When I watched the documentary Fantastic Fungi, I had an aha moment hearing about mycelium. Mycelium are the roots of fungi and they create a network in the forest. This underground web allows trees to communicate with each other. If one tree hasn’t been able to receive enough nourishment, the other trees send their reserves by way of the mycelium. On top of that, if there’s something detrimental to life, the tree sends signals to its seedlings to move farther away so that they’re able to survive. And this is all by way of mushroom roots!
Spring allergies are a thing and they’ve gotten worse in the past few years. My understanding is that global warming affects the natural processes of the earth which in turn affect the way our immune system is supported by our body. In parts of the world where we have the 4 seasons, it’s important for it to get cold enough for the ground to freeze. I’ve noticed in years where it hasn’t gotten cold enough or we haven’t had enough snow, I experience a version of allergies in the spring when I normally wouldn’t.
Most people don’t give much attention to their feet unless they’re in pain or they look a little funky. I think about the feet as something that can propel you forward or make it painful to move. The entire weight of your body is balanced on your feet, so if your muscles aren’t supporting the structure of your bones, your feet will take the brunt of the weight.
Do you know what your body really needs to wind down at night? I’ve explored so many ways to support my sleep and I’ve noticed that I need different things at different times.
Where are you at in getting good quality sleep? What have you tried and what do you have blocks around trying? I'm sure you know or have read about most of these but sometimes hearing the thing said for the 100th time finally allows it to sink in. It's always surprising to me when someone is actually ready to make a change and how they navigate things when that happens.
Stress affects us in so many ways. It can make us age faster, give us digestive issues, increase hair loss, keep us from sleeping well, alter the way we communicate with others, shift the way our body absorbs nutrients, lower our sex drive, make us crave foods/substances to numb out, gain weight and make us sick.
None of these responses are desirable, so it's helpful to have tools to calm our body down so that we can feel safe enough to relax again. This stops cortisol from flooding our system so that we can move back into rest and digest from fight or flight.
Hacking the low back can be a bit tricky because there are a bunch of muscles that attach in all different directions and only the spine as a bony support.
When you get your spine into a C shape (your torso moves back into a curl and your head and hips are forward) the natural curves of your spine are taken away. These curves allow you to be buoyant and have good rebound. Think of a gymnast tumbling on concrete versus a mat that protects their joints.
Pain or tension on the sides of the hips is a signal from the body that we're using our muscles to force stability because we’re not feeling that way emotionally, mentally or physically.
It can manifest as:
clicking in the hips
tension in the front of the hips (hip flexors)
low back pain
discomfort when standing for long periods of time
something feeling off in your gait (the way you walk)
feeling like your hip is jammed
knee discomfort
neck pain
jaw tension
So many of us have an imbalance in the pelvis that affects everything above and below. By evening out the rotation in the legs, we can stabilize the pelvis better and feel stronger when we walk. Since walking is something that we do all the time, I thought this exercise was a great one to share with you this month. It's best to observe your gait (walking) first, then do the exercise to accurately compare and contrast.