Cheryl Harris, Licensed Massage Therapist
It's getting to be that time of year again - if we can get through the next week of cold rainy weather - we will be seeing folks outside running, walking, cycling, just moving. Thankfully, warmer weather invites us all to do that more, and I love it! What happens when we get outside and move more? We are using energy, sure, but the energy doesn't just go away, it only changes form. 'For every action, there is an equal, and opposite reaction'. Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law can be applied in every day situations, but how does it apply to our movement?
If we go outside and take a walk, a stroll, just to move and get some blood flow going in our body, there will always be forces at work - your feet hitting the pavement, the pavement pushing up into your feet, your arms swinging, your legs moving one at a time, one in front of the other. These forces always come in pairs. The direction of the first being opposite to the direction of the second. Super, right? Within the movement of walking, we typically swing our arms back and forth; it's what our body does, and we don't really think about it much, or have to tell our brain to move our arms back and forth while we walk. What does this motion do for us in terms of Newton's Third Law and dispersing energy?
When our arms swing back and forth, it ends up helping keep our lower back 'happy'. Why? How? In walking, our feet hit the pavement and there is an energy transfer through our feet, up the leg, into the hips, low back and spine, all the way up to our neck. Think of it as a sort of vibration, or a ripple in a pond. When these ripples or vibrations happen, they have to have somewhere to go. They travel up the spine, for sure, but where do they go from there? That's where our arms come into play. When we swing our arms while we walk or run, the vibrations travel down our arms and out our fingers, changing into another form of energy, yet again. If we don't swing our arms, that energy can become 'trapped' in a way, and create tightness. That tightness can sometimes settle in the upper back, or lower back, and stay there.
Dispersing the energy is best case scenario, but often we find that folks don't disperse that energy as they need to, so what do they do? Massage, of course! Massage can help loosen the tissue that has tightened down from the energy being trapped in the spine. If we let the trapped energy build up, it can take a while, or multiple massages, to loosen the tissue and get it back to where we want it to be. If we get massages on a regular basis, the consistency can put our body in a great place and make loosening the tissue much easier.
Energy is a fabulous thing, whether you feel it in the air or you feel it in your bones, and it can come in many forms. Remembering to take care of that energy, and ourselves, is an important part of life. Whether you already get massages, or have been thinking about it and not quite sure if it's a good thing, I'm here to tell you it IS! Massage not only deals with the physical, but the mental energy as well. We often don't allow ourselves to take time out and just be. Our energy is always changing forms and massage can help with the ever changing us.
Feel free to ask questions if you have them, I'm happy to help. [email protected]
It's getting to be that time of year again - if we can get through the next week of cold rainy weather - we will be seeing folks outside running, walking, cycling, just moving. Thankfully, warmer weather invites us all to do that more, and I love it! What happens when we get outside and move more? We are using energy, sure, but the energy doesn't just go away, it only changes form. 'For every action, there is an equal, and opposite reaction'. Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law can be applied in every day situations, but how does it apply to our movement?
If we go outside and take a walk, a stroll, just to move and get some blood flow going in our body, there will always be forces at work - your feet hitting the pavement, the pavement pushing up into your feet, your arms swinging, your legs moving one at a time, one in front of the other. These forces always come in pairs. The direction of the first being opposite to the direction of the second. Super, right? Within the movement of walking, we typically swing our arms back and forth; it's what our body does, and we don't really think about it much, or have to tell our brain to move our arms back and forth while we walk. What does this motion do for us in terms of Newton's Third Law and dispersing energy?
When our arms swing back and forth, it ends up helping keep our lower back 'happy'. Why? How? In walking, our feet hit the pavement and there is an energy transfer through our feet, up the leg, into the hips, low back and spine, all the way up to our neck. Think of it as a sort of vibration, or a ripple in a pond. When these ripples or vibrations happen, they have to have somewhere to go. They travel up the spine, for sure, but where do they go from there? That's where our arms come into play. When we swing our arms while we walk or run, the vibrations travel down our arms and out our fingers, changing into another form of energy, yet again. If we don't swing our arms, that energy can become 'trapped' in a way, and create tightness. That tightness can sometimes settle in the upper back, or lower back, and stay there.
Dispersing the energy is best case scenario, but often we find that folks don't disperse that energy as they need to, so what do they do? Massage, of course! Massage can help loosen the tissue that has tightened down from the energy being trapped in the spine. If we let the trapped energy build up, it can take a while, or multiple massages, to loosen the tissue and get it back to where we want it to be. If we get massages on a regular basis, the consistency can put our body in a great place and make loosening the tissue much easier.
Energy is a fabulous thing, whether you feel it in the air or you feel it in your bones, and it can come in many forms. Remembering to take care of that energy, and ourselves, is an important part of life. Whether you already get massages, or have been thinking about it and not quite sure if it's a good thing, I'm here to tell you it IS! Massage not only deals with the physical, but the mental energy as well. We often don't allow ourselves to take time out and just be. Our energy is always changing forms and massage can help with the ever changing us.
Feel free to ask questions if you have them, I'm happy to help. [email protected]
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