NATURE CURE

  I wanted to post some picture that I took on my walk this morning for you to look at. I love being outside in the fresh air and sunshine, surrounded by nature and I love the contrasts of the blue sky against the green trees and grasses ... the feast to the eyes that are around every corner. It made me think of how important nature is to me and how I think I would fare very poorly if I had to live in the middle of a concrete jungle.  I'm fortunate enough to live close to the countryside and have the ability to be surrounded by the beauty of nature within minutes of stepping out of my front door.... and partake of  all its benefits .As I've been contemplating nature earlier today.... I have felt the urge to tell you a little bit about something called Nature Cure!

The Balancing Act- Life Balance

Have you ever tried to stand on one foot and balance? How was it? A bit wobbly? Or did you manage to stand perfectly still?
Have you ever twisted your ankle and found that it affected your balance....and then after, noticed that you kept on re twisting it?
 As a physio I have treated my fair share of ankles throughout the years and have found that one of the most important parts of the rehab in injuries like this is to work on balance. Unless you work on the reeducation of proprioception (I'll explain that in a minute) you will be forever vulnerable.

Proprioception is the ability of the body to sense how it is positioned in space. Within the muscles and joints and ligaments surrounding joints (in this case the ankle) are the nerve receptors that are responsible for picking up signals of stretch and tension. If you are standing on one foot and sway a little, the signals from these receptors are sent to the brain to be processed and acted on accordingly. If the body is swaying to the left it will counter it by pulling it to the right. It does this by a complex relay of information from these nerve receptors, up to the brain and back down to the opposing muscles. It is the ongoing interplay of these signals, constantly firing, that allows for continuous readjustments to position so that we don't fall over... and It's done mostly at a subconscious level. 
If these receptors are damaged (in the case of the twisted ankle) the information sent to the brain is impaired and it can affect the perception of how the body is positioned. It can also affect and slow the nerve signals to the correcting muscles...if you are then unfortunate enough to twist your ankle again, the correcting muscles don't have enough time to fire and you end up doing a whole bunch more damage. The ankle gives way,  you end up feeling off balance or you fall over.

So why am I talking about Proprioception today?

Book Review - Calm by Michael Acton Smith and Alex Tew

During one of our stops on the motorway coming up to the Lake District I decided I needed to buy a book to read whilst I am away. Feeling stressed from the hours of waiting in stationary traffic on the M6 I decided that the little blue book called “Calm” was the one for me. 

Not only was the colour appealing to my senses but also the title held everything that I was currently… NOT

Maybe it’s the change in beds or possibly the change in surroundings, but last night I woke in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep. What better time to pick up my little book of calm and start to read.

Within the first sentence I was hooked.

Beginners mistakes! Mindfulness in eight weeks Book Review ...LOST

Bab AL Shams, Dubai

Ok so I'm very new to this blogging lark.... but I'm Learning fast because today I lost one of my posts on the blog or rather it just disappeared >  UNHAPPY! 
Well maybe not?
It was the book review that I had written on "Mindfulness in eight weeks by Michael Chaskalson. The book I had read on a respite holiday in Dubai last October.
Michael had kindly tweeted the review to his followers and It just so happens that it was becoming the most viewed post too : (
SO here I am, having to put in to practice what I wrote about in the review. I was thinking about recreating the post but I'm not going to do that. Instead I'm going to retest the practice of mindfulness.

Stop the ruminating thoughts.... what did I do wrong? Where did it go? How can I get it back?  ....and move on.... to now.
I guess its gone...and I  move my attention to being here and now. I have had to let the "case be the case". Whats done is done.  
 Now is the prime time to listen again to one of Michael's free downloads and just chill and forget. 

Well I decided to pause from writing for a while and go to the link (below) and  practice one of the exercises I recommended  in the last review to you. 
I have just literally finished the "3 step breathing space" exercise ( track number 8). It took three minutes to do and I'm back here to tell you the effect.

The exercise focuses you on what is here right now.....  
Whats up? What am I thinking? What am I feeling? ....Frustration. Irritation that the post can just disappear in to the ether....
A tincy bit of regret that I can no longer see the reach of the message...
What sensations are there in my body? Tightness in my back and lower rib cage
Impulses? The desire to hold my breath and resist the urge to let out a big aaaaaaaghghghghggh!

After acknowledge my thoughts and feelings, sensations and impulses  I am then redirect to
follow my breath. In breath and out breath... following the instruction to pay attention to my breathing. In out, in out, in out.
Breathing in to any tensions, aware of changes happening in my body. 
So simple, so quick, so effective. 
Three minutes that ANYONE can find in their day. Sitting at a desk between projects, standing in a queue, on the train on the way home. Any time, anywhere. Three minutes of redirection to the now.

 So I guess I don't have to be in Bab al shams, Dubai on holiday after all. I can be here sitting at my desk typing away after an irritating learning experience. Mindfulness is a tool, a practice that you can have with you where ever you are, whatever you are doing, feeling or experiencing.

Thanks Michael for "Mindfulness in eight weeks" but I have a better title for you, how about  "Mindfulness in three minutes?"


Just to remind those of you who read the previous review... the mindfulness practice downloads can be found at www.mbsr.co.uk/mp31.php
...and the book is a great read to understand more about mindfulness and its effects.


Jx