Get Rid of the Pain in Your Neck: Beneficial aligning posture exercises

   

      As I've mentioned before, in 1989 I was in a significant auto accident. It left me with a cervical vertebra that doesn't move quite right. This means I need to take exquisite care of my neck and can still have problems.

     I've tried many different things over the years, but these are by far the best exercises I found. They  have made a great difference for me. They keep my neck supple and moveable, even though it still has bad days.

Beneficial aligning posture exercises 

*Do 1-3 sets, 10-15 reps, everyday when possible 

-shoulder rows backwards motion 

-shoulder squeeze (chest in an upwards motion)

-head side to side (keeping shoulders squared in place, I call this one ‘tick tock’)

-overhead single side stretch (hold each rep for 10 sec, do 3 sets)

-doorframe stretch (forearms on doorframe and lean into it till you feel the stretch, hold for 20-30 seconds)

-rag doll (hold for 30 sec, no bounce)

-standing/stretching backward bend (hold for 20-30 sec)

-chin tuck (neck backward)

-chin tuck with backward tilt-up

-turn head side to side/left to right, trying to stretch a little farther each time

-turn head to one side as far as it will comfortably go and then rock head up and down 10 times, then switch to the other side and do it 10 times, repeat if time allows.

I like to do these exercises when I listen to a podcast or a book on tape. The reward entices me back each day—I hope it does for you as well. Enjoy a pain free neck! 

Enneagram Type Three: The Achiever

   This comic by Clare Cherikoff says it all! Type Threes are the achievers. They are often good looking, have a presence that helps them stand out from the crowd, and measure their lives by how successful they are.
     I was fortunate to be part of a long standing book group run by a Three, and ably assisted by another Three. We always had the next book picked out early, everything was on time, and she could somehow attract more people when others moved on. When she got a new job and leadership of the group passed to a Seven, the group began to struggle. Nothing was wrong, but slowly people stopped coming. When the other Three withdrew,

Non- Dual Thinking: How to be of two minds and enjoy it

       What if I told you that one of the deepest, most abstruse concepts I ever learned, I first heard about from a fifth grader? I was working with a pair of Speech and Drama club members on how to improv.   It was their first foray into duo improv and it was not going well. After I heard one of them in the hall complaining abut the other, "doesn't he get yes, and?" Of course I had no idea what they were talking about. All I knew was that the two of them just couldn't get along, couldn't decide on an idea during their prep time.
     Since I was so new and not ready to relinquish any authority, I waited until after practice to ask the coach. She said the idea behind 'yes, and' is that anything your partner says, even if it is not what you agreed to in the prep, you say 'yes, and...' Once you start playing around with it, what a powerful notion it becomes. The sky is falling. Yes, and it is made of chicken soup. Yes, and I'm allergic to chicken. Yes, and I have a super vaccine. Yes, and I'm deathly afraid of shots.
      Everything becomes legal. Everything becomes within bounds. Too much fun for a way outside the box person like me! The further I get into energy medicine and meditation, the easier this becomes. One is not either right or wrong, but can be both and neither at the same time. In my spiritual learning it's called non-dual thinking.  Wikipedia defines nondualism as "a mature state of consciousness, in which the dichotomy of I-other is 'transcended,' and awareness is described as 'centerless' and 'without dichotomies.' Simply speaking, we're both right. In the past I've written about it here and here. This article from the Huffington Post has Richard Rohr's description.
     If you'd really like to get a feel for this, I love Melinda Butch-Kovacic's Tedx talk on Polarity thinking. She gives a great real life example of how to avoid the traps of dual or black and white thinking.

Gaynor Faye- Our next Reiki Celebrity!

    When I first took reiki, my teacher, JoAnn Utley, stressed the importance of 'gathering evidence.' Since many of us never get to see the reiki energy, it is important to gather the evidence of reiki working in our lives and those around us.
      My next piece of evidence is British soap opera actress, Gaynor Faye. This article from Now Magazine talks about how she works on "friends and family." I love how reiki is becoming more and more mainstream. Enjoy your weekend!

Enneagram Type One Videos

     I left the videos out of the Enneagram Type One post. Here are two that I really enjoyed.

Enneagram Type 2: The Helper

from here

    When you try to visualize a Type Two, think Dori from Finding Nemo. Always super helpful, super cheerful, loving, caring, and above all, fixing things for you. As a Two myself, I can tell you that I'm great to be around if you want help on your project, but much more difficult if you just want to tell your story because I want to fix whatever the problem is. Also, I'm told my happiness before the first cup of coffee is absolutely insufferable.

More Thoughts on Community

     I'm sitting under a tree while the 9-11 year olds at my Y wash the car. Child labor at it's finest.
      This week the 9 and ups are having a car wash and bake sale at the Lynn Street Y. My car was one of the first to be washed (or, perhaps better said, go under the knife). Though the kids were supervised, the camp counselors let them learn through doing while washing to my beloved car, Sophia (yes, my car is named after wisdom! She's a smart lady with cameras to tell me if I'm backing into someone). It was almost a physical pain when one of the kids bounced a bucket off her hood. But it was so worth it. These were kids who were gaining up time in the pool and gym to wash cars so they could earn money for field trips. The mom in me so approves!
     I enjoyed spending time with the campers, talking about hair cuts and field trips. All that lovely young energy was wonderful. Again and again, I find community and it's importance. Hopefully I'll find no dent in the hood, but if it's there, that's a small price to pay.