What we can learn from Native Americans about Breathing

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE-- search these Doctors I trust:

          Mercola.com-- several entries on COVID on his podcasts

                  Look at: Ozone Therapy, nebulized hydrogen peroxide, Vitamin D and C.

Immune System Basics and Economics to search:

Dr John Ioannidis of Stanford University:  Perspectives on the Pandemic 

Perspectives on the Pandemic | Professor Knut Wittkowski | Episode 2

Websites and People to Search with COVID:

Weston A Price Foundation   WAPF.org   Traditional Foods

Tom Cowan,MD

Neurosurgeon Jack Kruse:  "Sunlight, Water and Magnetism"

"Every day for the rest of your life watch the sunrise for 20 minutes"

Ari Whitten-- Energy Blueprint  (Good Podcasts)

      Search sauna therapy, Dr Sara Myhill-- mitochondria

SELF CARE DURING COVID-19 STRESS:

Make sure your Vitamin D is optimized-- between 45-75 ng/mL 

     Dial in your sleep with Dr Parks' suggestions. 

     Hot/cold shower and epsom salt bath therapy.  Take saunas if you can.  

More on the Stress Response:

See the "SELL Danger Response" on the Neuromarketing page

The Benefits of adding Yoga, Posture and Meditation Principals to your Morning Walk...

This is deceptively simple— but it can be profound and change your life!

In my 26 years at the gym doing yoga, pilates and weight training, I have come to realize the most important thing is not strength, nor flexibility— it’s posture.  

The big mistakes I see people making are:

       They do not keep their hips flexible.  

       They have a forward head posture.  

       They allow their shoulders to hunch forward.

       They do not hold their stomachs in.

Guys at the gym all want strength— but as they age— their lack of flexibility and poor posture leads them into injury. (Usually knee and rotator cuff issues.)

Even yoga practitioners forget about posture off the yoga mat.

Focus first on:   1. Posture, 2. Flexibility... and when these two fundamentals are in place— like a mast of the ship being in alignment— then 3. Strength will build as Nature designed using the proper foundation. And each leg of this trio will maintain.  

Our bodies are a Grand Symphony— we must think in terms of the whole: whole systems complementing each other.  

Just having a habit of leaning the head too far forward has profoundly negative consequences, (I know!) and it takes a mindful practice looking closely at all aspects of lifestyle to correct it. You can easily do something great like Yoga for an hour, then go and sit in a chair that completely undoes everything.  (And, you can put yourself into Sympathetic Overload from just having your head too far forward, as it has the weight of a bowling ball.)

So— think holistically. A walking practice first thing at DAWN when the body and mind are ready to be programmed for the day is a great way to work on resetting the Grand Symphony of the Body/Mind~ and Spirit too.

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Breaking this Down Further:

The following Posture Principals builds on observations of traditional cultural practices as studied by Weston A Price, Esther Gokhale, George Catlin, the modern Ancestral Health Movement, and the tradition of Yoga.

It is our habits that make us or break us.

From the feet up:  In Yoga, we learn that the feet are the foundation for the rest of the pose, so foot placement on the mat is very important. The feet bear weight evenly, with toes spread and arches lifted. This creates ankle flexibility which translates all the way up the legs and spine.

So, when walking— for us moderns if needed— the feet must be supported with the proper footwear and arch support. Traditional cultures walk barefoot and the result is an elegant gait. Think of the Maasai and their rolling gait. The leather sandals of the Tarahumara Indians allow their feet to spread and grip the ground as they run. Or they run barefoot. Shoe selection is critical, and the shoes must be comfortable for you to be able to walk therapeutically. Do your homework. Do not select a shoe which has a large extension behind the heel. This creates a shorter clomping sort of gait. You want to achieve a rolling gait where you can fully extend the foot back all the way— while lengthening the hip flexors fully.  

If you have ever noticed someone walking quickly in Dansko soft clogs, you will see that they are able to fully extend their stride. The shape of the toes being rounded and the heels being rounded allows for this. This is a great traditional designed shoe model to keep in mind for selecting a walking shoe for this fast paced walking.  

Walking on the beach while being grounding is great, but be mindful of the uneven lengths your legs have with the elevation change of the sand.  Pay attention to allowing your toes to flex and extend-- to be able to grip.  This takes mindfulness.

Make sure you have the right arch support.  I paid 100.00 for some computer generated ones at RoadRunner Sports-- and they have been worth every penny.  

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Hip Flexibility is Crucial. 

All traditional cultures have way more hip flexibility than we do, especially outward hip rotation. 100 year old people from Okinawa, Japan, can sit cross legged on the floor. (And get up again.)

All traditional cultures squat, too. Modern cultures don’t— much to our detriment. Somehow Ester Gokhale omitted squatting from her book— but most every yoga class I have been in is sure to include squatting poses. Lots on the Internet on the virtue of “squatty-potties” which is the position Nature made us to eliminate in.  

Sitting is a terrible practice, as it allows hip flexors and quads to shorten and take over. My pilates teacher years ago used to say: “Hip flexors pull you into old age!” He was right!

When the hip flexors take over— you lose control of your stomach, as the whole area tightens up-- the Psoas too. When this happens, you lose control of the glutes as well. The hip flexors also pull the upper torso down when they tighten. There is a translation of tightness all the way up.

Walking is the anecdote: it lengthens the hip flexors. If you have the right shoes to allow for longer strides— you can make great progress in loosening the hip flexors and allowing the glutes to work. You want to squeeze the buttocks at the end of the stride.  The thought of constantly extending the hip flexor area-- of lifting the spine ---- of bringing the stomach in-- and tightening the glutes will provide a welcome payoff.

Hopefully your shoes have a good metatarsal grip to allow your toes to spread and grip a bit as you walk. 

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Think Yoga— think Stretch:

You want to think of your entire body lengthening and stretching out in ALL dimensions as you walk. This is a Mindfulness Practice— the same way that yogis approach their practice on the mat. So— the spine is lengthened. The chest is lifted, the shoulders are held back-- squeezing the scapula. In yoga we use the mirror to make sure we are in correct posture. In the gym, I practice walking like this and seeing where I need to work more on using the mirror. We really have no idea of how much we hunch over as we walk when we get older— unless we see ourselves on film or in the mirror. So— use these tools to self correct. You can see where you want to go with your posture, and feel where you should be while looking in the mirror. Then— just remember what that feeling is while walking outside.

Esther Gokhale in her You Tube videos titled: “Walk This Way” and in her book “8 Steps to a Pain Free Back…” describes how when the spine is held lengthened, the shoulder blades are squeezed together to counterbalance years of hunching (and as Ester says using the “Inner Corset”) — the arms are then able to swing freely. The palms then can face forward as you walk as the shoulders are rotated outwards. The chest is up, and the head is lifted up. The feeling of the arms moving freely and having more range of motion is AMAZING— definitely cultivate it!

Another benefit of spreading the chest and stretching in this manner is that the diaphragm begins to loosen up— allowing for easier ,fuller breathing. You cannot imagine unless you do yoga how constricted your upper body is— and how this tightens all the package around your lungs. Just by putting your body in the proper posture, and a few well placed stretches (like rotator cuff stretches) you can demonstrate to yourself how much more freedom you have in your ability to breathe— and how good it feels!  (More on this later.)

When I walk now I actively move my arms around to loosen them up. This may look a bit odd— but why not use the time to exercise the arms as well as the legs?

Think of all the ways you can possibly move your arms as you walk along-- and mindfully synchronize your arm movements with your breath as you purse lip exhale and also draw your stomach and diaphragm in deeply at the bottom of the exhale.  Think of the pumping action of Pilates "100's"-- which squeezes the scapula together. 

What a wonderful way to multitask-- and to reinforce a mindfulness practice your mind goes back to all day.  You will be very happy with the results of this morning habit of your stomach pulling in and your spine lengthening.

Adding Meditation Principals:

Breathing to the pace of your footsteps-- and some sort of repetitive thought: a "Mantra."   This can be something as simple as just counting a certain number of inhale breaths-- then doubling the exhale breaths.  This is Parasympathetic breathing meets Yoga-- meets the technique of Meditation-- the focus on all of the above elements to the exclusion of any other thoughts.

I have found that this morning reset combination has given me more return than just about any other workout routine I have ever done.  Now that the Pandemic has made us all more self reliant on home workout routines-- I have been able to work out this first light walking- stretching-breathing protocol and incorporate meditation and mindfulness elements into it.  This is not a replacement for meditation-- but can be considered a walking meditation.  I find my meditation that I do soon after this workout is deeper and more focused because I am already in the mindset, and have the breathing started.  It is like priming the pump-- and literally this routine expands the ribcage and the muscles around the lungs so that conscious breathing is a very pleasant experience.  

So-- as far as adding this Mantra element is concerned-- you can use counting-- or a catchy phrase.  You may want to use words that do not have a definite association-- (such as "Row row row your boat... ) because what a Mantra does is to override the busy mind-- giving it a chance to rest.  So-- if you do use something like this-- you may find yourself repeating it over an over during the day.  

This use of mantra is just as a tool-- for you to mentally repeat and pace your breaths to while doubling the exhale-- so choose one that you can repeat easily.  A couple of years ago I got a hug from "Amma the Hugging Saint"-- who is from India and has hugged over 30 million people.  At that time I was also asked if I wanted a mantra.  The mantra her staff gave is a melodious and rhythmic phrase in Sanskrit-- which is easy to say and means something like: "I am in Unity with All that Is-- the Eternal Peace." 

The idea is to have something that crowds out the busy thoughts running through your mind-- allows it to rest and reset, and something that is easy to double the exhale as you are thinking it.  This has to dovetail with the pursed-lip breathing on the exhale.  On the inhale you are thinking the mantra, on the exhale you are doubling it and pursed lip breathing a longer exhale.  I find that when I first start the pacing up and back on a dirt rural driveway-- I can't always get to the exhale that is twice as long.  But-- as my body loosens up-- my lungs exercise more-- I can exhale twice as long-- and then keep this up for about 30-40 minutes as I do my laps.  The idea is to create something that you can keep up-- so this is a different approach than Buteyko or Wim Hoff Breathing which are both for shorter durations.

A Variation on this for the exhale-- Humming:

There have been studies which show that nasal breathing increases Nitric Oxide-- which delivers more oxygen to your lungs.  Something else that also does this is humming.  You can hum instead of pursed lip exhale-- and incorporate the same action in the diaphragm, which is kind of a back pressure or holding back the air so that you are really engaging your stomach to pull in.  Humming also vibrates your inner ears-- I think with a benefit for head injury.   Hum so that you feel it in your entire chest cavity for best effect.

I have developed a habit of humming-- and am really enjoying humming throughout the day.  My selection of music is now wrapped around what I can hum to-- with the longest held exhale I can keep my lungs exercised to.  It does give me energy and keeping myself in parasympathetic allows me to get more work done.  (Because of my very poor airway-- my OSA and allergies-- I have a tendency to not breathe fully.)

My breathing prompt is a wonderful tool to keep me exhaling longer (it was developed with pulmonary technology that showed me exactly the length of exhale I needed to deliver the most amount of oxygen while sitting: about an inhale of a count of 5 an exhale of about  8.)

My dear Grandmother used to hum all day-- and this in itself is a natural parasympathetic tool-- even if your breathing is somewhat erratic.

Always nose breathe for the inhale-- don't take in too much inhale breath-- concentrate more on the exhale and using it as a diaphragmatic/stomach exercise.

I have never really been very good at exercising my stomach-- (mostly as it was done in Pilates on my back-- and my hip flexors took over).  But-- this walking- stretching-spine lifting-stomach pulling in to the VERY bottom of the exhale has given me probably the best abs of my life since I started doing this routine in March of 2020 when the Pandemic hit.  

I find I am keeping this torso "corset" (to use an Ester Gokhale term)-- all day long.  I have been able to establish a GREAT habit!  This has put my spine in a much better position.  I am not so sway backed now.

More soon....

Now-- lets talk  about the benefits of pushing the head up:

continued...

why it is so important to work on your forward head position....

...how I cut my migraines and vertigo by 70%

The principal of weighting down and pushing up seems paradoxical..(check out Ester Gokhale's site on head position and traditonal people who carry heavy weights on their heads)

How much can you multi-task?  Let's add eye exercises...

Easy to do with just following your thumb as you move it closer and farther away... like a Brock string.  Focus far and near-- all points of the clock.  Notice peripheral vision

more...

What else can you incorporate into your morning reset?   

A stopping spot to do some standing yoga?  

Mindfulness of the Nature around you?   (Think Thich Nhat Hahn's walking mediation)

Thoughts for the day you read just before

Aroma-therapy?  (plucking sage as you pass by bushes...)

Don't just walk or pace or power walk.  Try a wiggle walk with exaggerated hip and shoulder action-- samba... hip rolls-- bear hug the arms-- high reaches-- finger extensions.   The idea is to give as much of a therapeutic mobilization of as many body parts as you can-- a complete body mind reset to put yourself back into your best postural template, and your most ready to go focused mind for the day.

This does not have to be a full hour starting at dawn-- it can start with 5 minutes at lunch.  You'll really enjoy the results.  You will have a mindfulness approach to walking all day long if you get started now.

more soon...

Topics to expand upon-- soon...

         Hormesis-- a Crash Course

         Don't Be Lunch:

                   Parasites and Pathogens are a part of Nature

                   The LAST thing you want to do: Stay inside, lay around

                    overeat carbs, and worry

         Your Health is Your Greatest Wealth

         If you have money-- do these things....

              Air Filtration

              Naturopathic Dr's Recommendations

                      My ND-- a plug and his site

         Mold Story-- When the Toxins do the Talking

         Your Body is like a Car-- things must process

         Borrow My Grandmother~ learn to Hum

         Take Two Chopin Nocturnes and Check in with Me in the Morning

Photo Gallery

More: 

         For Climbers on Lyme and other bugs....

         Ayur Vedic Body Types-- some of the most useful information I have learned

         My thoughts on the Bigger Picture: 

                  Conversations with Duality

                  Simpler than Zen 

                  Lifestyle-- What is Most Important in Life

Sugar Blues History Lesson 

          Sugar Addiction Flow Chart

          The best way to create a repeat customer is to turn them into an addict

          The Best Rat Bait Ever-- Not Toxic-- using the sugar you need to throw away

Corona Virus and the Zen of Art