Suppose your body is a rocket ship.  If your body doesn’t have all of the nutrients–the rocket fuel–that it needs, it can’t “blast off.”  It gets stuck.  All the systems are NOT “go.”

Sometimes your wonderful rocket ship of a body just kind of falls over and drops off the platform.

CLUNK.

Here’s the deal:  Your body needs certain things in order to function its’ best.  Those things include:

• stretching
• movement
• a strong back side
• plenty of clean water
• fresh air
• sunshine and
• all of the nutrients it was designed to use.

You just can’t fly if you don’t have the correct fuel.

We are so fortunate that we have so many choices of what to eat.  On the other hand, too many of our choices are not really food and not really good for us, either.  And, if we don’t give our bodies what they need to function well, we shortchange ourselves.

You can be overweight and still starving.  You can think you’re fit and strong yet still be malnourished.  But, if you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance that you don’t feel fit and strong.  Maybe you feel weak.  Puny.  Probably your back hurts.  Maybe you have a lot of aches and pains.

The good news is:  You are in the right place!

You CAN learn how to have a strong back side, simply and easily with equipment you already own:  your own bed.  You can learn that here at Simple Strengthening.  How cool is that?

You CAN learn how to give your body a healthy menu that includes lots of colorful foods (Sorry–Froot Loops don’t count.)  You CAN supply your rocket ship with the fuel it needs.  And, your body will LOVE you.

That means your aches and pains will start to go away.

If you don’t feel that you are able to get all the nutrients you need from your food, a good multivitamin supplement will supply the missing parts.  I really like this one.  In fact, I like it so much, it is part of my “health insurance policy.”

If you decide to get a vitamin supplement, get a good one.  Drugstore supplements are generally just not enough to be very useful.  In fact, even most prenatal vitamins only have a small percentage of what we really need to fuel our bodies well.

It’s time to get your rocket ship back on the platform and ready to ZOOM!

When you give your body all that it needs, your muscles will function as they were designed and you will be able to heal and get rid of your aches and pains.

If you watch yoga instructors very carefully, you may notice that some of them aren’t exactly symmetrical.  The reason they started doing yoga movements was because they had pain from their asymmetry.  (That means their body wasn’t balanced from side to side; one side was shorter than the other.  There are many reasons for this.)

When they were successful in reducing their own pain symptoms, some went on to become yoga instructors.  They continue to practice so they continue to feel well.  They are now also able to help others become pain-free.

The part of yoga that contains the movements is called Hatha Yoga.

The reason yoga helps is because you use ALL of your muscles and ALL of your body. We have 600+ muscles.

But, most of use only the same 60 or so muscles every day.  When we were children, we used ALL of our muscles.  We ran, jumped, climbed, crawled, slid, hopped.  And, now?

Well, you can see the problem.  We need to use ALL of our body in order to function and feel our best.

You can take a class in yoga.  The advantage of that is the support of your instructor.  He or she will guide you in doing the movements correctly.

Yoga videos are available at stores and libraries as well as online.  The advantage of a video is that you can do it in the comfort of your own home.  That may help you to practice more regularly.

Yoga can be adapted for everyone.  If you cannot do certain movements, then don’t.  Do the ones that you can do, and over time, you will become stronger and more flexible and will be able to do more and more.

Here’s a tip for “doing” the movements you can’t do yet.  Do them in your mind.  Pretend you can do them.  “See” yourself doing them when you close your eyes.  That will help your body understand what it will do when you are finally ready for that movement.

And, when you practice a yoga movement in your mind, always do it perfectly.  That’s what the best athletes do and if it works for them, it’ll work for you, too!

When we press against an immovable object, like a wall, we build strength.  That is called resistance training.  Your bed offers some softness and it also allows you to move and press into it while it presses back at you.  Here are a few things you can try when you lie on your back.

When you do the following movements, pay attention to your muscles.  Your goal is to be able to feel them as they contract (tighten up a bit.)  It doesn’t require much to make them “work.” Don’t work hard.

Gently and thoughtfully

• press the back of your head into your bed or pillow (feel your neck muscles in back.)
• press your shoulders backward into the bed (feel your upper back.)
• squeeze your shoulders toward your spine (feel the muscles between your spine and shoulder blades.)
• squeeze your belly toward your spine (feel the muscles around your hip bones, “stomach” and back.)
• press your heels into your bed (feel the muscles in the back of your thighs.)

It takes only a few minutes when you are in bed to start to get a stronger, straighter body.  When you were a child, you had a strong, straight posture.  You were moving all the time.  You used all of your muscles.  Help your body remember how it used to be.  Use all of your muscles, not just a few.

If you have lots of aches and pains, you can find more pain relief information at Simple Pain Relief.

“Because You Deserve to Feel Better!”