Rami's Blog

Like the Yin-Yang, Eastern Martial Arts and Western medicine are two halves of a whole. My mission is to preserve the ancient mind-body tools and pass them on to you.

 

Freeing the Skeleton with the Body Markers: Starting From the Ground

Hello mind-body students! We have just completed our series on finding a qualified mind-body teacher, and now we are moving on to a series about freeing the skeleton from being a prisoner of the soft tissue, which will probably carry us through the rest of 2017!

The 12 Body Markers are a system that I have used for years to help teach my students both online and in my classes. They are designed to measure a person's range of motion through all of their joints, using a scale of 1 (least flexible) to 10 (most flexible). In western health an wellness traditions, everyone seems to be able to measure strength, but very few people have a good grasp of flexibility. Even professional athletes often don't know what the proper range of motion for each of their joints are. Many people are even unsure about what their personal level of flexibility is: usually under or over estimating it until they test it out.

To help address these issues, my wife (Ilana Rosenberg) and I are putting a book together that will feature an extensive guide to the 12 Body Markers to help everyone from average Joe to professional athletes avoid injury, recover from injury more effectively, and recuperate from training faster. 

We've covered some of these Body Markers in the past on varies blog posts and our mini Office Exercise series. For this blog series, we will be focusing on the 9 Body Markers that measure a person's flexibility, starting this week from the ground and moving up!

Body Marker #1: Ankles

How to stretch your ankle joint, and what angle your foot should (eventually) achieve:

Body Marker #2: Quads

How to stretch your quads, which I show if two ways. First is the Heron stretch that you do standing up and one leg at a time. Second is 'seiza,' which you do sitting down.

Body Marker #3: Hamstring

How to stretch your hamstrings. Or more specifically, how to do the proper Vitamin H stretch, if that is the one you will be using. 

Remember that the goal here is to free the skeleton from being a prisoner of the soft tissue. Our sedentary lifestyles, western styles of strength training, and the natural process of aging all cause our soft tissues such as muscle, ligaments, and fascia to shrink and tighten over time. This causes extra tension in our joints and restricts our range of motion, which reduces our performance and overall health.

By working on the Body Markers, particularly the 9 flexibility Markers, you can create a balance that will contribute to greater holistic health. When you are both strong and flexible, you become powerful, and that is what the Body Markers, and mind-body health practice, are all about!

Happy stretching, deep breathing, empty your mind, strengthen your energetic system, and evoke your spirit!

Release Neck Tension, Fix Migraines

Welcome back Tai Chi students! This week, we are revisiting a stretch we did on the blog nearly three years ago, so that all our new readers can benefit from learning it, and the ones who have seen it can have a healthy reminder (as well as learn some new information).

So let's talk about the neck. Most of us lose full range of motion in the neck simply because we do not use it enough. It's like the old saying goes: if you don't use it, you lose it. The neck is designed to turn 90 degrees to the left and 90 degrees to the right, but most people can only turn 45 degrees to each side. When turning your head around on your neck, you should be able to see the back of your shoulders.

While you are doing this stretch, the body will try to take shortcuts at certain points, when you cannot turn any more with good alignment, and it will tilt the head toward the side of the turn (bringing your chin closer to your shoulder). Make sure you maintain correct alignment and keep the chin parallel to the floor. Doing the stretch with a friend or family looking and helping you maintain alignments goes a long way. 

Use the block, a book, or any other object to help keep the neck and head straight. Without the block, the neck and head will extend forward toward the wall, which will brake alignments.

Also: focus on moving up through the neck more than on turning around. What I do is use the inhalation to lengthen through the neck upward (like there is a string pulling on the tip of my head from the heavens) for about 9 inhalations. Inhaling helps with the upward movement and releasing shoulder tension. Then, after 9 inhalations, I slightly turn on an exhalation. 

Remember the 80 percent effort rule! Less is more when it comes to stretching, especially the neck!

And that's it! Happy stretching, deep breathing, and empty your mind!

A Few Tricks for Treating Flat Feet

Flat Feet (also called collapsed arches) are a difficult problem to fix. Luckily, many people who think they have flat feet actually just have collapsed inner ankles. That's simpler to fix because the ankles are more flexible and reactive to training.

If your arches really are collapsed, however, you'll need to do the following exercises to reestablish the feeling of arching the foot. By training in this passive way you can reactivate the tendons and ligaments in the feet and hopefully add a little bit of the arch back, one step at a time.

Surgery-Specific Exercise Routine: Complete Series

Welcome back, mind-body students! This week we synthesize the entire surgery-specific exercise routine into one blog post. Doing these exercises diligently before and after upper-body surgery will prepare your body for minimal down-time and the most complete recovery.

So here it is! Enjoy.

Surgery-Specific Exercise Routine

Part 1: Four Stretches for Surgery & Xena Stretches the Spring

These first two exercises open up the shoulder girdle, preparing the body for more activity and oxygenating the important areas. Go nice and slow on these techniques. Hold the stretches for 2-3 minutes each if possible. Also, if you have frozen shoulder or other stiffness, stretch VERY gently. Better to slowly release the tension rather than hurt yourself before (or after) surgery.

Part 2: Xena Pushes the Tablets & The 'M' and the 'T' Stretches

These stretches extend the arms out straight at the elbows, putting a little more weight on the shoulder and increasing the stretch. It also incorporates some turning of the trunk, which stretches the muscles of the abdomen and lower back.

Part 3: The 'T' and the 'Y' Stretches & Turn and Twist

These exercises get the body into its most extended stretches, with the arms straight up and straight out, and the torso turned repeatedly to each side.

Part 4: White Ape Picks the Peach & Training the Yang Circle

Lastly, we complete the set of exercises with circular motions with really exercise the shoulder joint and all of the muscles of the upper body. These motions incorporate each and every movement from before into very graceful techniques.

And that's it! Come back next week for exciting news from the Mind-body world.

Happy Stretching!

Surgery-Specific Exercise Routine: Part 4

Hey mind-body students! Good to have you back.

This week is the final new installment in our surgery-specific routine, where we introduce the two final exercises for you to do. Next week, we will combine all these exercises into a single post for you to bookmark for future reference.

Preparing for surgery, even just surgery on the upper body, is a whole-body task. Our exercises so far have been relatively isolated to upper body movements, but to fully prepare for the operation, your whole body should be as healthy as possible. So without further to do, here are the two most full-body movements you'll be doing as preparation (and recovery).

White-ape Picks Up the Peach: This beautiful movement from Qi Gong is a great technique to do outside in the (hopefully soon to be) spring weather. Take special note of the "energy ball rotation" movement in between each part of the technique. This part of the movement massages the internal organs, which should be in peak health before you get surgery.

Also, take note of how to breath in this technique, because oxygenating the body is key to surgery prep as well.

Training the Yang Circle: The motion involved with this technique is similar to that of the last technique, with the swooping arm circles and forearm rotation. Having a partner isn't completely necessary (you can do this technique solo against a wall like I show in the video), but there is a lot to be said for having a companion with you while you prepare and recover. Emotional support is also important when it comes to overall health!

Next week we synthesize all the exercises into one post. See you then!

And Happy Stretching!

Surgery-Specific Exercise Routines: Part 3

In the next part of our preparing and recovering from surgery series, we will learn the second pair of alphabet stretches (the Y and the I), as well as a unique and relaxing movement that loosens the chest, abdomen, and shoulders very well.

As you continue to stretch the muscles and soft tissue in the shoulders and chest, and are able to lean into the doorway you are using while performing the M and the T stretches, you can advance to the Y and the I stretches.

The Y and I stretches are more intense, especially on the shoulders and the upper back. If you can't do them yet (especially if you are in recovery, rather than preparation for surgery) then stick to the M and the T. Hold each stretch for 2-3 minutes. And remember, breathe deep!

Next, we'll do the Turn and Twist motion, which I teach to my patients with frozen shoulder, rotator cuff issues, and any other shoulder or chest issues. While you are performing the motion, gradually work your way up. When you reach the point where your arms are at the same height as when doing the T stretch from before, complete 10-20 repetitions, and then slowly work your way down. Use the movement like a Tai Chi form, breathing deeply and emptying the mind.

In the next installment, I'll show you two beautiful exercises that come directly from Tai Chi and Qi Gong, one of which you do with a friend. Stay tuned!

And Happy Stretching!