Life
Moves©The accompanying collection of stresses and strains, known as "bookbag syndrome", is slowly getting addressed by the medical and educational communities.
Parents can be alert for this problem and help their children find creative solutions. These might include better and more balanced carrying devices, reductions of load through improved security for books and other possessions in the school and better planning of work to take and not take home.
Easier
Breathing with the Alexander Technique
Better
'posture' isn't just for your back. F.M. Alexander, the originator of the
Alexander Technique of postural-movement education (AT), first became known
in his native Australia as the "breathing man". AT students often note
improvements in breathing as a result of lessons. Research by John H. Austin,
M.D., at Columbia University Collegge of Physicians and Surgeons, provides
further evidence of this.
In an article published in the medical journal Chestin August 1992, Austin and his co-researcher Pearl Ausubel, an AT teacher, reported on the effect of AT lessons on people they tested. The title of the article indicates their conclusions, "Enhanced respiratory muscular function in normal adults after lessons in proprioceptive musculoskeletal education without exercises."
When compared to people in a control group who did not have lessons, the Alexander Technique students showed significant improvements in lung capacity measurements. Austin and Ausebel speculated that this may have occurred due to increased length and decreased resting tension of muscles of the torso. This may, in turn, increase their strength, increase chest movement and enhance coordination.
Enhancing
Your Personal Creativity
Creativity can become a greater part of how we live and move if we consciously encourage it in ourselves and others. Curiously enough, this involves developing an experimental attitude of "I don't know, let's see!". This can allow us to explore, discover and bring new and perhaps more useful patterns into our daily living.
In his book Creativity, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggests these ways to "enhance your personal creativity":
Important note: This material
is meant for your information and not intended to substitute for evaluation
or
treatment by a physician or
other health-care professional.
Copyright
Conditions: This material is copyright by Bruce I. Kodish.
However, permission is hereby granted to download, copy
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