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.

 

Recovery is About Balance

In America, very often doctors will tell you that complete bed rest is necessary for a healthy recovery from an injury. If you have a pulled muscle, or bad inflammation from arthritis, they recommend that you put no weight on the injury, and if possible, totally immobilize the area.

In my experience, this philosophy is only half of the whole picture. I have seen arthritis sufferers who moved their affected joints too much, causing more inflammation and difficult recovery. But I have also seen people with arthritis who moved their affected joints too little, and ended up losing much of their mobility and making their arthritis worse in the long term.

In recent years, western style medicine has incorporated healing movement into some areas, such as physical therapy after accidents or surgeries. That is all great, but it isn't enough. The body was not meant to be immobilized, and moving is an important part of the healing process for nearly everything.

For example, I have treated many people who suffered from chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia. These patients had severe pain in their soft tissues, especially when they moved or were touched. Most of them took this as a sign that they just shouldn't move or make physical contact until they found a medication that could treat their symptoms. But research that I co-authored showed that staying in bed and immobilizing painful areas was less effective at treating their pain than gentle movements like those found in Tai Chi. 

This principle can be applied to many skeleto-muscular issues, such as lower back problems, shoulder problems, foot problems, the list goes on and on. According to eastern philosophies, moving is one of the primary ways to cultivate healing energy.

So remember, if you are having issues with pain or mobility, especially chronic ones, and your doctor can only suggest lying in bed or taking a new pill, make sure to get a second opinion from a mind-body or physical therapy professional. You never know what a little gentle movement could do.

Happy Stretching!

Common Walking Issues

This week we talk to you about some common walking problems, many having to do with improper alignment through the feet. In later videos, we will go into detail about each of these problems individually and help you correct them.

Emotional Health and Weight Loss

I'm a firm believer in the ability of physical health to improve one's mental health. The attitude of the body is the attitude of the mind, after all. If you are in a bad mood, you'd be amazed just how much positive impact a workout can have. It can be cardio, Tai Chi, strength training, stretching, anything really. When the body is moved around and feels healthy, that releases chemicals in the brain that help stabilize your emotions.

However, it is important to distinguish between a simple mood swing, and a more serious or chronic mental health issue. Mind-Body techniques can be used to treat many mental health issues, but they are used in a preventative way. For example, mindfulness meditation can help prevent Major Depressive Episodes, but it isn't used as a treatment during these episodes. The same goes for anxiety: if you keep to a mind-body exercise routine while you are feeling good, it's very possible that your anxiety levels will drop, and you won't have as many anxiety attacks. But if you are having an anxiety attack, doing Tai Chi forms is not how you should get through it.

This also applies to non-clinical, chronic emotional states, like grieving or mourning. These are natural processes that require time, loved ones, and often counseling, to properly deal with. If you want to stay as healthy as possible, whether that means losing weight, building muscle, or just being active, it is imperative that you first acknowledge, and seek treatment for, any chronic emotional issues you are experiencing.

Once you are emotionally stable again, then you should develop your mind-body routine and pursue your physical health goals. A peaceful mind can be harnessed to heal and strengthen your body, mind, energy, and spirit. A worried and bothered mind cannot. Weight loss is 50% willpower, and strong willpower comes from a peaceful mind.

Happy Stretching!

Dealing with Sciatica

Pain that shoots up or down the leg and into the lower back can be caused by a few different things, and the first step in treating this kind of pain is understanding where it's coming from.

One possible cause of this leg and back pain is an issue with your Sacroiliac Joint. SI joint issues are often mistaken for lower back injuries or sciatica. They can occur due to age, posture, lifestyle, and are more common in women.

Another cause of this pain is sciatica. Instead of being caused by improper functioning of a joint, sciatica is usually the result of a herniated disc, or other spinal issue. The disc or soft tissues pinch the nerve roots in the lower back , which send pain singles down the sciatic nerve and into the legs.

The pain from sciatica can range from hardly noticeable to incapacitating. When it gets bad, doctors will often suggest cortisone injections. But this fix is only temporary.

If you want to prevent sciatica, or treat your current sciatic pain and prevent reoccurrence, follow this mind-body exercise routine, similar to the one for SI Joint pain:

  1. Calf Stretch: Remember to utilize 60% effort, less is often more with joint and nerve issues
  2. Vitamin H: Do whichever hamstring stretch works best for you. The video shows a few ways to safely stretch your hamstrings if you back is giving you problems.
  3. Chair Twist: Again, go only to between 60% and 80% effort. 
  4. Outer Hip Stretch: Can be done on a chair, or on the ground. (Video coming Tuesday!)
  5. Groin Stretch: You can use a chair or a machine, like I show in the video.

Remember, meditation is a huge part of healing and relaxation. Pairing your physical exercises with breathing patterns and Tai Chi forms will only improve your results. Consider combining this exercise with my Sunrise Tai Chi form, visualizing the energy from the sun flowing through your body, into the SI Joint or Sciatic Nerve, and then down into the Earth, dissolves the pain like a river eroding a stone.