FitzGordon Method Blog

As Your Spine Goes, You Go

Posted on May 18, 2012 by jfg

If balance is power, then breath is life. Proper alignment of the spine facilitates both. Proper alignment of the spine keeps you alive. If your spine is in the right place, then you can get clear, efficient breath. Breathing should be easy. In fact, in our way of thinking living in your body should be easy.

In life, you want your head on straight, or level. Similarly you want your diaphragm and pelvic floor level as well. You can think of these as three platforms in the body. They mirror each other just as the curve in the neck mirrors the curve in the lower back. With a proper curve in the lumbar spine and neck, these three platforms can be level.

We need to develop proper spinal alignment. Because we’ve tucked our pelvis under, we tend to lean backwards a bit…as if to find the natural curve and balance that the lumbar would give us if we used it. We lean back right at the top of the lumbar spine where it meets the thoracic spine (L1 and T12 in vertebrae speak). This is a very important juncture point in the body – the psoas, the trapezius both connect there. This is the level of the diaphragm and the solar plexus. We’re leaning backwards and compromising this important physical and energetic center. Of course this also makes us round the upper back backwards and the upper chest forward. (To be fair, before you collapse into self-judgment, remember the images our culture promotes…butts under, abs in, shoulders up and back).

This postural issue is a big reason why we tend towards limited or shallow breathing, compromising our breath capacity and efficiency. When we inhale in this position, the diaphragm hits the spine. The diaphragm just drops right onto the shelf that you created by leaning backwards. It has nowhere else to go.

Play with these different positions. Allow yourself to have a curve in your lumbar and then drop your front ribs (the ones you can see sticking out, just give them a pat so they fold into the body). Breathe in this place. Do you feel how the belly pushes out a bit? The breath falls more naturally into the entirety of the lungs and the diaphragm moves down pressing the belly out a little. That change to the spinal alignment makes everything work better…including breathing and thus being alive.

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Core Walking Anniversary Giveaway

Posted on May 17, 2012 by jfg

Today kicks off the big video giveaway. That’s right, five lucky fans will each get a Core Walking video – a $100 value. Tell us, on this thread, how Core Walking has made a difference in your life, your favorite “FitzGordonism” or any other anecdote. We’ll choose our favorite five and each person will get a free DVD.

Tweet #corewalking about why you LOVE the Core Walking program to be entered to win one of our great Core Walking books. We’re giving one of each book to our four favorite tweets to celebrate the blog’s one-year anniversary.

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Anniversary Giveaway

Posted on May 15, 2012 by jfg

Tomorrow we will be giving away a number of gifts to the readers of the blog to show our appreciation for the encouragement and support I have received over the last year as the blog has gotten on its feet.

Here is what is up for grabs:

Five Core Walking DVD’s- this DVD is my walking program broken into five lessons containing twenty four essential exercises and twenty six fact filled anatomy lessons.

Learning a new way to walk and learning about your body can change your life forever.

Five of each of my books:

Psoas Release Party!-Your psoas muscle is the main hip flexor of the body and the main engine of walking. It is essentially responsible for holding us upright while standing. Issues with the psoas can lead to any number of problems throughout your body-both physical and emotional. Lower back pain and other joint discomfort as well as disturbances to the nervous system can be linked to the psoas. You will learn about the Psoas and its core function within the body as well as how to release the psoas muscle for immediate relief from chronic pain.

Sciatica Piriformis Syndrome- Sciatica (a pain in the back) and piriformis syndrome (a pain in the butt) are two of the most common causes of chronic pain. An untold number of people suffer each day from dull aches or shooting pains all the way down to the heel that eventually lead to numbness in the foot. Diagnoses of these two conditions are often confused, leading to further discomfort and longer periods of pain. Getting to know and understand your body and its pains is an alternative to yet another trip to the doctor or the physical therapist’s office. Learn to help yourself to alleviate pain and heal permanently.

The Spine- An Introduction to the Central Channel-The solidity and tone of the spine determines our health and well-being across body, mind and spirit.. In an easy accessible way The Spine looks at anatomy, some common spinal/postural issues and how to help them. More specifically we’ll talk about the spinal curves and vertebrae, what happened when we went from four legs to two legs, the relationship between the spine and the pelvis as well as the spine and the extremities, and much more. With this information and accompanying exercises we aim to help you improve the quality of your spine and thus your life!

The Exercises of the FitzGordon Method-This book is a basic collection of exercises that we offer to clients of the FitzGordon Method Core Walking Program. Anyone who walks in our door will receive a series of exercises meant to create a workout tailored for them specifically. We all need to work on different parts of their body to create a balanced whole and no two people are the same. At the FitzGordon Method we analyze our clients to help them rebuild their bodies in a conscious and specific way. While we work with all of these exercises and more, the idea is to only do the exercises you need to bring balance to a certain part of your body. You should test your ability in all of these exercises and, as long as you are doing them correctly, focus only on the ones that seem more difficult.

Tomorrow we will put up a post that will tell you how you can win these free gifts. Stay tuned.

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Anniversary Week: The Architecture of healing

Posted on May 15, 2012 by jfg

Tomorrow’s post will let you know how to get some free books and DVD’s that we are giving away to readers in appreciation of the the first anniversary of the blog.

Today’s post is a return to the beginning of the blog. This is one of the first things I wrote when I decided to write this blog.

We must become the architects of our own healing. Life is traumatic. From the big trauma of being born and taking our first breath to the lesser traumas of day-to-day life we are here to be beaten up and to one degree or another develop an inner support system to heal. Like the pulsing of the heart and the ebb and flow of the tides, the body’s trauma/healing interplay is as natural as breathing.

Our world has moved in strange directions in the last half-century. Every year Americans are turning more and more to surgical fixes for their injuries and ailments. With every ache and pain we take an advil or alleve. We are a society of external fixes, in search of a magic blue pill that will fix what ails us. The shift must be towards self-care and a belief that no one knows your body better than you. Doctors, nurses and bodyworkers all serve a purpose. We need them to help facilitate our care and our health. But we have to take them off of the pedestal that we have created and become more pro-active in our own healing process.

What can and will fix us is easily found inside. We have a beautifully specific design that when embodied and enacted becomes a self-healing machine. Everyone knows what cancer is. Everyone knows what asthma is. Most people have heard of the word melanoma and can visualize a tumor but most people have not heard of the word psoas. Very few people know what the hyoid bone is. We are painfully familiar with external circumstances or things that work upon us when we’re really not all that familiar with the wonderful, magical body that we inhabit which can help us prevent so much of what ails us.

Our bones hold us up, our muscle move the bones after getting direction from the nerves. If the bones are aligned and the muscles toned every movement you make will tone and stimulate all of your internal organs. Learn how your body works and discover that you are your best doctor. Cultivate a dialogue with your body that prioritizes instinct and trust. Get to know yourself. There is no better means to prevention. Be your own healer.

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What is a Muscle Cramp?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by jfg

Oftentimes when I go into wheel pose the inner arch of my right foot cramps. It feels as if the arch of my foot is being pulled higher with the big toe moving closer to the heel as the foot wants to curl under. My right side is where my bad stuff happens. My right psoas major is my tigther psoas muscle and as a result my right foot tends to turn out more.

Another manifestation of my right side tightness is when i set up for wheel from the top of my head, my right elbow is always wider out to the side than my left. My whole right side is slightly crunched, finding length and extension is a lot of effort.

There isn’t much scientific consensus about what causes muscle cramps. The standard tropes include dehydration, electrolite imbalance and fatigue. While all are possible candidates for an explanation there is little scientific evidence to support them.

The fatigue hypotheses has a fancy name- altered neuromuscular response. I didn’t quite understand everything i read about it but i think it is most in line with my take on the matter.

Muscles are designed to work together in one form or another. For one muscle to engage or shorten another muscle must relax or lengthen. This phenomenon is called reciprocal inhibition and it is the process that occurs when antagonistic muscles work together sucessfully- a muscle cramp is often what happens when they dont work together.

The cramp will happen when the muscle that is supposed to relax cant— causing the opposite muscle to cramp since it doesn’t have the objective abilty to stop contracting.Using the example of the hamstrings and quadriceps—a hamstring will cramp when running if the quadriceps, for whatever reason, fails to relax when hamstring engages. As a result you have two contracted muscles and one of them is going to be unhappy.

I think cramps have everything to do with poor posture and the lack of balance between our flexors and extensors. One of the first exercises I do with clients is to test/stretch the ankles and the feet. Invariably those with tighter feet and ankles tend to cramp more readily than others.

When we live a lifetime with poor posture and imbalanced muscles it is likely that trouble will manifest over time. Cramping is a classic example of this. Why some people with poor posture manage to get away with things forever is a mystery to me but it does happen. Just like the odd smoker who can puff away for forty years with debilitating effects, some people manage to get away with bad posture and poor movement patterns. If you are someone who has exoerinced cramping in your musculature, it is probably a sign that you need to do work and make some changes to your body.

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Sunday Morning Music: The Grateful Dead

Posted on May 13, 2012 by jfg

Between the ages of thirteen and fifteen I didn’t listen to anything but the Grateful Dead. The love affair has never soured though I have found space for many other types of music.

This clip is a classic from the TV show Playboy After Dark in 1969. It includes a short interview with Hugh Hefner an Jerry Garcia but the highlight is the second song- an absolutely blistering version of St. Stephen.

Happy Mothers Day!

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The First Anniversary of the Blog

Posted on May 11, 2012 by jfg

I am happy to report that May marks the first anniversary of this blog. It has been a fast year spurred on by the discipline of trying to write something every day. Before I started this project I was filled with trepidation— what do I have to say? Who will care? What will I write about?

A year later i cant say how much fun it has been. Who would have thought that my innocent obsession with the psoas muscle would translate into interesting content and an interested readership?

Here is a link to the first post on the Structure of the Foot.

One wonderful benefit of the blog has been the privilege of seeing and sharing the drawings that Sharon Frost posts every week. I love her work and can look at pictures of bones endlessly. I am also happy to report that the best person I know – my wife—will join the blog as a guest poster. My wife teaches childbirth education and women’s support and I am excited about her contributions.

And finally, I want to show my appreciation to the readers of the blog by giving away a bunch of stuff. Sometime next week we will announce the different ways you can obtain our DVD’s or one of our books.

It has been awonderful year! Thanks again for checking in.

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Standing Posture and the Diaphragm

Posted on May 10, 2012 by jfg

The diaphragm is the body’s primary muscle for breathing. There are many other muscles involved but in a well functioning body the diaphragm is meant to descend slightly pulling air into the lungs like a vacuum. When I write slightly I mean it—its movement can be measured in millimeters but a little goes a long way inside the body.

When the diaphragm descends it closes down the space of the abdominal cavity forcing the organs and the belly to move slightly forward. This is the image of diaphragmatic, or belly, breathing—the belly moves out a bit on the inhale and retreats with the exhale. Thoracic, or chest breathing, occurs when the diaphragm does not descend and the rib cage expands instead in order to make space for the lungs to increase in volume.

Diaphragmatic breathing is ideal but there are times, especially in yoga, when we might choose to breathe with the chest exclusively. In the ashtanga practice the idea is to employ the bandhas—energetic locks- that tone the pelvic floor and the lower belly and then turn on the ujjayi breath, a specific type of breath used in yoga. The ujjayi breath, which I love to use in practice, combined with the banhdas limits the breath to the chest and rib cage by choice.

People with poor posture—the majority of the world— tend to breath into the chest because of the way they stand. When we stand with good posture the spine is a long pole with four very small curves. We need the curves of the spine for the body to work as designed but those curves should be as small as possible. The ideal curve is created by developing muscle tone to support the spine.

The main postural issue I see in the spine is a bit of a collapse that occurs where the middle, or thoracic spine, meets the lower, or lumbar spine. At this juncture the thoracic spine tends to lean backwards as the lumbar curves forward. When this is the case, as in the picture above, the diaphragm will literally hit the spine on its descend and stop forcing the breath up into the chest.

The spine needs to be fully extended and the base of the rib cage— where the diaphragm is housed—needs to be level with the ground for the breath to work at its ideal best. Aligning the spine and finding good postural balance frees the diaphragm and the breath to work at their best.

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The Diaphragm: The Main Muscle of Breathing

Posted on May 9, 2012 by jfg

Depending on the amount of effort we exert, the act of breathing can be accomplished with the help of many muscles. The main muscle of breathing is a muscle called the diaphragm. A diaphragm is something that separates two structures. The diaphragm muscle separates the heart and lungs from the abdominal organs—with a double domed shaped sitting inside chest like a parachute. The diaphragm is also involved in non-respiratory functions, such as going to the bathroom and vomiting and it is intimately involved with my favorite muscle the psoas.

Calling this muscle the diaphragm is an interesting choice as it is one of many diaphragms in the body but the only one labeled as such. It is often referred to as the thoracic diaphragm as it resides at the base of the rib cage and thoracic spine.

There are a number of primary muscles for breathing. While the diaphragm should do about 75% of the work, the abdominal muscles as well as the intercostals muscles between the ribs also have a role.

The secondary muscles of breathing –designed to work when the body works harder—are the pectoral muscles (the chest), the trapezius, the sternocliedomastoid and the scalenes (all connect up into the head). The problem from my perspective is that due to poor posture, these secondary muscles are often doing the work of the primary muscles, especially the diaphragm.

Inhalation occurs when the diaphragm descends or the rib cage expands and brings the lungs along with them. The resulting suction pulls air from the mouth to the trachea and into the lungs. The exhale happens when the diaphragm is pulled back up by the connective tissue of the lungs. Muscle doesn’t retract in and of itself so the lungs actually have a protein called surfactant that essentially rubberizes them so that they shrink after expansion. This helps create the bellows action that should happen when the body works as designed.

Breathing is considered to be diaphragmatic when the diaphragm can descend on the inhale. This is the most efficient type of breathing as it is likely to get air to the lowest part of the lungs where the blood resides. This is one of the reasons why inversions in yoga are so healthy. They mix the blood in the lungs so to that air and gas can circulate. If we are upright we need very efficient breathing in order to get oxygen into the whole of the lungs.

Thoracic breathing is when the ribcage expands more than the diaphragm descends. This requires more work for same mixing of gas, blood and oxygen. To accommodate the greater effort, more oxygen is needed which means more work for the heart.

The next post will detail why our poor posture interferes with the successful functioning of the diaphragm. Stay tuned!

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