Posture!

It has come to my attention that a number of visitors found my blog while searching for information on "dowager's hump." So, I'm back with the rest of the story. Thanks to Garry Adkins for his expertise and enthusiasm, and for his trusty camera.

As described in my CTS post in July, Garry told me that I had the beginnings of a dowager's hump, which I vehemently denied. "See me during break," he said. Ohmigod, I thought, teacher wants to make an example of me! Indeed, and thank goodness for that.

During break, Garry aimed his camera at me and asked me to stand as I normally stand. Ha! I thought with a silent snicker. Okay, mister, okay. Watch me! So I stood erect. I felt happy that day, positive, confident, and certain that my posture was pretty darn good. Behold my "pretty darn good" posture:


With one hand on my back and one hand on my upper chest, Garry instructed me to tilt my torso up and back, and then he told me to pretend someone was pulling my head straight up to the sky. That’s it. Fewer than ten seconds passed between the two photos:


Just let your eyes bounce back and forth between the two. Amazing, isn't it? Compare my shoulders, rounded and slumped on the left, up and firm on the right; my "hump" is hardly a hump on the right; my jawline appears more pronounced on the right, and my neck longer. Take a look, too, at the angle of my chest; clearly, the lady on the left is saggy, whereas the lady on the right is pert near perky. Most amazing to me is the difference in my line of vision.

Garry said nothing about my eyes or my line of vision, nor did I give it a single thought at the time. The direction of my gaze was as it was, a natural result of my posture:


What an impact these photos have had on me! Two months later, and I still catch myself slouching, but it is no longer bothersome to correct my posture. What a joy to lift my head and straighten my spine, to feel my body rise, thereby creating my own uplifting experience everyday.

Upright posture is addicting.

On the advice of a certain Certified Personal Trainer I know and love: If your posture is way out of whack, don't try to correct it all at once and without additional training. It takes time. Strengthen your core, practice yoga, get a massage. Consult your physician before starting any exercise routine.

iVillage: Stop Slouching!

IMI's South Entrance

This is what I see every time I enter my school building.

Emmanuel Gets Dressed, Pt. I

Okay, so the belly of his biceps is a bit large and low, and his gluteus minimus raises serious doubts, but get a load of his erector spinae! He has mighty fine intercostals, too, if I do say so myself.

His arm appears disproportionately large because he's at an angle, with his hand extended toward the camera. I held him gently by the ankle because he wouldn't stay still for the picture. (He's shy, don't you know. That, and he didn't come with a stand.)

What Hump?

Referencing this post, I'm Igor in the "What hump?" scene above. ;)

In Action

My right hand is saying, "Here's the medial border of the scapula," and my left hand is saying, "So this must be the infraspinatus." And then -- I remember this moment well -- drawing on my intuitive skills and my keen sense of focus, I thought, "Let's see, now I'll... OMG, is that Garry with his camera?!"

Garry posted photos from last weekend's Carpal Tunnel class on his website. You can view them here. Note the dates at the bottom of each photo; only 10 of the 50 photos are from my class (July 2007).

Tiger Swallowtail

Another visitor in the garden today! Isn't she beautiful? ::sigh::

Elective: Carpal Tunnel

Did you know that the carpal tunnel is actually a tunnel? Yep. The bones in your wrist form a "U" shape, and a band of tissue covers the "U" like a roof. Through the tunnel run a number of tendons as well as the median nerve.


Most sources will tell you that carpal tunnel syndrome is caused when the structures in the carpal tunnel become inflamed, thus compressing the median nerve. What they often (but not always) neglect to tell you is that compression anywhere along the median nerve can lead to symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Over the two-day period, we learned and practiced various techniques that relax the muscles in the neck, shoulders, arms, and hands, and we also worked to increase range of motion in the joints.

Our instructor, Garry Adkins, demonstrated each technique on student volunteers. When it came time to demonstrate our last technique, Garry didn't ask for a volunteer; he chose me. He walked right over to me, set up his video camera, and all I could think was, woo hoo! Massage from the teacher is a wonderful thing.

Clearly, Garry picked me because of my neck. Rather, my hump. Earlier, he told me I had the beginning of a Dowager's Hump, to which I immediately replied, "No I don't!"

Do you know what a Dowager's Hump is? It's that slumpy hunchback lump usually attributed to osteoporosis. Do you know what a dowager is? A dowager is an elderly woman of high social station.

Now. I am neither elderly nor of high social station, but I have the hump. I ask you, is that fair? If I'm going to have the hump, and if, as I expect, I am eventually going to be elderly, then I think I ought to have the high social station t' boot, don't you? And all the ladies said: Amen!

Seriously, I believe that my pre- (repeat, PRE-) dowager's hump is the result of poor posture over the past several years, no doubt due in part to the rounded shoulders and hanging head that accompanies depression.


No more! Depressed or no, I'll hold my head up, thank you very much. And my shoulders back. You may think this a digression, but it's not. Poor posture, rounded shoulders, a hanging head, all these can and likely will lead to a compressed median nerve, which causes symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

So, in order to work my neck and relax my tight muscles, Garry lifted my head and turned it and pulled it this way and that way, all the while digging his fingers into and along the sides and back of my neck. Mercy! It hurt, but when he finished, I felt fantastic. Felt like I had a new head. (I checked. Nope. Same noggin.) And oh, did my neck feel wonderful. Lighter, longer.


Our esteemed teacher, Garry Adkins:



GarryAdkins.com

AdvancedMassageEducation.com

Hands-On: Muscle Mechanics

The technique learned in tonight's hands-on class is muscle mechanics. Muscle mechanics can quickly relax a muscle and is an effective technique to use on muscles that won't relax during traditional massage.

The massage therapist presses her fingertip or knuckle on one end or on the belly of a particular muscle and uses her other hand to give light resistance as the client contracts that muscle. By applying pressure to the ends or to the belly of the muscle, we stimulate muscle cells in such a way as to send a message to the central nervous system that the muscle is working too hard. The central nervous system then responds by sending impulses that cause the muscle to relax.

That's the short Chrys-just-learned-it-tonight version. The long version includes proprioceptors, annulo-spiral receptors, and afferent sensory neurons. Some of you may be interested in reading the long version (if you are, run don't walk to Irene's Myomassology Institute and sign up immediately), but my guess is that most of you want to know whether it works and how it feels.

Let's find out, shall we? Select one of the following:

1. Offer yourself upon my table.
2. Make an appointment at IMI's Student Clinic.
3. Ask your massage therapist to do muscle mechanics.
4. If your MT doesn't know muscle mechanics, then ask your MT to apply passive and active resistance, the next best thing to muscle mechanics, in my humble opinion.

Blessed by a Monarch

This lovely creature visited my garden this afternoon while I was on the phone with a friend. We hung up just so I could snap the photo. The butterfly circled around my head several times, fluttered toward the garage, the house, the neighbor's roof, then back around my head a few more times. Checking me out, I imagine.

Could I simply post the photo and leave you with the above description? Noooo, I had to 1) research to determine whether this is indeed a monarch (I think so), 2) read about monarchs, 3) decide which fascinating facts to share here with you, and 4) start planning where in my garden I'll create a Monarch Waystation.


Time well spent.

* * *

The monarch's scientific name, Danaus plexippus, in Greek means "sleepy transformation."

Milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars eat. Milkweed is listed as a "noxious weed" in Michigan. 

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quotes: Water

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."
Loren Eiseley
The Immense Journey, 1957

"Water is the one substance from which the earth can conceal nothing. It sucks out its innermost secrets and brings them to our very lips."
Jean Giraudoux

My Body: Forearm

In Physiology class last week, we traced one another on brown craft paper. Our homework was to draw the bones of our forearms and hands. Pictured here --click pic for a large view-- is the anterior view (palm side up) of my left arm. I asked my bones if they feel as awesome as my drawing looks. They said they do, even better.

I laid my real arm & hand upon the paper in order to check my proportions. My, but that was a trip. Let me check the accuracy of this image by measuring it against the real me. How surreal to look back and forth between my "real" hand and the image I had drawn: Here is a drawn image of my bones, which I can see, and here are my real bones, which I can't see; here is my drawing, which I created, and here is my hand, which I did not create. Or did I?

Next month, I'll draw my digestive system. Mercy!

* * *

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Little Gidding V
Four Quartets
T.S. Eliot (1943)

Disapproving Rabbits

If you're as easily amused as am I, then check out Disapproving Rabbits. I used to have this set up so that you could get to the Disapproving Rabbits website by clicking on the above photo, but the bunny strongly disapproved of being clicked upon.

The test results are in

Guess who aced the skeletal test? One hundred percent, baby.
Happy dance!

It's Friday Night...

...do you know where your acromion is? I do.
Studying on a Friday night. ::sigh::
(When I ace the test next week, remember this.)