Love to Move - Importance of Daily Movement
Junction Magazine
Author: Nick Karuna
As modern humans we tend to move in habitual ways. Typically, we sit on chairs for work, then sit again to drive home, where we sit some more, this time on the couch as we unwind in front of the TV at the end of the day. Even those of us with more physical work roles tend to repeatedly perform the same patterned actions required in the specialist nature of our work. Contrast this with children, who spend most of their day moving, when given the chance they climb, jump, dance and play. Kids will fall off a couch ten times just to see how it feels. They love moving!
To understand why you should reconnect with your inner child we talk to Nick Karuna from Matakana Osteopaths. Nick highlights the very important and often overlooked structure in our bodies called fascia.
Fascia acts like a continuous sleeve wrapping all around our muscles like a never-ending cling film, enhancing our body’s strength and power. However, each night as you sleep your body forms a layer of spiderman type “webbing” between these fascia sleeves, causing stiffness and reducing our flexibility.
Of course every cat in the world knows this, always having a big stretch as they wake, this breaks down the “webbing” and allows the fascia sleeves to glide past each other again freely.
Nick says “following our children’s lead, we need to try to move in unique and unfamiliar ways every day. This can be anything from simple stretches at home or attending a yoga class, the important thing is daily movement outside of our normal patterns”.
Injuries, like strains and sprains, create their own problems with fascia however. For instance if you hurt your shoulder you naturally avoid using it. Now this “webbing” really gets a chance to build up, causing stiffness and pain in the muscles and joints of the body, and simple stretches often won’t undo it.
Seeking help from an osteopath can support the healing process and the speed the breakdown of the “webbing” restoring healthy function. For more information talk to Nick from Matakana Osteopaths.
Also see: Daily Routine for Good Health