Healthy sleep

November 7th, 2011 Erna

Physiologically, sleep is a complex process of restoration and renewal for the body. Sleep is important in many physiologic processes including the processing of experiences.

Inadequate or non restorative sleep and sleep deprivation is associated with a number of both physical and emotional disturbances.

To promote a restful sleep:

  • Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol use before bedtime
  • Practice breathing and meditation to promote relaxation
  • Write down the “to-do” list that is on your mind
  • Write down what you are grateful for
  • Get regular daily exercise (not right before bedtime). Walking in the fresh air 30 minutes is a good start.
  • Maintain a comfortable sleep environment, including a comfortable temperature
  • Do not lie in bed awake, worrying about not sleeping (or anything else negative); get up and read, write things down, or do breathing exercises

Practicing attentive breathing, meditation and yoga helps to become more ‘awake’ and mindful during your hectic day. Stay balanced throughout your day.

Mindfulness

June 17th, 2011 Erna

Life presents us with challenges day in day out. Pain is one of those challenges we all get presented with at some point.

Pain and feeling physically limited increases the stress we perceive. It feels as if we have no control over our life, our pain, and we want to close down, become small. When that happens, our world and life become smaller, but it does not help reduce the stress, or give us more control.

If we keep looking outside ourselves for a solution, waiting for somebody to present us with the answers to our problems, or handing us the magic pill, we are not going to find it. Only when we look within ourselves will we find the answers. We all have the potential to help ourselves.

Mindfulness is an inner discipline, a tool to help you face and overcome the challenges in your life with awareness. Mindfulness helps us to open and expand when we want to close down and become small. Mindfulness helps us understand the connection between emotions and pain. We start accepting our emotions for what they are, without judgment, and we realize with the acceptance the pain and stress will ease.

Understanding and accepting that our physical body is connected to our mental and emotional mind is the key. It is widely accepted that stress causes ulcers, high blood pressure or even heart disease. Even though the mechanisms are not clear yet–how emotions can cause pain and illness–it would be an oversight not to include the possibility that you are dealing with not just a body but a mind as well.  Excluding the mind from finding a cause for pain, especially chronic pain, would be an oversight.

I highly recommend reading more about this if you are interested. Mindfulness based stress reduction is a scientifically based program to help deal with stress, pain and life’s challenges.
Recommended books:

Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat Zinn
Healing Backpain by John E. Sarno

 

Coming soon to the Welcome Back Centre in Kamloops: Mindfulness Based Moving.

Keep walking

June 4th, 2011 Erna

Older adults can decrease their risk of disability and increase their likelihood of maintaining independence by participating in a walking exercise program.

A study, which appeared in an issue of the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy, also found that walking program participants increased their peak aerobic capacity by 19 percent when compared to a control group and increased their physical function by 25 percent.
(ScienceDaily, July 22, 2008)

By increasing aerobic capacity, the walking group was better able to perform daily tasks and had more energy left over for recreational activities, like going out dancing.

The researchers found that physical function increased by 25 percent in the walking exercise group, compared to a decrease of 1 percent in the control group. And while the control group saw their risk of disability increase over the four-month period, the walking exercise group saw their disability risk go from 66 percent to 25 percent – a decrease of 41 percent in just four months.

Walking is good for you, but too many people still aren’t doing it. This study shows that just walking on a regular basis can make a huge impact on quality of life.

Start out slow and easy. Just walk out the door 5 minutes, and walk back. If this was easy for you, add one minute until you find you are walking as long as you are able. Then progress 2 minutes weekly.

Join me soon for a walk. Walk safe, walk strong, better your balance, better your health. Please contact me if you are interested in joining my group.

Focus on Health Physiotherapy

April 10th, 2011 Erna

Welcome to Focus on Health Physiotherapy!

Physiotherapy (or physical therapy), often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession which aims to improve and restore functional ability and quality of life to those with physical impairments or disabilities. Physiotherapists (or physical therapists) are primary health care professionals who diagnose and treat individuals of all ages, who have medical problems or other health-related conditions, or injuries that limit their ability to move and perform functional activities as well as they would like in their daily lives.

What do Physiotherapists do?

As primary health care professionals, physiotherapists combine in-depth knowledge of how the body works with specialized hands-on clinical skills to assess, diagnose and treat symptoms of illness, injury or disability. With your independence in mind, a physiotherapist’s goal is to restore, maintain and maximize your strength, function, movement and overall well-being.

Physiotherapists prescribe personalized therapeutic exercises, and provide essential education about the body, what keeps it from moving well, how to restore mobility and independence, and how to avoid or prevent bodily harm. They prescribe therapeutic exercises to combat the physiological effects of bed rest and immobility, or to improve range of motion, muscle strength, posture and gait, for example. A therapeutic exercise program will be designed to address your individual health concern, and may involve exercises that can be done at home, in a gym, or a pool.

To assist your recovery or maintain your functional independence, your physiotherapist may prescribe assistive mobility devices such as walkers, crutches or canes.

Physiotherapists are primary health care professionals that play a significant role in health promotion and injury and disease prevention.

Aqua Physiotherapy

April 10th, 2011 Erna

Aqua Physiotherapy

Aqua Physiotherapy is warm water rehabilitation. It is an excellent way to exercise safely, gently and effectively. The water supports the body so the muscles can relax and the joints get a rest. There is no pounding on the body as the water cushions the movements.

Buoyancy decreases the effect of gravity, reducing the weight bearing stress on the joints. This allows for greater ease of movement with less stress on bones, joints and muscles. The upward force of buoyancy also assists in increasing blood flow and reduces swelling in the legs.

Moving in the water stimulates blood circulation and the pressure of the water stimulates diaphragmatic breathing, which triggers a relaxation response in the body. This all helps reduce pain, allowing you to move more freely and increasing your physical function.

The resistance of the water helps strengthen your muscles, improves your coordination and balance. This makes it ideal for preventing muscle waste after surgery or injury for example. The warm water helps to gently stretch your tense and/or tight muscles, increasing flexibility.

The turbulence of the water creates an unstable environment, encouraging the core muscles to stabilize the body. These muscles are important for correcting and maintaining posture.

The warm water soothes the nervous system and allows you to relax completely. Decompression in the joints stimulates circulation of the fluid in the joints, lubricating them and providing nutrients to help heal damaged tissues.

If walking on the land is difficult, limited or not possible, you may be able to walk in the water, gaining strength and stimulating the brain and nervous system, creating new neuro-pathways.

The pool used for Aqua therapy sessions is located at the Centennial Building Wellness Centre. They have a warm, salt water pool. The temperature of the water is between 92-94 degrees F. There is no chlorine used in the water.

The water is accessed by a few steps with a railing. There is no lift available, therefore some mobility is needed to get from a wheelchair into the water.

 

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