Saturday, April 5, 2008

Neck And Shoulder Pain A Punishment For Neglecting Office Workplace Ergonomics And Desk Exercises?

Many people, even school children, suffer neck and shoulder pain during their life. Almost everyone becomes limited in their ability to turn their head and lift their arms up with the progression of years. Often we notice the neck and shoulder injury when we get up from our work station, our kitchen table, our piano, or any other nonviolent but repetitive activity we engage in. Repetitive Strain Injury takes a huge toll on the quality of our lives, even if we dont know it. Neck and shoulder pain should not be regarded as part of a package deal which comes with our computers. There are ways to protect ourselves against it and ways to relieve ourselves from it.

What do we often do when we discover our neck and shoulders are stiff? We turn our head from side to side, up and down again and again, we frantically roll our shoulders back and forth, hoping to "untie the knots", to free ourselves from the pain in vain. Instead, while trying to relieve the strain and pain we often injure ourselves even further making things worse. Then, trying to avoid painful movements in one area, we often strain other areas.

Most neck and shoulder pain is caused by poor posture and poor movement habits formed by faulty learning, usually beginning in childhood. When the movement in our back, neck and shoulders is disorganized, some of the forces generated by our muscles create friction that, over time, destroys body tissue and leads to injury and pain. Even when neck and shoulder pain is the result of accidents or illness, unfortunately, when we try to protect ourselves from the pain, we create new bad movement habits that cause us even more pain and could lead to chronic pain. No matter the cause of the pain, the speed at which pain can be resolved goes right back to movement habits learned in childhood and adulthood, and to our ability to learn new patterns of movement, of thinking, and of awareness.

Rather than insisting on moving the already strained and painful muscles, we need to look for ways to bypass the injured area. This way we can achieve what we set out to do and allow the injured part of our body to reorganize itself and heal.

Since it is the brain that organizes movement, effective techniques for shoulder and neck exercises should be developed to provide your brain with the information and experiences it needs in order to form new, pain-free patterns and solutions. Rather than create friction where it hurts, we need to look for Methods that guide us through safe, gentle and easy ways to by-pass those painful areas. With new information from the body, mind, and the new awareness, the neck and shoulder pain should subside - often in only a few short sessions.

There are various methods that attempt to approach pain and strain in such a way - some more widely known than others. There is Yoga, Pilatis and the Feldenkrais Method. The first two are extremely well known. The last one and least known of the three, solves targeted complaints using scientifically proven bypasses that are of particular interest and efficacy for shoulder and neck pain.

Daniel was a first-chair violin player in one of the world's great orchestras. When he came to see Ms. Anat Baniel (a former student and assistant of Dr. Feldenkrais), he was unable to play for nine months because of severe neck, shoulder and wrist pain. None of the traditional therapies helped. He was terrified that his career as a musician was over. Like most people, he had no idea what he was doing wrong and how the ways he was moving were causing him to injure himself. Ms Baniel observed that various parts of Daniel's body: his lower back, his upper spine and the powerful muscles in his pelvis were not moving at all when Daniel was using his neck, shoulders, arms and hands to play. Ms. Baniel began by guiding Daniel through very gentle movements in those dormant areas that were new to him and felt easy and safe to do. These movements were waking up his brain to new possibilities. Daniel quickly learned to move in better ways that gave him complete relief from neck and shoulder pain, as well as wrist pain. Two months after Daniel began training he was back to playing.

This cutting edge approach is based in the understanding of how the brain forms patterns of posture and movement good ones and bad ones. It looks at all aspects of the person: body, mind, emotion and spirit and their relationship to pain. It addresses an invisible element that is of the utmost importance in our ability to recover from neck and shoulder pain and prevent future pain: the QUALITY with which we move.

Thousands of computer users suffer from neck and shoulder pain as a result of poor office workplace ergonomics and repetitive strain injury. To assist those that need neck and shoulder pain relief at their work-stations Desk-Trainer (www.desk-trainer.com) offers preset series of 5 minute Anat Baniel Method based on the work of Dr. Feldenkrais desk exercises. The site also offers subscribers training series for fitness, desk exercises and office stretches for protection against repetitive strain injury as well as office workplace ergonomic guidance for organizing the work station.

Eran Baniel brings into Desk-Trainer Ltd. 25 year of experience as Theatre writer & director, head of Festivals and companies, CEO of a lighting design company and until recently CEO of a Medical Device Company.

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More Communication Skills for Yoga Teachers

When Yoga teachers gather in a workshop to hear a lecture about communication - what is the first topic that comes to mind? Is it cueing skills, voice inflection, or when to ask a student for permission to assist? Those are important issues for anyone who teaches Yoga, but lets take a look at many more areas that could use some work.

Communication is a two way street. How can we exchange ideas if students are made to feel stupid for asking questions? Granted, Yoga classes cannot operate like an open forum, if you have a lesson plan in mind, but a student who is experiencing pain should not have to feel bad for asking about it. Nor should he or she have to wait until the end of class to ask an impatient teacher about his or her pain.

Listen Empathically: When a student asks a Yoga-related question during class time, the Yoga instructor present, should listen to all of the details. There are times when a Yoga student asks questions, which are on the mind of many more classmates.

for some Yoga students, it takes a lot of courage to ask a question in a group setting. Some students ponder questions for days before asking them. Their heart rate may rise because it took courage to ask the question.

With all this said, listening is a primary communication skill. As a Yoga teacher, you are respected by your students, so do not violate a trust by bolstering your ego. The key is to listen intently, because you may have questions of your own, which will result in a deeper answer.

Who becomes a Yoga students best teacher during Hatha Yoga practice? His or her body, and mind, must eventually be the best Yoga teacher. If not, we have failed to give our students the gift of self-realization. To go further: Yoga students must learn to think for themselves. If they are dependent on a Yoga teacher, all the time, then our teaching method is flawed.

Why do I say this? If a student is not present for Yoga practice, we must make him or her gently aware of it. There is no need to make students dependent on us. Good students will always return to Yoga class.

Yoga must still be practiced after our students have rolled up their mats. Breathing, walking, talking, eating, posturing, and acting with mindfulness, is the sign of a Yoga practitioner. All of the amazing physical feats are nice, but any flexible Pilates student, dancer, gymnast, or martial artist, could do the same.

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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