A few years ago, I wrote The Trouble with Belly Breathing which took off in readership over the past year and a half. I’ve gotten requests to write a follow-up article on ways to use more of your lung capacity, so here we are! If you have a hard time breathing into your chest, sides, or back, whether from long COVID, anxiety, or something else, this is for you.
Read moreQuarantine and Kindness
I spent Friday evening in a Feldenkrais workshop on presence - presence with yourself, presence with others, and being present with both at the same time while keeping boundaries clear. The original plan was for a full weekend workshop, but obviously that didn’t happen, so the trainer, Donna Blank, offered a short online version. In the beginning of Donna’s work, she asks you to close your eyes, feel your contact and support from your chair and the floor, and look for a “felt sense” of the experience of just being there - sensory cues that tell you how you are rather than thoughts or emotions. It turns out, for me, that this is a very scary thing to do while dealing with quarantine.
Read moreSelf-Care Tips for Covid-19 Times
Over the past few weeks that quarantine has been in effect in Washington, I’ve talked to a few people who are doing really well and enjoying staying home, but the vast majority of us are struggling. Whether you’re stuck at home due to being immuno-compromised or an essential worker still leaving the house, it’s likely that your sympathetic nervous system (fight, flight, or freeze) is on high alert. Here are some easy things to do that will give your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) a boost.
Read moreEasy Self-Care for Smoky Weather
If you're anywhere in the west of the US right now, you're probably living under smokey skies. Depending on your sensitivity to smoke, you might be experiencing itchy eyes, congestion, sore throat, headaches, sore or heavy lungs, fatigue, or difficulty breathing. After a bad case of bronchitis in my mid-20s, I've had every one of these symptoms this week, so I speak from experience. Here are some easy things you can do to protect your lungs and ease congestion.
Read moreOn Back Pain, "Good" Movement, and "Bad" Movement
Almost all new clients I see have the same question - "How should I be moving? What's the right way to move?" This question is especially prevalent among clients with chronic back pain. They've often been fighting with themselves, trying out a wide variety of modalities and strategies to get their pain under control, and trying to sort out good advice from bad advice for years.
I try to re-frame the question of "good movement vs bad movement". I'm interested in functional, useful movement. Movement doesn't exist in a binary - it exists on a spectrum. While there are general rules that should definitely be followed (ways to not sheer your joints, for example), the details may vary hugely person to person. Not all back pain looks the same.
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