Movement for Health – Essentrics with Sherry

Living a Fall Free Life…

Not the fall season…we all love autumn – the changing color of the leaves, the cooling temperatures, all the fun outdoor activities, and of course all the pumpkin spice goodies! HA!

A life free of the fear of falling down…does that really seem possible to you. If you read my last post, Essentrics Wellness Retreat, I challenged you to consider your recent falls…what happened and why you fell.

Let’s talk about how you can prevent future falls –

If you feel dizzy or unsteady on your feet, it may require a visit to your doctor. It could be a sign of an underlying medical condition or the side effect medication you are taking.
If you found yourself tripping in your home, it could be time to clean up or at least declutter, so you have clear floor to walk around on.
If you find that a raised sidewalk section or rough terrain brought your downfall, you may need to check your foundation…your feet.

Taking care of your feet improves your chances of staying on them.

Our feet support the weight of our bodies and allow us to stand, balance, and move through the world. Having full mobility in them is key for the health of our entire bodies.

How can we take care of our feet?

Pamper your feet. A nice foot soak, followed by a massage and a toenail trim is a good place to start.

Give your feet their freedom. At least while at home leave your shoes off for a few minutes (or for hours) each day letting your feet move freely as they were designed to do.

Exercise your feet every day. Work one foot at a time. You can be seated or standing. If you stand and need help with balance touch a nearby chair or wall.

If you are seated, have your feet flat and your back is straight.

With your feet flat on the floor, wiggle your toes, keeping the ball of your foot on the floor. Then transition to lifting and lowering one toe at a time (you can use your fingers to help out).
Lift and lower each heel (one at a time), pressing your toes into the floor, 4 times. Then lift and lower both heels at the same time, 4 times.
Next, lift each leg (one at a time) straight out, slowly point and flex your foot 4 times. Then flex your foot and circle your ankle 4 times each direction.

Now, before you put your clean, relaxed, and flexible feet back in those favorite shoes, stop and check them out. It could be that they are so cute but a little tight or worn and move your feet and ankles out of alignment. This could be why you get off balance or are unsteady as you walk. If that is the case, it is time to go shopping.

In my next post I will focus on the need for strong and flexible core to prevent falls. As well as, how we can strengthen our core, gain flexibility and mobility without joining a gym.

Essentrics Wellness Retreat

I hosted my second Saturday morning Essentrics Wellness Retreat. It included two Essentrics workouts and a one hour workshop (Better Balance to Prevent Falls) plus delicious snacks, great door prizes and sixteen awesome participants. Unfortunately, I can’t show you pictures of our amazing morning, because I and my husband (my super assistant) were so into each moment that we forgot to take pictures…not even one. Darn it all!

But then that motivates to write up a few blog posts to share what I learned from my research the impact on falls especially for people over 65, how falls can be prevented and the role balance plays in fall prevention.

For today I want to share some facts about falls from the CDC.

Falls are serious and costly

Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI).4
One out of 10 falls results in an injury that causes the older adult to restrict their activities for a day or more or to seek attention from the healthcare system.1
Each year, there are about 3 million emergency department visits due to older people falls.2
Each year, there are about 1 million fall-related hospitalizations among older adults.2
In 2019, 83% percent of hip fracture deaths and 88% of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for hip fractures were caused by falls.3
Each year, nearly 319,000 older people are hospitalized for hip fractures.3

Read these over a couple of times and consider what it would mean for you to have a serious fall.

Are you ready to start working on making some changes to have prevent falling?

Think about your life..

Have you fallen recently? What happened when you fell?

What led up to the fall…in other words, why did you fall? How could you have prevented that fall?

Don’t just think about it, write the answers to these questions down. Let this be your starting point to a safer, healthier life free of falls.

Don’t miss future posts on this subject-subscribe today.

Poor Posture…an epidemic?

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary an epidemic is a widespread occurrence “affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time”.

Poor posture is an epidemic that is affecting people throughout our society, both old and young alike. Not sure you agree, go out to where the people are and watch them stand, sit, and walk… you will quickly see that you are surrounded by people who have poor posture…maybe to include a glance in your mirror.

So okay…poor posture maybe an epidemic. But does it really matter…isn’t the rounding of the back-just a sign of old age? Or maybe the dropping of the head forward is a result of our “techy” society and the hours spent looking at a electronic devise and is no big deal??

The reality is that poor posture affects not just our appearance but also our health.

Poor posture can be reason for the neck and back pain you are experiencing. If you are sitting for hours in a slouched position (your back forms a C-shape) at a computer or in a soft chair, the difficulty you have breathing could be directly related to poor posture. Feeling down, a bit depressed or just have little energy, these could stem from your body being out of alignment because of poor posture.

Alright…poor posture can make us look old and can bring about pain throughout our body, so what can we do about it??

I thought you would never ask…

First, give yourself a checkup every day…a posture checkup that is.

Try this, stand with your heels a few inches from a wall and your bum touching the wall. Now slide your hand between your lower back and the wall. If there is a small gap (2 inches) great, but if there is quite a bit of space between your hand and your back, you probably need to work on your posture. Another place to check is your neck. Now, slide your hand between the wall and the back of your neck. Again, a small gap (2 inches) is no problem, but if your neck or the back of your head is several inches from the wall, you should be working to improve your posture.

Second, you may need to change your sitting habits…both how long you sit and the way you sit.

It is easy to let hours go by without getting up and walking around. Try setting an alarm to go off every 30 minutes or so. Then get up, walk a few feet, do a few stretches before you sit down again.

Next, look at the way you are sitting…are you slouching, is your back rounded, or your head hanging forward? This maybe comfortable for a while, but soon this poor posture will lead to pain in your back, hip, or neck or all three.

When you sit, try bending at your hips not your waist. Place your hips at the back of the chair seat (if it helps…picture you have a tail, you want it sticking out the back of the chair not sitting on it). By doing this your back, shoulders and neck will be in line, you will have better posture and be more comfortable.

Third, move more and be intentional.

By not moving, our posture will get worse, but just moving more will improve our posture. I am not talking about starting a new crazy exercise regime but building movement into your day. Park in the far end of the lot…forget a few things on purpose and do extra trips up and down the stairs…you get the idea.

Fourth, doing Essentrics daily can change your posture and your life (😊).

Throughout every Essentrics workout we emphasize good alignment from the feet up. Poor posture is a result of one or more joints being out of alignment. Positioning our feet correctly – toes facing forward, soles of your feet flat on the ground (not rolling in or out), will lead to full body realignment and better posture.

In Essentrics we cue “pulling up” of the spine and core, as well as, “pulling out” with our arms and legs. This helps to decompress tight and locked joints that can be the result of poor posture.

Maybe the best way practicing Essentrics can help you is by encouraging you to move in slow, gentle, RELAXED full body rotational movements that help return your joints to their natural range of motion.

If you want to enjoy life more and live with less pain…pay attention to your posture, sit well, move more, and do Essentrics!