Ten Tips for Healthy Muscles

For individual guidance on any of these topics, please contact me to make an appointment.

1. Drink water
   • The body stiffens up when we are dehydrated. Drinking water helps keep us limber and energized. How much water should you drink? At least enough so that you don’t feel thirsty during the day. Here’s one take on it from the Mayo Clinic: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/NU/00283.html
      
2. Exhale
   • How many times in a day do you hold your breath without realizing it? Breathing is important to bring oxygen into our cells and take carbon dioxide away, to make sure our cells are properly nourished and that our body chemistry is in balance. Every once in a while take a moment to savour your exhale: let the breath out take as much time as it needs, and your body will breath in automatically. Breathing not only nourishes the physical body, it helps us to relax and to release mental and emotional tensions, contributing to our overall health.
      
3. Take a mini break
   • Take three to five minutes every hour to wiggle, shake, stretch, and give your body a change of position. Concentrated work for a prolonged period makes muscles and connective tissue tight, leading to imbalances and pain over time. As often as possible during your day stand up, stretch, twist, and even take a short walk. Whether you are gardening, typing, cooking, or reading, give your body, your eyes, and your brain a little break. You’ll feel better for it at the end of the day.
      
4. Move your body
   • Give your body a half hour of movement most days of the week. Sound like a lot? Start with ten minutes, and notice how even that can help you feel better. Build on your success: add another ten minutes later in the day. And so on. Movement helps the heart, the muscles, the mind, and the mood.
     
     For more on the benefits of movement, read the Mayo Clinic’s article on aerobic exercise: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aerobic-exercise/EP00002
      
5. Stretch
   • Whether you’ve been exercising or sitting still, stretching will improve the health of your muscles and joints. It makes sense that stretching improves our flexibility; it also improves our breathing, our blood flow, our posture, and our mental state. You can stretch almost anywhere, so it’s easy to incorporate stretching into your daily routine.
     
     For encouragement or guidance you can join a class, buy a book, get a DVD, or read the Mayo Clinic’s article on stretching at: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/HQ01447
      
6. Strengthen
   • All our muscles, and especially our core muscles, get us through our average day. Keeping them strong helps to prevent injury, no matter what kind of work or play is keeping us busy. Some strengthening exercises can be done at a desk or even in a car. A mat on the floor, an exercise ball, or a class at the gym can help us define and achieve strength goals.
      
7. Soak
   • At the end of a stressful day, or after vigourous exercise, soak in a warm tub of Epsom salts. Epsom salts can be found in most pharmacies and grocery stores, and I have small amounts here at Body Poets Massage Therapy. Dissolved in a warm bath, Epsom salts calm the nervous system; they draw toxins and waste products out of the body, helping to reduce muscle soreness; and they are said to increase levels of magnesium in the body, a mineral that’s vital for our health.
     
     For a therapeutic bath, add three to four cups of Epsom salts to warm water, and soak for at least 12 minutes.
     
     For a relaxing bath, add two cups of Epsom salts to warm water, and soak for at least 12 minutes.
     
     At the end of your bath let the water run out of the tub while you are sitting in it, then simply air-dry or, if your skin reacts to the salts, shower off and towel dry. Put on warm clothes, and get in bed.
     
     It’s important to drink a glass of water before, one during, and one after your bath to make sure you do not get dehydrated.
     
     See the Epsom Salts Industry Council at http://www.epsomsaltcouncil.org/ and Annie B. Bond’s Green Living at http://www.care2.com/greenliving/use-epsom-salts-13-wonderful-ways.html for more information on Epsom salts.
      
8. Yawn
   • Do you clench your jaw, or grind your teeth in your sleep? Is your neck tight, or your shoulders hunched? If any of these are true, your jaw muscles are probably tighter than you realize. Tight jaw muscles affect the neck muscles, and those affect the shoulder muscles, and so on through the body. Tight muscles also affect our breathing, thinking, and our experience of life itself.
     
     One of the best remedies for tight jaw muscles (and a tight attitude!) is yawning. Just 10 minutes a day will make a difference: your jaw muscles will feel much looser, your neck muscles will relax, your whole body will benefit, and you’ll sleep better.
     
     To learn more about yawning and other simple exercises to release physical and emotional holding patterns, visit http://www.audreymairi.com/ or read Trager for Self-Healing: A Practical Guide for Living in the Present Moment, by Audrey Mairi.
      
9. Rest
   • Get a good night’s sleep. That means both quality and quantity. Sleep is when the body repairs and rebuilds muscle tissue (and all our systems), and it’s crucial to our mental health as well.
     
     More suggestions for improving your sleep are at the Better Sleep Council of Canada’s website, http://www.bettersleep.ca/, and the US National Sleep Foundation’s site at http://www.sleepfoundation.org.
      
10. Get a massage
    • Visit your registered massage therapist for particular soft-tissue complaints or as regular maintenance for your healthy body.