Muscle Matters

01/20/2023

I encourage everyone of my friends and clients of Muscle Matters to engage with this wonderful show. David Lesondak is brilliant, amusing and a wealth of knowledge about myofascial pain, research and restoration.

Friend of the show and newly minted book author Lauri Nemetz joins us to discuss her first book – The Myofascial System in Form and Movement. We talk about what makes it unique, the task of writing a book of this scope, the nature of creativity, and the lost art of browsing. Order Lauri's book and...

04/28/2022

This is a bit technical, but a fascinating update on new discoveries about our brilliant bodies:

A new vision of the skeleton as a dynamic organ that sends and receives messages suggests potential therapies for osteoporosis and other problems

03/20/2022

Happy Spring! Time to limber up!😊

01/20/2022

https://www.facebook.com/667432221/posts/10161643434507222/https://www.facebook.com/667432221/posts/10161643434507222/

03/09/2021

Some clarity regarding post-vaccination protocol:

CDC provides credible COVID-19 health information to the U.S.

01/25/2021

This a terrific and fun fitness program to both stretch and strengthen. I recommend it for 20-40 somethings too!
https://www.facebook.com/143507065705483/posts/4060353334020817/

11/06/2020

Breathe in. BREATHE OUT! Unclench your jaw. Unfurrow your brow. Relax your shoulders.

05/14/2020

Reposting.

What if you could regulate your stress levels by controlling your breath? A new study from the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research suggests that while fast breathing rates may promote feelings like anxiety, stress, and fear, slowing down our breath may reduce these very same emotions. This arti...

03/18/2020

As we work with our current reality, here are some wise and helpful suggestions from an Ayurvedic (oldest form of medicine and healthcare) perspective:
Interesting stuff
I want to share the Ayurvedic perspective about this pandemic.

First of all, let’s talk about the philosophical perspective on it. Western culture has been build on constant motion , endless activity, work, busyness, and always “doing”. We call this Rajasic energy. America, in particular, has been running on Rajasic energy for a long time.

We undervalue Sattvic energy ( holy, light, pure, quiet, truthful, clarity, the time we spend with the divine ) and Tamasic energy ( the energy of “non-movement”, staying still, sleeping, resting, grounding, listening, being content in doing very little, and paying attention to the spaces around us)

The quarantining (retreat) that is happening and that may become more widespread is nature showing us on a global level that we are a humanity stuck in constant motion and have built our happiness on that model. We feel anxiety, depression, stress just to keep up with that model. The economy is a scary concept because we expect it to keep growing or maintaining itself. But that was built on the notion that it never stops. We, including myself who lives paycheck to paycheck, must get creative with money, value, worth, exchange of services. Can we all tap into how lucky we all can be to be allowed this time to be creative about the energetic flow of money? I think we will all realize a great many things during this hiatus.

Ayurveda would tell you to change your perspective on productivity, action, work, movement, and socialization. Let’s allow ourselves to feel uncomfortable to address these deep societal beliefs. What if we valued space, time, stillness, peace, slowing down?

Here is a basic Ayurveda plan to keep your immunity strong:

1. Wash your hands and make it a sacred act. Pick a song or mantra and let that be your joy as this becomes a daily or hourly act. I’m attaching a great mantra for clearing that you may want to use.

2. If you are out in public or still at work, when you come home, remove your clothes and wash them. It helps because the virus can live on them for a few hours.

3. Drink room temperature or warm water. All day long! Drinking water accomplishes two things. It helps keep you hydrated, but it can also flush viruses from the upper respiratory tract into the stomach where they can be neutralized by your stomach acid.

4. Practice the 3 pillars of life according to Ayurveda: Sleep. Try to be asleep by 10 pm. I know that sounds early, but the yogis practiced this and that’s one of the main ways their health was so vibrant. Shut off electronics at least one hour before bedtime. EMF’s affect our ability to fall asleep. Proper digestion: avoid chocolate, caffeine, and try cooking fresh foods. Proper lifestyle: take this time to do the things that you usually don’t have time for. Organize, clean, rest, meditate, journal, talk to the trees, paint, etc.

5. Journal every day. Allow yourself to cry. Seek people to help you out of your “funk”. The kapha dosha is responsible for grief and that settles in the lungs. We feel grief in the lungs and hold onto emotions within our lungs. So cry, let it out, let go. Roll your shoulders up and back and open your chest. Practice deep breathing every day for the lungs. Use a hot water bottle, oil massage, bath to help your lungs feel supported .

6. Sing. Singing is great for opening the chest and the lungs, and distracting your mind.

7. The Earth is screaming for us to reconnect to nature. Restaurants and bars are becoming more off limits so connect to nature. Go to the river, lake, sit with the trees, walk and breathe in fresh air. Commit to 30 minutes a day.

8. Follow a Kapha pacifying diet. Favor cooked dark leafy greens, limit grains to quinoa, Millet, amaranth, and basmati rice. Limit dairy. Favor light, dry, and pungent foods. Think onion soup, mushroom barley soup with kale, broths, millet porridge, ginger tea, cinnamon spiced milk, etc. I would be happy to teach online cooking classes.

9. Gargle daily with 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp salt in warm water.

10. Stimulate lymphatic circulation by brushing with a skin brush, stroking towards your heart. Do this first. Follow up with a warm oil self-massage. Wait 20 minutes and then shower.

11. Fats. Fats are important part of staying hydrated on a deep level. Use ghee, olive oil, eat avocado, etc.

12. Drink cumin, coriander, fennel tea to stay hydrated. Dry roast equal amounts of these seeds and use 1 tsp of the mixed seeds in one cup hot water. Drink before or after meals.

For the time being, I am going to be offering consultations via Facetime or Skype. If you would like an Ayurvedic herbal protocol or preventative herbs/ suggestions, please contact me for a consultation. If you would like to have focus and guidance during this time using Ayurveda, please contact me. 414-801-1576.

Ayurveda has been used for millennia through pandemics in the past. It is the mother of all holistic medicine and can offer you great support. It is my dharma to help the community in whatever way I can.

Peace and blessings,
Rima Shah
Diva Ayurveda

03/02/2020

Good advice!

Shared from Nancy Helgeson

Seems like solid, unbiased info that can be helpful: this is from a molecular virologist who has experience working with Coronavirus.

Helpful info:

A DOCTOR ADVISES DOCTORS RE THE CORONAVIRUS:

"Date: February 26, 2020 at 2:35:50 PM EST
Subject: What I am doing for the upcoming COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic

Dear Colleagues, as some of you may recall, when I was a professor of pathology at the University of California San Diego, I was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses (the 1970s). I was the first to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained. Since then, I have kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population (e.g., SARS, MERS), from different animal sources.

The current projections for its expansion in the US are only probable, due to continued insufficient worldwide data, but it is most likely to be widespread in the US by mid to late March and April.

Here is what I have done and the precautions that I take and will take. These are the same precautions I currently use during our influenza seasons, except for the mask and gloves.:

1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.

2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.

3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip - do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.

4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.

5) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.

6) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home's entrances. AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can't immediately wash your hands.

7) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!

What I have stocked in preparation for the pandemic spread to the US:

1) Latex or nitrile latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.

Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.

2) Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask will not prevent the virus in a direct sneeze from getting into your nose or mouth - it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.

3) Stock up now with hand sanitizers and latex/nitrile gloves (get the appropriate sizes for your family). The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.

4) Stock up now with zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY "cold-like" symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands available.

I, as many others do, hope that this pandemic will be reasonably contained, BUT I personally do not think it will be. Humans have never seen this snake-associated virus before and have no internal defense against it. Tremendous worldwide efforts are being made to understand the molecular and clinical virology of this virus. Unbelievable molecular knowledge about the genomics, structure, and virulence of this virus has already been achieved. BUT, there will be NO drugs or vaccines available this year to protect us or limit the infection within us. Only symptomatic support is available.

I hope these personal thoughts will be helpful during this potentially catastrophic pandemic. You are welcome to share this email. Good luck to all of us! Jim

James Robb, MD FCAP"