Let's Move that Lymph for Healthy Immune System

A healthy immune system goes hand in hand with a healthy lymphatic system.  The lymph system is our body's cleansing system.  The concept of lymph is difficult to wrap your brain around because it's a fluid system but it's not blood.  The lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that rid the body of all the impurities and metabolic waste products.

Perhaps the most important function of the lymphatic system is to carry infection fighting white blood cells throughout the body (Live Science, 2018).   This is especially important now as we fight the coronavirus and try to build healthy immune systems at home.

In order to keep your lymph system healthy, you have to keep the lymph moving!  Lymphatic expert Stop Chasing Pain's Perry Nickelson says that stagnant lymph is a breeding ground for disease...."the more you sit, the more clogged up your lymphatic system gets"!

LET'S MOVE THAT LYMPH FOR HEALTHY IMMUNE SYSTEM

As a Z-Health Practitioner, I specialize in all things of the nervous system, including the lymphatic system.  A healthy lymph system needs to move.  Today I want to show you how to do 'LYMPHATIC BREATHING' to unclog the lymph and keep it moving to rid the body of impurities and toxins.

The key to this method is to open up the left thoracic duct because the left thoracic duct is the king pin of the body; the entire body (except the right side of the face and the right arm) drains through the left thoracic duct.

Follow along with this video and breathe.  Do this 1-5 minutes at a time.
The more swollen you are, the longer you might want to try this type of breathing.

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.

Exercise Etc Older Adult Workshop vs. Brain-Based Training

I have been a fan of Exercise Etc workshops for years.  Guy Andrews and his team do an amazing job educating trainers how to work with the older adult population.  I have learned valuable functional exercises for baby boomers and their parents.  They do a great job teaching simple exercises for the aging spine, hip, and shoulders.

If you don't know me, I've been studying the brain and how the brain works at the doctorate level for the past two years.  When you study the brain, your perspective of everything changes.  Things that present as problems in the body, begin in the brain.

I went to a local Exercise Etc workshop this weekend hoping to learn something new and to see how the standard senior fitness programming fits into the brain scheme of things.  

The instructor, Mike Diebler, is a great guy and extremely knowledgeable about movement.  He did acknowledge several things about the nervous system (aka, the brain) that I thought were interesting.  

• We agreed about the importance of identifying the cause of the movement problem.  In Z-Health, we are taught to take an extensively thorough health history.   The cause of every movement problem lies somewhere in the nervous system.  In Z-Health, we have an 8-Levels model of assessment to systematically identify the source of the problem.
• We agreed that no matter how much you try to 'workout' a problem or weakness on one-side, it will always exist.  In Z-Health, we are taught about the brain and that there are two sides.  After years of lifestyle habits, one side of the brain usually needs more activation.  In Z-Health, we systematically identify the dysfunctional side and activate it.  A person has to earn the right to train bilaterally
• We agreed about the importance of deep inhales and long, strong exhales.  The diaphragm is your breathing muscle and like any other muscle in the body, it needs to be worked in it's full range of motion.  We humans are shallow breathers and do not fully exercise our diaphragm.  The reprecussions are bent forward postures.  We need to stretch the diaphragm.

I left after the morning sessions.  It was good to go there but I didn't learn anything new.  Please do not get me wrong; I by no means, think I know it all. I do not.  I mean that the fitness industry as a whole isn't teaching anything new.  

There are only so many ways you can move your body.  The only way to change the way you move is to activate the brain.  You can stretch and strengthen your "posture" muscles all day everyday but if your brainstem isn't getting the balance of extension and flexion activation, your posture will never improve.

If however, you activate the brainstem, your posture will improve immediately.   It's brain-based. It's science.  It's neurology. 

Thank you Exercise Etc for coaching me to be a great proprioceptive trainer.  Now I'm a  brain-based practitioner who activates vision, vestibular and proprioceptive systems for optimal performance and reduced pain.  

Elements of Efficient Movement to Prevent Falls

Professional athletes make movement look graceful, flawless, effortless.  We're not professional athlete's but your brain's ultimate goal of movement is efficiency.  Efficient movement requires less energy and your brain likes to conserve energy.

So how does your movement become efficient?  Practice, practice, practice!!!  Practice solidifies neural pathways with myelin and your brain (and body) get good at that movement.

But here's the kicker;

your body gets good at whatever it does

exactly how it does it.  

What that means is that if you're practicing sloppy, compensated movements, your body will get good at bad, inefficient form.

This is why you need to practice movements in perfect form. Dr. Cobb, creator of Z-Health, has identified four elements of efficiency that must be present in the "PERFECT REP".  And they are:

1. Perfect Form
2. Dynamic Postural Alignment
3. Synchronized Respiration
4. Balanced Tension and Relaxation 

What does that look like?  Well, perfect form begins in Lengthened Spine.  Dynamic Postural Alignment means that all joints are relaxed and properly aligned.  You're sitting, or standing, tall and relaxed.  Feet, knees, hips and shoulders all facing forward.

Synchronized Respiration is relaxed nasal inhale into your belly and nasal or mouth exhalation.  This breathing pattern continues throughout the movements.  It will change as energy requirements increase but you SHOULD NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH AT ANY TIME!

The final element of efficiency is the ability to maintain balanced Tension and Relaxation in your body.  This means no contraction, flexion, forward bending, locking of arms when doing movements, no tension.  This is a challenge when a person is asked to move a joint in directions and speeds they haven't done in....forever!

IT's very common to see people tighten up when trying to move a body part in isolation that has never been moved before.  It takes concentration!  Concentration can rob your body of efficiency because all your brain wants is to do the movement and not look stupid.  This should be easy.  But it's not.

One perfect rep means doing whatever drill with all the forms of efficiency present.  Breathing.  Relaxed.  Postural aligned and perfect form.  In my Brains and Balance Training classes, we practice drills that should be easy. You would think three circles clockwise and three circles counterclockwise would be easy.  But it's not always the case!

Learn how to control your body with the elements of efficiency.  Get good at good movement.  Quit living your life in bad form!  Say goodbye to poor posture and instability.   Learn how to move each joint in isolation so you can move them all together efficiently.

Brain-based training: The future of Fitness.
If you're not training your senses, half your brain is dying.  Use it or lose it.

Science of Breathing for a Healthy Brain

A healthy brain needs two things; fuel and activation.  The two types of fuel your brain needs are glucose and oxygen.  You need to eat and breathe.  Eating for a healthy brain is an entirely different blog so in this post I'd like to talk about breathing, particularly carbon dioxide.

Growing up, we were taught to believe that oxygen is good and carbon dioxide is bad.  That's half true: carbon dioxide is also good.  In fact, carbon dioxide drives respiration.  Movement produces carbon dioxide.

This is not good news if you don't move.  If you don't move much, you're not producing carbon dioxide.  You're over breathing, meaning you're taking in too much oxygen, but without carbon dioxide, your cells cannot get the oxygen you need.   The oxygen gets stuck in the bloodstream.

In all simplicity, carbon dioxide is a messenger molecule.  It attaches to the oxygen molecule and takes it into the cell.  100% blood oxygen is NOT GOOD.  95-97% Oxygen saturation is good.

Here is an excellent article about carbon dioxide:  Science of Breathing. Truth about Carbon Dioxide

How to you increase carbon dioxide?  You move.  You exercise.  Nasal breathing. And most important, you bag breathe.  Not like you're hyperventilating but slow and controlled.  In a bag, 30 seconds, 3-4 times per day.

Just breathe.

The Two Types of Fuel a Brain Needs to be Healthy

In this day and age, we all want a healthy functioning brain.  With the risk Alzheimers and other dementias increasing with age,  people who are willing to go to great lengths to keep their brain healthy.

Scientifically, a healthy brain needs two things for survival.  Two simple things that don't cost tons of money.  A healthy brain needs activation and fuel.    Your brain and the entire nervous system function on a "Use It or Lose It" principle so activating the entire brain is necessary for optimal performance.

  Brain SuperFood:  OJ & Salt

In my small group classes, I teach mature adults how to activate the different areas of the brain, including the sensory systems.  For those who cannot attend a live session,  I've created an online balance training course, Balance Training 101, to teach you how to activate both the sensory and motor components of the brain.l

When it comes to fueling your brain, the two type of 'food' your brain needs for healthy function are:

1. Glucose
2. Oxygen

You need to eat and you need to breathe.

If only it were that simple!  Nutritionally, we are a mess.  We've been fed untruths about what's good and what's bad for us from the leading agency in our country, the USDA and as a result, we don't know what to eat.  The foods your brain needs are exactly what government agencies are telling us NOT to eat.

Your brain needs SUGAR!  Your brain needs glucose to function.  The brain superfood is Orange Juice.  Orange juice with sea salt in it.  OJ is quick digesting and provides instant burning fuel.   Give it a try: 4-6 ounce OJ/sal shots throughout the day, especially before class or sensory training!

For more brain-smart eating, check out Kate Deering's book, "How To Heal Your Metabolism".  Quick read with lots of easy to understand scientific facts.  Highly recommended. 

Your brain needs OXYGEN!  If breathing wasn't an automatic function, half of us would be dead!  We are a bunch of shallow breathers.  We take in shallow breaths and don't exhale enough!  The result is a build up of oxygen in the blood.  We need to exhale.

I'm going to teach some breathing exercises in the next few weeks but in the meantime, practice the diaphragm stretch!  

Here is a demonstration of me doing the diaphragm stretch for you:

Diaphragm Stretch from The Brains and Balance Lady on Vimeo.

Gain control of your emotions with brain activation drills

We all have those occasional emotional meltdown moments; those times when we feel emotionally out of control.  This "limbic escape" is your brain's way of protection.  The emotional response will get you to stop whatever you're doing and cry, scream, yell, or whatever your emotional response might be.

The "old brain" is responsible for our emotions.  The way to gain control of your emotions is to inhibit old brain function.  That is the number one responsibility of the new brain; to inhibit the old brain.

Of the three training methods to help you gain control of your emotions, frontal lobe activation drills are my favorite.  If you want to learn specific drills to help gain control of your emotions and your body, contact me for private training sessions.

Facebook:  The Fall Prevention Lady
Website:  The Fall Prevention Lady
Email:  info@thefallpreventionlady.com

Your brain can change the way you feel and the way you respond.  Learn how to gain control of your mind and emotions through precise brain training drills.  I'd love to help you.

Your coach,
Kelly Ward
The Fall Prevention Lady

Respiration Training and Balance

Breathing is an automatic process that is controlled by the mid-brain; specifically the mesencephalon, pons, and medulla.  I tell my classes, 'if breathing weren't automatic, 90% of us would be dead'.  This is because we are a bunch of shallow breathers and do not use a large portion of our breathing capacity.

We all want to move better with less pain.   Everything we do, all movement and thought, is initiated by the brain.  In order to function at optimal levels, the brain needs fuel and activation.  The most essential fuel source is oxygen.  Oxygen gets into the cells via the transport molecule carbon dioxide.  Exercise produces carbon dioxide which helps the oxygen get into the cells for healthy function.  Movement is life. 

Again, if breathing weren't automatic, over 90% of us would be dead because we don't know how to do it.  The first thing I want you to know about breathing is to breathe IN through the nose and out through the mouth. When you inhale, your belly should expand.  This is the exact opposite of what feels normal; I  know because I struggled with proper breathing technique before learning proper breathing mechanics.

I worked with a young 70-year old who was having breathing problems and her doctor told her she would be on an oxygen tank if she didn't do something about it.  She called me and we worked together for two sessions before she went back to her doctor.  Her entire demeanor changed as she practiced the respiration drills and used the Relaxator when we weren't together.

She called me after her doctor's appointment and said he was thrilled with whatever she was doing. She also went on to tell me that she didn't need to use her oxygen and her energy levels were the best they'd been in years.  The oxygen tank sits unused in her living room now!

If you want to learn how to breathe or improve your breathing patterns for better movement, more mental clarity, better vision and less pain, please contact me!!!  COPD, asthma and other breathing disorders are a challenge but it's never too late to learn how to feed your brain the oxygen it needs for optimal daily function.

Everything you do begins in the brain; let's find out what your brain needs for the best performance possible.

Movement is Life; it's time to start LIVING!
Coach Kelly

Breathe in, breathe out....

    Well, maybe not if you are outdoors and you happen to live in the Sacramento, California region like I do.  

    Unfortunately, there are hundreds of forest fires burning in our beautiful state and the result is unsafe air due to the smut, fire particles and pollution looming in the air.   Not only is the air polluted but it's also HOT, somewhere around the undesirable 100 degree mark, compounding the polluted air by forming a unbearably hot, smokey cloud around us.  This condition reminds me of life back east in the heat, haze and humidity that I grew up in.  It was awful.  This is awful.

    So my friends, I'm sure you are asking what in the world this has to do with Fall Prevention... well, my point is how important it is to deeply breathe in clean air.  Often.  When you have it, don't take it for granted, right?  Right.

    Practice breathing in deep through your nose so your nose hairs can filter out the impurities, hold that for a second, then exhale through your mouth.  Slightly close your mouth as if playing a musical instrument (also called pursed lips), as you force the air out of your lungs, feeling your diaphram squeezing as you exhale.

    Practice this deep breathing at least 3 times a day.  You pick the times but make it a habit.  Heck, take in a deep breath whenever you remember.  Too much air isn't such a bad thing....as long as it's good air!

    Deep breathing encourages oxygen exchange at the cellular level and that oxygen is necessary for energy.  And life requires energy, especially since you are following a consistent stretching and strengthening routine.  

     My Take 5 to Exercise routines:  Flexibility, Strength 1, Posture, Strength 2, and Maintenance.  Your body will adapt to these movements designed to reduce your risk of a fall and to improve the quality of your life.   And it all starts by when you Take 5 to Exercise.

Visit www.take5toexercise.com and order your copy.

Your Fall Prevention lady.