Yoga and Stretching Ease Back Pain

Something I read with interest in the news this week. A large randomised controlled trial in the US has shown that both yoga and stretching can lead to better function and decreased symptoms from chronic low back pain. Although this was no surprise to me, it’s always good to have evidence to back up our practice…I believe they call it evidence based practice…

If you would like to read the entire article, please follow the link below:

Largest US Yoga Study to Date Finds Yoga Eases Back Pain

Injury Blues

Last week I injured my shoulder whilst training in martial arts. Yeah, I know…if I’m going to play silly games I should expect things like that to happen! My first emotion was anger. Anger about the way it happened, who was to blame, “I should have known better”, etc. This got me thinking about the mental aspects of injury.

In 1969, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross released a groundbreaking  book called “On Death and Dying”. It included a model which described the process by which people coped and dealt with grief and tragedy. Tragedies such as being diagnosed with a terminal illness. She defined 5 stages:

• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

Interestingly, she later discovered that this process also applied to other forms of loss such as; the loss of a job, the end of a relationship, injury, etc. Although there are 5 stages, not everyone goes through all of them. Also, the order is not necessarily as shown above and people can dip in and out of a particular stage.

Athina Markou and Karen Wager-Smith have recently postulated that severe stress and adverse life events can lead to neurobiological processes that physically alter the brain. They believe this is an adaptive response and that it is accompanied by wound healing mechanisms such as inflammation. Certain neurons die, others sprout, change shape and make new connections as the brain rewires itself.

With injuries, the sooner we reach acceptance, the sooner we can start to work on the road to physical recovery. Fortunately for me, my injury isn”t serious and so, it didn’t take long to “get my head around it” and reach acceptance. I’d like to share with you something that really helped me. It’s a video documentary of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Braulio Estima.

Braulio Estima Road to ADCC Episode 4 – YouTube

It’s a wonderful illustration of how adversity can be faced with courage…and the miracles that can be achieved with belief, determination and perseverance.

“The first wealth is health”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome to Healing in Motion

I guess I should start from the beginning. Why ‘Healing in Motion’? ‘Healing’ obviously relates to health, something that a lot of us take for granted…until it goes awry. Our health must be continuously cultivated through our actions and our behaviour. Good health is something to be cherished surely?

The word ‘Motion’ has a dual significance. It expresses physical movement. Our bodies are built for movement and thrive on it. When combined with ‘Healing’, it represents a process. I love the word process! It can be defined as a series of changes taking place in a definite manner…and that is exactly what ‘Healing in Motion’ is about…a series of physical, mental and/or emotional changes taking place in a definite manner and steadily moving you towards better health.

What will I write about in this blog? Well, I will include research, news, exercises, tips, quotes, musings and anything else that I think may be of interest and benefit in helping you achieve great health. Welcome!