Salubrious Life

Fitness on a Budget

         Great!! You finally made that decision that you need to obtain some guidance with your fitness and wellness program.  You are on a budget and can not afford a gym membership, or on going personal training or nutritional services.  But, you can afford 2 or 3 sessions of these services.  So what do you do?

          One solution is to find a fitness professional that offers all these services put together.  You want to ensure that the fitness professional is certified to offer training and guidance in fitness and nutrition.  The trainer could design a program for you that could be done at home or in a park.  The trainer can develop 2-3 variations to your workout program so you don’t get bored and your body will continue to get results.  Once you have your program from the trainer, you can get nutritional guidance also.  Usually one session would be sufficient for you to obtain recommendations for your dietary lifestyle.  All in all, this should take no more than 3 sessions for everything.

         If this is still not in your budget, then you could go to the internet and obtain on-line nutritional support and training advice.  A website known for its great results for on-line nutritional guidance is www.anitahasaplanforyou.com.  This site is great in that it offers cost effective ways to obtain nutritional guidance and offers a maintenance program as well.

         If this is still not in your budget, then do the following: jump rope for 20-40 minutes, perform 3 sets of 15 repetitions of push-ups and crunches.  This simple routine done 3-4 times per week will get you in shape and keep you in shape.  After completion of this routine perform a full body stretch.

Rolfing. Aligning the Body for Mental and Physical Health

"Rolfing's foundation is simple: Most humans are significantly out of alignment with gravity, although we function better when we are lined up with the gravitation field." [The "Online Boulder Guide"]

Rolfing is a kind of deep massage and "movement  education" developed by Ida P. Rolf (1896-1979), a biochemist and therapist.

When I first heard of Rolfing, I thought it sounded like something one did after eating a bad batch of shell-fish, but actually Rolfing is the name given to Dr. Rolf's method of deep massage.  The practice goes beyond traditional massage in that it is predicated on the thought that emotional as well as physical health depends upon being properly aligned. In Rolfing, proper alignment goes beyond just the spine. The practice incorporates the alignment of head, ankles, hips, thorax, pelvis, knees, shoulders, ears, etc.. The thinking is that by being properly aligned you are enhancing personal energy leading to a healthy body and emotional state.

Another school of structural integration is Hellerwork, which will not only align and integrate your body parts, it also claims to do the same for your mind and soul.

A month ago I wrote about Good Feet.  The custom arch support for proper alignment of the body.  I can report that since using them in sports activity, I'm ready to spend another $300+ on a pair for daily use.  Less extreme in their arch support, the daily use orthodics can be used in street shoes, sandals, any shoe which is not going to be used in athletic pursuits.   My alignment is better.  My lower back pain is reduced.  I will go so far as to take my husband along with me to have him fitted for a pair as well.

BUT.....is my emotional state improved by proper alignment?  Well, I'm not cranky when lower back pain strikes, I stand taller and feel great.........but I think that practitioners of services such as Rolfing and Hellerwork play on the popular desire of "well-being" and emotional serenity when they mix these messages into their program descriptions.

And.......I still think the term Rolfing is evocative of something far less pleasant than massage.

Ayurvedic Health Concern

Ayurveda is a science of diagnosis and treatment that uses herbs in tandem with breathing, meditation and yoga. The practice began in India more than 2,500 years ago. Ayurveda is Sanskrit for longevity and knowledge. Proper therapeutic remedies are prescribed only after determining a person’s physical and mental characteristics (dosha).

Throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia Ayurvedic remedies are experiencing renewed interest. But a recent study by Dr. Saper at Boston University, published in the latest issue of the Journal of American Medical Association, found that about 20% of ayurvedic herbal supplements sold over the counter contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic at levels that are sometimes well above limits.

These herbal medical supplements are not subject to regulation or approval by the Food and Drug Administration and can lead to serious medical conditions such as some types of cancers, skin disorders and, in some children, lower IQ or reduced growth. Additional studies should be undertaken to examine this further.