"Sitting is the new smoking" is a trendy phrase right now, yet many of us sit a lot! We sit at work. We sit because our muscles and joints are sore or simply because we're not active. What to do?
Here are some very simple physioyoga rules to help you sit well, feel ease in sitting and help gravity pass vertically through you, not push you forward or backward. Short term sitting is OK. Long term sitting isn't!
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Hello Full Circle Friends. I've asked "local" women who work with women to share their offerings on my blog. The first brave submitter is Shona Bohmer who lives and works in Cranbrook.
Here's her story: What is Restore Your Core™ Restore Your Core™ (RYC®) is an exercise program that uses a whole-body approach to train your core and pelvic floor muscles to be more functional, reflexive, and supportive. Diastasis recti and pelvic organ prolapse safe. Name: Shona Bohmer Location: Cranbrook, British Columbia Canada Website: www.shonabohmer.com Social Media handles: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shonabohmermovement/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shona.bohmer/ Restore Your Core™ Offerings: Group Classes, Workshops, One on One sessions in person or online via Zoom Describe your life in 3 sentences. I’m a married mom of 3 amazing and nearly grown children. I enjoy gentle strengthening and mobility exercises, hiking, mountain biking, and lazing at the lake on a hot day. Restore Your Core™ has changed how I approach everything I do and I’ve turned into a total movement and body nerd! What inspired you to become an RYC® teacher? While recovering from a car accident that left me in chronic pain, I discovered my passion for helping women in their own healing journeys. I found RYC® 6-months post-accident and it became clear to me why I was still having pain. My previous fitness choices and compensatory patterns left me unsupported, vulnerable to injury, and delayed my healing. I had been a regular exerciser for decades and had taken countless group classes (crossfit, dance, pilates, yoga, etc.). I had participated in workshops and retreats and, although I had put the time in, I knew very little about the body or movement. As I progressed through RYC® I found myself asking: “Why don’t I know this?” and “Why has no one ever told me this?” I learned so much in the process of healing my body, I felt compelled to share my knowledge. What piece of advice would you give your pre-RYC® self? Listen to my body and take time to rest. Pushing through pain or injury doesn’t work! What makes you a standout RYC® teacher? I love helping women understand how their alignment, compensations, and breathing patterns can influence their bodies. I support clients in developing the awareness required to improve their movement patterns, which ultimately reduces their pain and symptoms of core and pelvic floor dysfunction. Through this process women feel empowered and able to return to doing what they love. I develop meaningful relationships with my clients and continue to check-in on their progress, answer questions, and offer encouragement. In addition to being a certified RYC® teacher, I’m also trained in therapeutic yoga. I know from personal experience that healing is possible and it’s never too late to start. Thanks Shona! Stay tuned to hear from others.....wonder about Hypopressives? Pelvic Yoga Therapy? Core Strengthening classes at the Creston Rec Centre? Let's all share! What is More important than Diet and Exercise in Women’s Health? SLEEP!
How does sleep deprivation during all seasons of a woman’s life affect your health? “Catastrophic sleep loss epidemic” is how sleep researcher Dr. Matthew Walker (U of C Berkley) describes sleep challenges. The factors contributing to sleep loss are: the electrification of our homes, the electronic connectedness of our lives, the porous membrane between our home and work lives, loneliness/depression, the prevalence of alcohol and caffeine and hormonal changes. He has confirmed through research and clinical studies that lack of sleep contributes to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, poor mental health and obesity. We also stigmatize sleep by associating a long, restorative sleep or nap with laziness or shame. Eight hours is still our healthy goal. But how do we get there? Make it non-negotiable. Plan your day around sleep. Exercise must be before dinner, preferably before lunch. Light stretching or restorative yoga are good options for your evening. Reduce the size of your evening meal so that digestion is a breeze…make lunch your hearty meal! Eliminate sugar. Completely. Avoid alcohol at dinner but if you’re so inclined, enjoy it with food and strictly keep it to 5 oz. (that’s ½ c. + 1 T.)! Daytime naps should be restricted to 20 minutes maximum and be completed before 1 pm. Go to bed at the same time every night, setting your blanketed alarm for the same time every morning. Be consistent to the point of being rigid! Set a second alarm for 2 hours before your dedicated bedtime. When it rings, turn off ALL blue light emitters in your home, from your smartphone to your ipad/ereader to your laptop/TV screens. Think of all the quieting activities that you provided for your babies in order to make sure that they (and you, the exhausted new parent) slept. Downtraining. Calming. Enjoy a warm bath or shower (unless that’s your morning wake-up call!). Savour a light protein snack (boiled egg, small piece of cheese, strip of chicken breast….no carbohydrate) to hold you through that pancreas/energy dip in the wee hours of the morning. Your bladder shouldn’t awaken you at night unless you’re over 60, then only one trip to the loo is acceptable. It is effective to reduce your fluid intake after dinner to give your bladder an opportunity to learn to behave. If you enjoy a warm drink before bed, make it chamomile tea or warm milk…..nothing with alcohol. Alcohol is pure sugar and guaranteed to keep you from falling asleep and/or to awaken you in a few hours. Do a “brain dump”….write down all your concerns, lists and plans and leave it in the kitchen. Tomorrow will be soon enough to tackle it all and as Mom said, “It will all look better in the morning.” Your bedroom should be a “sleep cove”….a dark and comfortable room with light restricting curtains, cool, comfortable temperature, your body kept warm (cozy quilts or blankets) and comfortable (clean, fresh sheets that invite you to sleep). A light spray of lavender has been proven as a sleep promoter. And your bedroom is not for reading, lounging, chatting, talking on the phone…..your bedroom is for sleep and intimacy. Nothing else! Your own sleep- promoting, dedicated space. It takes time to retrain your sleep patterns. Be patient, firm and compassionate with yourself. Making sleep a priority now is an important part of your own self care and health promotion. Look forward to bedtime, enjoy the restoration that sleep brings and awake with energy for today! |
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