Slow Transformation to Restorative Exercise and a More Alignment-Friendly Living Space

In case you missed it earlier, I have fallen in love with a newish (to the world of exercise and medicine) understanding of the body, often referred to as Whole-Body Alignment and/or Restorative Exercise.  In a nutshell it says that a lot of our troubles (aches and pains, etc) are caused by lack of movement and lack of moving the "correct way" (but don't get caught up on "the correct way" as really all movement is good - but some ways of moving can do better things for your body - especially ways of holding your core or ribs, etc that affect large chunks of muscles and bones and such, over large amounts of time. . . like your whole life up to now).

Anyhow, if you want to read up on it I recommend this book called Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman.  It is a good introduction and includes some basic exercises.  She has written a few other books and has some more in the works.  Her latest books is Whole Body Barefoot and I have not finished it (or really gotten further than the introduction) but it also seems like a good place to start.

*Side Note: Katy's earlier books (such as The First Five Years) are really just her blog posts put together for accessibility, but they are still very helpful I think.  She also has TONS of information at her blog, KatySays.com and lots of other resources like DVDs, online courses, etc.

Now that I have set the stage I would like to share a few ways we I have attempted to make our home "more alignment-friendly."

First I sold one of our couches, as sitting, especially in the position you would on a couch is an over-used position that does not promote proper length in your muscles.  (In other words, your hamstrings shorten when you sit - and over time and repeated sitting your body will adapt and you will not be able to lengthen them to their proper length and that will affect how you walk and how you hold your organs and everything else.)  I would like to scrap the other two couches, as well, but the hubby wants me to keep one and the other one is apparently not tempting enough to sell at this time.  Although I have mixed feelings about it not selling as it is by far the most comfortable and durable couch we own and if I had to pick one to keep I would keep it.  But hubby wants to keep the "nice looking one" so right now we have both.  Whatever.

Paul, in need of a haircut, preparing to show his skills on the rings.  (Side Note: One of the rules is nothing can be under you while you are on the rings, the pillow moved before he began, in case you were concerned.)

Ditching one of the couches has freed up some space in the living room so I could hang some rings!!  Hanging and playing on rings or monkey bars is VERY GOOD for your upper body - and especially good for developing kids to play on as they need that motion to help with brain development.  Seriously, I remember reading it a couple of times from different sites and I would link it now, but I'm too lazy to go look it up (and I have been linking stuff like crazy in this post already).

Paul showing off on the rings.

Even if you do not get what this "Alignment/Restorative Exercise" bit is all about, anyone home with your kids all day can appreciate some indoor play equipment, right?  Now, it is not perfect all the time.  Sometimes the kids fail to follow the rules and the rings come down for a time, but generally, they LOVE THEM and take turns and what-not.  And the kids have all gone from just swinging on them in the beginning to flipping.  And then not just flipping one way, but flipping the other way.  And then inverting with feet straight up and then hooking their feet and pushing their chests out.  And. . . well, let's just say it has been pretty awesome to see them all progress.  

Samuel showing off on the rings.

Perhaps the most notable change in our home atmosphere has been our table.  Although my husband is not in quite as deep as me in this new way of living, I think he has secretly wanted to be Japanese all his life, so when I asked for a short table we could sit on the floor at, he did not even flinch.  Since our current table was not suitable for adapting (and we have really outgrown it anyhow) we decided to adapt an old table we picked up second-hand.  It has proven to be exactly what we wanted. . . other than hubby making it just a touch lower than I would really like (but that was mostly a miscommunication and I am over it now. . . although maybe some day he could figure a way to make it just a few inches higher so I could put my legs under it!  But I digress. . . ).

Horrible picture of the kiddos, but notice the table.  And all of the cushions now have covers, except for the extra-large one under Samuel.  I'm not sure how to cover that one yet.

We had some old couch cushions that the kids would use to build forts and such and I found some outdoor cushions on a local swap meet that work well.  I have since covered them with pillow protectors (to absorb spills) and am working on getting zippered pillow covers, but in the mean time we just use pillow cases and I rotate them as they get dirty and need to be laundered.  It is not glamorous, but it works well for us and makes me happy.

Rebekah happily modeling our standing desk.

Our schoolwork is mostly done in the front room of our house because I like to have the whole family together and this is really the only room that can fit us all comfortably, at the same time.  Although we all "could" just sit at the table, it is nice to have another desk to plug in the laptops and hold books and such.  Plus, sitting at a traditional desk with a chair is not all bad, it is doing only that ALL THE TIME that can cause problems.  So we do still have a traditional-height desk.  However, I modified it slightly to make it a standing desk, as some standing is good for you.  I also moved up a tall chair we have for when the student using said desk gets tired of standing and wants to sit.  In a perfect world I make sure to check that the children are moving and changing their positions and such throughout the day.  Since our world is far from perfect I simply provide the best environment I can to enable my children to move and wiggle and such as they go about their day, even when not outside for recess or playing upstairs in our indoor gym.

This is an accidental picture of our futon on the floor.  I was washing the sheets and the girls decided it was a good place to play.

One final area we are going more minimal is our sleeping arrangements.  My dear husband slept on a futon before we were married and I often slept (by my own choice) on the ground growing up.  My parents had to buy me a brand-new fancy bed to get me to sleep in one when I was in high school.  Anyhow, futons are great, but the bars of my husband's frame were poking through the thin mat, so we simply moved the mat to the floor for our first bed as a married couple.  It worked wonderfully.  Although we did use my "fancy" new bed for a brief time (a couple of years) after moving into our first house, we soon returned to a futon on the floor, mostly for the sake of comfort while co-sleeping.  With a king-sized-futon on the floor I had plenty of room to nurse the baby to sleep and leave said baby safely in his/her area as I wiggled back over to snuggle with my husband.  There was no fear of baby falling out of bed and we could actually fit most of our family comfortably!  (Although, oddly enough, now days the kids all stay in their own beds and the baby, too!  Who knew that would happen?!? )

Here is Rebekah's "bed."

Rebekah had recently taken to sleeping on the floor as she complained her bed was not comfortable.  (But she had the most comfortable bed in the house really - a pillow-topped fancy mattress a friend had given us!!)  In any case, I sold her bed and bought her a little futon mat and she has been so happy with it.  It is nice to have less furniture in the girls room and to be able to move Rebekah's bed so easily - she potentially could sleep anywhere in the house at any given moment and she could probably take her little mat camping, too, if she wanted.  I am considering doing the same for the boys and Miriam, but our bunk beds would need to be modified with OSB or some other support so the mats would fit.  Another hindrance at this time is my young children that occasionally wet out of their nighttime diapers.  A crib mattress is considerably more waterproof than a futon mat.  We do have a cover on Rebekah's mat, but I am still hesitant to lose the security of a plastic-covered mattress for the little ones.

This concludes my "update" of changes I have implemented to make our living space more alignment-friendly.  I have seen some serious improvement in my personal health by implementing some restorative exercises and changing our house this way.

P.S. A special thanks goes out to all my friends and family that still come to visit despite all these changes.  As I often say, I know I am crazy, but I'm in too deep now! 

An old picture (for the changes anyhow - as the couch in the background is the one we have since sold!) but I could not resist sharing Miriam's smile.  She loves the rings.

Journal #25

Out My Window:

It is overcast today and a little chilly (maybe thirty degrees) but not a "bad" day.  Feels a little more like winter I suppose.  The seasons have certainly been crazy lately.

Clothing Myself In:

Black stretch pants, black MS walk t-shirt, camo long-sleeve shirt on top, bare feet.

Around the House:

Nana has been helping out all week because of my little "accident" and that has certainly been a blessing.  She is a great teacher and really gets the kids to stay-on-task and get it done!  It has felt busier than usual, but my nephew (who happens to be Paul's age) has been here most of the week, as well, and we babysat for a friend one day, too.  It has been nice to be out and go to the park a couple times since the weather was so nice, but it is strange how the warm season being "out of place" makes me feel all confused - if that makes any sense.

The Baby:

Zipporah finally made it in for her "six-months-check" but she is already seven-months-old!  (This was not my fault - the doctor rescheduled the visit.)  In any case, she has only gained one pound since her last check (at four-months-old I believe) but she has grown two inches (up to 27 inches long!).   I'm not overly concerned about her lack of weight gain, but I am definitely watching her like a hawk.  Fortunately she has been amazingly healthy and happy, eating well and filling her diapers, so I have no worries at the moment.  She still is not a fan of sitting up or tummy time, but she LOVES to stand and lean against me or be carried around or sit in her bumbo (assuming it is close to the action).  Today she was intently watching me drink so I gave her her first few swigs from my water.  She seemed to enjoy that.

The Kids:

My amazing pitcher that the kids loved has broken already (sad face).  I guess I was cleaning it a little too vigorously as the handle snapped off.  I thought maybe Daddy could fix it, but he looked skeptical and gushed about how it would not look the same and be a lot of work, so it looks like I will be finding another pitcher soon.

Daily Mass (which we try to attend at least once a week) has been going smoother in some ways and more challenging in others.  Paul is quite well-behaved now, as long as I'm ok with him sitting and looking at our religious books we bring with us, but Miriam has trouble with volume control (or really just talking in general) and finds being still for forty to fifty minutes (we go with the school kids, so they have music and Mass is a little longer than the typical daily Mass) quite a challenge!  She often has to go potty (even if she just went at home) but fortunately Rebekah does not mind taking her out for that.  God bless big sisters!!  Jacob is also giving me a little struggle as he is old enough (in my opinion) to be standing correctly and kneeling and generally sitting as he should (at least LOOKING like he is paying attention).  I think we need to do a little more talking about this BEFORE Mass, though (and I keep forgetting) and maybe some practice for all the kids so things keep going as smooth as possible.

In the Kitchen:

I just cooked up some beef for another batch of taco meat (going to cook the beans tomorrow and mix it all together).  I was also brave enough to make homemade pizza!  (Which is crazy here - two breadmakers for the dough, four pizzas for our clan!)  And I made some teething biscuits for the baby, but so far she is not impressed with food in general.

Watching:

We stumbled upon an old tv series (on Netflix) called Chuck and it has been quite entertaining for the hubby and myself.  It was definitely written for the male crowd, but the plot is not too bad and most of the characters are well-done.

Crafting:

Since my hubby rarely reads my blog, I'm going to go ahead and throw this out there.  I have not been crafting in the traditional sense, but I am always looking for ways for the kids to get more movement in their day - especially while inside.  As it is good to go outside and play or to go to the upstairs of the garage (the indoor gym) and play, I feel they need to be moving more than we can get to either of those places.  Thus I finally got a couple more large hooks for our exposed beam in hopes of hanging a set of rings in our living room.  However, I tried to put one of said hooks in yesterday and it did not go so well.  How in the world do you get those big screw eye-hooks in??  I am afraid to ask the hubby for help as he already thinks I'm crazy and has a honey-do list about a mile long - on top of all his other plans and projects.  But stay tuned as I just might figure it out myself.

Thinking About:

Restorative Exercise.  Seriously, it is a lifestyle change I feel I am beginning.  And I think it is for the better.  In a nutshell, restorative exercise is all about moving more throughout the day.  Regular "exercise" is not necessarily bad (although sometimes it might be considered so, but it gets a little confusing), but it is not enough.  We should be moving most of the day, not just for an hour or two.  So I'm trying to put more standing, squatting, sitting on the floor, stretching, and walking into my day - and of course that of the children as well.  I will definitely have more to blog about this soon.  And you can read up some more on a previous post of mine - here.

Bringing Me Joy:

Zipporah.  It is great to see her personality start to show and her smiles are simply amazing.  Well worth the wait for them to show up.

Pictures To Share:

Samuel loves his baby sister, Zipporah.

Pizza and a Kansas sunset.  What could be better?

My Initial Reaction to Katy Bowman's book, "Move Your DNA"

I stumbled upon Katy Bowman's blog (Katy Says) as a link in a facebook group, in answer to a question about exercises to do at home. This post was about squatting. I read the post, took note of her pictures, and concluded my “squatting position” (thinking “the position I use to do weighted squats as part of my exercise in my home gym”) was fine. Was that the point of my friend posting this? No. Katy is not about exercise (although she is not against it). She is about looking at humans as whole beings – all of our parts, all of the time – in our current living conditions (environment). And to Katy, squatting is not an exercise, it should be a huge chunk of our lives as our bodies were designed to squat. We were also designed to spend much of our days standing and walking, but we do not do that so much anymore. And before you think walking from your car around the store and standing in line is what I mean, I will clarify that it is not. I mean walking four or five miles to the store, standing for an hour or two and walking the four or five miles home – and then going on about the rest of the day. But I digress.

Let me back up.  Here is my general understanding of things (and I am not claiming to be the end-all-be-all or get it all right, but if I'm understanding correctly, here is the scoop): 

Katy Bowman is a biomechanist (that means she studies the mechanics of how the body works - think bones and muscles) that in this book (Move Your DNA) is basically looking at humans from an historical perspective of how we used to behave as hunter-gatherers.  She goes back to this point because she says that time/activity is how our bodies performed optimally and she says a lot (most) of our troubles today (such as osteoarthritis, pelvic floor issues, hyperkyphosis, etc)  are from poor alignment/lack of movement as we do not move as much or in the same way we used to because of modern convenience.

Side Note: This book fell on fertile ground in me.  Whispers of her ideas/concepts/suggestions/explanations have been coming to me over the past few years in listening to my body and paying attention to/choosing my exercise regimen.  And I believe in order for someone to take the advice of another (no matter how smart or educated the one delivering said advice may be) the one receiving the message must see some glimmer of truth in it all.  I see that truth in a lot of what Katy says.  It all makes so much sense to me!!  But if you have not experienced things as I have you might think this post is a bunch of silliness, and you are entitled to such, but I will write it anyhow.

Rather than try and summarize her entire book I will share some things that have been helping me and/or I found particularly interesting.

#1) According to Katy we do not move nearly enough in our average day.  

Even those of us who are avid exercisers, only exercise for an hour or two and then sit for much of the rest of the day.  She is particularly concerned with those who work "desk jobs" and sit basically all day.  We are made to move - so move it!

While my day as a stay-home, homeschooling mom does include more movement than a typical desk job, I can be guilty of parking in the easy chair and commanding the household from my "perch."  I am making an effort to NOT do this.

#2) Katy says walking is good for our bodies - and not just as exercise, but walking is good for all parts of our body and does great things like aid in digestion, etc.  

In her words from this book, "Walking, as basic as it seems, is an extremely complex phenomenon that can simultaneously involve all your muscles at once."

So I have been trying to add more walking into my day - and not just MY DAY, but into the days of my children, too - as even children need to walk.  No, not play sports or run around outside, they need to WALK!  (Granted, children can ALSO do those other things, but walking is important for little people just as it is for big people - accept no substitutes!)

Side Note: You probably do not walk "correctly" or at least could have your walking pattern, gait, etc, improved but I am no expert.  Katy goes into some basics in her book and more on her blog, but her saying is "You cannot do it wrong, but you can always do it better."  

#3) Katy is VERY AGAINST sitting in a typical "chair."  

Our bodies are not designed for this - it has been adopted by our culture - with the chair originating as something of a trophy for the very rich to afford.  Now we sit, I would argue, out of habit and/or because it is culturally expected.  There are chairs in the waiting room at the dentist's office, so if you do not sit in one you are considered a potential "threat" (why is that person not sitting??) or if you sit on the floor you are considered "unprofessional" (you would sit on the floor in public?!?!).  Instead of sitting in chairs, Katy suggests standing workstations and reclining on the floor.  She understands we all need to rest now and again and being on the floor allows our body to open up more and stretch.

I have been taking note of how much of my day I spend sitting in a chair and actively trying to find another position for those tasks - such as sitting on the floor to do school work with the kids and setting my laptop on a shelf to stand while I check my e-mail.  I also squat anytime I would typically bend down to pick something up.  I also squat to hang out with the kids or do simple tasks at floor level (like fold laundry).  Squatting opens up the hips, stretches the pelvic floor, and just overall helps keep the body in good working condition!

#4) Stretching is VERY important.  

And it all starts with the calf stretch.  Seriously, I think every one of her exercise DVDs begins with the calf stretch.  There are a ton of other stretches she recommends, but unfortunately she does not have them all in a neat little list, complete with pictures in such, although she does go through all of them in her book, amidst other information and anecdotes.

If I understand it correctly, stretching is what brings the blood to the muscles and gets rid of the waste.  While the heart does pump blood, it is the smooth muscle of the capillaries that gets it into all those cells.  And our typical "exercise" only uses certain muscles and often in a repetitive fashion.  While these muscles get stronger, those around them get weaker.  (Use it or lose it.)  So wee need to be stretching and moving in all the ways we can in order to keep the oxygen going to and the waste moving out of all our cells.

I am working on stretching more.  I'm not ready to give up my cardio exercise because although walking and stretching would probably make my body the healthiest it has ever been, I am too caught up in the worldly way of things to be happy with my extra weight right now.  While it would eventually fall away (I think! - or at least some of it) I do not have the patience for that!

Plus I would say I am mildly addicted to "serious" exercise.  But of all the addictions I could have, this one has some of the best benefits (losing weight, building muscle - albeit it only SOME muscle on those parts I am actually using, but still - and relieving stress) and the least adverse affects (potential for injury, my husband having to listen to me whine about missing my work-out, or go on and on about how amazing it was today).

#4.5) After having my most recent baby I concluded that Kegels were not doing it for my pelvic floor.  

I then stumbled upon Katy's DVD called "Down There For Women."  This video consisted of five stretches that I found MOST HELPFUL but it was not until I read this book that I realized the final component in pelvic floor health (for me at least - as Katy would surely argue that the whole body works as a whole and you cannot piece out any part of it, from the pelvic floor to the foot, it all goes together).  

Are you ready for this?  The final component to my pelvic floor health was/is sucking in my gut.  And I do not mean the kind of sucking in one would do to button a pair of pants that is a bit small, but the constant tightening of the abdominal muscles.  Yes, the very tightening that my physical therapist recommended I practice "all the time" because that is "what these muscles are designed to do."  Katy says the brain, specifically the unconscious brain, is very smart and your body will naturally respond as it needs to, far better than you can consciously try to clench certain muscles.  So, instead of tightening my core to lift my child I am just supposed to lift my child?!?!  What if I strain my back?  Well, then Katy would say you are not strong enough to lift your child in that fashion in the first place and by tightening your core you are taking the stress in other joints/ligaments that are not up to the task any more than your back and eventually you will feel the injury in them as well.

What does this mean for me?  Well, by relaxing my core muscles and letting them fire when they decide it is right to fire (rather than the constant flexing that creates muscle tension and inhibits some muscles from behaving as they should) I was able to take the final bit of strain off my pelvic floor, allowing it to behave as it should.  (I will save you the specifics but I imagine you understand what I am saying here.)

Funny side note: When I first read that I should not be flexing my core muscles all day my reaction was, "WHAT!!!  NO WAY!!"  Followed by a deep analysis of how smaller, tighter tummies is a cultural thing!  How vain of us!  And now that I have been relaxing those muscles and letting my belly "pooch" out I realize this better offsets getting my pelvis back in neutral (read: sticking my butt out as we are meant to).  Now I cannot imagine NOT doing this.  Unfortunately it means I might have to rethink a few of the tighter/shorter shirts in my wardrobe, but honestly, who am I trying to impress?  I have a husband and he loves me skinny or chunky, with my belly in or out.  Who have I been trying to impress?  Everyone else.  Everyone that looks at my choices in life (to be open to life and to homeschool my kids) and wants to tell me I am crazy.  I am secretly trying to impress them so they will at worst leave me alone and at best encourage me.

#5) Katy considers this way of looking at the whole body as a whole is one of alignment.  

She has a facebook group called "Aligned and Well."  By stretching and walking, standing, and squatting as we should we are able to keep our bodies in alignment.  Key to this alignment is good footwear.  Starting at the bottom, if we have positive heeled shoes (even just a little bit of a heel, like a quart of an inch) it throws off our alignment.

This is one of those things I TOTALLY GET!!  As I have been struggling with footwear for quite some time.  And finally I realize that bare feet is the best way to be!  And when one cannot be barefoot, minimalist shoes (like vibram five fingers) or at least zero-drop shoes (straight all the way across like this pair I have my eye on, the Kigo Flit - or the Kigo Drive which I currently have) are definitely the way to go, for me at least.  Now, this being said, I can walk fine in these shoes (and it took some work to get my foot muscles to wake up and respond appropriately in the vibram shoes) but I am not ready to run in them.  If you want a quite comprehensive list of "Katy's footwear suggestions," you can find it on her blog.

And I must say that going barefoot and wearing more minimalist shoes has improved my balance as I have woken up all those muscles and bones in my ankle again.  I could feel it as I ran yesterday - even though I was wearing stiff regular positive heel tennis shoes - when I turned a corner that would normally have thrown off my balance and caused me to teeter some, I was able to adjust in my ankle and keep the rest of my body moving as I desired.

The End. . . for now.

While there are many more tid-bits to be gleaned and ideas to process but here is what I have stewing right now.

7 Quick Takes - Daily Grind 2015

1. Putting the Christmas tree away means it is time to rearrange the furniture, right?

The top photo is actually from Christmas 2013, but our set-up this past year (2014) was similar, minus the desk and the chair (instead we had a small half-dresser near the door).  It has been YEARS since I did anything different with our couches.  We shall see if this "sticks."

2. Sight Word Brilliance

My son Jacob's brain works differently than the other children.  The "momma" in me says this is because he is a genius (which he very well might be) but the "reality" in me says that means some things are going to be a struggle.  School work is a struggle for him - not because he cannot do it, but because HE SEES NO POINT IN DOING IT!!  Anyhow, he was fighting me tooth and nail to learn his sight words (which is tremendously slowing down his reading right now) and yesterday it hit me to have him spell them out with letters.  He called it "fun"!!!  We have  winner :)

3. Movement helps the blood flow and that helps the brain work.

This is quite possibly the worst picture ever, but consider it like a "Where's Waldo."  Do you see two ropes (each braided) hanging from a giant climbing-strength carabiner?

I have been wanting to put some rings or a trapeeze bar in my living room for the kids to swing on, but we only have one hook right now and my dear husband already thinks I am crazy (and has a list of "honey do" items a mile long as it is).  So I found a strong clamp and a couple of ropes.  Now the kids pull, swing, and climb.  It has been helpful for me to have them (especially Jacob) answer a question and then swing once on the ropes, only to come back and answer the next question.  

Plus the ropes help keep them in the same room.  Jacob was pacing from room to room as I read him a story yesterday and I broke down at one point exclaiming, "Jacob, would you just STAY IN THIS ROOM, PLEASE!!"  Once I made it clear it was ok for him to pace, but I just wanted him close enough to hear he happily walked in circles around the table and from door to door while listening.

4. Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman is seriously BLOWING MY MIND!!

I know I have already posted about two other books she has written (well, they were really parts of her blog turned into books - this is her first "real" book, written as a book), but this one really takes the cake!!  Katy is a biomechanist that is basically looking at humans from an historical perspective of how we used to behave as hunter-gatherers.  She goes back to this point because she says that time/activity is how our bodies performed optimally and she says a lot (most) of our troubles today are from poor alignment/lack of movement as we do not move as we used to because of modern convenience.  I think my reaction to this book might be its own post soon.

5. Paul says the cutest stuff sometimes.

We had to upgrade our van last year before having Zipporah.  We ended up selling our mini-van to my parents.  When they come visit, Paul always refers to their vehicle as "the money-van."  

6. Samuel spoke up at Mass today.

This picture only kind-of goes with this number.  After Mass this morning there were many poinsettias looking for homes.  This one found its way to ours.  We shall see how long it lasts.

We try to go to daily Mass with our local Catholic school, at least once a week.  The priests regularly ask the kids questions during the homily and I often feel bad as I know Rebekah would LOVE to answer but they never venture further than the main aisle where all the school kids sit.  Today, however, Father Earl came over to our section as a few of the older school kids in front of us answered some questions.  And then, before I knew it, Father had called on Samuel!  Just like his momma, when he feels the need to say something he is not shy.  

Father was asking where we might find synagogues today.  Samuel answered, ITALY!!  Which, in his defense is quite wise of him.  We have been studying a lot about the Roman Empire in history right now and they just recently (in our studies) took over Judea and Jesus was born.  Since the Roman Empire first came from Italy, it makes sense he would say that.  Father got a good chuckle from it and agreed that there probably were some synagogues in Italy.

7. I took my two oldest children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturday.

I only took those two because they are the only ones old enough to receive.  (This was Samuel's second time to receive this sacrament.)  It was a great experience.  I love sharing the faith with my children.

Zipporah (almost seven-months-old here) is very happy I am done blogging so I can play with her again.