Most articles I have found related to smiling have to do with the social or external benefits gained. For example smiling makes you look younger. It also helps you appear confident and draws people to you.We’ve heard for years that laughter is the best medicine and humor is beneficial to our health. Many people are aware of laughing clubs springing up around the country. Laughter has been shown to reduce stress, boost immunity, and improve overall health.Often people tell us to “lighten up” and “don’t be so serious”. This is usually good advice but sometimes
hard to follow.

What most don’t know is that simply smiling can produce these effects and more.

                                                              Read The Full Article ->

Our body knows what to do. If you think about it we can stand on two legs without falling over because our body is constantly making adjustments to keep us upright. Likewise our body knows how to keep us in balance and comfort. However when we lose touch with our bodies due to focusing on tasks we are “doing” or if we become distracted by external stress our bodies can fall into patterns of imbalance and discomfort. By simply returning to our bodies periodically and noticing how comfortable or uncomfortable we are seeing where we notice things we can allow our body to do it’s job of restoring our balance.

The same is true with the issues in our life. If we can just bring our awareness without feeling the need to “fix” things we are often suprised to find that those issue are free to evolve without our help.

When we spend less time “doing” and more time “being” we can achieve a level of empowerment we never thought possible.

As always…

Remember to Be Gentle With Yourself.

One of the best things we can do is break the pattern. Stretching is great way to do that. If you think about it what’s the first thing you when you wake up each morning or when you do finally get up from the desk? You instinctively stretch.
Stretching can reduce tension, improve energy, flexibility, and circulation, and make it easier to relax.

A simple stretching routine for desk dwellers can found at Shelter Online, a publisher of a variety of fitness books. The Desk Stretches routine, which takes no more than three minutes to do, comes from a book Stretching in the Office by By Bob and Jean Anderson. You can view other samples of this book and order it here.
Another good article, Why Stretching Matters, can be found at babyfit.com.

For a very simple stretch that can help normalize your posture see the post Desk Dwellers Stretch on this weblog.

Whatever form you chose, break the pattern and stretch often, for comfort, for health.

Always consult your health care practitioner before attempting any wellness or lifestyle changes.

Return to The Healing Connection website. 

Desk Dwellers Stretch

Try this simple, yet effective, exercise.  It takes about 30 seconds after which you are ready to sit down and continue your work, revitalized and from a more comfortable position.

• Break contact with your work.
• Stand up.
• Put your focus on your body.
• Take a slow, deep breath in.
• As you inhale raise your arms in front of you and over your head.
• When you are ready to exhale slowly lower your arms to your side as you breath out.
• When arms are ¾ of the way down let them drop the rest of the way. 

How can an exercise this simple be of benefit? Let’s examine:

• You took your focus away from your work and put it on your body. This is necessary if you want to allow your body to self correct and find comfort.
• Normally we breath very shallow, which has limits. By taking even one deep breath we increase the amount of oxygen and energy flowing through our system and reduce stress.
• Raising our arms over our heads gives our spine a gentle stretch and allows it to straighten. It also opens up the chest area and allows more energy to flow.
• Lowering your arms to your side allows the spine to come to rest in a more normal posture naturally, on it’s own, without having to impose a rigid posture our body might not be ready for.

Doing this exercise regularly retrains the body to find, and stay in, comfort.

Ric Chamberlin, LMT
The Healing Connection
900 S 74th Plaza, Suite 116, Omaha, NE  68114

402 850 0752
www.omahahealingconnection.com

The summer season will soon be here. Days become longer, the air warmer and damper. If spring is a time of germination, growth, renewal, and an opening of the spirit, summer is a time of abundance, maturity, creativity, and joy of spirit. It’s a time for outwardness, increased activity levels, and strengthening of relationships.

During summer a tree absorbs water and other nutrients from its root system in the earth. Sap is produced which rises to the leaves which absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and energy from the sun. This combination of elements from heaven and earth provide food that is freely circulated through the healthy tree and abundant fruit is produced. For trees, plants, animals, and humans alike, the abundance of summer comes from the merging of energies of earth and sky.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recognizes this blending of these energies (yin and yang) as well as the importance of noticing what’s happening in the natural world and being in harmony with it. In TCM the body’s organs each have their season. Summer is the season of the element fire and is the season of the heart. The emotion associated with the heart is joy. An excess of joy can lead to overexcitement, nervousness, longing, and craving. During all seasons balance is an important key to wellness. During this season of abundance extra care should be given to avoid excess that can upset our balance.

What can you do to make the most of summer and maintain balance during this season of abundance?

                                                              Read The Full Article –> 

Breathing is something most of us take for granted. It’s our first act upon entering this world and we do it without having to think about it there after. We have to feed ourselves and find water but we seldom have to go looking for air (unless, perhaps, we happen to be under water). We can go for weeks without food and days without water but we can’t survive more than a few short minutes without air. Breath provides us our source of oxygen, which is required by our cells and is used to produce energy for the
body to use.

Many ancient practices from the East place special focus on breathing such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Yoga. The west has started to put more emphasis on breathing. Relaxation, meditation, and grounding practices often call on us to focus on our breath or alter it. Natural childbirth utilizes regulated breathing to manage pain and anxiety. My sister the music teacher has been telling people for years about the importance of breathing deeper and using all of our lungs.

Read the full article —>

 

Of all the posts I’ve added since I began this weblog, more than half have been primarily about nature observation or season change. I knew it would take this slant be maybe not that much. Since my practice deals with wellness and helping others restore comfort and balance to their lives why all the emphasis on nature?

When we notice our surroundings we are more connected with them and we see ourselves as part of a bigger picture. In the process our wellness is improved and our life is more in balance.

For most people that come to my office, stress is a large issue. I know from my years of working in a stressful corporate job that if I put all my energy into the task in front of me and tune out my surroundings I also lose touch with myself and my body. I’m operating mostly out of my head. It is when we lose this awareness of self that we fall into patterns of discomfort. When we break the connection with our tasks, even briefly, and return to ourselves it allows our body to do it’s job of keeping us in balance and comfort.
When we cast our gaze outward at our environment it helps get us out of our heads. By honing our skills at observation it allows us to make a healthy habit of being a part of our surroundings rather than separate from them. When we take the larger view we use more of ourselves. This balance of self benefits our physical, emotional, and even spiritual life.

We spend much time each day outside even if just it’s walking to our car or driving to work. Even if we work in a sea of concrete and buildings there is still natural light (and dark). There is wind, blue sky and clouds. Even the unnatural sounds become a part of the environment. Cars passing by echo against the buildings. Horns honking, people walking, construction sounds. They all remind us that we are a part of something bigger.

Observation is a skill we have all possessed. Young children are naturally inquisitive. No one looks with more awe at their surroundings than a child. As adults this awe is not lost, just forgotten. With practice we can get it back. It only takes a few seconds to do so.

What are you noticing?

• Across a small stream I saw two deer that stayed within view the entire hour I was there.
• Nearby was a Beaver, not in the water but moving in and out of the ground cover.
• A pair of Wood Ducks landed in the stream. After a while the male flew out and circled the park before returning to the water.
• At least 30 feet up in a tree four very small, young squirrels, apparently too young to stray far from the nest, none the less seemed to have a great time climbing around the branches up to 10 feet away, sometimes chasing each other, sometimes hanging upside down under a branch.
• Several adult, or at least adult sized, squirrels foraging on the ground.
• Birds that I don’t usually see in town. Couldn’t identify most but I think one was a Phoebe.
• On top of all that the Cottonwood trees were starting to leaf out, the first tree leaves I’ve seen this year.

There were a lot of people around engaged in various activities. None seemed to notice all the activity I saw.
It’s amazing what you can find when you just stop and notice. “Being” rather than doing.

Just be.

I made a trip to Iowa this past weekend and visited the Ledges State Park. The most notable feature of this outing was the ubiquitous presence of Turkey Vultures. This was probably due to hills which provide updrafts for these huge birds to soar on. I was reminded just what an inspiration soaring birds are, Turkey Vultures in particular.

Facts
Turkey Vultures probably got their name due to their red head which resembles that of a Turkey. The red is from their skin, the head being naked. This is likely an adaptation due to the fact that they stick their heads in animal carcasses which they feed on. The fact that they dead things turns some people off but this is a good thing if you think about it. Nature needs a cleaning crew. It also doesn’t detract from the beauty of their flight.
Turkey Vultures can be seen, commonly, in the state of Nebraska from March through October.
Their most common mode of flight is soaring, flying without flapping their wings. They do this by holding their wings out and allowing updrafts to lift them. Updrafts are caused when moving air hits structure like hills, trees, buildings, etc. They are also caused by rising heat from earth warmed by the sun.
This effortless flight allows the Vulture to conserve energy that flapping wings would quickly use up. This is useful when meals are often far and few between.
Turkey Vultures have the most aerodynamically efficient wings of all birds, achieving the greatest amount of lift from updrafts.
The wing span of a Turkey Vulture is 6 feet, making it almost as large as an Eagle. It can be easily identified in flight because it holds it’s wings in a V-Shape. For a better picture go here and here.
Turkey Vultures are one of the few birds that have a sense of smell, useful in finding it’s food.

Why Should We Care?
It’s hard for me not to be mesmerized by soaring flight. Nature provides us a way to get out of our ego-self and connect outward, greatly improving our sense of well-being. Birds that soar, at least for me, seem to become a vehicle for my own spirit to soar on.
Turkey Vultures in particular make flight look so effortless. In heavy winds they rock back and forth, going with the flow, rather than fighting it. In Colorado I once saw a Vulture flying near the top of a mountain. The wind was so strong it was spun upside down. It simply allowed itself to complete the circle and right itself again. I think there is lesson in this.
The next time you are driving a highway watch for these birds (OK, if you are the driver, for safety sake, don’t look). If you are anywhere out in the country, especially near hills, you are likely to see them.
Spend a few minutes watching their flight and see if you aren’t changed in some way.

May your spirit soar…