovered Acroyoga. The art of balancing people on your hands and feet whilst not dropping them and/or hurting yourself in the process! It is a lot more fun than it sounds!
Here are some of the fun things I have got up to.
We’ve got two high with the flier (the lady on top) in a bicep/chest stand.
Vishnu’s couch (and a 3rd person sitting on said couch!)
Chair pose with a 3rd flier doing a handstand and straddle pose.
And finally me doing a bird and low bird at the same time with 2 fliers!
All of which had their challenges and fun involved! Lots of laughs have been had in this new hobby of mine and made some great new friends!
And this is the beauty of trying new things. You’ll never know what you’ll learn about yourself and what unlocked potential you may have. Pushing previously unexplored limits…
Something for you - Pushing the Limit
Recognising limitations allows us to improve and grow.
A lack of strength/flexibility in one arm/leg only highlights the natural asymmetry of our bodies and our preference for one side over another. We can focus our attention to improve the side we give less preference to.
It’ll ‘catch up’ in the right conditions and with the right training.
This has been highlighted to me in my Acroyoga antics! I’ve realised how heavily I favour my right leg. It is much stronger and more flexible than my left leg. So now being aware of this, I am focusing on spending more time using my left leg to get it closer to my right. Simple really. But we don’t know this until we try things out. You may be tempted to say how your less favoured side is your ‘weak side’, or ‘tight side’, or ‘s**t side’. But its not straight up weak, tight or s**t. It’s just weaker, tighter or s**ter and it can be improved upon!
Knowing your limits you can measure them, train them and watch the improvement. As I hope to see in my left leg and overall flexibility! (oh my poor hamstrings!) See below!
A story - What a Headache
His headaches/migraines lasted all day at least 4 episodes per week often affecting his sleep. The tension in his neck made him feel nauseous and dizzy to the point of being physically sick.
Reece is 34. He is a father to 3 children, a husband and a gas/electricity engineer. He spent 7 years in self-employment but in recent years took up employment to have more time with his family.
Reece had been struggling with migraines for 4 years. They had worsened the 6 months prior to his visit to me and even worse still the week before I saw him.
Migraines and headaches can be a complicated affair. Knowing this, I have been doing further research and training in the area through EdAche (Education and Assessment for Confidence in Headaches).
I diagnosed Reece with cervicogenic headaches associated with problems at the C2-3 levels in his neck and set to work about easing these problem areas.
Additionally, Reece shared his concerns for his headaches and how they influenced his life and his work, how he had recently moved and was doing a lot of the renovations himself, working a lot and had lost family members during the pandemic.
The psychosocial impact of these stresses on Reece’s condition should not be overlooked and I believed they were very much impacting his headaches as well.
Fortunately, Reece responded really well to initial treatment with his headaches reducing in frequency and not needing to take sumatriptan (his migraine medication). As is often the case, his headaches rebounded somewhat but closely followed by further improvements.
One session he mentioned how he had not needed to isolate himself from social situations and was able to do more work at home without the headaches stopping him in his tracks. A big success. He was waking up fresher and less achy and was smiling more and more.
Over the course of 3 months Reece slowly gained confidence that he didn’t need me anymore. It has been 3 months since we last saw each other and he is still not having headaches!
Reece was a pleasure to work with and showed great commitment and determination to help himself. Another big win for the books.
Thanks for reading.
Until next month…Motion Forword ⏩⏩Nathan