Top Session 2

Well we got well and truly soaked in our second session! So I hope you all took good care of yourselves the rest of the day. I made sure I had a warm shower, wore warm snuggly clothes and nourished myself with warm, grounding foods and drinks. It always pays to be aware of how best to recover from whatever you do…because in recovery healing and strengthening occurs. R&R is as important as the actual work!

So a few things that came up! Tight calf muscles, Plantar fasciitis (PF), and proper breathing techniques! And all that in the rain as well 🙂

Interestingly tight calf muscles  will be contributing to PF and even breath work has an impact on the calf…so its a whole body thing! Here at BLOOM, everything I do and work with is a whole-body approach. So lets go through a few things that will help

 Plantar fasciitis

The ligament called the plantar fascia is a flat band of tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes. One of its most important duties is to support the arch of your foot. Overuse, doing too much exercise too soon,modern shoes, high heels all can upset you plantar fascia which can get swollen, irritated, and inflamed, which will make your heel hurt when you stand or walk. Most often the pain is stabbing and intense during your first few steps in the morning, and again after any time you spend sitting idly for a while.

Some things you can do:

• Gentle and regular calf stretch. Doing a calf stretch just two or three times a week is unlikely to make a difference.Bring calf stretching into your every day living. You can do this by placing a rolled up towel or yoga mat under the ball of your feet…..then just hang out, do the ironing, cook, just stand there, whatever.
• Hamstring stretches…remember everythings connected!
• Roll your foot with a fairly firm ball or a rolling pin. You’ll often hear that rolling with iced bottle (ie cold therapy) works but you can try rolling after a warm soak too when all the muscles are relaxed. See which works best for you
• Warm foot soaks in Magnesium (Epsom) salts
• Use Toe Alignment socks( shown) around the house
• Inflammed fascia can also indicate insulin resistance . This occurs well before your bloods are high in sugar and you are proclaimed pre-diabetic/diabetic. So it may be a good time to reflect of how much sugar/refined carb/ excess fruits etc is in your diet.

Breathing

I can’t stress how important this is! It is linked to absolutely everything we do and are. Proper breathwork will improve everything from your anxiety levels to your pelvic floors!

One of the benefits of exercise it that it helps get us breathing deeply bringing oxygen into deeper levels of the body and getting rid of carbon dioxide efficiently. But you dont have to run or do a sweaty workout to get that same(better)level of efficiency. Just learn the art of breathing.

Here is something to start you off

• Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and your spine reasonably straight.
•  Bring your attention to your breathing.
•  Imagine that you have a balloon in your tummy. Every time you breathe in, the balloon inflates. Each time you breathe out, the balloon deflates. Notice the sensations in your abdomen as the balloon inflates and deflates. Become aware of your abdomen rising with the in-breath, and falling with the out-breath.
•  Try to maintain this practice for a couple of mnutes at least, noticing these sensations with every breath.

You can do this lying in bed standing, sitting in the car, in a queue at Tesco, at your desk at work, ANYWHERE!

If you are struggling with the connection try it lying in bed first . Its a bit easier to make the connection as all your other muscles are pretty relaxed.

This is a daily practice. If you have a dysfunctional breath pattern (most do…even fitties!) then you do need to re-train yourself to activate the right musculature again so keep at it . Bring it into your daily living. Obviously, we are luck we have a 5-times a day opportunity gifted to us.

I always suggest to my Muslim clients to do this just before starting prayer while standing (just 3/4 breaths) then at the end while sitting. Even just one or two breaths helps to connect you and reset you..mentally too 🙂

So, try and integrate these tips into your busy lives. The benefits of these will extend way beyond your 5/10K .

See you in January!