Body Mind & Spine Align

New High Heel Healing E-Book: Expert Guidance in Foot Function for Spinal Support to Help Relieve Pain & Improve Posture

High Heel Healing: 

Using the Feet & Legs Efficiently for Improving Posture and Enhancing Exercise & Sports

by Herald,

a NYC Pilates professional & Backbone and Wingspan posture expert

This new enhanced-with-interactive-illustrations-and-videos e-book is now available on the iTunes Store and viewed on iBooks.

Click Here for the preview page of the book where you can see screenshots as well as view a full preview of the book or download the preview as well as purchase your copy of this comprehensive e-book.

 

Below is a video showing snippets from several of the videos which teach how to walk more gracefully in high heels, how to take work and weight out of the toes and the metatarsal or ball parts of the foot by using the heel more efficiently. However, the book isn't "sole"-ly for women - or even just for women who wear high heels. There are many stretches for calves and hamstrings and the ITB or IlioTibialBand which men will get great benefit from. 

 

 

 

As well, there is information on relieving painful plantar fasciitis:

 

and guidance for using the hamstrings strength efficiently for such simple but sometimes challenging pedestrian activities as climbing stairs:

 

 

and of course, creating an elongated spinal line for improved posture - which comes from well-aligning the heels with the paired points along the back body.

                                                                                                                                                                                          

 

iTunes Preview and how to purchase:

High Heel Healing

Using the Feet & Legs Efficiently for Improving Posture and Enhancing Exercise & Sports

Author: Herald    Published by Backbone and Wingspan LLC

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New High Heel Healing E-Book Being Published in Early 2014 with Information on Better Foot Function for Improved Posture, Pain Relief & Back Support

High Heel and Foot Pain Relief in the News

Release Foot Pain from Wearing High Heels and Tone the Legs at the Same Time

"Power Sitting" Posture - How to Sit Pain Free for Hours!

 

With

Backbone and Wingspan unique movement methods you develop a liberating

"Power Sitting" Posture!

 

 

The New Integrated Back Strength and Spine Support website provides movement-oriented exercises and stretches that relay principles of support for practical utilization in posture that serves long periods of sitting that many people endure. 

 

The "Power Sitting" Posture Clinic held in July of 2009 hosted a great group of people interested in really learning the elements of stability that lead to both support and freedom.

I wish here to relate some responses to the feedback questions that a few attendees of the clinic responded to.

I wish to put forth the responses as well as some reflections from myself and the other practitioners as a refresher for those who attended this clinic or the one we had previously in May.

*****************************************************************************
 

What is it that attracted you to a clinic named "Power Sitting" Posture?

 

*  This is how I spend my entire day -

       sitting at my desk or sitting in meetings.

*  The realization that poor posture dictates

       my sitting and standing.
 

*  I spend way too much time sitting,

     and am always interested in how to improve my posture.

 

****************************************************************************************

One practitioner voiced the intention underlying the "Power Sitting" Posture clinic:

"I think the strength and difference between our workshops and others is that we are approaching the sitting-at-a-work-station issue from a movement standpoint rather than from a static positioning.

Ergonomics is the study of human use and most medical and ergonomic clinics deal with the passive set up of the individual, and the movement of their inanimate objects (computer, desk, mouse, arm rests, etc.).

With our intended goal of providing information and the experience of the moving and sensing self, our attendees gain useful ideas for being in their work places more comfortably."

The thing to understand here is that posture is not positioning or holding, and that your body adjusts to the needs of your work.

 
In working with lunging exercises for hip pain relief and 

stretches for release of hip flexor muscle tightness 

it's important to relate the foot to the pelvis when working with the legs:

 

while also relating the hand to the shoulder girdle when working with the arms:

   

These videos show the workings of upper part of the back body

which frees tension from the shoulders and neck and upper back

that can become clenched and painful from sitting at a computer

Participants in the clinic explored this in learning how to move the arms and upper body to reach (imaginatively) towards the phone, or file cabinet, or stack of papers using the pelvis to perform the movements.

   ************************************************************

What changes in your body do you feel from the time you arrived to now?

• I feel that I am standing on my feet.
• My neck feels much more relaxed.
• I feel that I have been put through the rigors of a workout and
• I feel more aware and proprioceptive
• I feel taller and straighter
  

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Which of the images related to you during the movements were helpful?

 

 

"Breathing through the "gills" - great image"

":

Use the image of breathing through the sides of the ribs as if the ribs are fish gills .

This image helps people to refrain from too much chest and belly breathing.

 

 

 

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Breathing into the sides of the ribs helps to expand the mid back,

so that the muscles there -

the lower trapezius and lats

can be activated.

 

These back muscles are very supportive of the spine. A better supported spine means release of the overworked neck and shoulders muscles.

 

Sitting a long day at your desk, you may not be able to perform a big stretch, but you can certainly take moments to breathe into the sides of the ribs.

Pictured above is a Pilates exercise in which breathing into the ribs is essential

so that the arm movement comes from the power of the back and not the shoulders.

 

The Foot Function for Spinal Support & Pain Relief Website

for will show you the detailed the information you will receive

and then you'll be able to take the information you get in reading and trying and

applying the body-mind and heel-to-hip-to-spine-to-core information

into any other exercise or sports program you currently pursue.

That's the true value!

 

Herald, Backbone and Wingspan founder and owner

is the author of this Body Mind & Spine blog as well as

Heel & Sole for Foot Pain which focuses more extensively

on the feet, especially for women who wear high heels.

 

Herald can be contacted at

212-647-8878 or through emailing 

info@backboneandwingspan.com  or

herald@backboneandwingspan.com

 

 

Related articles

For Foot Pain When Wearing High Heels Here's A Downward Dog to Save Your Own Tired Dogs

Spring Forth into Summertime Stilettos or Sandals: The High Heel Recovery Clinic Principles Serve Your Feet In Any Shoe

Deep Core Strength is Accessed Through Activating the Psoas - Inner Thigh Junction on the Lesser Trochanter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

The psoas is an enormous muscle attached in six strands on either  side of the front of the lowest six vertebrae, from the lowest lumbar vertebrae to the lowest thoracic vertebrae: L5 L4 L3 L2 L1 and T12. 

 

 

*

There are six strands on each side, so it is actually twelve strands of muscle making up the psoas-lumbar relationship.

 

 

*

I love that there is this number, twelve, intrinsic to our deep core because of how that number relates to the months of the year, the twelve disciples, twelve tribe nations, twelve astrological signs, twelve making up a dozen bagels or eggs or twelve inches to a foot.

 

 

*

Twelve is prevalent in our social structures because it is in our deepest structure of support in the body.

 

The psoas is attached directly on to the front of these six lowest vertebrae, meaning that these strands of psoas are underneath the abdominal organs as well as being much deeper than any of the abdominal muscles since the abdominal muscles stretch over the organs.

Thus the psoas is essentially the deep core, not to imply that the abdominals aren't important, but just to make a distinction between what is deep spinal support and what is more outer support for the abdominal cavity's contents.

There is what I consider a cylindrical core, made up of the transversus abdominis, which is attached to either side of the back of the lumbar vertebrae.

But in my view, and in my experience with my own body and in guiding and witnessing my clients, you can't utilize the three-dimensional wrap of the transversus without the psoas stabilizing the lower vertebrae.

The psoas must be directed as a rooting force, so that the transversus can be expanded off of the extended lumbar vertebrae and become a wrapping force from back to front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

******************************************************************************

 

In addition, the place where L-5 and T12 meet, which is where the extending curve of the lumbar subtly changes into the opposite curve of the thoracic, contributing to the serpentine line of the spine, is often referred to as the lumbar-thoracic junction.

So essentially, your true deep core extends from one important spinal junction down to another important muscular junction.

When I hear myself describe this connection to a client using the term junction, I cannot help but think of a television show from my childhood, Petticoat Junction, which is about the people who work in a place where trains come in and connect to other trains.

This may seem silly, but watch how the train winds down the track, and imagine how you have this deep core muscle that is attached to your spine, and how it winds down to the inside of each of your legs.

 

 

 

Sensing your lesser trochanters as junctions could be akin to sensing deep pathways of transport from your legs to your spine and your spine to your legs.

 

Maybe I have this perception because I go underground to transport myself everyday in the subway, which winds me through the city from station to station. There are certain stations that are junctions where you can transfer and make a connection to another train, such as Columbus Circle where you can go from the 1 Train to the A Train. 

 

The lesser trochanters, which are little nubs, can also be perceived as hubs on a winding deep subway-like line in terms of transferring from the spine to the legs and the legs to the spine. The lesser trochanter - inner thigh - psoas junction is  like the Columbus Circle of your core. When I look at a subway map, I cannot help but be reminded of the charts I've seen in fitness studios that show the winding pathways of the nervous and muscular systems.

*********************************************

 

 

 

You can also see the relationship between

the psoas,

lesser trochanters, and

the lumbar spine in

three-dimensions in the book,

Anatomy of Movement

 

 

*******************

 

 

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Power Sitting Posture with Pilates and Universal Principles of Movement

Posture is not positioning.

I have a client who tells a story of a friend of his who he and his wife often hang out with along with several other mutual friends.

At a table in a restaurant or a bar, this friend of my client's will realize that he is slumping in his seat and look around (seeing everyone else slumping), and all of a sudden exclaim to everyone at the table:

"Posture Check!"

You cannot "get out of a slump" (so to speak) by yanking your body up into some pre-conceived position of "good posture."

There are abhorrent notions ingrained in us from very early on in our body's development, such as some impatient parent scowling at us from across the dinner table, exclaiming suddenly, "Sit up straight!" which of course is as potentially damaging as "Clean your plate!"

I have a friend whose father used to line up she and her three sisters and demand to them, "Shoulders back."

My friend, as well as most people, go through most of the years of their lives perceiving "good posture" as standing up straight with shoulders back.

Posture is not lifting.

 

Another client of mine, before he studied with me, went to a doctor because he was experiencing intense chronic neck, shoulder, and upper back pain from sitting at a computer and typing for long hours.

 

The doctor told him he should take a leave of absence from his job for six months.

 

"Yeah, but what do I do when I have to go back to work? What can I do, or where do I go to learn how to better support my posture?"

 

The doctor said, "I don't know."

At Backbone and Wingspan, we are offering a free clinic in response to the many,  many people who sit all day at computers, key-stroking themselves into neck, shoulder, and upper back discomfort, and/or leg-crossing themselves into hip and lower back pain.

Power Sitting Posture Clinic on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

from 6-7 PM

featuring Pilates-based resistance band exercises,

an all-in-one upper and lower back and hip stretch,

and the art of sitting in any chair.

 
 Presented by Backbone and Wingspan

                            founder Tim Driscoll.

 

 

More on notions of posture later this week...

 

In the meantime, check out our event listing on the

Backbone and Wingspan Facebook Page

Not a wingspan fan? We'd love to have you as one.

 Note:

As of September 1st, 2010, Tim Driscoll, Backbone and Wingspan founder and owner and author of Pilates Iconoclast is now located on the Upper East Side at Mind Your Body Pilates

1370 Lexington Avenue @ 90th Street

Tim can still be reached at 212-647-8878.

 

Backbone and Wingspan: Pilates-Based Movement-Oriented

Manhattan New York City 212.647.8878 Tim Driscoll
 

 

 

 

Boning Up on Skeletal Stability for Improved Posture, Better Muscle Tone & High Heel Healing

Backbone and Wingspan features exercises and stretches that are movement and posture oriented, but you certainly can still receive great muscle toning benefits! The truth is that efficient use of the muscles to support the skeleton brings an elastic toning of those muscles because the part of the muscle that attaches to the bone is most often the part of the muscle that needs the most tone!

People's perceptions of Pilates and yoga often don't include mention of the bones - most people think of Pilates as having to do with long and lean muscle tone and core strengthening.

Because Backbone and Wingspan is movement and posture oriented, I approach the people I teach primarily from the bones - the spine, the pelvis, the shoulder girdle.

In our upcoming High Heel Recovery Clinic, we will hone our knowledge and utilization of two often-overlooked bones. They're not elusive just because you can't see these bones of your own. These are bones at the bottom of the pelvis:

the sits bones.

The anatomical term for sits bones is ischial tuberosity, so that signifies that they are tuberous points attached to the ischium - which forms the lower and back part of each half of the pelvis. 

 

The phrase 'bone up' relates to studying aspects of a thing that you wish to pursue - becoming familiar with the elements of some experience you wish to embark upon. You might 'bone up' on a company which has called you in for an interview or you might 'bone up' on an artist who has a show coming up at your favorite museum.

How did that phrase originate?

 

 

Why did someone use 'bone' to imply the acquiring of knowledge? Maybe because there is intelligence in your bones. Feeling it in your bones implies a sensing of something - beyond understanding it intellectually.

The bones are obviously deeper than the muscles, so it makes sense that to have a deeper understanding of your body, you'd explore facets of deeper parts of your body than muscles - you'd explore your skeletal system and spine. 

However, going deep to the bone takes more imagination and sensitivity than exertion. You learn to sense the weight of the bones and how they respond to gravity.

But with the sits bones you can actually use surface to sense them and direct them down for pelvic stability and to be able to tone the hamstrings. 

 

Truly working deeply from a physical standpoint means that you are conscious of the bones that are the structural framework beneath the muscles, and you know that you can direct parts of the skeleton and the spine using very subtle forces. You can learn to initiate movement from the bones in your body.

 

If you learn how to use the surface that you're sitting on to direct the sits bones down and a little bit behind you, then the stability of the entire pelvic structure will follow because these sits bones are not separate from the pelvic structure, but simply kind-of knobby points at the bottom of the larger pelvic bones. 

In terms of you 'boning up' on what

will be presented in our

High Heel Recovery Clinic,

fortunately there is a lot of

alliteration in the bones we have

chosen to highlight -

since each bone

begins with the letter 's' :

 

******************************************************************************

         sits bones     sacrum     scapula       spine

    each bone begins with 's' - as do the sensory experiences of

       stability     structure     support    suspension 

 

*********************************************************

  

   suspension of the spine calls for the

stabilization of the

two sits bones, and the

structural support of the

                                central sacrum and the

                                two scapula bones

 

or you can think that for the single central spine to be supported,

there are a set of sits bones to stabilize the lower spine

as well as a set of scapula to help suspend the upper spine

 

but is important to note and to even emphasize that

the way the bones work to help either to stabilize or suspend

is with subtlety

 

One of Herald's oft-used and favorite  's' word  phrases:

"subtlety is sustainable"

 

In our clinic, we hope to present

an informative experience that

will knock your nylons off !

But just know that if you want to 'bone up' - that the most important bones to become informed of are the bones that you can use your seat to find - because the sits bones will inform your body of a grounded stability that can eventually be transferred into standing and walking and running and cycling movements.

So 'bone up' by learning how the sits bones go down!

Related articles

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Using Relationships Between the Heel & the Arch & the Ankle of the Foot Creates Space for Pain Relief & Freedom of Movement

Spring Forth into Summertime Stilettos or Sandals: The High Heel Recovery Clinic Principles Serve Your Feet In Any Shoe

For Foot Pain When Wearing High Heels Here's A Downward Dog to Save Your Own Tired Dogs

"Power Sitting" Posture Recap

Backbone and Wingspan features movement-oriented exercise and

mindful imagery to help people gain stability and deep core strength

in order to help heal themselves from discomfort.

Our upcoming

"Power Sitting" Posture Clinic is scheduled for

Monday, July 20th, 2009 from 6-7 PM.

This is the first in a series of recaps on the original clinic.

Here are some comments written by

attendees of the first 

 "Power Sitting" Posture Clinic

held at Backbone and Wingspan after

we posed them some questions......

 

 

 

*****************************************************************************************

Question:

What attracted you to a clinic named

"Power Sitting" Posture ?

 

Answers:

"I sit at a desk for about ten hours a day and thought this would help me to sit correctly."

 

"Was told [by a physical therapist] to work on posture and sitting 'right' to deal with
lower back pain."

"Because everyone suffers from this -
really should be taught in every office in the world."

*********************************************************************

Backbone and Wingspan Reflections:

Posture is not static positioning.

People think of posture as something that must be done "correctly" or "right" - one attendee told me that her physical therapist had told her to remember to have "good posture" in between sessions.

Ergonomics (which has become a buzz word in the workplace) is the applied science of human use, not the science of a chair that's going to position you "correctly."

Healthy sitting in the workplace is as much of an issue about your adjust-ability as the adjust-ability of your monitor or mouse pad or special-order adjustable desk chair from the human resources department. Posture that will help you to do your desk work with less discomfort is not about your work station being adjustable to you. It's about your own body's adjust-ability.

So well then, " What is good posture ? "  

One attendee stated, "Sitting up straight!"

"Up" implies having to lift and "straight" is something that is easily misconstrued.

It's more important to feels like you're really grounded through your feet and sitting down through your sits bones than it is to think of "sitting up."

A good thing to do is to find your sits bones with your fingers to that you can then feel them on the seat beneath you. 

 

And, no part of the spine is straight - it has three curves, that when directed to extend in those natural curves will give length to the body and space between the vertebrae, to inhibit the slouching of the shoulders or slumping of the lower back.

There is a perfectly straight line of force that goes from the top of the head down to the pelvic floor when the spine is well-extended in both directions, but if you try to fix a slumping lower back by straightening that part of the spine, you actually deprive those vertebrae of being able to lengthen.

Another attendee related,

"Holding yourself with your stomach muscles."

 

Fitness teachers and exercise professionals hear many times from clients or other people we meet that patients are often told by a doctor that they should strengthen their abs in order to correct lower back pain and other back issues.

 

" What does 'strengthen your abs' mean, since there are four layers of abdominal muscles ? "

People really need more specificity about how their bodies are constructed and more elaborate information about how to access muscles that relate to support for the underlying skeletal structure in order to grant them  support for the spine.

Often people who are told simply to "strengthen their abdominal muscles" in order to better support their posture or to "do ab exercises" in order to gain the abdominal support to ease low back pain. People often take this to mean that they should perform crunches or sit-ups, which they either have an aversion to doing or - worse - that they overdo in a faulty way.

 

 

Your abs aren't just a part of your musculature that supports your back.

Your abs - in a way -                           

 actually are your back. 

 The deepest of the four layers of abdominal muscle is actually part of the lower back area. 

 The transversus abdominis spreads wide off either side of the back of the lumbar vertebrae before it wraps cylindrically around to the front over the navel area. 

 

 

 

 

"When you think about what the word 'crunch' implies, you really get a good idea of what those types of exercises are doing to your muscles, your body and your back," says an expert instructor.

 

 

You can find much more gentle ways to work your abs - and really - the more gentle approach isn't just going to be more safe than counting off a hundred mindless crunches or suffering through a series of leg lifts at the gym - the gentle approach will give you the focus to mindfully deepen into discovering your deepest layer of abdominal support. 

 

You can begin to activate the support of the transversus abdominis with your own hands while standing or sitting.

You can see in the photo to the right that the woman is using her fingers to spread the area on either side of her lumbar spine.

Try this yourself. You may get some immediate, however, subtle low back pain relief just by doing this widening of the tissues and separating the right from the left off of the central spine.

This is very different than what alot of people often do to themselves when their backs are achy which is to push the lumbar vertebrae forwards and backwards, which can actually exacerbate the problems that are causing lower back discomfort. 

 

 

 

If you widen the area on either side of the spine you are making room for the vertebrae to subtly lengthen in between, and you are also starting to understand how the deepest layer of the abs works - which is transverse - meaning crosswise.

 

"Exercises that help us lengthen our spine also help to strengthen our abdominal muscles.  This helps to flatten abs while opening up the ribcage, which can ease breathing and promote other healthy benefits."

 

 

One of those healthy benefits is better postural support for the entire spine.

 

One of the simplest things you can do for better back support is to lay down and put your feet up. You may not be able to do this during your work day, but you can certainly take fifteen minutes at the end of a long day to lie down and breathe and to rest your tired feet on a stability ball or an upholstered chair.

 

Support for the spine doesn't have to do solely with the abdominal muscles, but with the deeper core, which is actually a group of muscles attached directly to the spine. Part of this group is called the psoas which is attached to the front of the five lumber vertebrae and also connects the legs to the torso through its attachment to the inner thighs on the inside of the femur.

 

 

 

 

 

So an exercise like bridging can help to strengthen the deepest abdominal layer more gently and also access the deep core connection between the legs and the lower spine.

Pictured here is an extended leg bridge using a stability ball, which not only increases your chances of using the deep abs, but also helps to connect the heels to the hamstrings for better postural support when standing and walking as well as when sitting.

 

 

Relating this kind of elaborate information that more deeply informs your physical support is exactly what Backbone and Wingspan is all about: teaching more detailed information about the body while leading you through movements chosen specifically for better support of your spine.

 

-  Herald

Backbone and Wingspan

founder and owner and author of

Body Mind & Spine Align

can be reached at 212-647-8878

or  info@backboneandwingspan.com

herald@backboneandwingspan.com

 

 

Power Sitting Posture Clinic - Sneak Peek

Pilates - the way it is taught  with Backbone and Wingspan imagery - is - obviously - a lot about the back.

In our upcoming "Power  Sitting" Posture Clinic taking place on Monday, July 20th, 2009 from 6-7 PM,
Backbone and Wingspan will be leading the clinic attendees through a series of simultaneous stretching and strengthening exercises using a resistance band that could easily be kept in a drawer next to your computer. The Backbone and Wingspan expertise in the form of Pilates might best be described as "back empowerment"  and after one private session you'll see why.

 

Many people spend extended hours sitting with poor posture at their desks.  The result: a host of aches of aches and pains that can cost you time and money.

With Manhattan's Backbone and Wingspan, teaching people how to “power sit” is the first step in sparing their bodies and their wallets by transforming slumping backs into suspended spines.

 

You know it well:                                your  poorly-supported spine which has been hunched over a computer keyboard or cradling a phone between ear and shoulder starts to sting with nagging aches and pains distracting you from work and severely limiting your multi-tasking.

Ergonomically designed office chairs and accessories may help ease the aches but they can often be cost-prohibitive.

Expensive chiropractic visits and massages may be quick fixes that don't serve to change the potentially supportive muscular structure that can support your spine and end the cycle of pain. 

 

Pilates-based resistance band exercises serve to restore balance by releasing the short/tight muscles of the chest, shoulders and neck while simultaneously strengthening the overstretched/weakened muscles of the mid-back.

The resistance band presentation is just one important piece of the clinic expertly created to gain attendees access to the power places in the back that help to better support the spine.

Stocks go up and stocks go down, but you can learn how to be grounded in your seat and simultaneously suspended in your spine no matter what the market conditions.

The Power Sitting Posture Clinic presents a comprehensive package of pain-free-ing exercises, sitting stretches you can do very simply 

                right at your desk

and posture-supportive movements that will revitalize your keystroking and saves money in the long run. 

Bcakbone and Wingspan has developed a back empowering style over years of a career that employs the Pilates method as a movement organization system which can be utilized for better function of the body in any activity, including sitting at a computer."

As part of their summer-long series of free fitness clinics,

Backbone and Wingspan will be hosting this

FREE Power Sitting Posture workshop on Monday, July 20th, 2009.

Reserve a spot now by calling 212-647-8878.

 

Note: As of September 1st, 2010, Tim Driscoll, Backbone and Wingspan founder and owner and author of Pilates Iconoclast is now located on the Upper East Side at Mind Your Body Pilates

1370 Lexington Avenue @ 90th Street

Tim can still be reached at 212-647-8878.