When you ask a business what their "core business" is, without hesitation they can tell you straight away. Why? because the "core" of their business is their number one purpose, it is central to everything they do......if this is weak then the business will fail.
Lets suppose for a moment that your body is your business, you have assets and liabilities that wear and tear over time (and yes we all would love to get rid of those liabilities!) . In the corporate world as your assets depreciate you replace them, if you do not replace your assets your business will fail and die. Supposing then our body is our business, we cannot just replace our body assets however did you know that our cells are actually working constantly to renew and regenerate each day? Environmental effects and wear and tear impact on how well our cells regenerate and this is where we all see the affects of aging. It's not only what we do on the inside to combat these effects but also on the outside and creating a strong body is just one of these.
So what is the core of your body business?
If you think of the human body for a moment where would you think the core might be? Your spine runs from your tail bone to the base of your skull. I want you to be mindful for a moment of what shape your spine is currently in, straight or curved over and to what extent? We've all heard the term "sit up straight" and the majority of us would correct our posture on hearing this, wouldn't it be cool to have the correct posture without having to think about it?
Why sit up straight? Why strengthen your core?
Hunching over when sitting or standing creates compression by stretching some ligaments too much and others not enough. The body gets thrown out of balance. By sitting up or standing straight we enable our body to naturally flow. The internal organs are not crunched up, breathing is easier because our lungs have more room to expand and blood can flow properly. Your core contains the majority of your major organs and one thing they simply need is room to operate efficiently.
Your muscles need to be strong to hold your spine straight for periods of time. We can all have good intentions and try to sit up straight, however it will not take long to return to a slumped posture once we are no longer thinking about it. The answer is to strengthen our muscles to a level so they automatically hold us up without strain. How do we go about strengthening our muscles? You could go to a gym and workout to tone and strengthen those muscles however strong muscles won't do it alone, we need to train our muscles to hold and support us in the correct position otherwise we will still need to think about it!
Did you know muscles have memory?
When we repeat movement over and over the end result is a physiological change such as an increased level of accuracy. This applies to all sports where you are training through repetition to increase accuracy and basically not have to think about the "how". One example is hitting a ball - you've hit it so many times you could basically shut your eyes and still hit it. This brain-muscle memory or motor memory is commonly called "muscle memory".
How to use "muscle memory" to improve your posture:
To improve our posture we need to: 1) Strengthen the muscles around our core and; 2) Do enough repetitions to create "muscle memory" to sit or stand up straight without having to think about it. The following two exercises are a good start to helping improve your posture:
Exercise 1)
o sit on the floor with your legs out straight in front of you.
o Pull your toes back so your feet are pointing up and straighten your back - do not lean against anything.
o Rest your hands palms down by your side so they are just touching the floor - do not use your hands to hold your body up. Do this exercise when watching TV instead of sitting in a chair or anytime you are required to sit on the floor! This exercise will strengthen the muscles that hold up your core and produce the muscle memory necessary to retain the posture.
Exercise 2)
o lay down on your stomach on the floor.
o Rise to the push up position (do a push up, but don't come down again!) Note: In yoga push up's are slightly different to what a lot of us may have learned at the gym etc. Elbows are held in close to the body and once you push up your hands should be positioned shoulder width apart directly beneath you. (Make sure your back is not rounded). This is what is commonly termed the "plank position". Stay only as long as comfortable without putting strain on your lower back. Repeat and as you get stronger hold the position longer. A variation to this as you become stronger is to come down to rest on your forearms and hold the position there. A important point to remember is to keep your back straight - if you feel any undue pressure on your back do not continue.
So give it a go, two exercises each day and see how strong your core will start to become. Remember, your body is your business, your greatest asset, so invest some time in looking after it!
Lisa runs "Khata" supplies "gifts of significance" for those special people in your life that have an interest in Eastern Arts , philosophy and culture.
She believes that utilising physical movement to understand about your body and self is a powerful tool for" self development". She also supports and promotes the various forms of physical exercise and movement in eastern culture such as Tai Chi, QiGong, Yoga and Martial Arts. You will find lots of articles of interest on her "articles" page in these areas a: khata.com.au khata.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment