11/14/2025
A morning Welcome to health & spiritual salutations
How this came about.
As we/ i aged I considered the thought of Aging Gracefully- ( Dear Grace Oaks - a famous skier & personality , whom i hold dear) All these exercises help with your joints & synovial joint flow ( fluid which keeps joints moving!
Please note that the squat hold is extremely beneficial to REDUCE knee inflammation & IMPROVE synovial joint fluid flow & production.
Upon waking; ( BEFORE BREAKFAST-) Takes no more than 10 mins-
PART 1
Start deep breathing gently in & out when moving around to washroom etc
At the sink- While washing/ cleaning teeth ( i do this before anything else- stand mostly on one foot & with gentle assistance of the sink/ rail rise up on your toes & down slowly ( preferably on a mat) X10-20. RPT ON THE other leg
On a mat in bedroom/ other - lie supine a) arms out to sides - as far as is comfortable ( like a X lying in the floor - as far as you are able & from the shoulders, turn your hands over & back turning up into the shoulders. and do with inspiration/ expiration - slow & meaningful to feel the ends of your he movements - reaching out with hands, but keeping the arms rested on the floor . The head & chin stay in & if necessary rested on a small pillow ( if you can without a pillow - to keep chin in & head back)
Stay supine FOR Bridges & GLUT work - with knees bent & feet rested. Bridge up & tighten gluts - both sides- feel like you’re tightening the muscles of the outside of your buttocks For 5 seconds & release slowly. ( which will stabilize the hips for skiing on the lower weighted leg.) You may notice tension in the hip flexors as you lift up to table top position ( when tightening gluts - walk your feet closer to your buttocks , which will sensitize the hip flexors further)
Clam Shells - lying on side right/ left - hips & knees flexed- Lift knee away from other knee with feet together at ankles & try not to rock back - Tighten gluts as far as you can & hold for 5 secs - rpt both sides
STAND UP FROM MAT
if you Cold dip / cold shower you can add this at the end of this next part. Wim Hoff -( if you've never done this but want to - Start with warm shower & gradually turn down- -first to 10 seconds - lower body to upper- Your body will feel REJUVENATED!)
NEXT PART 2 ( another 15 mins)
( Japanese morning part-) warmly clad , if you plan to cold dip
Intentional slow breathing in & out deeply with slow walking - Start this &
Add lightly arms out to sides up & down with breathing in & out - to take arms towards head . at least x10
stop at good view- turn upper body & with abds tensioned to right - arms up and out to sides looking to right with deep breath in & out SHOULDERS back & down - rpt to left - slow & thoughtful of position & day
return to middle - squat as low as you can - Try to keep your back upright & feet on the ground & hold for as long as you can - breathe in & out - this helps to empty the inflammation of the knee & hip joints & allow for increased synovial fluid renewal. ( Your knees will feel better after you come up to standing position - don't go for too long a squat to START - build up to 1-2 mins-
Standing on one leg with eyes focused on a point in front - other foot at your inside of your calf on just touching the ground - rpt on other leg - try to balance for up to 15-30 secs +
Now your ready for a cold Dip - / cold shower
Please see information on Squat below;
Research article; By Biomedical Research International.
Static Low-Angle Squatting Reduces the Intra-Articular Inflammatory Cytokines and Improves the Performance of Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis
Zhihong Zhao ,Rui Wang, Yu Guo, Lianxu Chen, Kai Wang , Haibo Zhou ,Hongwei ,Jingbin Zhou
‘of which over 200 muscles are activated during squat performance [11]. Nevertheless, squats can be performed at a variety of depths, and deep squat, especially with weight bear, can be harmful to the knee [12]. In China, a static squat that is performed in the low angle, called “horse stance (Ma Bu),” has been put into practice for a long history, which provides a reliable and safe isometric exercise strengthening not only quadriceps but also a set of surrounding muscles. In this study, we designed a novel approach of static low angle squat (SLAS), based on the traditional Chinese exercise. We found that, after one year of SLAS exercise, the levels of proinflammatory factors, TNFα and IL-1β, were significantly reduced in the synovial fluid of OA knee, while the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 increased. Moreover, we performed a large scale of comparative trials to evaluate this method in the OA populations and observed a significant improvement of the HSS scores in the treatment group, including both the functional recovery and pain reduction. Our results suggest that SLAS exercise provides a reliable approach in the rehabilitation of OA, which could be readily accepted by OA patients for long-term benefit.’
