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December 05, 2004
Chakralicious
My cold is so obviously on its last legs: I was up at 7, showered, and got to have breakfast. Yay!
Not to mention one of the breakfast options... leftover pizza! Hot damn.
I sat alone this morning and read more of Natural Home. I'm really enjoying it... it inspires me to continue "naturalizing" my life. I can't decide if I want to do it in a modular fashion, i.e. start in the bathroom, move on to the bedroom, etc., or do it more like a gesture sketch... the entire process could be called "finished" at any point, with equal progress made in all areas.
I finished my Kinesiology take home test. It was partially open ended, as we got to pick pretty much any kind of movement we wanted, as long as it was simple and in the areas on the list. Perineum was one of the areas, so I used Kegel Lifts as one of my movements. Here's what I ended up with:
KEGEL LIFTS
Activity can be done lying, sitting, or standing. First identify the proper muscles to contract by imagining you are trying to prevent yourself from passing gas and trying to stop your flow of urine, at the same time. The feeling should be one of "squeezing" rather than "bearing down". Specifically, women should "draw in" and "lift up" the perivaginal and anal sphincter muscles; men should simply tighten the anal spincter.
While doing the exercises, it is important to breathe easily and keep the abdominal, gluteal, and hip adductor muscles relaxed.
Work the fast twitch muscle fibers first by performing a series of 2-second contractions, followed by working the slow twtich muscle fibers with a sustained contraction of 5 seconds or longer. Rest at least 10 seconds between sets.
Primary movers
Agonists
Levator ani (includes pubococcygeus, aka “PC muscle”)
Coccygeus
Synergists
Ischiocavernosus
Bulbospongiosus
Superior transverse perineal
External sphincter ani
Kegel exercises are an isometric activity intended to strenghten the muscles of the pelvic floor. They help prevent incontinence and prolapse, and can enhance sexual activity. Women can also use them to help heal the perineum following birth.
For best results, perform exercises three times daily and, optimally, in all three positions (lying, sitting, standing). A minimum of 50-60 contractions per day is recommended, with a gradual increase in the number of contractions over time.
Laura emailed me to tell me she's going to the AOBTA convention, too! Yay! I haven't seen her since Cornell. She signed up for one of the workshops I did, and she'll be at all the morning exercises. Should be awesome.
I also talked with another Cornell friend tonight, and heard from him about how another was doing. Got me thinking that when I get more settled I'd love to organize a West Coast Visit and bring all those New Yorkers out here.
Tonight was the final class by Linda, a three hour Chakra intensive called An Emotional Journey Through the Chakras. It's been such a blessing having her here, teaching and giving sessions. I hope I can keep in contact with her. I'm feeling so over my disconnect issues, which I learned tonight are the bridge between the 1st and 2nd chakras. And here I just thought I was deficient ;-)
Posted by Josh A. at December 5, 2004 10:33 PM