Reposturing Dynamics-- New Prices for the New Year

The time has come. As Reposturing continues to grow, it's incumbent on me to extend the opportunity to offer Reposturing services to more and more practitioners. At the Vitality Center, you'll meet Sharon Caren who has been working with me for ten years, having taken a thousand hours of training, assisting, and study with me. You'll also meet Hensl, who has completed an intensive study of Reposturing series for every area of the body and is also certified as a Reposturing Fitness Trainer.

What this means is, I will no longer be taking new clients after December 31, 2007, except at a higher rate and a new service structure. Clients who begin with me between now and the end of December, will be served at the current rates throughout their time with me. Your rates and service structure will not change after the beginning of the year.

Starting January 1, 2008, sessions for new clients will be 90-minutes, including a 45-50 minute treatment of Reposturing followed by a 30-minute relaxing massage immediately afterward.
The 90-minute session with me will be $400. Initial sessions will be 2 hours and $600.

Meanwhile, new clients who begin after the New Year will have the opportunity to be served by either Hensl at $100 or Sharon at $120 per session.

So if you want to work with me personally or you have been thinking about sharing Reposturing with your friends and associates, act now to book your first session before December 20, 2007.

Minimizing Job Stress Before It's Too Late

Minimizing Job Stress Before It’s Too Late

Here you are, minding your own business, doing a great job, then someone asks you to perform what amounts to a professional miracle. They have no idea that what they want will require the [insert your job here] equivalent of leaping through flaming hoops, doing backward flips while juggling three apples and eating one of them in mid-air.

The good news is, you come through. You make it work and you deliver the goods, on time and just a little over budget. The "not so good" news is that, just as you're about to exhale and recover from the job-gymnastics routine, three other people call or come over to you and say: "Hey, you're pretty good! Can you come over and do that for me, too?" Only, I need it a little sooner and a lot cheaper."

There is a phrase in Spanish that loosely translates: "By mistake, I killed a dog once-- Now they call me a dog killer." They don't have a phrase for when you work a miracle once. However, if you find yourself in a quandary of how to think about this, Lao-Tzu had a phrase: "If it doesn't kill you first, it will make you stronger."

If you are time-crunched and have to go work another miracle right now, the quick-view, bottom line solution is, pick one of the following choices:
1) Do it superbly, name your price, including number of days off to recover and recharge.
2) Decline it, just say no, you can't do it under any circumstances and maintain personal and professional integrity.
3) Deflect it; don't automatically take their bait. This is to make them look good - not you!
Or
4) Let THEM delegate it to the three other people who should be doing it, even though they aren't as good at it as you are.
Thanks, it's been great. Call me if I can be of any support in the mind/body department. See ya--

If you have a little time, let’s have a deeper discussion about this phenomenon of being a miracle worker.

Deciding to Do the Miracle
Most of us like to do our best work every time, no matter how much time and money it takes. However, often, we find ourselves challenged by time, money, talent, technology or all of it. Here is where you say to yourself, "This is an opportunity for me to grow and learn. Working through this will get me closer to self-mastery. And that's good.

The key to this step is: Just do it –but on your terms, at your price. Then reward yourself for what you learned and accomplished. Take quiet time to self-reflect, for it is in the quiet spaces that the inner self recharges and re-calibrates itself for great contribution next time.

Declining Opportunity.
Don’t do it. If you're having trouble with this part, it may imply that you're new in your career and you're not sure if this one time is going to be the opportunity that could make or break your career, reputation or both. The bottom line is "just say no, can't do it. You don't even have to give a reason why.

If your commitment is to excellence in your work or your job, to say "yes" to this opportunity is also a vote "yes" for mediocrity at your expense. The more you exercise the "no" muscle, the better you will get at it.

Deflecting Opportunity.
Your colleague comes to you and begins to moan and whine about how they're so busy and so swamped, or so professionally challenged that their life is being made miserable because they don't have what it takes to do as good a job as you could do in the amount of time they have. Woe is them…..

That's your cue to say, "Aw, gee, that's too bad. I'm sure that something will work out for you. Thanks for the conversation. See ya later." This opportunity is to make them (your whiner) look good. It's rarely a good clean chance to make you look good no matter how much of a hero they make it sound like you will be if you rescue them our of their predicament.

Lastly, Let THEM delegate this project to the three other people who should be doing this job, even though those other people are not as good as you are or as experienced as you are. Don't make the mistake of agreeing to make sure it gets done, which only means that you have now accepted work that got dumped on you that you either have to do poorly at your expense or delegate it.

Consider the possibility that the reason why more opportunities exist is so more people can take advantage of them, not so that highly competent people can be taken advantage of. If you are a miracle worker, when you do say "yes," make sure it's on your terms for doing excellent work, including your requests for preparation time, ample talent & budget resources, time to do the job, and the opportunity to recover and rejuvenate yourself after a job well done.

Reposturing Classes at the Living Well Expo

Hey Friends!

For those of you who wanted to know if I ever teach Reposturing exercise classes-- I will be leading the Reposturing Yoga workout at the Living well Expo in San Jose on September 8 and 9 starting on Saturday at 3:00pm and Sunday at 2:00pm.

I could use some help in the booth, would you like to join me?

Join us at the Wisdom Festival

Please join us at the Wisdom Festival where we will be giving mini-Reposturing treatments and postural assessments. We will be there on Sept 15 and 16 at Fort Mason Center's Herbst Pavilion.

Dear Vitality Man,

There is a lot of talk about meditation to reduce stress and for general health. What exactly is meditation? How does it help? How do you meditate?
-Sam in Palo Alto

Dear Sam,
Throughout the centuries, cultures throughout the world have used some form of quieting the self for various purposes. The reasons can range anywhere from to pray for rain, to connect with the inner voice of one's deity, or to just take a breather away from the stress and noise in our daily lives.

Most meditating cultures have rituals surrounding their meditation, such as washing the face, hands and feet, or singing a song, or chanting a verse or mantra. I've even seen people close their eyes and meditate at parties.

I've come to the conclusion that there's no rule for why, what, or how to meditate, or how long under what circumstances. However, here are some guidelines that might be helpful as you consider meditation for yourself:
(1) Ask yourself: "If I had a quiet voice that could tell me something that would be helpful, under what circumstances would I best be able to hear and understand the messages from that voice?" (2) Ask yourself: "How long would I need to go offline to hear that voice, at least for that situation." (3) Ask yourself: "How often do I need to do this, given my lifestyle, workstyle, and priorities." (4) Finally, don't make any rules or consequences around taking time to go offline to connect with that quiet voice.

In my opinion, ideally, one's daily life and livelihood should reflect the nature of their inner self and spiritual journey. Hence, the less your lifestyle and workstyle are attuned to your highest expression of self, the more you would "need" to meditate to retune yourself with your inner guide.

Conversely, the more your life and workstyle allow you to truly express who you are inside in a way that makes a meaningful difference in the world, the less you need to take separate time out to "meditate". In an ideal world, our meals would be a "meal-meditation", our walking would be "walking-meditation", and our work would transform into "working-meditation" and so on. And the world would be a better place for all of us for generations to come.

SenSpa Review

A couple of weekends ago, Alicia and I took an afternoon and went up to enjoy our time at Senspa. Senspa is a relatively new day spa in San Francisco in the Presidio located right across from Lucas Studios. The surroundings once you walk inside are immediately grounding. It was as though I had gone through the experience of all the stress and anxiety to catch a plane and when I finally get seated-- I exhale. When I arrived in Senspa, I exhaled, letting out all the pent-up tension and stress of pushing deadlines, projects, and plans forward at The Vitality Center.

After we arrived, the attentive staff gave us a tour that made us feel comfortable and very much at home. The surroundings are serene with earth tones and with open quiet spaces. There is a feeling of opulence without the ostentation. Other guests I encountered in the waiting areas were friendly and unpretentious.

By the time we took a 10-minute steam and showered in the high-tech 5-point shower, I was ready for my deep-tissue body work session. On the spa menu of services, there were at least half a dozen different types of treatments you could get. I received a session called, "Legs, legs legs", where the therapist focuses on the lower body. That's something I've never seen on any other spa menu. It was certainly pleasurable and made my legs tingle with new circulation all weekend long. Alicia got a different treatment that helped her relax from her busy time at Que SeRaw SeRaw.

In every nook and corner, there were small Zen messages that remind guests of how important it is to take care of the inner you with healthy thoughts, healthy choices, and healthy food. They even have exotic tea and healthy munchies in the cooling off area after the treatment. All-in-all, I give Senspa 4.5 out of 5 stars. The other half star would have been valet parking.

DEAR OPRAH...

Dear Friends of Reposturing,

Over the years, many of you have offered to write a letter to Oprah Winfrey with testimonials about your experience of Reposturing Dynamics or the Reposturing Yoga workout. Now that my books are out and my licensees are ready to teach the Reposturing Training, I would like to accept your offer.

If you have a brief story (more than 100 words) to tell about your experience of being Reposturized, or working with me as a trainer, coach, massage therapist, etc., please send your story to Oprah Winfrey's website and CC to US!
Thank you for your ongoing support.

From the Readers:

Hi Aaron,
Your latest email on blood pressure and posture was interesting.


My posture theory includes a theory on blood pressure as well which may interest you.
High blood pressure is common among desk workers and rare in manual laborers. That is because slouching toward a desk puts pressure on the midriff and blocks blood flow from the feet to the heart.

Slouching toward a desk a hundred times a day for 10 years stretches all the veins below the chest and increases their volume and makes the walls weak so that blood goes efficiently out of the heart and down to the feet and then pools in the large veins and goes upwards inefficiently toward the heart.

When more pressure is then applied as in sudden exercise the veins stretch and there isn't sufficient blood to fill them so it temporarily fails to return to the heart and the heart reponds with violent rapid pounding in an attempt to produce a vacuum in its chambers that suck the blood up.

The net result is that desk workers tend to develop unstable or high blood pressure, and when the exercise vigorously their heart pounds violently so they avoid exertion, and they feel faint because, if the blood doesn't reach the heart, it also, temporarily, doesn't reach the brain.

The inefficiency of blood flow to the brain also contributes to tiredness. i.e. desk workers with poor posture develop unstable blood pressure, problems with exercise, and tiredness which are the symptoms of the chronic fatigue syndrome!!!

Good posture prevents and relieves the problem but I have difficulty convincing anyone of the value of the theory.

Best Regards

Max B.

How Did You Feel About Sicko?

After our June and July Newsletters were sent out, we received several comments from readers who wanted to speak out about how they felt about Michael Moore's movie, Sicko. We read the emails and responses and decided that they need to be heard. So, here are a few of their comments:


Hi Aaron.....
Good to hear from you. I encourage you to talk to ANYONE who's lived in Canada or
Russia or England that has lived with socialized medicine. They do NOT like it! For many reasons.

Anything our government runs is a nightmare to deal with........don't fall for the hype. The USA has THE best health care in the world.......people come here from other countries to get treatment that they can't in their own country. CHOICE of having the best doctors take care of you is what we need........talk to anyone on Medicare or Medical........my son is.......it SUCKS! Crappy doctors and minimal treatment if any! So I hope you take it further and find out the Michael Moore is know for his twisting of facts and down right distortion of truth. Ask the soldier that is suing him for misrepresenting him in his last movie.........Moore would not even reply to this soldier out of courtesy.

Good, responsible care is what we need. It is the GYNORMICE costs that hospitals charge that has to be addressed. But don't put your life in the hands of someone who's treating you and answering to the GOVERNMENT as to how........ [Hospital name removed] is another example of the insurance company and the doctors being run by the same people. [It's] is ok for mundane type of things......but God forbid you should get really ill.........I have man y stories of their incompetence.

And I have a client that worked there that was so horrified by the lack of quality care.........SHE LEFT!................................think for yourself Aaron.........don't let the likes of Michael Moore play you for a fool........you're much to smart for that. Love you much anyway,
Linda


Hi Aaron, You made a good point about Sicko. I don't believe there is one perfect answer for health care. It is and we are constantly evolving and changing. Moore did a great job of showing huge holes in our system. To me fundamental shift underway is what he mused on at the end..... going from me to we. All the best, Max


Hi Aaron,
I took a few minutes to read your ezine and wanted to congratulate you on both the format and the content.
Please include me on your list of people interested in the Sicko discussion group. I think that there is a great probability that this film could have the same wake-up call effect that the Gore film has had. Right movie; right time.

Your comment: "Whatever solution we end up with MUST hold us personally responsible for making healthy choices in the first place." reminded me of my basic rationale for working to get Health Freedom legislation passed in California (SB577 in 2002; www.californiahealthfreedom.com/). The more freedom people have to make choices about the kind of services they can legally use, the greater their responsibility for making that choice. In our current treatment-based system, we default our choices and our responsibility to the cult of experts. Perhaps in a later issue, you might want to describe the largely unknown, but revolutionary shift, that SB577 brought about.

In touch,
David P.


Hi Aaron - I am loving all that you are doing. I am also looking forward to seeing Sicko (saw Michael Moore on the Bill Maher show a few weeks ago) and agree that taking your health into your own hands is of vital importance.


All the best,
Paul

Baggy Pants= Pain for Life?

On average, I treat over a dozen young people a year with problems directly related to wearing baggy pants. The way people have to walk in order to keep their pants from falling down causes the hip joint to support posture awkwardly. Hence, the legs rotate inwardly at the knees, and the feet turn outward to keep balance.

What you don't know is, walking this way can cause hip degeneration and low back problems. Further, rotating your legs like this every day can lead to life-long knee mis-alignments and bunions.

Forget long-term participation in sports and recreation! In my Reposturing Dynamics practice, I help people of all ages improve posture, flexibility and sports performance. However, I just cringe when I see these young people who have no idea that by this one fashion statement, they may have doomed themselves to over $500k in medical bills and years of chronic joint pain and physical inconvenience.

I used to think that the health-costs of women wearing high-heels was bad-enough. But there was always some social or aesthetic benefit that justifies the choice. I can't get my wife out of them.

Nevertheless, when guys wear baggy pants, the potential long-term health-costs are astronomical. Still, I can't find a girl who thinks a guy is sexy when he wears his pants down to his knees and walks like a penguin to keep them up. How cool is that?

Posture, Beauty, and Attraction

Throughout history [all living beings in Nature] have a mating dance or ritual. It varies from species to species. [But] I can't think of anything except amoeba or earthworms where there are two animals of opposite gender that just randomly bump into each other, have sex, and go on about their business.

In Nature, it's a very simple equation: the strongest, smartest, most virile males get the better choices for mates and control of the herd. The weaker males get nothing, get beaten up, and are more quickly devoured by predators.

The most fecund, resourceful, strongest females get the best choices for mates. The weaker females are ostracized and eventually are quicker to be consumed by predators.

The males use posture and strength to establish and maintain control of their females and position in the herd. The females work to feed and protect their offspring and themselves.

In nature, the rules are simple: Avoid predators and poisonous foods. Eat for strength and longevity. Dominate the gene pool. Perpetuate the species. Male or female, young or old-the stupid, weak, and sick are devoured by scavengers or predators.

We entertain ourselves with the mating rituals in nature. However, we will learn a lot about ourselves when we seek to master the mating rituals of our complex human species.

In civil society, we variegate ourselves by size, class, color, politics, gender, sexual preferences, personality, food preferences, roles in our profession, so on and so on.

What works is when people are living the life they want to live; being the person they are meant to be. What works in relationships is when people are living authentically as themselves AND they are complementary and compatible with the other person living as their authentic self as well.

What does not work is when there is an incompatibility or mismatch in ideals, preferences, needs, or personality. What disappoints and causes difficulty in finding your ideal mate is when you start out with the behavior of one lifestyle, and then, the more you become your true self, the less compatible you actually are.

The best recipe for finding your soul mate starts with finding your true self, in the best of health and circumstances. The best health starts with a strong, flexible body and great posture.

When you hold your body upright, open and free, as your body and soul are meant to be, you make a statement: "This is the true me, this is the mission I am sent to do for the world." In effect, your posture becomes your mating call. You even vibrate to the frequency of your journey and destiny as an authentic being.

Whatever your posture says about you will be magnified by the people around you. You slouch and losers will reinforce your mediocrity. Carry yourself confidently in the right places and the perfect partner will join you in your journey to be the best person you are meant to be.

If you don't have a partner right now, take this as an opportunity to self reflect and discover yourself at your best. Are you vital, strong, upright, and flexible? Are you in your right livelihood? Are you on the personal and spiritual journey that will lead you to your greatest contribution to the world? Start in any of these places and begin your journey toward self-mastery and your authentic self.

Many people make their wish list for an ideal mate without making sure they have their own act together-and their posture says it all: "I don't have my act together and I will drain the life out of you if you try to change me or help me overcome my wounds and weaknesses."

On the other hand, I see people with great posture, who receive raises, promotions, offers, and opportunities-all the time. Perfect posture helps make people whole. The process of achieving great posture helps you shed unnecessary layers of guilt, shame, anger, and hurt. Ultimately you reveal your inner beauty. You love yourself for who you truly are at your best. You enter and built a relationship with your whole and sufficient self in tact.

When two people bring their wholeness together to build a relationship, what they create is greater than the sum of two hearts. This is the purpose of the entire mating ritual for every higher species-Isn't it?

Are Backacks Good for Your Kids?

Are Backpacks good for you?

Get a load of this...
A message for Parents and the PTA

Dear Vitality Man,
My child wears a backpack loaded with 20-30 pounds of books and supplies every day for school. I'm concerned, because she only weighs less than a hundred pounds. Are backpacks good for you?--
Dear Parents,
There are three main reasons (ways) that wearing a backpack can have negative effects on your child, and three positive reasons. Then I'll give you my opinion.
Negative Effects:
1. A backpack reinforces poor posture when your child is NOT wearing the backpack. Poor posture can lead to lower self-esteem and a long list of problems you never want your child to have.
2. A backpack inhibits normal movement and coordination, which may affect learning as well as increase risk of injury to joints.
3. A backpack puts pressure on the rib cage, inhibiting lung expansion, which decreases oxygen to the blood and decreases stamina.
PS: If you or someone you know wears a backpack on your commute to work, these same considerations apply for adults.
Positive Effects:
1. Your child is more likely to be prepared with their books and supplies ready to use.
2. Her books are less likely to be lost or stolen.
3. Her hands are free to use even though she has her books to carry.
As you consider the pros and cons of backpack wearing, here is my opinion:
Backpacks by themselves are not bad at all. Backpacks are cool and useful! However, if we wear them at the expense of our good health, with no way for our body to recover from the downsides of having a heavy weight in an unnatural position-Now, That's no so good. The best way to eliminate the backpack problem is to minimize its use by as much as possible. Here are some suggestions. Use what works, modify what doesn't quite match.
1. If your child bikes to school, get a rack or basket for the bike and tie the pack to the rack with some strong bunjee cords, instead of having her wear the load during transit.
2. At school, if lockers are permitted, get one book out at a time for each class and exchange it at class breaks.
3. If she has a different schedule each day, plan for bringing only the books she needs for the day.
4. Use the study period to do the homework for the classes with the heaviest textbooks, then leave them at school.
Finally, in addition to this, you can also get your child into yoga or other exercises your child can do to counteract the negative effects of wearing a heavily loaded pack on her back.

A client who had been working with me 6 months comes bounding in the front door of the Vitality Center and says, "Aaron, before I started working with you I had my blood pressure taken as part of a health exam now that I'm 62. I just had a check-up and my blood pressure is down by 20 points. I haven't taken any drugs. I haven't done any additional exercise than I normally do. I haven't changed my diet. Is it possible that Reposturing has lowered my blood pressure? "

Pump #1: The HeartIn my many conversations with Dr. Victor Barker, author of Posture Makes Perfect, I learned that posture plays a big role in circulation and regulation of blood pressure. What people don't know about circulation is that there are 5 pumps that your body uses to circulate blood. Most of us are already familiar with the heart as the main pump for the blood. By the time blood leaves your heart and gets down to your feet, the blood pressure is approximately 1/3 of its original pressure. How does the blood get back to the heart?

Pump#2: The Heel StrikeIn the feet, there is a venous plexus that is stimulated with every heel strike. This venous plexus in the foot stimulates blood to circulate through the capillaries from the arteries to the veins of the feet where blood begins to return back to the heart.

Pump #3: The Calf Muscles- The Body's "Second Heart"When blood leaves the feet, it heads up through the veins in the calf that are specialized to have flaps that prevent backflow. Every time the calves flex in a normal stride, the contraction of the calf muscles pushes blood further up the leg, and the relaxation of the calves allows more blood to fill up the vein. The flaps close inside the vein to prevent backflow.

Pump #4: The Arterial Return WaveThe fourth way that blood gets back to your heart is the "arterial return wave". According to Dr. Henry Hamilton, a surgeon, there is an arterial return wave that stimulates blood flow in the adjacent vein that helps to send blood back to the heart. To get a picture of it in your mind, imagine if you splash water in a bathtub. Your splashing hand pushes water to the other end of the tub, but that wave comes back to you with some force and continues for some time until the water settles. That return wave is what happens in the arterial blood flow in the thigh. The body sends blood to the leg in the artery, but it doesn't send it in one big "woosh". There is a wave that pushes then recedes again and again until blood makes it all the way down the leg. Simultaneously, the power of that return wave pushes blood from the legs up to the abdomen.

Pump #5: The Abdominal VacuumThe fifth way is the vacuum pump that gets created when, with your full and open ribcage, every time you take a full breath you create negative pressure in the abdomen. That negative pressure is a vacuum that creates a suction force that helps pull blood into the lower hose that goes to the heart, otherwise known as the inferior vena cava.

With each of the five systems of circulation, there could be negative consequences if there is a deficiency or a restriction. If a person is inflexible or overweight, the heart has to work harder to push the blood through the veins and arteries. If a person is wearing high-heeled shoes, the feet can't flex to stimulate circulation. The feet can't flex for a proper heel-strike either. If a person's ribcage is compressed or collapsed with bad posture, then the vacuum pump of a full inhale is missing from the circulation process. Some of the consequences of breakdowns or deficiencies of any of the 5 ways could include: high blood pressure, varicose veins, cold feet, achy joints, achy legs, swelling in the feet, and swelling in the calves, just to name a few.

Perhaps you can see, that the solution to maximizing your circulation is to have good flexibility and great posture. Here are the Reposturing exercises that will give you the best results to improve circulation:
Foot Circles, Calf Stretch on Wall, Standing Quad Stretch, Step-Up Lunge, Side-Reaches, Torso Twist

Getting Rid of Chronic Pain

The Summer of Perfect Posture is all about looking great and feeling on top of the world. For the month of July, we are going to focus on Reposturing exercises that relieve pain; more specifically chronic pain. One amazing posture fact is that 1.8 million Americans suffer painful and potentially disabling musculoskeletal disorders (MSD's), 600,000 of whom must take off work to recover, costing businesses $18 billion annually. Aaron's solutions to great posture are designed to be simple and effective so that your body can reclaim its authentic self and participate in every activity and event in life that is important to you.
The exercises below are designed to eliminate chronic pain forever if followed properly and performed frequently. In addition, the four target spots represent the areas on the body that have the biggest impact people's lives when they are affected by aches and pains.
So if have been looking for a remedy to make the aches and pain go away, look no more because help is finally here.

Headaches/Jaw: Open Jaw Pull
Neck/Shoulders: Reach Up Reach Back and Side Flex Neck Stretch
Back: Side Reaches
Hips/Legs: Step Up Lunge
Ankles/Feet: Foot Circles

America's Posture Crisis

Americans are in a posture crisis. Many common aches and pains we have can be traced back to poor posture. Every day I see people of all ages with bad, awful, or wretched posture. At a health lecture a few weeks ago, I tried to find ONE person with good posture among the 300 attendees. I could not find even one person with pretty-good posture who I would consider asking to be a model for any of my posture videos, seminars, or photo shoots.

So what are the hallmarks of good posture? I look for the shoulders to hang behind the body's front-to-back midline such that the person would have a high ribcage. Second, I look for the neck and head angle to be upright so that the head sits squarely over the body midline. Third, I look at the low-back and hips. The pelvis should be vertical front-to-back and level left-to- right. The pubic bone should be forward so that the abdomen is mostly flat. Lastly, I look at the knees and the feet. When a person is walking or standing, the knees should be directly over the feet, but in a balanced, even, unforced way. Finally, I look at how a person walks, to see how they balance their weight from foot-to-foot and front-to-back. Are they graceful? Coordinated? Is the chest high? Do the arms swing evenly to balance movement smoothly?

When I am out-and-about, I am perturbed that I cannot find anyone with very good posture. What people don't know is by having bad posture, they set themselves up for long-term problems such as neck pain, shoulder problems, shortness of breath, headaches, jaw pain, chronic lower back pain, knee problems, and foot problems.

Do you have friends who are in need of a posture intervention? Maybe that person is actually you. Is it time for you to do something about your posture? This is the summer of perfect posture.

Read more about it: Do your own Posture Intervention THIS Summer

Reposturing Dynamics Training Commercial

What makes the bust-line go saggy in the first place?

Why makes the breasts go saggy in the first place?

It's Springtime! Time to think about preparing for summer fitness goals. Last month I talked about how important it is, especially for the guys, to eliminate health mysteries by getting every test you can; and by doing so, you can know the best course of action to orient your fitness activities. This month it's the ladies' turn.

This past week I did a 2-Session Posture Makeover introductory package for a lady. In just two sessions of Reposturing, her bust line lifted a full inch-and-a-half. If you've ever had any Reposturing done by any of our Certified Practitioners , you know that this kind of results happen much of the time. What's remarkable for this lady is the fact that it happened so quickly, even without the exercises I usually recommend. So, what makes the bust line go saggy in the first place, and how can you prevent or reverse it?

According to statistics quoted in a recent article in Hilary Magazine , the most popular reason women get implants is, "enlargement of breasts in patients who have less breast tissue than desired". What I have discovered in my practice at The Vitality Center is, the body uses fat-and-water in the breasts and upper arms as a front-to-back weight-balance system. If the shoulders are rolled forward, the breasts go lower and either get smaller, or get larger and hang more pendulously. At the same time, a woman may develop more upper-arm fat, to balance the weight of the body on it's own mid-line. This is your body naturally following Newton's Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite re-action.

So how can we use the laws of nature to help restore the natural height and (perhaps) the natural fullness to your bust line? It's a three-pronged approach:
Strengthen your upper-back muscles (rhomboids and trapezius) to be so strong that they ultimately hold the shoulder-blades so far back that they almost touch the spine.
Stretch your chest and shoulders (pectoralis major, minor and anterior deltoids), so that having your shoulders way-back is effortless for you.
Strengthen your lower-back muscles into the upright position, so being upright is easy and normal, all the time.

The exercise of the month is one of my favorites for exactly this purpose. Although not shown, you can even do this in a chair, from a seated position. The video-clip shows me and my crew doing a set of 8 repetitions in each direction. You can access the exercise for free on the web site, or you can download it for just $3.99 from the Shop page. Here is my guide for how you can approach getting results that really count in just 21 days: If you are:
Interested-- Do 2 sets of 8-10 repetitions twice per day, for a total of up to 40 reps per day.
Motivated-- Do 2 sets of 20-30 repetitions twice or three times per day, for up to 180 reps per day.
Ambitious-- Make it 3 sets of 30+ repetitions three or more times per day, for at least 270 reps per day.

Win* a free Posture Makeover Package worth up to $1,000! Do this exercise of the month. Share your before and after electronic photos with us (upper-body, front and side views) along with your name, phone, email address, and 100-200 words about what having great posture will mean for you. Deadline for all completed entries is April 25, 2007. Our committee will choose the best entry and you'll be notified by phone, and your story featured in next month's Vitality Newsletter.
*Some restrictions apply. For details, see http://www.myvsi.org/index.php?page=posture-makeover-package-qualifications or call the Vitality Center at (650) 347-4565

Mystery is the Enemy of Good Health

Mystery is the Enemy of Good Health

Just after last month’s newsletter posted, my brother Darryl admitted himself into the hospital with chest pains to get himself checked out. Turns out that the blood flow from his heart was only 15% of maximum. He could have gone another month or so, and I’d be writing an obituary right now.

An avid golfer, he also jogged 2-3 times per week. What he did not knew was the smoking and poor diet was catching up with him at a faster pace than he could run from it. We could have lost him.

On Oscar Sunday, February 25th, he is back on his feet with a new appreciation of the value of knowing the health of your heart. In his own words:
“For any male over the age of 25, I highly recommend that he go get a heart ultrasound to know the actual strength of your heart. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are—you should still get it checked.”

So everyone, (especially us, guys), needs to start today—schedule every test for every vital sign there is. The more you know your scores, the better shots you can call to win the game. So far, I’ve recently had my blood pressure, bone density, body fat, fasting blood sugar, and cholesterol checked. Next for me are prostate and heart.

How about you?

Hey folks! I have a new Myspace account! Got a posture comment or question? Got a general health/fitness question? Add me on Myspace! www.myspace.com/posturegenius

Hell in High Heels

This was orginially posted on January 25, 2007

Hell In High Heels--
Pumps and Stilettos give you Power and Pride at a Painful Price
By Aaron Parnell

Fashion trends in footwear almost always call for high heels. You know they are going to make your feet hurt. You even know how long it will be before you have to take them off. Some women are willing to have foot surgery to stay in their favorite brand of shoes. You still believe the payoff in pride and power is worth the trouble. But is it?
Just in case it has never been made clear how bad this is for the body, let’s explore some of the problems associated with these pumps for your power suit:

Bunions, Hammertoes and Fallen Arches
Wearing heels makes you walk with your toes pointed outward for support. When you ‘push-off’ with your back foot propelling you forward, this force also smashes your toes sideways and makes the second joint of your big toe become the push-off point. The joint has to grow more bone cells to do so. Hence, over time, you can get some pretty ugly toes that hurt a lot. All the surgery in the world will not make you walk better. Heels just make the problem worse.

Bubble Butts, Jiggly Arms, and Thunder Thighs
In heels, your body tilts forward, causing your weight to balance on the ball of your foot. The farther you lean forward, the more weight your body has to load onto the back of your body for balance. If you wear heels a lot, over time, the body has to compensate for the imbalance by adding fat and water to the back of your arms, derriere and thighs.

Low Back, Neck, and Shoulder Pain
Sporting 2-inch heels makes your body work up to 25 times harder to stay upright than if you were in flat shoes. Bones and muscles in the back, neck and shoulders perform the extra work. This can lead to chronic pain, arthritis and stiffness that lingers long after the shoes are off.

Poor Circulation
Your feet and calves need freedom of movement to act as a natural pump to help circulate blood back to the heart. The ankles and feet can swell when fastened into high heels with limited motion. Veins can become unsightly under pressure; and the heart has to increase blood pressure to promote circulation.

No better than many other self-destructive habits, over time, constantly wearing high heels can get you into some serious pain and discomfort. Further, someone will have to bear the cost of health care services you may need.

If you still ‘need’ to hop into those heels, here are five things you can do to avoid pain and some of the associated chronic health problems.

1- Foot circles. Extend you foot and point toes and make circles in the air, as wide as possible, 10 times clockwise and 10 times counterclockwise. Do this sequence once for every 2 hours in heels.
2- Wiggle your toes. Up, down, spread, relax. Follow this sequence five times for every 2 hours in heels.
3- Carry a pair of totally flat comfortable shoes with you, so you can change into them when your feet have had enough torture for the time.
4- Take a yoga class. Keeping your body flexible will allow your body to stay more vertical when you are in heels.
5- Massage your feet. Do it yourself, have someone else do it, or get one of those gizmos you can put your feet on or into.