Sep
5
2023

Affirmotion

Contemplation is a good thing, and meditation has been known to spawn great ideas and deep insightfulness, But include MOTION, AFFIRMATIONS AND MUSIC, and it improves meditation in a powerful way!

Unique gentle & easy practice Encompassing Mind, Body and Soul Through Movement, Spoken Words, Affirmations & Music

This DVD has 8 sequences, choreographed movements, inspired words, affirmations and music.

It is simple and easy to do yet powerful as a daily practice. Filmed in magnificent locations.

The spoken words are positive, truthful and beautiful. They leave you feeling deeply connected to your power within, still, alive, warm and energised. Just what you need in this face paced over active world.

They are inline with many current ideas and research i.e. Expressing gratitude, the law of attraction, heart centered feelings, forgiveness, self love and respect and living in the present moment all being highly beneficial to the mind and body.

This DVD is available from: http://www.terrarosa.com.au/yoga/affirmotion.htm


Sep
5
2023

Effect of Muscle Energy Technique on Pain in Individuals with Non-Specific Lumbopelvic Pain

Short-Term Effect of Muscle Energy Technique on Pain in Individuals with Non-Specific Lumbopelvic Pain: A Pilot Study

NM. Selkow; TL. Grindstaff; KM. Cross; K Pugh; J Hertel; S Saliba

ABSTRACT: Muscle energy technique (MET) is a form of manual therapy frequently used to correct lumbopelvic pain (LPP), herein the patient voluntarily contracts specific muscles against the resistance of the clinician. Studies on MET regarding magnitude and duration of effectiveness are limited.
This study was a randomized controlled trial in which 20 subjects with self-reported LPP were randomized into two groups (MET or control) after magnitude of pain was determined. MET of the hamstrings and iliopsoas consisted of four 5-second hold/relax periods, while the control group received a sham treatment. Tests for current and worst pain, and pain with provocation were administered at baseline, immediately following intervention and 24 hours after intervention. Separate 2×3 ANOVAs were used to assess results as change scores.

Visual analog score (VAS) for worst pain reported in the past 24 hours decreased for the MET group (4.3mm±19.9, p=.03) and increased for the sham (control) group (17.1mm±21.2, p=.03). Subjects receiving MET demonstrated a decrease in VAS worst pain over the past 24 hours, thereby suggesting that MET may be useful to decrease LPP over 24 hours.

The Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy,2009, volume 17, full text PDF

Sep
5
2023

Resotrative Yoga Provides Emotional Benefits To Women With Breast Cancer

Women undertaking a ten week program of 75 minute Restorative Yoga (RY) classes gained positive differences in aspects of mental health such as depression, positive emotions, and spirituality (feeling calm/peaceful) compared to the control group. The study, published February 28 in a special issue of Psycho-Oncology focusing on physical activity, shows the women had a 50% reduction in depression and a 12% increase in feelings of peace and meaning after the yoga sessions.

RY is a gentle type of yoga which is similar to other types of yoga classes, moving the spine in all directions but in a more passive and gentle way. Props such as cushions, bolsters, and blankets provide complete physical support for total relaxation with minimal physical effort, and so people in differing levels of health can practice yoga more easily.

44 women took part in the study, with 22 undertaking the yoga classes and 22 in the waitlist control group. All of the women had breast cancer; 34% were actively undergoing cancer treatment while the majority had already completed treatment. All participants completed a questionnaire at the beginning and end of the ten week program, asking them to evaluate their quality of life through various measures. The results clearly showed that the women who had been given the RY classes experienced a wide range of benefits compared to the control group (who were later all invited to attend identical RY classes).

“Evidence from systematic reviews of randomized trials is quite strong that mind-body therapies improve mood, quality of life, and treatment-related symptoms in people with cancer. Yoga is one mind-body therapy that is widely available and involves relatively reasonable costs,” said lead researcher Suzanne Danhauer, Ph.D., based at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “Given the high levels of stress and distress that many women with breast cancer experience, the opportunity to experience feeling more peaceful and calm in the midst of breast cancer is a significant benefit.”

The study found that women who started with higher negative emotions and lower emotional well-being derived greater benefit from the gentle yoga intervention compared to the control group. Women in the gentle yoga group also demonstrated a significant within-group improvement in fatigue, while no such change was noted for the control group.

“This was a pilot study to identify the worthiness and feasibility of conducting a larger randomized control trial on restorative yoga and women with breast cancer,” added Danhauer. “Our results are very promising and will allow us to embark on a much larger scale study.”

Wiley-Blackwell (2009, March 2). Yoga Provides Emotional Benefits To Women With Breast Cancer. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/02/090224230707.htm

Sep
5
2023

The relationship between Myofascial release and autonomic nervous system

Osteopathic manipulative treatment and its relationship to autonomic nervous system activity as demonstrated by heart rate variability: a repeated measures study.
Author(s): Henley, Charles E; Ivins, Douglas; Mills, Miriam; Wen, Frances K; Benjamin, Bruce A
Source: Osteopath Med Prim Care  Volume: 2    Pages: 7  Published: 2008

BACKGROUND: The relationship between osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) and the autonomic nervous system has long been acknowledged, but is poorly understood. In an effort to define this relationship, cervical myofascial release was used as the OMT technique with heart rate variability (HRV) as a surrogate for autonomic activity. This study quantifies that relationship and demonstrates a cause and effect.

METHODS: Seventeen healthy subjects, nine males and eight females aged 19-50 years from the faculty, staff, and students at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine, acted as their own controls and received interventions, administered in separate sessions at least 24 hours apart, of cervical myofascial OMT, touch-only sham OMT, and no-touch control while at a 50-degree head-up tilt. Each group was dichotomized into extremes of autonomic activity using a tilt table. Comparisons were made between measurements taken at tilt and those taken at pre- and post-intervention in the horizontal.The variance of the spectral components of HRV, expressed as frequencies, measured the response to change in position of the subjects. Normalized low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) values, including LF/HF ratio, were calculated and used to determine the effect of position change on HRV.

RESULTS: Predominantly parasympathetic responses were observed with subjects in the horizontal position, while a 50-degree tilt provided a significantly different measure of maximum sympathetic tone (p < 0.001). Heart rate changed in all subjects with change in position; respirations remained constant. When OMT was performed in a sympathetic environment (tilt), a vagal response was produced that was strong enough to overcome the sympathetic tone. There was no HRV difference between sham and control in either the horizontal or tilt positions.

CONCLUSION: The vagal response produced by the myofascial release procedure in the maximally stimulated sympathetic environment could only have come from the application of the OMT. This demonstrates the association between OMT and the autonomic nervous system. The lack of significance between control and sham in all positions indicates that HRV may be a useful method of developing sham controls in future studies of OMT.

Sep
5
2023

Protein-added Sports Drinks Don’t Boost Performance During Exercise

Adding protein to a sports drink won’t make you race faster, suggests findings from researchers at McMaster University.

Martin Gibala, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University“Sports drinks improve performance during prolonged exercise because of two key ingredients: carbohydrate, which provides fuel for working muscles, and sodium, which helps to maintain fluid balance,” says Martin Gibala, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster. “Research also supports the practice of consuming protein after exercise to promote muscle recovery. However, the alleged benefit of consuming protein during exercise is controversial.”

The study, which is published in the August edition of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that adding protein to a carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drink did not improve cycling time trial performance compared to the sports drink alone.

The research was conducted on 10 trained cyclists who performed a simulated 80 km bicycle race on three occasions. During exercise, the subjects were given a sports drink, a sports drink supplemented with protein, or a placebo drink that provided no energy. The drinks were similarly flavored and neither the subjects nor the researchers knew what drink was consumed during a given test. The study found that the sports drink improved performance compared to the placebo drink – confirming prior research – but there was no additional benefit of protein supplementation.

“Previous studies that suggested protein was beneficial used ‘ride to exhaustion’ tests that do not resemble normal athletic competition. In addition, the subjects in those studies received less than the optimal recommended amount of carbohydrate,” says Gibala. “Our study shows that protein confers no performance benefit during ‘real life’ exercise when athletes consume sufficient amounts of a sports drink.”

The study, which was funded by Gatorade, comes at a time when the sports drink industry is under pressure to create new products by adding ingredients that might further enhance performance. Some companies have heavily marketed protein-laced sports drinks as the next magic bullet, but Gibala’s research disputes such claims.

“Eating a little protein after exercise is important to help repair damaged muscles and promote training adaptations,” says Gibala, “but no compelling evidence suggests that endurance athletes need protein during exercise.”

McMaster University (2006, August 3). Protein-added Sports Drinks Don’t Boost Performance During Exercise, Study Finds. ScienceDaily.

Sep
5
2023

Lower Back Pain and Massage

People who have acute lower-back pain should undertake self-care and massage and spinal manipulation, according to a recommendation from a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine October 2007.

The study reccomends that for patients who do not improve with self-care options, clinicians (Doctors) should consider the addition of nonpharmacologic therapy with proven benefits—for acute low back pain, spinal manipulation; for chronic or subacute low back pain, intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation, exercise therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, spinal manipulation, yoga, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or progressive relaxation.

The study was co-authored by the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society. The Annals of Internal Medicine examined and gathered data from Medline studies, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Embase to formulate its lower-back pain guidelines. For full report on the guidelines see: http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/147/7/478