After all, our paleo predecessors had enough manual dexterity to hoist their entire body up a tree with their spindly arms. Why can’t we modern day Homo sapiens do the same?

The short answer? We’ve evolved. Evolution imprinted our DNA with strengths from the past and facilitated many adaptations for our future. Our brain has developed to assist us with thought and risk assessment. Therefore, we need to be cognizant while lifting.

Think before making action. And structurally? We are taller and less robust then our ancestors. Our bones used to be as dense as the Stone Age. Our present structure has a higher center of gravity. Being upright has its advantages and disadvantages.

Bipedalism, the ability to stand upright, is a result of a well-developed psoas and increased curvature of the spine. The spine is a flexing spring mobilized by the lower body, glutes, and legs. The pelvis is the hinge connecting the two.

Our erector spinae muscle group is strong enough to support our eighty-plus pound torso and approximately twenty-pound cranium when we stand upright. In the case of bending forward and extending back upright, however, the integrity of the spine is compromised.

What Happens When We Lift From the Low Back?

There are many sensations felt if the knees are not bent and the strong power of the legs is not used while lifting. In one of the more common injuries, you may feel a strain from the psoas muscle pulling on the lumbar spine. This can occur if there is a lack of “reciprocal inhibition.”

Reciprocal Inhibition is when one set of muscles (agonist) engages and the opposing set (antagonist) disengages to facilitate movement of a joint. In the case of lifting, when the glutes and erector spinae are flexed, the body releases the psoas and hip flexors to enable the torso to extend upright.

If you lean forward, with legs straight/extended, and add the weight of picking up an object, your hamstrings stretch and your lumbar extensors act as the primary lifters. Legs are like hydraulic lifts or jacks that have supreme pressing power to lower and lift the trunk of the body. The glutes stabilize movement between the legs and trunk.

If reciprocal inhibition is not present between these two muscle groups, the psoas and hip flexors will continue to stay engaged pulling the top of the pelvis down against the action of the back. The low back becomes the hinge as the torso and legs are both facing down. It’s a deadlift with a rounding low back. What may occur then is a low back strain due to overstretched QL (quadratus lumborum) and longissimus (at lumbar). This area is being pulled in two different directions when disengaged.

How Do You Lift an Object Properly?

Ensure reciprocal inhibition of the psoas by bending your knees and flexing your glutes and erector spinae muscle group when lifting. The result will be released psoas and hip flexors, so you decrease risk of low back strain or disturbing the intervertebral discs.

Your back will generally increase in strength and the glutes will become well conditioned for future bending. Secure your torso by flexing the abdominal muscles and press off of the legs during an inhale. An inhale naturally forces the body into opening and extending out. If you exhale during a squat, it decreases oxygen force and lessens the intake needed to pump into the large muscles for power.

And try this right now. Don’t take my word for it. Notice the difference. It can make a marked difference in your lifting approach.

The post Why You Lift With Your Legs, Not Your Back appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Got chicken legs? Don’t forget about your chicken wings. The serratus anterior muscles are what I refer to as our “wings.” They help us move our arms multi-dimensionally and with great speed. We may not necessarily rely on them for quadrupedal locomotion, but they help us move forward by increasing our arm’s distance from danger, keeping predators at an arm’s length away or drawing an imaginary boundary.

When the serratus anterior is flexed, it appears to lengthen the arm by wrapping the scapula forward toward the chest. When done repetitively this creates a motion like flapping wings or a movement patterns like that of a four-legged animal. Serratus anterior muscles are also known as the “boxer’s muscles” because of their mobility pattern. A boxer’s punch and reach come from the effectiveness of the scapula protracting and retracting.

The serratus anterior muscles are also breathing accessory muscles. They originate on the upper eight ribs and insert into the medial border of the scapula. They stabilize the shoulder blades and when flexed will spread the ribs for an inhale. The greater the inhale, the greater the internal pressure. This pressure creates a strong support for action, balance, or resistance.

Yoga Functions

When the serratus anterior muscles are weak, they contribute to neck problems, rotator cuff issues, numbness down the arm, poor circulation, and lymphatic return through the armpits. This last issue is a particular concern as it can lead to a backlog of toxins in the breast tissue and lymph nodes. This area must remain open and with venous return flowing.

Because the serratus stabilizes the positioning of the arm and shoulder, this muscle is important for inversions such as turbo dog, downward facing dog at the wall, dolphin, handstands, forearm balances, and wheel. Serratus is also a support for arm balancing. When activating serratus you can do a variety of pushups without bending the elbows. This is particularly fun with crow pose while keeping the arms straight.

Strengthening Exercises

Breathe. Place your hands on your ribcage just below your armpits and breathe deeply. Feel for these muscles activating. Feel the ribcage expand and contract. Now try these two exercises:

Wall Presses

Stand facing a wall, arm distance length, with palms shoulder height on wall. Lean forward with your torso toward the wall, without bending your arms, feeling the shoulder blades come closer together at the spine. You are flexing the rhomboids and stretching the serratus simultaneously.

Floor Presses

Sit on the floor, legs crossed with feet on ground. Place your palms on the floor by your hips, with arms straight. Press you body away from the floor by using the serratus anterior. You may only gain an eight of an inch to begin but keep practicing. Soon you can move your feet in the air provided the torso is suspended high enough to gain ground clearance. Greater ground clearance is created by the serratus pushing the torso away from any obstacle or object.

Serratus anterior reminds us to use muscles that we cannot see, and to take a greater focus for connecting and feeling. They are unlike the biceps or quadriceps in that you must pay greater attention for subtle shifts and feedback. They won’t yell and scream like the more robust and extroverted muscles. It’s a good lesson. Be more aware to everything that is quieter to respond.

The post Getting to Know Your Serratus Anterior: Strengthen Your “Wings” appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Poor posture creates several repercussions – both physically and mentally. In this article, I aim to shed some light on the topic and explain why we should pay attention to our posture and how to reverse the slouch.

Poor Posture Is Exhausting

Our brain is busy making sense of the data it collects in our over-stimulating environments. Lights, sounds, smells, terrain all require a part of our brain to process and guide our actions. Mental stimulation has benefits, but too much is taxing on both our brain and postural alignment.

Applying muscular strength to sit or stand tall and lengthen upward with our torso requires both mental and physical energy. Without adequate mental downtime, our muscles fatigue. This compromises alignment and postural integrity. When we are well rested, strong and flexible, we remain more upright, with good spinal extension. Our ribcage broadens, torso lengthens and taking deep, full breaths becomes easier without the weighty restrictions of anterior collapse compressing into our lungs.

The Anatomy of Poor Posture

When we slouch, our head juts forward and tilts down, flexing anterior neck muscles and over stretching trapezius, splenius, and longissimus. Blood, nerve innervation, and airflow become labored. Vertebrae can be easily pulled out of alignment, creating curvature imbalances along the spine and in some cases causing nerve impingement.

“Nerves in our neck, collarbones, torso, between the ribs, and through our core can become impinged, lessening their ability to relay signals between our brain and body.”

The pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, subclavius, and sternalis muscles become hypertonic (excessively strong) and pull shoulder blades forward with an anterior rotation in the upper arm bones. This causes the sternum and chest to pull inward toward the front spine and down toward the pelvis. This adds more pressure on the diaphragm and inhibits its ability for an unrestricted inhalation.

Nerves in our neck, collarbones, torso, between the ribs, and through our core can become impinged, lessening their ability to relay signals between our brain and body. The phrenic nerve is an important nerve branching off the spinal cord between the third and fifth cervical vertebrae. It runs along the neck and branches off to areas around the heart, pericardium, lungs, and diaphragm. It is the only nerve that supplies signals for our diaphragm to function.

The nerves and muscles of the cervical spine

How to Reverse Poor Posture

Below are three exercises you can do in your own home or office setting. Actually, you can do the Bruegger’s exercise just about anywhere. I recommend it to most clients and teach it in the majority of my Forrest yoga classes to improve posture, alignment, and breathing capacity.

Clients and students walk away after completing these exercises with a greater ability to inhale deeply into the upper chest and feel a decrease of tension in their neck. What I observe is that they are standing upright, with shoulders retracted back and down away from their neck. Additionally, they speak with more energy, which I would deduce is a result of alleviating breathing restrictions and increasing pulmonary circulation.

1. Cobra Pose

Hold posture for 5 breaths minimum, working toward 10.

1. Begin by lying on your belly, elbows bent under your shoulders and palms face down.
2. Breathe and visualize that you are opening your front ribcage and reversing your slouching posture.
3. Inhale and press your torso up, lifting your chest. Your elbows should lift off the floor 3 to 5 inches.
4. Exhale while contracting your glute muscles toward your upper thighbones, creating length in your in low back and sacral-iliac joint.
5. Inhale and pull your chest forward, widening your sternum between your collarbones.
6. Feel your solar plexus and upper abdominal muscles widening. This indicates the diaphragm is drawing down into your mid torso and pressurizing your lungs to receive deeper breaths.
7. Feel your neck lengthening anteriorly, posteriorly, and bi-laterally. Avoid hanging your head forward, looking down, or craning back. You don’t want to feel pinching anywhere along your neck.

2. Bruegger’s Exercise or Bird Wing

5 rounds:

1. Begin with your elbows bent at ninety degrees and squeezing gently at side of your ribcage. Place your forearms forward with palms up and hands open.
2. Breathe with the following in mind: synchronize your breathing with your movement to strengthen your longissimus, illiocostalis, trapezius, and splenius, and expand your ribcage. Inhale into your mid back, pressing your shoulder blades down. On the exhale, roll your forearms out, keeping your elbows tucked at your ribs. On the inhale, roll your forearms forward, keeping your hands in front of your elbows.
3. Feel the bottom tips of your shoulder blades squeezing toward your spine.

3. Arching Over Physioball

Hold for 1 minute, pain free.

1. Begin with your feet on the floor, knees bent, and hands holding your hips until you feel balanced.
2. When you are balanced on the ball, reach your arms wide.
3. Breathe into your upper chest, belly, and down toward your pubic bone.
4. Feel your chest muscles stretching and your neck and head relaxing on the ball to stretch the front of your spine.

Posture Up

A daily practice of good posture is vital to our health. It helps build and maintain the strength required for our diaphragm and lungs to provide our brain and body with adequate air to stay alert and responsive to external stimuli.

The resulting mental clarity will also help with daily productivity and keeping a positive outlook on life. Don’t let stressors weigh you down. Posture up and stand strong.

More Like This:

• Does Good Posture Matter, Or Is It All a Load of Crap?
• Straightening Up: Progressive Posture Alignment, Part 1
• Why Slouching Isn’t the Only Bad Posture
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. The Institute for Advanced Reconstruction, “Phrenic Nerve Injuries.”

Photos 1, 2, and 4 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 3 courtesy of Cassie Goodluck-Johnson.

The post 3 Exercises to Reverse the Effects of Poor Posture appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Through the years, I heard horror stories of people “training” with kettlebells a few times and then stopping after becoming injured. But recently, I decided to stop listening to the stories and, instead, listened to experts who were and are successfully applying kettlebell training.

In this article, I am sharing my findings and personal experiences as I journeyed into kettlebells. Included is my process of shopping for and finding expert training. My goals were to:

• Rehabilitate decades-old injuries
• Break out of physical weaknesses
• Find a suitable method of cross training to support my long-distance trail running and professional yoga practice

Getting Started

I chose to begin my kettlebell training with a long-time MMA advocate, Special Ops trainer, and someone for whom I have an immense amount of respect. He sustained a significant neck injury from a helicopter crash in 2008. The road to his recovery was long and included physical therapists, occupational therapists, yoga, and chiropractic treatment. He believes that applying proper kettlebell training was responsible for his dynamic recovery.

In a one-on-one session, my friend taught me proper handling of the bell and the key concepts to avoid injury. As a beginner, developing proper handling habits and alignment are crucial to avoiding injury and building functional strength.

“From the time someone picks up the kettlebell to the time he or she sets it back on the floor, awareness and biomechanics are essential, regardless of the size of the bell.”

From the time someone picks up the kettlebell to the time he or she sets it back on the floor, awareness and biomechanics are essential, regardless of the size of the bell. We need to practice the right way – every time. Repetition builds muscle memory, and because we are using the bells to build strength and improve posture, every movement counts for or against us. So, even if you have previous experience with strength training, it’s good to start with a lighter weight.

Momentum and leverage facilitate the movements of the bell. When you begin swinging these weights, they can literally destabilize you and pull you out of balance. Practice feeling for when the bells when move away from the midline of your body. The midline is an imaginary line, also known as the sagittal plane, drawn down the center of your body, from head to toe. It separates the left side from the right and traces from the crown of your head, between your eyes, center of your nose, down your sternum, and all the way to your pubic bone.

S is for the sagittal plane.

The body is strongest in its center. Doing movements off center by as little as two inches from right or left of the midline makes the kettlebells feel heavier and require greater muscular exertion on your part. To minimize unnecessary torque on muscles and joints, use these three key concepts:

1. Keep the knees soft with a slight bend
2. Contract the glutes during pelvic thrusts
3. Pull the shoulders back

It is common for people working out in a mainstream gym to observe someone else using kettlebells and, in moments of curiosity, imitate what they see without first receiving proper training. Do yourself a favor – hire a qualified kettlebell trainer. You will have a better appreciation for the weights, quickly add strength, and learn how to minimize strain.

How to Avoid Injury

Kettlebells can be used for isolated muscle strengthening, but they are more widely used for integrating muscle groups for whole-body exercises. When movements are synchronized, this creates fluid and closed-kinetic chain exercises.

Two muscle groups highlighted in kettlebell work are the shoulders and glutes. The deltoid group facilitates the handling and swinging, and the glutes contract to create strong alignment for the fluid swing. In the beginning, all these movement patterns can feel jerky. In time, your strength and movement will become balanced in your anterior, medial, and posture deltoids. The combination of strength and body awareness will produce a better rhythm with the swing. The deltoid group is also used in pushes, pulls and presses, while recruiting additional support from the chest and upper back.

Shoulder and glute engagement with a kettlebell swing.

But don’t ever forget the glutes. The glute muscle group provides the staging point for working with the kettlebell. A trainer at a local kettlebell-specific gym pointed out that I needed to contract my glutes during both the squat and pelvic thrust. Using glute strength during these two movements protects the low back from strain and ensures the torso is supported during spinal extension.

How Training Kettlebells Is Changing My Body

After five weeks of consistently training two classes per week, I have seen and felt magnificent changes. This regimen has been incredibly helpful for both my running and yoga practice. In addition, my shoulder injuries from over a decade ago have diminished. While I still periodically feel twinges or strains, I attribute this to having a weak connection to my glutes and that I am breaking compensation patterns from old injuries.

“When movements are synchronized, this creates fluid and closed-kinetic chain exercises.”

How to Get Started Safely With Kettlebells

1. Accept Being a Beginner – Allow your nervousness as a beginner to build a foundation of respect for the bell and the trainers. Don’t be another kettlebell casualty.
2. Find a Respected Trainer – Ask around for recommendations of qualified and highly reputable kettlebell-specific gyms or trainers. I found placing a post on Facebook to be a helpful first step.
3. Be a Good Student – Go in to your first session with the mindset to learn and be coachable. I personally had to let go of thinking that I first needed to be knowledgeable about this activity.
4. Make Every Movement Count – The trainer during my one-on-one talked and demonstrated the importance of making every movement count, every time. It is part of our human design to move efficiently and with as little energy as possible. We can become haphazard and develop bad training habits by repeating improper posture or biomechanics.

Making Kettlebells Work For You

The benefits of kettlebells can vary from person to person. People use kettlebells to lose weight, strengthen, rehabilitate injury, improve range of motion, and increase flexibility. Many of the people I spoke to about kettlebells use the classes and exercises to support their main activity or sport, such as Brazilian jiu jitsu, running, and hockey.

If you are curious about how kettlebells can help you improve in your fitness or sport, I highly recommend trying it out. Search for a reputable trainer and give a class or training session a try. There are hundreds of kettlebell exercises and great trainers to help.

Read more about kettlebell training:

• All You Need to Know About Getting Started With Kettlebells
• 7 Exercises to Optimize Shoulder Health with Kettlebells
• The Kettlebell Swing: Why It’s the Perfect Exercise
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Training Kettlebells: Why You Shouldn’t Be Scared appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Is Your Exercise Routine Imbalanced?

Muscles frequently go “offline” and need to be retrained to fulfill their motor function. For example, have you ever had the experience that a muscle was just not firing or moving the way it used to? Are there muscles to which you have a hard time connecting or movements that challenge you? Pinched nerves or lack of training the brain to move a muscle in specific ways can lead to atrophy or feelings of paralysis.

RELATED: How to Recognize, Fix, and Prevent ITB Syndrome

Running on pavement and cardio-focused yoga salutations are two common exercises that concentrate on repetitive movements. They also tend to underutilize the mid-back, posterior thighs, and anterior shins. Specifically, the trapezius, medial hamstrings, and tibialis anterior weaken.

“If you are rusty on a movement, slow down and increase the number of repetitions until you are able to flex any individual muscle without moving a bone. This is muscular intelligence.”

It is easy to understand how pavement running affects the body, but you may be wondering how cardio yoga plays into injury. Several styles of yoga repeat a pattern of movements many times over the course of a class. This sequence, which I call “cardio yoga salutations,” includes the linking of plank, lowering to belly, cobra or upward facing dog, and downward facing dog.

Students love that this activity feels like cardio and produces sweat. But this rapid and repetitive weight-bearing sequence has its drawbacks as it can create shoulder joint degeneration from underutilizing trapezius, medial hamstrings, and tibialis anterior to support the movements.

FREE WORKOUTS FOR BEGINNERS: Start Your Athletic Journey

How to Improve Your Running and Yoga

Here are three motor skills to learn for better gains in running and all yoga. These are precise and simple movements to get these key muscles online and increase proprioception or physiological intelligence.

1. Conscious Flexion of Trapezius

Adduct your shoulder blades toward your spine and depress them toward your pelvis. This voluntary action has additional benefits in signaling pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and serratus anterior to pause from flexing.

“Pinched nerves or lack of training the brain to move a muscle in specific ways can lead to atrophy or feelings of paralysis.”

The stronger the flexion of mid-back muscles, the greater the stretch the chest receives. This is supportive for the shoulder (glenohumeral) joint to move the arms at an increased rate for pavement running and cardio-yoga salutations.

READ THIS: The Dynamic Duo of Shoulder Impingement

2. Conscious Flexion of Semitendinosis and Semimembranosus

Adduct and extend your thighbones toward each other and back behind your pelvis. This voluntary action signals the quadriceps group, tensor fasciae latae, and iliopsoas to pause from flexion.

RELATED YOGA FLOW: Hip Flexor Fun

The stronger the flexing to extend your thighs back, the greater the stretch the hip flexors receive. This is supportive for the hip joints and pelvis for pulling and pushing the legs efficiently and effectively during running and cardio-yoga salutations.

3. Conscious Flexion of Tibialis Anterior

Flex your foot toward your shin and flex the arch of your foot toward your inner calf. This voluntary action has additional benefits by signaling the calf group – gastrocnemius, tibialis posterior, and soleus to pause from flexing.

“These are precise and simple movements to get these key muscles online and increase proprioception or physiological intelligence.”

The stronger your flexing to lift the arch and foot, the greater the stretch your calf and back of your knee receives. This is supportive for the knee and ankle joints for walking and cardio-yoga salutations.

Diversify Your Movement for Better Results

Whatever sport or activity you do, look for ways to mix it up and diversify movement. This will encourage smaller or underutilized muscles to come online and help carry more weight.

TRY THIS: Basic Tumbling Skills You Should Have

Start with simple and precise movements and feel your way through the entire range of motion. By doing this, you strengthen your mental map of your muscles and their motions. If you are rusty on a movement, slow down and increase the number of repetitions until you are able to flex any individual muscle without moving a bone. This is muscular intelligence. Once you have that, then you are better skilled at turning the muscle on when it becomes lazy.

The old proverb, “If you don’t use it, you lose it” rings true here. Use it. Use them. All 300 (+/-fifteen) muscles of your body. You will be exponentially stronger and smarter for doing so.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Effective Cross-Training for Yoga and Running appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

With only seven vertebrate and 26 muscles supporting the weight of a human head, the neck is vulnerable, yet tolerates huge movements. If even one neck muscle splints or severs, there can be a host of problems radiating around our shoulders, skull, or jaw.

There have been several points in my life where I restored and rebuilt positive sensations in my neck after injury or intense dental work. Western rehabilitation practices are effective, but also incredibly limited. Closing the chapter of a decade of poor neck and jaw health resulted from looking outside the scope of traditional medicines. If I had become resourceful sooner and turned to alternative wellness models, I would have minimized injury and cut my healing time in half.

The Benefits of Oil Pulling

Disease prevention is in its infancy in the United States. On the contrary, in many other parts of the world, prevention is seen as the primary focal point of wellness. A peer of mine mentioned the benefits of Ayurveda and its oil pulling method years ago after a yoga workshop where we were both in attendance. In India, this ancient-science-based healing system has empowered and treated millions of people for thousands of years. Ayurveda is translated into “the study of the science of life” and dates back to 1200BC.

In April of 2014, I added oil pulling into my morning routine to treat my tight jaw and neck. My pterygoid, masseter, tongue, and hyoid muscles receive a great workout that left my throat, mouth, and jaw feeling relaxed. In addition this practice decreased the amount of oral bacteria that could otherwise cause inflammation and disease elsewhere in the body.

In the United States, Dr. Bruce Fife leads talks and interviews about the benefits of oral hygiene in regards to disease. He said, “What happens in the mouth can affect the entire body.” Joint pain, swelling, infections can occur, simply because of what brews in our mouth. In his book, Oil Pulling Therapy, Fife mentioned that oil can be used to pull out bacteria, plaque, pus, and mucous from ours gums and mouth.

Floyd Dewhirst, an associate professor in the Harvard-Forsyth Department of Oral Biology, found there are 615 bacterial species in the mouth. In his article about the mouth’s microbes, he stated that “many of the pathogenic organisms found in the mouth are likely to be found in infections elsewhere in the body, where they are not easily recoverable.” He illustrated how the mouth is not separate from, but rather, an integral part of the whole body system.

A Daily Routine for Overtaxed Bodies

Overtaxing the body comes in many forms: eating poor quality foods, not drinking enough water, limited exercise, limited mental rest, smoking, negative thinking, and being around external pollutants. These negative inputs take their toll and add up. Overloading our body with adrenaline and environmental pollutants will eventually cause illness. Our body can only deal with so much before it affects our chemistry and, ultimately, our health.

Add this Ayurvedic oral remedy in as part of your daily routine. It can produce some powerful results, alleviate issues with neck tension, and help with dental hygiene. 

Oil Pulling Directions

1. Use only high-quality sesame seed or organic coconut oil.
2. Begin with one tablespoon, eventually working up to two. I add two drops of peppermint, OnGuard blend, or Melaleuca oils for healing gums and freshness.
3. Swish the mixture around in your mouth for five minutes, eventually working up to twenty. Press the oil through your teeth and between your gums and lips. Also, get your tongue working. It is tiring at first, but your muscles will strengthen.
4. When finished, spit in the garbage – oils clog sinks and drains.
5. Floss, then brush.

In the weeks that follow taking on this practice, make note of the benefits you receive. Use oil pulling as a method to become more aware of having a relaxed neck and jaw. Look in the mirror and check for proper head alignment – meaning, tongue wide, mandible slack, jaw parallel to floor, ears over shoulders, shoulders at rest below ears, and eyes forward.

Notice if your head tilts, jaw clenches, or shoulders are uneven and work to correct this. The position you hold your body in can repeat poor alignment. This poor alignment becomes repetitive stress, which is injurious to your health.

Let the tension go. You won’t fall apart. You won’t lose your grip on reality. You will create a new, more enjoyable one.

References:

1. Science in the News. “The practice of oil pulling.” American Dental Association. 2014.

2. Chopra, D. Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine. New York: Bantam, 1989. Print.

3. Landau, M. “Oral Biology. The Mouth’s Microbes Could Hold Clues to Early Cancer Detection.” Harvard Focus. 2002.

4. Fife, B. Oil Pulling Therapy: Detoxifying and Healing the Body through Oral Cleansing. Colorado Springs: Piccadilly, 2008. Print.

Photo 1 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 by Dr. Johannes Sobotta [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

The post Oil Pulling: An Ancient Secret for Releasing Neck Tension appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Feeling is Universal

Romance, violence, and drama flood all forms of media in an effort to draw upon the heartstrings of viewers. Emotions projected on the screen manipulate those felt by the observer. They pull out of us what we long to develop in ourselves. We plug into technology to feed our hearts and pull the plug on real relationships. No wonder there is loneliness. There are cries for attention, affection, and connection in our hearts. But the only way they can be truly satisfied is through sincere connection with those around us.

Men and women alike have wells of raw emotion bubbling inside. This is not only a feminine trait. It crosses gender and culture. Feeling is universal. Feeling is what makes us human and gives us the ability to relate with others.

It is time, my friends, to take a stand for what is really inside us. Have courage and perpetuate empowerment by growing sensitization inside. Reverse the ancient paradigms that feeling is a sign of weakness. The stifling of feelings is what causes weakness, illness, and disease. These emotions wreak havoc in our guts and bloodstream through rising tension and internal conflicts. The sensations we stifle will make their way to the surface, sooner or later.

The Origin of Emotions

Get turned on by what you feel inside and learn to elaborate on those feelings. Look at a dictionary or list of emotions and choose one to focus on. Recall an instance in your life where you felt this emotion. Listen to where the sensation arises inside you as you remember. Make this a consistent practice. What you learn will help with the next stage – communication and expression.

Once you’ve made this a regular practice, then when you are out in the world and the first hint of a feeling arises, you can listen intently to find the origin. Listen to your insides. Take a breath and choose words that best represent what needs to be spoken. Write them down or slowly speak them.

Make Better Connections With These Practices

Eye Contact

Notice how often you make eye contact. Notice how long you look into someone’s eyes. The time can vary depending on what you do or want to feel. The longer the eye contact, the better the connection. Eye contact silently relays the emotions from deep inside. You will notice certain people will feel comforted by it, while others turn away as they may feel shy, uncomfortable with their own feelings, or possess an inability to connect.

Practice seeing, hearing, and feeling the love you have for someone close to you. Meet with him or her and call up these sensations. Look into his or her eyes for at least five seconds. Don’t stare with hardened eyes, widen them and allow for the communication to transmit with ease. Then ask what he or she thought you were feeling when you looked into each other’s eyes.

Affection

Do you resist giving affection? Why? What are your deepest feelings about giving or receiving affection? I was born a deeply affectionate person. When I withhold hugs or eye contact, these are indicators of something going the wrong direction. If giving affection is new for you, start with a small, simple gesture. Shake hands, give a pat on the back, or offer a hug. Be willing to feel uncomfortable or shaky at first. This will evolve with practice.

Asking Feeling Questions

You can become better at understanding your own feelings or how to communicate them by asking what others are feeling. Through your asking, the other person will become connected with you and can feel more at ease. In turn, this practice will help you feel more comfortable with your own feelings.

Turn Off the Phone

Have conversations with people who are physically present with you. Use your voice. Steer into the art of conversation by asking questions about details, listening and piggybacking onto responses with your own experiences.

Courage comes in all forms and for many reasons. It is not just for warriors going into battle. It shows up in small, but significant gestures like overcoming procrastination, resistance, or conflict. Feel freedom inside your self by overriding the social messages of “men don’t cry” or “women are overly emotional.” No one deserves these lies. These thoughts were instilled in us as methods of control, a way for others to keep us in check, ready to do as dictated to.

Instead, examine the truth behind your emotions and when you shut them down. Don’t hide in the phone, on Facebook, or on the computer. Pierce the veil of shyness, bringing about courage. Participate in life. You will be a happier, more fulfilled version of yourself. Living will be more like thriving.

This is a great message to spread, especially to loved ones with whom you long to have a deeper connection. This is a message worth going viral.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 4 Ways to Make Better Connections With Friends, Clients, and Yourself appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The Balance of Fear and Trust

Muladhara includes the genitals, anus, perineum and coccygeal muscles. When we sit, our organs rest heavily descended on the pelvic floor and our genitals close to the ground. This is a vulnerable position to be in.

Think about this, when people “take a seat,” they assert a steady position, trusting that no harm will come. We are certain and fixed, with our legs crossed and bent under each other, limiting the ability to swiftly run away from danger and toward safety.

Fear and trust go hand in hand. Too much fear is a paralyzing combination. Too much trust is promiscuity. Either way, too much is destructive to self or relationships deemed as close connections.

What Is Muladhara?

Trust. This is the fundamental quality associated with muladhara. Whether trust in physical self and the ability to carry out functions and responsibilities or trust of individuals we are closest to.

If someone has issues with trust, he or she may experience worry, anxiousness, indecisiveness, and isolation due to fear. Physical manifestations can include inflexibility and muscular pain, low back pain, adrenal fatigue, mental disorders, or issues along the spine.

Muladhara and Decision Making

Making big life decisions require a great deal of trust. Sometimes answers come readily and without emotional difficulty. Sometimes in an effort to make the best decision, people can wallow in analysis, seeking a path to the perfect outcome for a long time. Hours to decades, even.

Take for instance, seeking teenage independence. When making a move toward college, away from community, family, and routine, there needs to be trust in the outcome. Trust in the future that everything will go accordingly as planned. Trust in the vehicle to reach the destination, in shelter for protection, in the area that it is safe and secure, and that the new community will be friendly and not hostile. You can extrapolate this to many scenarios in our lives, as we age, grow, and mature.

Building Our Ability to Trust

In order for independence to be gained, we need to have a higher degree of trust that takes over the sense of fear. So, how do you have more trust? It requires boldness, courage, and will.

Visualize your safety net of community as support to hold you steady when you land at your destination. What specifically do you need to feel trust? Make a list of necessary resources and do these steps outlined below.

Connect with muladhara and build trust:

• Find a secure, safe location and sit.
• Breathe in a way that you sincerely feel throughout your body.
• Imagine the people in your present life who validate your passions.
• Imagine the people in your present life who give you sage advice.
• Imagine the people in your present life who have been physically present to help you through a challenging time.
• Imagine the people in your past who modeled wise actions, maybe an action you are needing to take. What have they done that you learned from?
• What resources do you need to make wise decisions? List them out. Write them down.
• What do you trust, right now, in your life, that is steady and shows consistency? List them out. Write them down.

Taking Action Based on Trust

If there is a decision or action you need to take, feel into your groin and genitals. Ask yourself where you need to feel trust to make the decision or take action. Make a list of resources you need and get to it. There is no need to face your fears without first collecting all the tools you need to build a successful outcome. So, get to it.

As I close up the loop of this series on chakras, my hope is you walk away with some gem of wisdom or tool to use in your life. But just as is necessary with tools, it is up to you to decide how to apply them for your own purposes.

If you have specific questions, I would love to hear from you. We all need to know support exists as we continue on this journey of life. Take advantage of that and trust. Ignite inner power and go! Life is short – too short to live small and stifled by fears.

Read about the other chakras:

Chakras Demystified: Sahasrara – The 7th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Ajna – The 6th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Vishudda – The 5th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Anahata – The 4th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Manipura – The 3rd Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Swadhisthana – The 2nd Chakra

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Chakras Demystified: Muladhara – The 1st Chakra appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

What Is Swadhisthana?

Use your hands to trace from your navel to the top of your front hip, around back to your lumbar spine, opposite hip, and back to your navel. Now, trace from you pubic bone to the front low hip crease around back to tailbone and sacrum, to opposite front low hip crease, and back to the pubic bone. This is the area of your second chakra. Internal organs affected by this chakra include the appendix, bladder, and lower intestines, as well as the uterus, fallopian tubes, vagina, cervix, and ovaries in women and prostate gland in men.

Discernment and the Second Chakra

Think about how you value money. What is your trend? Do you tend to spend indiscriminately or are you more frugal? Do you hoard money? Do you loan it out frequently, never to see it again? How do you decide what to do with money?

Discernment is the big theme here. Knowing our own self-worth helps us to establish and maintain personal boundaries. Know when the time is appropriate to say “no” and hold this boundary strong.

What do you value about yourself? How did you establish this sense of value? Did people tell you or did you come to discover this on your own? Does it relate to your truest sense of self? Answering these questions can bring clarity to understanding how we create ourselves into who we are.

Your Digestive System and the Second Chakra

Examine how you discern information. We need to have a good filtering system to keep what is relevant and right for us – and let go of what is not ours to hold. If our filtration and elimination system is compromised, our body may become constipated and riddled with a backlog of toxins. This holding harms us. When digestion moves freely, our body naturally lets go of the unwanted, indigestible, innutritious particles.

Having too rigid of rules and expectations about relationships or money is like having retentive bowels. We may try to control the world around us. Personal growth is not possible because development requires flexibility and an open mind. Conversely, loose boundaries have a laxative effect. When too lax, we spend our time, money, energy, and voice indiscriminately and can become appetizing to hungry predators or drained from giving ourselves away to anyone that comes along.

Connecting to the second chakra can help you feel the feedback from how this area responds to your boundaries around food, sexuality, beliefs, and finances. Use the feedback to discern what needs to stay and what needs to be eliminated. Become balanced by valuing your self and from this place, you will make more wise decisions.

Read about the other chakras:

Chakras Demystified: Sahasrara – The 7th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Ajna – The 6th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Vishudda – The 5th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Anahata – The 4th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Manipura – The 3rd Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Muladhara – The 1st Chakra

Look for future “Chakras Demystified” articles as we work our way through each of the seven chakras. If you have any questions about swadhisthana, please post to the comments below.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Chakras Demystified: Swadhisthana – The 2nd Chakra appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Other days you might wake up feeling blah, circulating fretful thoughts or feelings as though lying in bed is more pleasurable than what lies ahead in the day. And then there are the visceral fluctuations throughout the day that occur moment to moment.

Manipura: The Third Chakra

Do you wonder about the sensations circulating around your core? When paid attention to, these areas can provide feedback for what you are thinking, what you are focused on, and how you feel emotionally. Ignoring or denying these sensations can lead to lethargy, depression, overeating, constipation, or perpetuating addictive behaviors.

Sometimes thinking about big changes or starting over can prevent us from taking action. The visceral sensations will escalate the longer they are ignored, eventually building up enough internal pressure for a release of epic proportion. The release can be implosive or explosive. Feeling stuck can be a symptom of inactivity in the solar plexus. The examples below can tell us it is time to take action:

• Belly heat felt from anxiety or worry.
• Nausea, churning, tightness from anticipation.
• Diarrhea from overproduction of worry.
• Numbness or weakness felt around belly from repeating ill-feeling patterns.
• Constipation from feeling stuck or blocked, or uncertainty in how to remove the obstruction to move forward.

Change With Small Steps

Overthinking and obsessive thinking pump out a cocktail of acidic chemicals. When this happens to me, I feel like I am on a never-ending treadmill on the highest setting trying to rehydrate with battery acid. Yuck. And then the visualizations of slamming on my belly and getting launched into a wall enter my mind. Now, that part just cracks me up enough inside to warrant change.

Here is how I evoke my inner warrior and step off the treadmill (sometimes gracefully, sometimes not). At first, the transition can feel like running wildly down a muddy trail. Slipping and sliding toward an edge, tripping over roots, stepping in puddles, leaping over rocks. All of this can make it an adventure of errors and micro-calibrations to stay on the trail.

Focus on your footing. Think small steps. Take small steps. Get traction. Repeat.

A Word of Caution

If you are the type of person who will set unrealistic goals that require a quantum leap or quitting something cold turkey, you may be setting yourself up for failure. When you hear yourself showering in “shoulds” (“I should run fifteen miles right now” when your body is honestly capable of five), take a couple breaths and rethink your strategy. Move toward ease. Ask yourself what is more realistic to accomplish. Maybe start with less mileage. It is easier to add more than beat yourself up with over intensifying – or the guilt of not completing the goal at all.

You will know you are on the right track with these telltale signals from the gut. They can reflect that we are living out our willpower and taking action. Now that feels good.

• Warmth from feeling pleasure with present events.
• Energized from proper absorption of nutrients.
• Lightness from daily bowel movements.

Take small, deliberate steps. This will produce a string of accomplishments – and eventually many accomplishments – and all because we decided to be honest with our self. We got real. We created a personal management system to follow to produce positive results. We win consistently and feel powerful. Now that is being a warrior.

The post Chakras Demystified: Manipura – The 3rd Chakra appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Create your life with your heart as the driver. Choose consistently to make decisions that you are passionate about. Having heart is about stepping outside what feels stifling, constraining to your nature. Anahata is non-boring and instead is “doing aliveness.”

Anahata: The Fourth Chakra

As I set out to write these articles on chakras, my objective was to provide a tapestry of information based on my experience, as well as incorporating the experiences of others and historical perspective. I could talk about what everyone else on the web speaks. That anahata is associated with the colors, green, pink, or red. That the organs involved are heart and thymus. Explain how this area has a physiological command over immune function. But, so what? That doesn’t help you comprehend or connect viscerally with how to apply this knowledge. I am going to share about what is relevant in my own life. How to actually use anahata.

The definition of anahata is “unhurt, unstruck, or unsound.” This is a bizarre definition to link to the heart. Who could possibly have an unhurt, unstruck, or unsound heart? Well, face it, life happens. Even the most diligent monks who devote their existence to spreading messages of hope and mindfulness have stress and pains. Tell me the Dalai Lama doesn’t experience feelings of hurt. That is unrealistic.

To think that my heart is or should feel unstruck or unhurt leads my mind to try to fix something. But that is not what is needed. The nature of a human is not something that needs to be fixed. We are not machines. We live, viscerally.

Anahata in Real Life

I’m sitting here connected to unavoidable heartfelt feelings. My phone is buzzing like bhramari receiving and sending texts to my dearheart friend who faces the toughest decision of his life. I am hunting around inside myself in search of how to provide you the best articles. What comes through is to talk about these chakras in a way that I am connecting to with my own heart, in this moment.

I sit, think, and feel around for clarity. This level of connection is elusive, sometimes strong, and sometimes subtle. Sometimes I am locked inside intellect and disconnected to feelings. I struggle to find words describing what I feel. Partially because I was not taught about what feelings are or how to manage them. I was taught to be quiet, sit still, and listen. I learned how to turn off my heart and seek love in intellect and accomplishment.

I recently realized I was trying to intellectualize love. Making decisions that “felt right” did not happen because I made cautious, calculated decisions. That is, until two years ago when a major life event severed my conditioned wiring and blew apart the dam around my heart. My life practice now is about making the journey from my analytical mind into feelings.

As someone who thrives with organization, structure, and logic, my experience of feelings is that they elicit the opposite. Ugh. Sometimes they are so messy and challenging to understand. Thus, using anahata is ultimately about making the decision to reconnect into vulnerability and allowing the self to feel sincere. Using anahata means being a leader and stepping away from norms. Living with integrity to your own wants, needs and desires. Unbridling curiosity and passion to do what is wise for you.

How to Access Your Heart and Make Decisions

This exercise below will help you rein in loose thoughts and feelings about goals or desires. It will help you gain clarity on how to move forward. For me, this experience is both exciting and bizarre. It helps me access my emotions in a way that I can manage and feel at ease doing so with privacy. Learning this skill helped me quit a job, create a yoga studio, build deeper relationships, heal injuries, frame difficult conversations, and speak on my own behalf.

This breath focus is on the holding of the breath. If you are pregnant or have heart conditions, only hold your breath for a few brief seconds. Govern your needs.

Basic set up:

1. Grab a pen and paper.
2. Be in a quiet environment.
3. Be in a comfortable position. Still.
4. Bring hands on heart.
5. Inhale. Feel your ribs expand.
6. Pause. Hold your breath.
7. Be still. Heart is muscle. Feel your heart pumping.
8. Exhale.

Up-Leveling:

1. Prepare to write down questions, insights, and answers. There is a warm up period with accessing heart wisdom. Be patient and listen. Refocus as necessary. Repeat as necessary. Enjoy this process. It can make life much easier and rewarding.
2. Pick a current life decision you need to make. Examples could be whether or not to take a new job or how to talk with a partner about something difficult. Choose one now. Set it in front of you. Bring your hands on your heart.
3. Take a deep breath in and feel the connection between your hands and ribcage. Pause. Hold your breath. Feel your heart. Ask it your question. Exhale.
4. Take deep breaths and continue to dialogue with your heart. Write down what comes through.

Experiment daily with heart dialogue. What you experience can be thrilling and clarifying. Organize your emotions to make decisions that bring peace of mind. I like that. That is smart!

Read about the other chakras:

Chakras Demystified: Sahasrara – The 7th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Ajna – The 6th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Vishudda – The 5th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Manipura – The 3rd Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Swadhisthana – The 2nd Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Muladhara – The 1st Chakra

Look for future “Chakras Demystified” articles as we work our way through each of the seven chakras. If you have any questions about anahata, please post to the comments below.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Chakras Demystified: Anahata – The 4th Chakra appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I once heard Wayne Dyer say, “Don’t die with your music still in you.” Our voice is our music and our throat is the instrument that sends our melodic tone throughout the world. One note of our personal genius at a time. So, speak up and speak out – often and deliberately. Liberate your soul to your heart’s content. Be quiet no longer!

Vishuddha: The Fifth Chakra

Vishuddha involves the area where heartfelt feelings and intellect create a verbal symphony. Choking on words, stifling feelings, or locking your jaw can create problems around lymph glands, the thyroid, and breathing. Additionally, wearing a mouthpiece, suffering from whiplash, and being told to stop talking can also add to shutting down or injuries around our neck.

Your neck. Feel it. Bring your hands to feel along jawbone, base of skull, cervical spine, throat, collarbones, edge of your shoulders, and around your back to the top of shoulder blades. Clamping our jaw and tensing our throat muscles cuts off nerve supply, blood, and oxygen, and strangles our thyroid. Our thyroid is responsible for regulating hormones for organ function, brain development, and body temperature.

And on another level, although it’s obvious that our neck attaches our head to the rest of our body, it is also a tunnel connecting our brain to our heart. So, open up. Risk and reveal what lies inside. Vishuddha is a place for liberation. Freedom can be felt here. Freedom from restraint. Feeling at liberty to express yourself fully. This is my personal experience.

This area is associated with the color blue. Can you sense why? Blue is associated with water and air, a vastness that flows freely and unencumbered. It is limitless, like our breath. Depression is also a color associated with blue. And how depressing it is to dampen our voice or withhold parts of our self that long to be free?

How to Exercise Our Voice

Allow internal messages to be heard or seen or felt. Transform expression into a mode for connecting with the external world. Write, speak, and do. Revealing what you want to express can feel scary and exciting at the same time. Consider it an adventure. Focus on what you can do and begin with small steps to build up your confidence. Here are a couple exercises to get you started:

<strong”>Lion’s Breath

We can use different breathing exercises to prime our fifth chakra for soulful expression. Lion’s breath is done with the mouth open. It can feel really sweet and lead to developing verbal skills. Follow this simple sequence to relax your mind and enter a still, silent place. You can do this in many poses, while sitting at work, or at a time when you need a mental break. Do three rounds.

Set Up: Sit cross-legged. Hands forward in front of shins and palms down. Do the first two lion’s breaths softly, and then turn up the volume as needed. Have fun.

Breathing:

• Inhale. Feel your ribs expand.
• Exhale. Mouth open, tongue arcing down over chin. ROAR soft.
• Inhale. Feel your breath move through nostrils and down your throat.
• Exhale. Mouth open, tongue arcing down over chin. ROAR soft.
• Inhale. Feel your breath lift collarbones.
• Exhale. Mouth open, tongue arcing down over chin. ROAR LOUDER. Feel a release and sense of relief from held tension.

Bhramari

Bhramari is a sound producing a rhythmic vibration similar to humming. Basically, I consider it humming with lips closed. As you try it, play with pitch and volume. High or low, get the breath to vibrate around your throat and neck. Do three rounds.

Set Up: Bring your hands around your neck or throat.

Breathing:

• Inhale. Feel your ribs expand.
• Exhale. Bhramari buzzing up lower jaw.
• Inhale. Feel your breath move through nostrils and down your throat.
• Exhale. Bhramari buzzing up thyroid, cervical spine.
• Inhale. Feel your breath lift collarbones.
• Exhale. Bhramari buzzing up relaxing shoulders from ears.

Read about the other chakras:

Chakras Demystified: Sahasrara – The 7th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Ajna – The 6th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Anahata – The 4th Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Manipura – The 3rd Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Swadhisthana – The 2nd Chakra

Chakras Demystified: Muladhara – The 1st Chakra

Look for future “Chakras Demystified” articles as we work our way through each of the seven chakras. If you have any questions about vishuddha, please post them to the comments below.

Photo 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Chakras Demystified: Vishuddha – The 5th Chakra appeared first on Breaking Muscle.