Health Center Updates
Welcome Paula Spears-Waldman, Para-Medical, Esthetician
Paula is one of the leading skin care experts in the Bay Area. She trained in London at Europe’s leading institute and has over 20 years in the Skin & Body wellness field. She has over nine years of clinical experience working alongside leading dermatologists and plastic surgeons which gave her an outstanding understanding of skin diseases and disorders. She has worked at Elizabeth Arden in London and Rome, and at Aida Tibien in Beverly Hills, as well as La Belle Spas and Fairmont Salon in San Francisco. As the former owner of Beauty By The Bay in Sausalito and London Esthetics on Union Square, she taught advanced training in the field of Skin Body Wellness and make-up artistry. She is looking forward to helping members at Mt Tam with any questions about their skin and body wellness needs. Consultations will be complimentary for a limited time.
Please call Paula at 415-408-8830 for more information.
February theme for Marion's Feldenkrais class:
Shoulder-Arm-Neck and Jaw Ease
Do you experience tension, stiffness, aches and pains in your shoulder-arm and neck? Do you notice tension in your face and jaw? Does sitting at the computer trigger fatigue, headaches or neck tightness?
Do you notice that it becomes increasingly harder to turn your head when changing lanes?
If yes, then join us this month and find out how you can release tension in your shoulder-arm-neck and turn your head with more ease. Discover simple moves that help you stay comfortable and agile when typing, reaching up, carrying your laptop, playing tennis or putting on mascara. The Feldenkrais Method is about learning how to move like a child again. And, yes, you can move with more ease, too!
Class meets on Thursdays at 12 noon. For more information contact Marion Kregeloh at Ext. 36.
Insight from Marin Movement Center
Eat, Sleep and Sit Less! Or, the War Against Inertia
Did you ever measure the amount of time you are sitting in a single day? Did you know that there is an entire scientific field called “Inactivity research?”
Our human body is made to stand upright, walk, gather and hunt. That upright posture protected us from predators. In our modern lives, you could say our body is made to sit, slump and slouch. Visit a corporate cube land and you see the sapping of our workers’ souls tied in front of the computer.
Our bodies have assumed a position that is far from ideal and has nothing to do with its original design. For example, we hold our spine in flexion and therefore create unnecessary pressure in our back. The neck is held in flexion while the shoulder blades are pulled forward, creating weakness in the upper back, our key postural stability area. It’s interesting to know that even an hour workout, swimming or weight training, does not counterbalance the negative health impacts that sitting eight hours a day. Indeed, studies have shown that you cannot offset your sedentary lifestyle with a few weekly aerobic exercise sessions. Besides back and neck health, cardio-vascular disease can also be triggered from sitting for hours each day. Studies done in 2009 by Dr. Peter Kadzmarzyk show harmful metabolic effects involving lipoprotein lipase. The calorie-burning rate drops to about one per minute, a third of what it is if we are up and move. The risk of developing type two diabetes and obesity rise and the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) fall.
Another study done by James Levine at the Mayo Clinic evaluated weight gain versus weight loss on subjects that were either sitting at a desk an entire day while exercising regularly during the week, or those who did not exercise at all, ate more calories but did not sit much. The latter group did not gain weight but was moving around a lot during the day; their bodies made small movements throughout the day, using the stairs, walking down the halls, doing chores at home or simply fidgeting. The other group gained weight and sat an average of two more hours a day.
Dr. Levine came up with the term NEAT: Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. According to his studies, even the small stuff matters! Move, move and move. Sit less. If you have a job that requires sitting at the desk, get up regularly and walk; the more the better. I suggest having an exercise resistance band at your worksite. Focus on stretching your chest, front shoulder and neck muscles while strengthening the muscles in your back.
For those of you who don’t mind the extra cost, consider a standing desk or, even more innovative, an extreme work station. Win the war against inertia and stand up for your life!
For more information, contact Marion Kregeloh, PT, CFP at 479.1765
