This week is all about the movement!
In Pain Care Yoga class (and PCY Friday follow up) we talked about
how persistent or reoccurring pain limits our range of motion and creates fear of movement. Challenging these fears and limitations set by the overprotective nervous system is incredibly important in order for us to get better. On the mat, we focused on safe, familiar moves, but also introduced new and novel (and unfamiliar!) ways to move - in an attempt to find movement ranges and patterns that our nervous system doesn't find threatening.
In Core Restore class (and CR Friday follow up) we discussed how functional movement is both dependent, and also supportive of appropriate muscle length, recruitment, full range of motion through the joints (we focused on hip joint, in particular), and postural alignment in general.
What we haven't touched quite yet is how movement AND full range of motion through the joints affect our immunity. I specifically wanted to focus on this topic as there seem to be yet another flu / head cold epidemic moving through the land.
Before we delve in, I want to clarify that I neither believe, nor practice
compartmentalized approach to any complex problem - such as problems with immunity, for example.
In case of colds and flues', we seem to focus a lot of our attention on nutritional support (and rightly so!), while often neglecting managing our stress, getting enough good quality sleep, and attending to our breathing, movement, and alignment.
Consider one of my private clients: she has been getting severe and lasting ear infections once a year - usually in February - for several years now.
Last February it's gotten so bad that she woke up with her eyes swell nearly shut each morning.
The usual treatment protocol for earaches - as you know - includes antibiotics and sometimes steroids to reduce swelling and inflammation. All good and well, except for none of the usual worked this time around. She continued to wake up all swelled up and with the earache.
We played with a few things (diet and supplements included,
of course) trying to alleviate her symptoms.
The real gains came when I started asking her questions such as, "What's going on in your life in February?"
Turns out, February is audit time for her company, and she is stressed to the max, which
is why she also grinds her teeth at night.
Earaches started to lift once we've got some stress management under the belt, but also figured out (and put into practice!) how to relax and unhinge the jaws (that made some real difference in how her shoulders feel, too - funny how all of it is connected, hey?)
So how do ALIGNMENT, MOVEMENT and IMMUNITY fit together?
Enter your LYMPHATIC SYSTEM.
To put it simply, the fluid in this system needs to circulate
freely for you to have an adequate immune response. Circulate freely - as in move A LOT - is our key operational word here.
Why wouldn’t it circulate, you might ask?
You probably guessed it!
The obstacles to that free circulation might include tense shoulders, tight hips, or the lack of everyday movement.
You see, lymph doesn’t move very well on its own; unlike our cardiovascular system, lymphatic system doesn’t have this great big pump (the heart!) to move the fluid
around. Instead, lymphatic system depends on muscles - the less you move your muscles, the more your lymph resembles stale pond water.
Having filtered some toads out of my drinking water at Black Water Springs this summer, I have the
stale pond image - complete with vegetation, and creatures, and poop of those creates - seared into my brain. What can I say - the water supply was scarce, and the day was hot...
And there’s more: you actually have to move all of your muscles in their appropriate ranges on motion to get your lymph going. Tight muscles limit the
motion of the joint, and that’s where the lymph tends to back up (for those of you in Pain Care classes: tight muscles also influence nerve conduction and can create all sorts of nasty reoccuries).
The real deal breaker is this: the largest lymph node clusters are conveniently located in those areas where we tend to be the tightest – the neck, armpits, chest, ribs and
groin (for women: those armpit lymph nodes are very, very, just way too close to your breasts; get your shoulders loosened up to protect your girls). And so we are back to tight hips and tense shoulders…
Now you know - when I say " See you on the mat!" - I really mean it!
