Back into Gardening!!

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Karen Toth

In the northern hemisphere, it is now time to plant your garden!

Yesterday was the day my son and my mom got their gardens planted.

It is great when you are young and healthy with no back problems, but over time, when you have used yourself improperly for a long period of time, you may find some pain and strain after gardening!

A great thing to do is stand tall, bend over and walk your hands down so each hand is just above your knees, eg, right hand above right knee, left hand above left knee.

In this position, start to round your spine to  look toward your belly button, then arch your back and look in front as you stick out your belly and your tail bone.

Repeat this 5 – 8 times!

This just might be the thing that lets you garden longer with less back pain and strain!

For more ideas of good back movement I suggest reading Move Into Life the Nine Essentials for Lifelong Learning, by Anat Baniel

Happy Gardening!

Posted in Anat Baniel, Back pain, back pain, Feldenkrais, Move Into Life, tail bone | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Staying Focused with ADD!

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Karen Toth

Staying focused has always been a challenge for me.   I’m great at multitasking, running a household, a business and keeping a busy social calendar.

After reading

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612930298/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=stretchyourli-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1612930298">Think and Grow Rich</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=stretchyourli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1612930298" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

 

my focus become much clearer, as I defined my dreams and started to create a burning desire for it’s achievement.

Posted in awareness, Back pain, Back spams, Feldenkrais, movements, sexuality | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Swing into Golf!

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Karen Toth

We are getting back into the swing of things here in Ontario, Canada!

Golf is high on some people’s priorities to be out, enjoying the sunshine, hitting the ball and hanging out with good friends!

Before you hit the ball it is recommended that you do some easy golf movements first.

Bend over having your hands above your knees, start by rounding and arching your back.   Do this 3 – 5 times to get your spine moving easily.

Standing tall, start to reach your right hand down your right leg, bending to the side.  Repeat 3 – 5 times on the right and repeat 3 – 5 times on the left side.

Start to do some slow, rotating movements!  Rotating to look over your right shoulder, then rotating to look over your left shoulder.

Next very, very slowly let your head look down toward your feet and up toward the sky, all as much of your spine as you can for example, when you look down round the whole back of your spine.  Can you do it as if your spine is lengthening at the back?

Then look up toward the sky, when you look up let your whole spine be part of the movement, for example, as you look up let your belly and chest go forward as your head and eyes look up.   Do this very slowly, with awareness, moving only where there is no pain, strain or stress.

After you do that slowly do some more rotation right and left.  Notice the weight transfer under your feet, and notice how much of your vertebra move with you!

When you are finished, you are all set to play golf with vitality, have fun and enjoy your game!

Karen Toth

Posted in awareness, Back pain, Golf, movements, spine, stretches, vitality | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment