Striving4Zen

WebMD got the basics of Chi Running from Danny Dreyer, an ultra-marathon runner and author of the book Chi Running: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running.

Focus Your Mind: Your mind instructs your muscles to start working or relaxing. Your mind orchestrates the perfect run, starting out slowly, finding the perfect tempo, he adds. Your mind takes in the beauty of your surroundings so that you finish relaxed, and full of energy.

When you begin running, your mind must also push against the body's natural inertia. "Your body is like a dumb animal," Dreyer tells WebMD. "It will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force like your mind. You have to train it."

Sense Your Body: Pay close attention to what your body is doing. Practice listening to any little nuances that you can detect. Feel your foot hitting the ground. Feel your posture.

Is your body moving in the way you intended it to? Is your movement easier or more difficult? Are there subtle changes you should make? As you begin running, you must develop body sense. Then you will become your own best teacher and coach, says Dreyer.

Breathe to Tap Into Chi: The more efficiently your body can take in oxygen, the easier running will feel, Dreyer explains. If you're not breathing deeply into your lower lungs, you're not getting as much air as you could -- a common problem when people begin running.

To belly-breathe, stand or sit and place your hands over your belly button. Now purse your lips as if you're trying to blow a candle out, and exhale, emptying your lungs by pulling in your belly button toward your spine. When you've blown out as much air as you can, relax your belly and the inhale will occur naturally. Practice breathing out for three steps, breathing in for two steps. Try matching your breath with your cadence.

Relax Your Muscles: Tight muscles can't get the oxygen they need. The cure is easy: Just relax! Don't take yourself so seriously. Drop your shoulders. Smile. Relax your glutes. Float like a butterfly... lighten up, says Dreyer.

When muscles are loose and relaxed, the oxygen carried in your blood can enter the muscle cells much more easily than if your muscles are tense. Keep telling your muscles, "Softer is better!"

Practice Good Posture: Your aligned body has a centerline that runs from head to foot. It is the "steel" that supports your body, which allows your arms and legs to relax. Running with your posture out of alignment creates tension and fatigue.

Stand in front of a mirror. Straighten your upper body. Then look down at your feet. If you can see your shoelaces, it's a good bet that your dots are connected in a straight line - perfect. Memorize how this feels. Practice it.

Start Slow: When you begin to run, take it gradually, says Dreyer. "Practice your posture. Really memorize what it feels like to have good posture. Feel yourself standing in straight line. Practice alternating do on one foot, then switch. Shift weight back and forth. Feel yourself keeping posture line straight while on one foot a time."

Then, it's time for a little jog. Connect with your posture. Feel your feet down at the bottom of your posture line. Start to jog slowly. When one foot hits the ground, feel it hitting at bottom of your posture line. Practice moving from one foot to the next, taking baby steps. Speed is not a factor here," Dreyer says. "That's the very last thing you should think about. You're working on form -- holding it little bit longer each time. Stretch that over a block, two blocks, three blocks. That's building distance, until you can hold your form over distance."

Thanks Fit Sugar!

Labels: belly breathing, chi flow, chi running, Danny Dreyer, exercise, posture, running, WebMD

Poor posture can lead to many overuse injuries and, on the vanity side of things, make you look shorter and 10 pounds heavier.

Since none of us can afford to have a Pilates instructor poke our spines into place 24/7, two physicians collaborated on the iPosture ($65). It is a small device that you clip to your bra, wear on a necklace, or stick on your upper chest with adhesive that vibrates when you slouch.

Surprisingly effective, the little electronic device, a bit over inch in diameter and practically weightless, contains a nanosensor. You set iPosture once you are in your desired posture, and when you deviate three degrees from that posture, the device vibrates, reminding you to correct.

As you can see, it's quite small. The iPosture is so unobtrusive, you don't feel it until you slump and the gizmo vibrates. The vibration is completely quiet, so nobody can hear it.

If you suffer from back, neck, wrist, or shoulder pain, iPosture can help by teaching you to stand and sit correctly. You can buy the device here. $65 seems like a lot for such a simple device, but not when you consider that the going rate in SF for a 55-minute session with an experienced rehab specialist Pilates instructor is $75 to $85.

Thanks Fitsugar!

Labels: cool new product, innovative, iPosture, Pilates, posture

Good posture is important for both looking and feeling your best. Slumping adds not only odd stresses to the spine but can make a body appear heavier, not to mention shorter.

More than just looking long and lean, having good posture is important for the health of your bones and joints. Proper alignment decreases undue wear and tear on the soft tissues, ligaments and cartilage that surround and protect your joints, especially your spine. Plus, if you are slouching you are smooshing (yep, that is the technical term) all your internal organs. It is bad for digestion; your stomach and intestines need plenty of space.

Finding perfect posture is easy. First you want to think of balancing the bones on top of one another like a column starting with your feet on the floor, ending with your skull. I have a posture checklist for you, so read more.

Here's a posture checklist:

1. Stand with your feet under your sits bones (yep those bones that you sit on that are the base of you pelvis). Your feet will only be about one or your own foot widths apart - not very wide. The weight on your feet should be balanced equally between the balls of your feet and your heels, as well as the inside and outside of your feet.

2. Align your pelvis over your feet. Your pelvis should be level. Think of the pelvis like a wide soup bowl and you don't want the soup to spill over the front or the back of the bowl.

3. Keep your ribcage directly over your pelvis. It is a common posture for the ribs to hang back behind the pelvis.

4. Next place your shoulders right over your ribs.

5. The skull should be right over your feet. Your earlobes should be in line with your shoulders - don't thrust your head forward.

For the supreme alignment check-in, stand with your back against the wall (take off your shoes first and try to find a spot with no baseboard) and see how it feels to have your heels, booty, upper back and the back of your head all on the wall. It might feel extreme, but use that as a guide.

Fit's Tip: It really helps to just keep lengthening your spine up and out of your pelvis. One image that helps a lot of slouchers stand tall is to imagine that there is a golden string attached to the top of your head lifting and lengthening your spine.

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Labels: good health, posture, proper alignment, stand tall