A stiff inflexible back and body

As we grow older if we are not careful, we will start to lose mobility in the body and mind. The human body was never designed to be sedentary nor was it designed to be stimulated by TV. Constant stimulation such as EMFs and sugar put the central nervous system into sympathetic dominant, a state of fight or flight. When we have a healthy body we have a healthy mind and vice versa. The whole essence of what yoga stands for is putting the body into a series of positions and shapes to enable it to receive information like an antenna. Hence the final outcome is to be able to sit comfortably for meditation. As the saying goes: As above so is below.

It’s my belief that we all have the potential to be a genius of different sorts and we all have the the ability to change genetic patterning and reverse disease. Hence many medical professionals such as Dr.Rangan Chatergee and Dr. Rupi Aujila have brought out books on “How to make disease disappear” and “The doctors kitchen to beat illness.”  I’m not saying that everything is curable, but what I am saying is that when we have the best possible health, we are able to fight the inflammation process and only need to be reliable on prescriptive pharmaceutical drugs for short term usage (as they were always meant). Many of us are still in the myth that we are in good health and that fat is the enemy; this was proven wrong many years ago. Of course there are good and bad fats. I will never take advice from someone who is less healthy than me. I am always looking to see if people are an example of how to live, rather than how not to live.

I am always puzzled with world governments and health authorities not pushing diet, exercise, vitamin D, hydration, sleep and tribe community. It is a known fact in any animal or primate kingdom that isolation is the best way to reduce life expectancy. Could this because that there is little or no money to be made from healthy people?? Or that the big sugar, pharmaceutical and food firms donate to our governments? Is it not true that more education on an alkaline diet and inflammatory diet would reduce costs long term plus put less pressure on your medical systems by reducing dis-ease and pain.  That is for you to decide.

Inflammation in the body can only survive in if it is constantly fed inflammation through many stresses. These are listed below in an image from Paul Chek. Nothing works in isolation, everything is connected, the body is a bath tub. Again when I am stopped by charity workers collecting for various charities, very few know about prevention and the brain gut barrier (HPA-AXIS). This has been around since the 1800’s. Dementia, Alzheimers, depression, cancer, Autism, ADHD and so many more are all chronic inflammation. Most of what we are doing drinking and eating are all inflammatory. When was the last time your health practitioner asked you about the state of your poops, what you ate that morning, or questioned your belief system into that behaviour pattern. If what we are doing is working, why is it 2020 and we have more information, more medical drugs, research programs and institutions but are failing in every step of the way?

Joint hypo-mobility and hyper-mobility

So does any of the above actually have any connection to flexibility and stiffness in the body??? Yes it does indeed. Firstly we need to look at the stress load on the body as this will actually put the body into a state of fight or flight in the central nervous system. This effects the breath and the body’s ability to go parasympathetic, which is anabolic repair and growth, and will inhibit relation of the connective tissue, hence causing more tension and restraint rather than more relaxation.

We can all definitely improve our flexibility and mobility by working on it. However all flexibility subject to contrary belief actually starts in the joint first, then surrounding tissues second. This is were the famous 9 point Beighton scale come from. I was told for years at dance college and then after in pilates and yoga that I would gain extreme measures of flexibility in my stiff body. The truth of the matter is that although I did gain alot of flexibility, my shape of the joints prevented me from getting into many shapes, positions and asanas. When I had my dance school “Alhambra Academy of Dance and Drama,” I could see children who were naturally mobile and had a flat turn out, hence who would be accepted to ballet school and children whose joints just did not facilitate this.

 I score zero on the Beighton scale; this has never changed and will never change. However I have improved my tissues in and around the joint and elasticity and facial slings. My understanding of the body is when there is restriction in one area there will be compensation in another. For example if the hip is restricted in flexion and extension, mobility will tend to show in the lumber spine making it hyper mobile.

Similarly someone who has rigidity and restriction in the thoracic area,  are likely to be compensating in the the glenohumeral area.   Repetitive actions/movements that occur in that joints such as golf, tennis or just every day office work, are more likely to get injured.

We should always look at what’s going on above and below. So a knee problem can be a result of something further up the body such as the hip or shoulder or even deeper organ related. So adjacent joints are key to this.

Segmental instability is a type of hyper-mobility. An example of this would be a spondylothesis where L5 slips forward over the sacrum. Spinal instability can be caused by reduced ligament pretension secondary to loss of disc height. Again this is why we have to nourish the body with food and water and disc hydration can be strongly linked to not enough water consumed. “In humans, hydration levels are an important aspect of intervertebral disc degeneration. There is also a relationship between decreased hydration levels and increased stiffness.”1

The ability to back crack is actually spinal instability. Spinal Instability or Lumbar Instability is a condition that occurs when the inter-vertebral discs in the spine begin to degenerate. The bulge of the disc decreases and begins to lose height. This causes the vertebrae to displace from their anatomical position and override the disc.

A great way to rehab spinal instability is to use the Swiss ball. Whether you’re an injured athlete, injured office worker or busy mum, the ball is highly effective. One of the main reasons we get de-condititoned and sluggish is a delayed reaction time in our motor systems. When we use the ball, it is called a tilting reflex. Thus if you fall or trip suddenly you should be in a position to save your back and your body. Careful training in both righting and tilting reflexes will improve your reaction time and train your body to return to the centre of gravity quickly.

Stretching and mobility drills are also an essential part of rehabilitation. Using the Swiss ball and other pilates apparatus which has a spherical shape such as an arc barrel or ladder barrel are great for mobilising the spine, spinal extension plus body conditioning.

Bibliography 

Chek Level 2 Manual – Paul Chek