6 Ways to Love Your Spine from the Bottom-Up!
Claire - May 8, 2014
Your
spine is one of the most amazing structures in your body and we generally take
for granted all it does for us. Your spine has 4 major functions, all of
them are extremely important for us to maintain our health and vitality.
These
are:
Stability – without it we would not be
able to walk upright.
Flexibility – its complex structure allows
us not only to be rigid enough to walk upright, but also flexible enough to
touch our toes, twist around to grab something behind us and bend backwards.
The
third function of the spine is to protect your spinal cord without impinging
on its function and the final function is to provide nourishment and energy
to your brain through movement.
All
these functions are vital for life, so finding ways to love your spine will
only increase your level of health.
1.
Looking after the foundation
If you look down at the bottom of
your legs you are likely to find a pair of feet at the end. Here could be the
beginnings some major issues for your spine. Many people tend to neglect their
feet without realising how much this can impact your entire health.
Wearing the wrong sort of footwear can cause significant imbalances in your
spine. This is often highlighted with women wearing high heels and how
this shortens the Achilles tendon and putting pressure on the L5 disc, but even
built up runners can cause some serious issues. Wearing rigid built up shoes
inhibits proper movement through the foot, which in turn, changes the way we
walk or run. This change in gait can have a significant effect on the angle of
the pelvis and cause a loss of normal curve in the lumbar spine.
Spending
time barefoot and wearing zero drop/minimalist/barefoot shoes helps to correct
your gait and encourage the spine back into its normal position.
2.
Move it
Moving
your spine is so vitally important. Your brain, central nervous system
and spinal joints don’t really have much of a blood supply to them. All these
structures are nourished and energised by movement. Movement of the spine
encourages the flow of cerebral spinal fluid around the brain and spinal cord,
flushing waste from neurons and replenishing them with vital nutrients and
oxygen. In all vertebrate animals increased movement equates to higher
intelligences due to this process.
There
are 2 ways the spine requires movement, the first is globally. This is
moving the whole spine in all different directions. The second is segmentally,
the movement of each individual vertebra. The first is vital for the flow of
cerebrospinal fluid, the second to stop the spine from decaying and allow free
nerve flow from the brain to your body’s vital organs, like your heart, liver
and lungs.
Daily
yoga is one of the most holistic ways to work on global spinal movement. You
will notice that every single class involves forward bends, back bends, side
bends and twists. Putting your spine through its full range of motion this way
feeds your brain, reduces stress and increases you ability to learn.
Chiropractic
adjustments are designed to move the spine segmentally, ensuring every joint in
the spine is capable of its full range of motion. Adjustments also take
the pressure of both the spinal cord and the nerves exiting the spinal column
freeing up communication between the brain and vital organs.
3.
Feed it
The
spine is a complex beast of bone and ligaments, tendons, collagen, nerve fibres
and fluid. Movement is the transport system to get the nutrients into it, but
all its nutritional requirements need to come through your diet. So what
sort of building blocks would make a healthy spine?
There
are a few aspects of diet that can affect your spine. These are:
The
inflammatory rating of the food;
Vitamin
and mineral components;
Fat
and protein content.
An
example of a spine superfood is the humble oyster. Oysters are full of
essential minerals for building bone, they are highly anti-inflammatory, they
contain loads of omega 3’s for healthy nerves and protein for building muscles,
ligaments and cartilage. Another great spine food is old fashioned bone broth.
It has the same properties as oysters and is very healing on the gut as well.
4.
Rest it
At
night, as we lay down at night and shut our eyes our entire body does some
amazing healing from the damage we do in normal day to day life. This includes
the spine. During sleep all the discs between each vertebra rehydrate,
the little intra-spinal muscles relax and a whole lot of regeneration
occurs. Proper deep sleep in a good bed with an individually fitted
chiropractic pillow allows blood and nerve supply to flow freely around your
spine to aid healing and growth.
5.
Think about your posture
As we mentioned, your spine is
designed to flex and move in all different directions. It was never really
designed to hold one position for hours and hours on end, be it sitting at a
computer or standing at a work station. Unfortunately with our modern lifestyle
and working requirements this is exactly what we find our selves doing, day in
and day out. To combat the impact of holding these positions there are a few
things you can do to look after your spine. The first is set a timer so
that every 20 mins you get up, walk on the spot or around your chair, do a
squat or two. All this gets the cerebrospinal fluid moving and re-energising
your brain. The second thing is to have some level of consciousness about
your posture. Is each bone stacked nicely on the one below? Is your head over
your shoulders or is it hanging out the front of your body? Is your lower back
slouched into the chair or is there a nice forward curve in it? Are you hanging
out to the left or the right?
Our
Bonfire Chiropractors are masters at helping correct people’s postures by
removing their subluxations and offering specific tips on ways to support the
spine as you work.
6.
Watch what you think
Your brain is THE most powerful organ you have – and it can work for
you, or against you depending on what stance (or habit) you find
yourself in in regards your thoughts.
There
is an increasing body of research on how what you think effects the physical
health of your body. It can almost seem like some sort of esoteric magic, but
let’s look at in a really simple way.
If you
are feeling stressed, how does your body respond? Are you loose and flexible or
tight and rigid? How would this effect your spines range of motion? But stress
is not the only emotion that can effect your spine, what about the slump of
sadness, the rigid post of anger, the slouch of unlovability…
The
great thing is our feelings are only products of our thoughts. How we choose to
look at life can change how we feel about it and therefore change our posture,
our movements and our over all health.
With
these six tips, you have the ability to not only love your spine, but enhance
your health potential.
Healthy
Spine, Healthy Life!
