July 2019 Newsletter - WHY YOGA?

WHY YOGA? Why not another fitness routine or sport to aid health? Are you a young adult striving to change your fitness level or lose weight? Perhaps you are an aging adult trying to stay healthy or reduce the effects of age. The research is clear: Yoga is one of the few movement activities (Tai Chi and Qigong are the others) that combines strength AND flexibility and can be performed regardless of age.  Yoga “dynamically” stretches the body, strengthens muscles and stabilizes joints to reduce the risk of injury - truly doing “triple-duty" for your physical body and health. In addition, yoga also has positive effects on the health of the mind. A research review1 informs us that “static” stretching - meaning putting tension into your body and holding it for a period of time without movement - actually reduces performance in strength by about 30%. It also decreases speed and power of an activity, and does NOT reduce the risk of injury. Meanwhile, a research article by Iwata and fellow researchers2, tells us that “dynamic” stretching (yoga falls into this category) has long term effects on avoiding muscle injuries, increasing joint flexibility and optimizing performance of sport and life. Yoga is considered a “functional” exercise. This means that it trains the muscles of the body to work together to prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements one might do at home, at work or in sport. It combines usage of strengthening muscles of the upper and lower body together and emphasizes stability of the trunk, while at the same time balancing the body and creating flexibility in other muscles. One could say that running or doing weight lifting definitely falls into the category of functional exercise. However, both put specific tensions into the body and do not involve flexibility to balance those tensions. Therefore are they as efficient as yoga in keeping the health of our body?  Yoga is very different than traditional stretching. Yoga increases body awareness while also using movement patterns that are very different than the poor habitual postures we use in daily life. Examples include inefficient sitting and standing. Yoga uses different directions (multi-planar) and multi-joint movements to enhance “neurogenesis” or the growth and development of your nervous system. Our nervous system is definitely KEY to the overall wellness of our bodies since it is the guiding system to all of our function!  This month, HEAL’s newsletter includes links to some videos to help you learn how to use yoga to balance the flexibility and strength of your body. This video below is a great place to begin! A gentle and easy class to begin your morning to get those muscles moving, flexible and strong for all that the day has to offer you! 1 Kovacs M, The Argument Against Static Stretching Before Sport and Physical Activity. Human Kinetics. Athletic Therapy Today (2016) 11(3), 6-8. 2 Iwato M, Yamamoto A et al., Dynamic Stretching Has Sustained Effects on Range of Motion and Passive Stiffness of the Hamstring Muscles. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2019) 18, 13-20. This video is a great way to start your day! A therapeutic yoga class with a guided breathing exercise to get your spine moving and wake up your diaphragm, a modified Sun Salutation starting in kneeling to focus on control of the hamstrings and trunk without the worry of balance in standing, gentle hip opening and ending with a guided loving kindness meditation. Flexibility Muscle - HAMSTRINGS!  The hamstrings are definitely one of the muscle groups of the lower body that contributes to discomfort and injury related to the low back area. This video will help you understand how to use yoga to create flexibility AND strength in your hamstrings to balance your body and protect your low back from injury. The hamstrings muscles, located on the back of your thighs, are often the chief culprit to low back pain. This is caused when they are too tight or if they are too activated or turned on. This therapeutic yoga video will help you learn not only efficient ways to lengthen your hamstrings but also movements to stop over-using the hamstrings when you shouldn’t be using them in the first place!  Strengthening - The CORE!  Finally, the best way to strengthen our body is to begin at the “core”, the center of the trunk. Think of an apple and how the “core” of the apple is the center and strongest component of the fruit. Just like an apple, our body has a “core” that is often not only weak but disconnected to the nervous system and therefore unable to know how and when it should work. To improve the “neurogenesis” of the “core”, watch this video…and maybe take a quick moment to have a laugh! The concept of the CORE is very confusing and often incorrectly described as just the abdominals. This therapeutic yoga class will allow you to not only learn what constitutes the “core” but also how to get these muscles to efficiently fire up to be used and then strengthen them. Included in this video is a short laughter yoga session and a guided meditation to help further understand the concepts of the “core”. Please connect, follow and have a conversation with us on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook - search HEAL Wellness and Therapy! Take care, I care, Trudy Messer Founder, HEAL Wellness and Therapy, LLC

Yoga for the Psoas Hip Muscle

One of the key muscles of the hip that moves are back, pelvis and hip and stabilizes our spine is the PSOAS muscle. This muscle is often very short and tight, especially with individuals that are very active but do not perform any sort of flexibility exercises or for those that suffer from back pain due to sitting too long from work or leisure. This video will help you understand why the psoas needs efficient length and offer you various yoga/flexibility options to achieve that.

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Yoga for the CORE

The concept of the CORE is very confusing and often incorrectly described as just the abdominals. This therapeutic yoga class will allow you to not only learn what constitutes the “core” but also how to get these muscles to efficiently fire up to be used and then strengthen them. Included in this video is a short laughter yoga session and a guided meditation to help further understand the concepts of the “core”.

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Therapeutic Yoga - Morning Sun Salutation

This video is a great way to start your day! A therapeutic yoga class with a guided breathing exercise to get your spine moving and wake up your diaphragm, a modified Sun Salutation starting in kneeling to focus on control of the hamstrings and trunk without the worry of balance in standing, gentle hip opening and ending with a guided loving kindness meditation. Enjoy!

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Yoga for Hamstrings

The hamstrings muscles, located on the back of your thighs, are often the chief culprit to low back pain. This is caused when they are too tight or if they are too activated or turned on. This therapeutic yoga video will help you learn not only efficient ways to lengthen your hamstrings but also movements to stop over-using the hamstrings when you shouldn’t be using them in the first place!

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June 2019 Newsletter - So What's the big deal with sleep?

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So what’s the big deal with sleep? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to just live a long life. I want to live a long, happy, healthy and present life where I enjoy every minute! I think most people understand that there is no magical fountain of youth and there is no perfect recipe to avoid all illness and disease. What we do know through research is that sleeping, or rather lack of sleep, is strongly associated with many chronic diseases. Sleep dysfunction affects over half of our population with conditions such as: sleep deprivation, obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia. So think about this…humans are the ONLY species that voluntarily deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent reason! According to Dr. Matthew Walker, PhD, and author of Why We Sleep - Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system, more than doubles your risk of cancer, and profoundly disrupts your blood sugar levels. This contributes to our current epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Sleep deprivation is THE key lifestyle factor to the development of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. It also contributes to many major psychiatric conditions, including depression and anxiety. If we were to just think about how much money it takes our health care systems to treat the above conditions and epidemics, I think it is fair to say that billions are being spent.  What if you could change that? What if you changed your habits of sleeping and took control of your health rather than rolling the dice and hoping for the best when you have the “golden ticket” in your body…the ability to sleep well! And it’s free…no deductible, co-insurance or paying for a prescription!  So, that’s the big deal with sleep. Now, here is one of the challenges we face: No one ever taught us HOW to sleep. The only “how” about sleep that most of us know is that we need it to survive. If we’re lucky, maybe someone told you not to sleep on your stomach, but that’s it! If you think of the many things that we do every day like brushing our teeth, typing on a keyboard, or driving a car, my guess is someone taught you something about HOW to do these things. With sleep, you “just do it” like the Nike slogan says. Well, not so quick! If you want to unlock the power of sleep as an agent of healing your body, you need to know how to sleep. HEAL Wellness and Therapy is here to help! Check out our YouTube video on 10 Tips for Sleep to begin working on your habits of sleep and improve your sleep hygiene. Ideas on how to take the habit of sleep and change it to create the best healing environment for your body to get the most efficient sleep. If you’re tossing and turning and have no idea HOW to position yourself for sleep, check out our two videos below to teach you how to sleep on your side and back efficiently. Yes, it requires more than one pillow! Beds are flat but our bodies are not boards but beautiful shapes that require support! Instruction/education on how to efficiently sleep on your side to have a restful and healing night’s sleep. Instruction/education on how to efficiently sleep on your back to have a restful and healing night’s sleep. If you are having difficulty falling asleep at night, watch our therapeutic yoga video to aid you in falling asleep. You can do this right in your bed before closing those eyes and heading into the best slumber of your life!  A guided yoga class that you can be perform before bedtime to help encourage your body to be relaxed and restful. Dr. Walker reports that sleep is a superpower and also the greatest public health challenge in the 21st century. Sleep is NOT an optional lifestyle luxury, it is a non-negotiable biologic necessity or rather your life support system!  Watch Dr. Walker’s TED Talk here There is so much to say about sleep but I think that’s a good start. Stay tuned for more videos and education from HEAL Wellness and Therapy on ways to test your sleep and how to know if you are getting a “good night’s sleep”. We’ll also discuss nutritional sleep aides and the difference in mattresses/pillows for sleep - so much to learn! Final thoughts for this month…we have established social media accounts! Please connect, follow and have a conversation with us on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook - search HEAL Wellness and Therapy! Take care, I care, Trudy Messer Founder, HEAL Wellness and Therapy, LLC

Yoga for Better Sleep

A guided yoga class that you can be perform before bedtime to help encourage your body to be relaxed and restful.

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How To Sleep On Your Back

Instruction/education on how to efficiently sleep on your back to have a restful and healing night’s sleep.

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How To Sleep On Your Side

Instruction/education on how to efficiently sleep on your side to have a restful and healing night’s sleep.

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Top 10 Tips to Better Sleep

Ideas on how to take the habit of sleep and change it to create the best healing environment for your body to get the most efficient sleep.

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May 2019 Newsletter - Welcome to HEAL 😃

Welcome To... I am so humbled  and excited to say those words! What has seemed like already a VERY long journey is finally becoming a reality… I am giving myself permission to let my dreams come true and help anyone who wants help taking care of their body and mind how I deem necessary including for FREE using this online platform! In December of 2017, I founded the company HEAL Wellness and Therapy, LLC because, after over 21 years of physical therapy experience, I was exhausted of treating solely in our current sick-care model and being limited by medical diagnosis or treating just a specific area due to insurance or healthcare restrictions. Even though I have always treated patients to the best that my manual skills and mental capacity, I saw a real opportunity and have always had the grit and passion to treat individuals as a whole body integrating all systems to make them the most efficient beings they can be to fully enjoy this beautiful life we have been given! With that said, please watch my first ever Youtube video introducing HEAL and don’t forget to subscribe and get notifications because their is a lot more to come! Welcome to HEAL Currently, my business team is very small but quite mighty! We have successfully completed 15 videos on self-care and therapeutic yoga that will be coming to your video screen in the next several months. So on this inaugural newsletter, I want to begin with the greatest thank you of all…to my brother Paul! He is absolutely the brains behind every video you will enjoy, one of my best friends, and one of the most caring people I have every met! Imagine….having your dream come to life and be able to work with the family you love and cherish! I only hope we can do what Paul and I have set out to help you do… HEAL your body and your mind! Paul Quilty Administrator of HEAL Wellness and Therapy, LLC

Welcome to HEAL

HEAL Wellness and Therapy is an innovative approach to the care of your health and body. My ultimate goal is to help you work on taking care of your whole body rather than getting “stuck in the rut” of thinking that the body’s aches and pains, fears and concerns, lack of participation in activities of daily living and overall well-being can be dealt with as single problems.

As a physical therapist and yoga instructor, I have always firmly believed that we can only take care of our body from a total systems approach. Every single being has the ability to improve how we fuel our body, how we deal with inflammation, how we return from injury or pain, and how we can become more efficient to do anything we want in life.

Margaret Knott, an amazing physical therapist of her day, once said that “every human being has untapped existing potential” and I hope to help you achieve that!

Trudy Messer, Founder of HEAL Wellness and Therapy