Last week I had an interesting conversation with my chiropractor...
...about the many ways in which technology has changed our lives over the last 20 to 30 years. These advancements have improved our quality of life in a lot of ways and in doing so they have also changed the way we move our bodies. Unfortunately our bodies haven’t had time to properly adapt to these new movement patterns so we’re having to deal with more minor and major traumas than we’re built to sustain.
Major traumas can be avoided by making obvious choices. As active (or soon to be active) people : ) we accept a small risk of major trauma as a cost of expressing ourselves through movement. We don’t stop rollerblading because we risk breaking our wrist if we fall, instead we chose to wear wrist guards. We continue to be active because the benefits far outweigh the risk. While sports gear like wrist guards are great for preventing major trauma, they can actually increase our risk of minor, or micro, traumas. If we are well padded, for example in football, we can get hit with a much lower risk of serious injury, but still our tissues, bones and ligaments absorb regular and major shocks from the hits. More shocks than they were made to regularly absorb. Over time, the cumulative effect often results in microtrauma injuries requiring some sort of medical care. Again, the benefits outweight the risks in most cases.
We experience micro-trauma everyday in less obvious situations than playing sports. For example, long-term seated deskwork causes muscle imbalances and range of motion issues, and using a computer will, over time, compromise our posture and shorten our muscles. This month’s newsletter will focus on how we can actively prevent these micro-traumas caused by the ever-increasing use of computers, cel phones and other modern day advancements.
The article "Avoiding CRSIs" will explain what these micro-traumas are and how, just by doing a few simple exercises every day at your desk, you can get started on improving the quality of your life now and in the future.
Follow along with this month's videos to learn short exercises that, if done consistently, will increase your energy, decrease your stress, and greatly reduce your chance of computer-related stress injury.
Finally, I will introduce you to the idea of the ‘Personal’ Personal Ad – a great tool to help you become your "ideal" self by taking an honest look at yourself and identifying areas of acheivement and improvement.
Again, Andre and Doc of Enerchanges have put together some great lectures, workshops and free seminars for May. Don't miss out on these very informative sessions, many of them FREE. You only have a better understanding of your health to gain, so check them out!
Now, let's do this thing!
Steve McMinn - Trainer
Avoiding Computer-Related Stress:
So why does working at a computer cause so much stress to our bodies?
Well, the answer is pretty simple. Humans were not made to sit down for long periods of time, staring at a screen, typing and mousing. We have spent much more of our 2 3/4 million year history hunting on foot and moving from place to place following food sources with the seasons. Remember, the computer has only been a mainstay of our society for a few decades and now we need to "evolve" with technology and take care of the technology in our bodies.
One major pattern that has changed is the amount of time we spend seated at our workstations, on couches and in coffee shops – so much time that our spines are suffering. With all the nerve endings staring there, we can think of our spine as the central processing system for our postural and joint health.
The other important aspect to think about is the micro-trauma caused by computer-related repetitive motion. Micro-trauma refers to the impact on our bodies from everyday activities. It does not occur in a single moment in time, like a cut or a broken bone, but develops over months, or even years before we begin feeling pain, and by the time we start feeling pain it can take just as many months or years to fully recover. Some results of computer related micro-trauma are Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, lower back pain, neck pain, tennis elbow and muscle tension headaches.
The good part is we can avoid these injuries all together with just a little preventative maintenance! The videos I have included with this newsletter offer 3 follow-along stretch and strengthening routines to do while at your computer. As an added bonus, the additional daily movement will give you extra energy at work and at home by keeping you loose, limber and more properly aligned.
Before you watch the videos, check out this link. You MUST set your workstation and sitting posture up properly before doing the exercises! The workstation/posture setup will be the foundation of your new proactive and preventative workday. There are obviously a lot of points to consider. Just make sure to set up your workstation/posture as close to the recommendations as you are able.
Make sure to bookmark these videos on YouTube for easy access!
Ideally, you should ty to do one to three minutes of such exercises for every hour you are at your computer.
The video here on the newsletter instructs you on how to properly perform the exercises. Once you have watched it a few times and are properly performing the movements, choose one of these three for your regular practice:
1-Minute Desk Exercises
2-Minute Desk Exercises
3-Minute Desk Exercises
Make this a habit! I guarantee you'll get results if you do.
Warning: Watching, then performing the exercises in these videos may make you stronger, healthier and happier!
The power of the "Personal" Personals Ad!
Now that you are feeling physically better, lets do a little work on the mind shall we?
When Internet dating first became popular I heard a lot of stories about people ‘padding’ their online profiles to make themselves seem more desirable. With nobody looking over their shoulders, these people felt free to exaggerate and it occurred to me that, for the most part, these exaggerated profiles probably described the person’s ideal self, rather than their true self.
With this in mind, I started thinking about how valuable it would be to compare a personal profile describing our ideal self with a personal profile describing our true self, and so I came up with the ‘Personal’ Personals Ad.
We all have dreams and goals, but sometimes it can be hard to take stock of how close we are to attaining them. The ‘Personal’ Personal Ad is a way to take an honest look at your life progress so far, and can help us to recognize our accomplishments while identifying opportunities to make changes for a more successful and fulfilling future.
The exercise is easy. Begin by writing a personal profile for your ‘ideal’ self, the kind the ‘ideal’ you would write if you were you looking for a romantic partner. Don't worry if you already have a partner, this is just part of the exercise. Make sure to delete or shred it when done in case it is accidentally discovered : )
Write down your ideal occupation, interests, accomplishments and lifestyle. Describe how the ‘ideal’ you spends your days and how fulfilled you feel on the path you have chosen. You can also write down your definition of the ideal partner, as this will further reinforce the effectiveness of this exercise.
Next, write a personal profile for your true self, exactly as you are now. Be completely honest so you can get the most out of the exercise - and remember you’ve got nothing to hide because you are the only one reading it. There may be some things in there you do not want to admit to yourself but they won't change unless you confront them head-on.
Now, compare the two and ask yourself what you can do to make the true and ‘ideal’ profiles match more closely. Look at the ‘ideal’ profile and try to identify behaviours that limit your ability to be your ‘ideal’ self, and find ways to create new behaviours that will replace those old, limiting ones. You may have to make some hard choices, but at least you know they will lead you to greater success and happiness in the future. Don’t forget to also celebrate the positive achievements you have already made. This is meant to be a lesson in confronting reality and taking action, not a chance to spend useless time worrying about what you have not accomplished. Get energy and momentum from doing things to further improve your life!
Finally, I want to talk about why I put ‘ideal’ in quotations. It can be easy to fall into the trap of wanting to be perfect. Throughout our lives our priorities will change and some aspects of our ideal self can and will change as well. What we should strive for is to come as close as possible to this ‘ideal’ self while celebrating the fact we always have the ability to improve and will never be perfect.
Were I to await perfection, my book would never be finished.
- Chinese proverb
Until next time...
