Brain Exercise for Better Movement

Grab a spiky ball and roll it on your body!  See how you feel.  Try standing up or touching your toes.  Then roll only one side.  Retest.  Roll the other side and retest.  See which one makes you better.

If it was easier to move, keep doing it!  The increased sensory input will wake up your brain and your movement, flexibility,  strength and/or balance will improve.

Give it a try!!!
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Brain-Based Ankle Circles

A Harvard study recently demonstrated that exercise helps build immunity.   (Click on the sentence to read the study). At a time like now, it’s important that everyone do what they can to stay strong and healthy and studies indicate that staying active helps.

MOVEMENT IS LIFE!!!

Dr. Cobb of Z-Health built a brain-based system around movement and I have to agree with him; a lot of problems can be solved simply by moving.  Besides, we were made to move. Our nervous systems were built to perform and survival of the fittest begins with movement.  Let's move that body!

A body at rest tends to stay at rest so we have to make a conscious effort to move.  Personally, I always feel better once I get going.  99% of working out is showing up for the session!   That’s where my training can help you!  In neurology, little things add up to big things.  It’s the same with movement; little movements add up to big things.

Let’s do ankle circles today.  These are awesome for foot and ankle mobility. which is essential in any fall prevention program because the ankle is the first joint to come in contact with an uneven surface.  The more flexible the ankle, the less likely a person is to get injured.  If the ankle is used to bending and twisting in all directions, there is less risk of injury if ankle is twisted during life activities.

Brain-based ankle circles are different.  These are not the regular, boring ankle circles that you do without paying any attention to what you’re doing. You know what I mean, when the instructor says, “let’s do some ankle circles” and you sit there and look around the room.  That's the WRONG WAY TO DO ankle circles. 

I want you to stay engaged. Activate your brain.  In order to do that, you have to pay attention to what you’re doing AND how you're doing it!  The brain loves stimulation so it helps if movements are novel (new) and somewhat challenging.

Follow along with me and let’s do some ankle circles.  3 in each direction.  3 different foot positions.  

Stay engaged.  

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Brain-based Shoulder Rolls

I recently wrote about and demonstrated how to do shoulder rolls to reduce neck and shoulder tension that might be related to the stress of  Covid19 isolation.    Shoulder rolls are great to improve the brain's mapping thereby reducing stress (the better the map, the better the movement).

So I trust you've been practicing the rolls as needed to loosen yourself up throughout the days. 

Because I'm encouraging you to stay engaged, I want to show you the advanced version of the shoulder roll, the camshaft.  This is a shoulder roll with the arm extended in front of you.

This is hard to do.  This requires more brain activation to keep the arm straight the entire time.  Think about moving the shoulder blade as if you were doing a shoulder roll.

Enjoy.  Stay engaged.  

Stay well at home.

Watch and then follow along with me!

Improve Balance and Reduce Shoulder Stress

I don't need to tell anyone that life is stressful right now.  We're navigating uncharted waters; not knowing what the future holds is traumatic.  It's stressful and we all respond to stress differently.   Some people get busy physically, some get busy worrying, some get upset emotionally while some can't  get any motivation to do anything.

Regardless of how you cope with stress, tension builds in our muscles, specifically in the neck and shoulders.  The trapezius is a reservoir for stress tension making it painful to turn the head and shoulders slouching forward in surrender.

If you are tense and worried, let's roll those shoulders.  Sit in lengthened spine and follow along with me, three rolls in both directions.  Do this throughout the day.  

Shoulder roll with me for stress relief:  

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Hidden Secret: Jaw Exercises for Better Balance

In order to be balanced and stable, you need to have a stable midline.   The spine is the midline.   Your  jaw is also along the midline.

The jaw is powerful activator of the brain because it is innervated by the trigeminal nerve, the largest of the twelve cranial nerves.  Moving the jaw activates areas of the brain responsible for increased backside strength.  This increased extensor tone improves balance and stability.

Why It's Important to YOU:  Increased backside strength makes it easier to stand up from the chair and easier to stand up straight.

Follow along with one of my favorite jaw exercises.
Get that jaw moving to increase midline stability and extensor tone.
Try to do these at least once a day, everyday.

I would suggest 3-4 times per day if you're unstable and have poor posture.

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Coronavirus Wellness at Home Tip #3: Nasal Breathing

Breathe in and out of your nose to reduce risk of coronavirus infection!

I'm not a doctor.  I'm not an infectious disease specialist.  I am a nervous system specialist and I've been reading a lot of government and medical suggestions to help you stay healthy at home.

I'm here to share simple, holistic practices that you can EASILY incorporate into your daily routine.  This one is as easy as it gets; breathe through your nose!

Why?

• Nose hairs trap pathogens.  
• Nose hairs increase carbon dioxide (good gas needed in blood/gas balance).  
• Nose hairs increase nitrous oxide which has been shown to defend against airborne viruses.  Nitrous Oxide is produced in the paranasal sinuses.
• Nasal breathing is the body's first line of defense against infection

I suggest breathing in AND out of the nose.  If necessary, exhale through the mouth.  Try to breathe in and out of the nose.  I have a "Relaxator" in my mouth in this video.  A Relaxator is a respiration training tool that forces you to breathe in the nose and long, strong exhales through the mouth. 

The more actions you take, the safer you will be....after all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

From Conscious Breathing (Relaxator maker), 

another important reason why you should breathe through your nose:

1. A COLD NOSE WILL INCREASE THE RISK OF VIRUS INFECTIONS:  Our nose can be compared to a highly efficient heat exchanger that warms up and moistens the air. 

When inhaling, our nose becomes cooled and dry as it moistens and heats the inhaled air, which is usually cooler than our body temperature. 

When we exhale, the temperature inside our nose is raised, and the area is moisturized by the 37 degree Celsius (98.6° Farenheit) temperature and 100% moist air being returned from the lungs. 

If we, on the other hand, breathe in through our nose and out through our mouth, the nose will not restore it’s warmth and moisture upon exhalation. And if we breathe both in and out through our mouth, our nose will be constantly cold and dry.

Research shows that the rhinovirus, which is known to cause colds and infections in the upper respiratory tracts, will multiply when the nose cools down. The colder it is in the nose, the more the immune system is suppressed, which will create a favorable environment for the rhinovirus to reproduce (ref 2). Now, we do not know exactly how the coronavirus behaves, but it is not inconceivable that a cold nose offers an environment that is favorable for this virus to also propagate.substance.

Respiration Training Drill: How to Belly Breathe

The diaphragm is your 'breathing' muscle.  It's a large, dome-shaped muscle that attaches to all the hot spots of the "core".

Just like any other muscle in the body, the diaphragm needs to be stretched.  It needs to be exercised.  Learning how to breathe to work the diaphragm is a challenge.  I"m not going to lie, it's the exact opposite of how you've been doing it.

Breathe in, expand your belly.  Exhale, tighten the belly.  Breathe into Buddha belly.  Exhale into slim, tight contraction.

Being able to control your breathing pattern is life saving.  Breathing competence is essential so you're not constantly gasping for breath or mouth breathing.

Unfortunately we are shallow breathers.  We are mouth breathers.  As a result, we over-oxygenate our brain and body.  That can't be possible you think, oxygen is good so more is better. WRONG.

Your brain needs oxygen for fuel but it also needs glucose.  We all know that too much glucose is bad; your cells are not able to respond to excessive amounts of sugar and therefore the sugar can not get into the cell.

It's the same with oxygen; too much in the blood reduces the cells ability to take oxygen into the cell for use.  100% blood oxygen is NOT GOOD because there is a natural blood gas balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.

The brainstem, specifically the medulla, is the respiration center because it is responsible for blood gas balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.  Too much oxygen and we don't breathe correctly.

I offer respiration training in private sessions.  If you have asthma, COPD, or don't feel like you ever get enough oxygen, book a session with me.

Follow along with me in this simple belly breathing exercise:

Don't just get your vision checked, train your vision!!!!

Every Tuesday I get a highlight of articles published nationwide about fall prevention, senior balance and mobility and senior exercises.  Week after week, I read the same messages; "fall-proof" your home environment, watch your medications, exercise, and get your vision and hearing checked.

I totally agree with these suggestions however, things need to change.  As science unveils more about the brain and balance, professionals need to update the message to older adults about falls and prevention of falls.

The number one fall prevention message to older adults should be train your vision.  Don't just get your vision checked and be told by some doctor who hasn't read a neuroscience article in the past ten years that 'you're getting old",  "your vision is going to get worse and there's nothing you can do about it", or "you cannot improve your vision".  FALSE.  This is FALSE information!

Vision is a skill and like all skills, it can improve with practice.  Yes, there are diseases of the eyes (macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts) that will cause loss of sight but get those eyes moving; especially if you have one of those diseases.

I'm not a doctor, I'm not an optmologist but I am a nervous system specialist, a brain exercise therapist.  Each eye has six muscles.  Those muscles are innervated by three cranial nerves that go directly into the brainstem.

If you want to activate your brain and have an immediate and profound effect on your life, move those eyes.  Learn how to train the four components of vision and your vision will get better.  Your thinking will get sharper.  Your balance will improve tenfold.

Vision is the #1 input to the brain.  Training your eyes is the quickest way to improve your brain health.  So in those same messages to older adults, I want to add, Don't just get your vision checked, TRAIN YOUR VISION and watch your life change.

In honor of the new year and the new decade, 

I'm offering a "Starter Pack" special;

90-minute consultation + (4) sixty-minute sessions for $525

Book today:  info@thefallpreventionlady.com

Change the way you see, change the way you move, change the way you feel.  Get those eyes moving.

PANC Parkinson's Train-the-Trainer Workshop in Lodi

Last weekend, PANC (Parkinson's Association of Northern California) held a train-the-trainer workshop in Lodi, CA for health and fitness professionals who work with people living with Parkinson's Disease.  The room was filled with personal trainers, yogis, massage and physical therapists who work with those living with the neurodegenerative disease.

"It takes a village to raise a child but it takes an army to treat Parkinson's", quoted Dr. Suketu Khandhar, the lead Neurologist in charge of Kaiser's Movement Disorder Program.  He designed this workshop so the hospital-based PTs can offer their patients a more "person-centered", continuous spectrum of services while establishing reliable resources in the community to refer their patients.

Dr. Sarah P....,  the neuro-physical therapist from Kaiser lead an amazing workshop.  Unbeknownst to me, this was the exact same workshop as last year and that was fine with me because I learned several 'golden nuggets' to improve my services.   The stop, sniff, shift technique of dealing with freezing epsisodes were clarified and I learned a LIFE-SAVING technique to prevent backward falls.

As a Z-Health brain exercise therapist who activates the cranial nerves, cortices, cerebellum, vestibular and vision systems not to mention motor control, I am always learning how to better treat my clients with Parkinson's.   There is so much information available on the internet so it's good to get hands-on experience and talk with leaders in the field of neurodegenerative movement disorders.

Great experience and I will continue to attend for breaking neuroscience training techniques to help people improve balance while living with a progressive neurodegenerative disease.

Prevent a Slip, Flip or Flop this summer

Summer is here and that means it's flip flop season.  While it feels good to get some air on your feet, flip flops are considered a "fall risk" and you might need to weigh the pros and cons before breaking out those summer sandals.

More about fall risk factors in my
book, Complete Guide to Fall Prevention

Here's why flip flops are a fall risk:  your feet are so busy clinging to the single strap that goes between your toes that you don't pick your feet up high enough when walking.  You trip because your foot is busy trying to keep the shoe on.  Result:  you don't pick your foot up and trip over your toes.

The way to prevent this type of accident is to wear sandals that secure around the front and back of your foot.  There are some stylish sandals that are light weight and keep your foot secure in the shoe.

Foot secure sandals vs flip-flops:
Pro:  Fitness and Safety
Con:  Fashion
Some of us are fashionistas.  I recognize that looking good is important and staying stylish matters to you.  However at some point you need to think safety first.  In my opinion, it's more important to stay safe and be comfortable than it is to look good.  After all, laying on the ground after a fall doesn't look good on anyone.

Another way to prevent a slip, flip or flop is to do specific exercises to strengthen your feet and toes.  These are simple exercises.  Are they easy to do?  Not always.  If exercise were easy, everyone would be doing it.  You want to do exercises that challenge you.  The only way to improve your situation is to challenge yourself because as we all know, growth happens outside your comfort zone.

Some of my favorite exercises for stronger toes and feet are:
1.  Toe Raises
2.  Heel Raises
3.  Foot waves

Take 5 to EXERCISE!!!
Here's my foot mobility routine that I do.  Learned from @Zhealth Performance Solutions.
If you're interested in learning how to do foot waves, contact me.

How Posture Training Can Directly Improve Your Balance

I meet a lot of people who are concerned about their posture  What's fascinating is "Posture is a primitive reflex"; the primary primitive reflex needed to move through life.  Without a stable posture, we cannot move safely through life and movement suffers.

When it comes to balance, posture is directly involved.  If you're bent over looking at the floor, stooped down closer to the floor, constantly staring at the floor, you're going to end up on the floor.

There's hope!  Postural weakness can be changed, at any age.  Once a qualified trainer addresses visual problems, muscle deficiencies and inner ear dysfunction, posture will change.  Knowing where to look and how to carry yourself is the fist step to better balance.

ALERT**** Neuroscience proves that it's never too late to improve your posture and the way you move through life.  Your brain is hard-wired for survival and once your brain 'feels' safe, your posture, balance and movement will improve****

 Z-Health Practitioners are trained to identify the body systems rendered dysfunctional and activate them to be functional.   Training the vision, vestibular and proprioceptive systems has immediate results but it's up to you to do the drills to make the changes permanent.

Exercise science changes; so should your exercise program

Exercise science research is constantly unveiling new things about the brain and the body.  As such, trainers should be continually upgrading and modifying their training programs.  

Mike Boyle, featured speaker at the Perform Better's Learn by Doing workshop in San Francisco is a seasoned trainer; he's been a successful strength and conditioning coach in the field for over 30 years.   His presentation was amazing as he jokingly recalled some of the 'old school' training methods we trainers have all used and some of the trending themes in the fitness world over the past few decades.  

It was funny to look back and remember how we all ran out and got blood pressure cuffs to measure the transverse abdomens activation but at the same time, I was laughing inside because of the lack of knowledge he and other main stream fitness coaches have about the brain's function in sports and in life.

It was refreshing to hear Mike and Dana Strong acknowledge and teach the importance of respiration training since oxygen is one of the primary sources of fuel for the brain.  It was funny to see that they disagreed on correct breathing technique.  Ah, that's the fitness world; one trainer will teach you one thing and another coach will teach you something entirely different.

As Mike said, it's crucial that you listen and be humble enough to realize that the methods you've been teaching may have been wrong.  Things change.  With an overwhelming amount of information available to us at any given moment, it's up to you to do research.  Or find a reputable coach who is growing; one who is constantly learning.  One who wants the best for her clients.  

Brain-based training by Z-health is the future of fitness.  The neuro-revolution is upon us. Don't wait ten years for current neuroscience research to reach the general public.  Find a Z-Health Trainer and live maximize your potential.  

Are you training the two types of movement needed to prevent falls?

There are two types of movement; reflexive and voluntary.  Reflexes are subconscious, instinctual reactions that occur quickly.  We learn these instincts as children and unfortunately, we may never train them again.  Remember that entire nervous system runs on the Use it or Lose it principle.

Voluntary movement is conscious, intentional movement.  This involves the frontal lobe and you decide how big a step to take, how wide, and in what direction.  We obviously train voluntary movements like squats everytime you stand up and sit down.  A conscious choice is to get up and move because if you know that if don't use those muscles, you know you will lose those muscles.

In my Brains and Balance Training classes, I train both reflexive and voluntary movement.  We go back to the basics and learn when you need to react and then teach you how to react.  I teach you how to train both your reflexes and your voluntary movement.

A Del Webb class participant reported that she used the reflexive training technique when walking through the parking lot and it saved her life.  We all know those cement parking stops.  Well she didn't see it because it was dark and she was looking somewhere else when she accidentally tripped over the parking stop.  Automatically, she started taking as many steps as necessary to regain her balance...just like we practice in class!

Hallejulah!  A fall prevented because of reflexive movement!  She didn't think about how to react, it just happened.  Train those instincts and your brain will automatically fire when needed.

As a certified Z-Health Brain Practitioner and Balance Specialist, I re-train people's instincts and voluntary movement.  I train the nervous system so you know when you're falling and then how to react.
Practice.  Practice.  Practice.

Enroll in my Brains and Balance Training class and train the two types of movement needed for independent life; reflexive and voluntary movement patterns.

Website:  www.thefallpreventionlady.com

82 yo Widow Overcomes Fear of Falling

The oldest member of my recent Brains and Balance class lived in fear of falling.  Many older adults live with the fear of falling because they fear that a fall is the beginning of the end.  Most people who live alone live in fear of falling and not being able to get up from the floor.  The thought of lying on the floor for hours or days, scares some people so much that they limit their daily activities.  They quit doing things they enjoy and things that need to be done for fear of slipping or tripping.

This is the beginning of a vicious cycle because the less you do, the weaker you become.  The weaker you become,  the greater the risk of falling.   This is known as the cycle of fear.

Fear of falling is a recognizable psychological condition that happens after a fall.  A little fear is a good thing but when your fear of falling interferes with your daily life, you need some help getting back on your feet.

My class student's daughter recognized this fear in her mother and brought her mom from Fresno to Sacramento to participate in my four-week brain-based balance training class.  

By the end of the second week, this 82 year old lady was sitting up straight, smiling and laughing in class.  In the third week of class, she walked through the obstacle course without her walker!  She was stopping and starting in response to verbal command and was no longer holding onto the counter when walking.   The last week, she was doing weight shifts with her eyes closed and throwing her arms back and forth while doing multi-planar lunges.  

On the last day of class, this amazing woman got up and walked eight feet with a steady, confident gait.  She announced to the class that she was no longer afraid of falling and that her daughter had to remind her to take her walker with her.  She has overcome the paralyzing fear of falling!

It's never too late to gain control of your body.  Learn how to react when losing your balance.  Be aware of your surroundings.  Practice drills that will increase your reaction speeds.   You do this with brain-based balance training.  Enroll in my Brains and Balance Training classes and change the way you live your life.  

Don't live in fear.  Live free.
Class schedule on my website:  www.thefallpreventionlady.com 

No One's Going To Do It For You!

My dad was tough.  Marines tough.  Brigadier General tough.  I remember playing him in tennis and he kicked my butt.  As I was rising to the top of my basketball game, he beat me.  No mercy.  It made me cry!  I don't know why but the fact that he played hard and beat me seemed unfair.  At the time.

I cried.  I was hurt.  After all, I was his daughter.  I was only visiting him since my parent's divorce and I was a good athlete.  Dad's are supposed to let their girl win.  Or at least that's what I must have thought.  But I'm here to tell you, he didn't give me any special treatment and it taught me that life isn't fair and you have to do the work if you want to benefit.   It made me a better player.  A full scholarship athlete. Thank you Dad.

You can't expect anyone to do the work for you.  In this day and age, you have to be your own advocate.  If you want better balance, you have got to put in work.  It's up to you to seek education classes and workshops that explain aging, balance and coordination as you age.  

If you have fallen down and you don't want to fall again, it's up to you find a balance class that gets you results.  IN order to get results you have to face the frustrations, make the mistakes and re-learn how to move correctly.                    

                 

As you teach your brain to move again, you will have the 'why won't you do what I'm telling you' conversation with your body parts.  Your brain can forget how to move a body part if you don't move it regularly.  Practice makes perfect and perfect practice gets results.  

You can rewire your brain for better movement, better balance and less pain.  The science of neuroplasticity proves it.  I have invested to become a brain-based movement re-educator that focuses on brain activation for better movement, balance and vision.    It works.....if you work it.  

Nothing comes easy.  Anything worth having is worth working for.  Practice makes perfect.  You've got to put in the work to get the results.  Join me in one of my brain-based fall prevention classes or sit in on one of my dynamic educational workshops.

www.thefallpreventionlady.com
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Posture begins in Lengthened Spine

Studying Z-Health functional applied neurology, I have learned more about balance and the brain than I had ever imagined.  The brain determines not only how we move through life but also how we see, balance and think.  This information is so good, I have to share tidbits that will help you move better, balance better and see better.

Today I am going to talk to you about posture. Posture is a reflex and posture is controlled up to seventy (70) percent by your vision!  Wow, think about those two statements for a minute.  Posture is reflexive. And posture is driven by your vision.

The Fall Prevention Lady's Lengthened Spine Demo

First, posture is a reflex.  For those people (and I used to train people this way) who throw your shoulders back, stretch chest muscles, strengthen neck flexors, hold your head level and even get massages to reduce tension in upper back, you know that the minute you walk out of the training session, your posture goes back to the way it was when you walked in.

That's because posture is reflexive.  In other words, your brain is focused on a level horizon and despite life circumstances (accidents, bumps and bruises) and occupational hazards (poor posture from a desk job), your brain is going to keep the horizon level for balance purposes.

As a result, your head will tilt, bend and turn to keep vision level.  The body will adapt physically to whatever is necessary to keep the horizon level.  If you slouch your shoulders and stick your neck out all day to keep the computer screen level, then your body will adapt to forward head, shoulders slouched and whatever is necessary to keep the horizon level.

The scientific phenomena known as the SAID principle states that your body gets good at whatever you do, however you do it.  If you look at the floor while practicing your drills, you will get really good at doing drills while looking at the floor.  Look up and your balance won't be good.  Cracks me up when I see people wasting money on 'balance manuals' that demonstrate people staring at the floor while doing the drills.

If you want to improve your posture, your balance and your vision, I suggest that you get into lengthened spine.  I start all of my classes discussing how people are carrying their head on their shoulders.  The average skull weighs between 8-12 pounds.  When perfectly aligned, your vertebrae are aligned and the spinal cord is lengthened.  When the head is jutted forward, the neck muscles have extra strain and weight of the skull.

Let me explain how to attain lengthened spine since how you carry your head directly impacts your vision, balance, posture and strength.

Lengthened spine: Sit or stand tall; both feet on the floor facing forward, top of the back of your head extended up toward ceiling, chin level and tucked back.  Here's the kicker, tilt your front teeth SLIGHTLY down toward collar bone.   NOT EXCESSIVELY but down where you see a level horizon.   Keep your chin tucked back and yes, you now have a double chin but you're in lengthened spine!!!!

Every time you so much as think about your posture, get into lengthened spine and keep your eyes on a vertical target in front of you at eye level.  Practice lengthened spine for every vision drill and try to maintain lengthened spine during balance challenges and all dynamic joint movement drills.

Posture begins with your eyes and is a reflex to life's imbalances.  In my classes, I teach vision drills, balance drills and movement drills designed to activate the parts of your brain that crave activation in order to move well, balance well and see well.

It all starts in lengthened spine; shoulders are down, chest is lifted, pretend you have a string on the back of your head lifting toward the ceiling, your chin is slightly down, and your eyes are focused on a vertical target at eye level....NOT AT THE FLOOR.

Do this exercise throughout the day. Anytime your even think about your posture, immediately get into lengthened spine.  Your spine and your posture will thank you.  So will your brain.