Transcripts For KCSM Journal 20130731 : vimarsana.com

And effective way to maintain functional fitness. Mary ann the exercise program you are about to do is effective for any age, but it was specially designed for anyone needing slow, gentle movement. All you need is a chair that touches your back while your feet are flat on the floor. If your back doesnt touch, put a pillow behind for that necessary back support. If you have your exercise band and towel, put them on the back of your chair. Now, get ready to. Sit and be fit. Hi. Im mary ann wilson. Our first warmup today is going to open your whole body, open your chest, and its just beautiful music. And i want you to think about that while we are doing this. Start with good alignment, right on top of your sitz bones. Lengthen. And then reach up, and brush the sky. And then were going to brush it with your right hand. And again. And then circle the shoulder. Lift it up and press it down. Now, try the other arm. Circle. Brush. And circle one more time and brush. And then circle your shoulder. And then you are going to lift that shoulder up to your ear and then press it down. Do you feel open already . I do. Now, were going to open one more time here, just like a flower. And then you are going to open up again right there, about shoulder level. Take a breath while you are here. And then we are going to do it one more time, but this time go high, as high as you c. Great job. One more time low. Okay. Wonderful job. Now, just touch the chin. Pull it back. And i want you to tilt the head in this direction, and then tilt in this direction. Okay. Now were going to do an airplane arms. Make sure both palms are up. I want you to reach through those fingertips. And then in this direction. I feel like im flying. Reach with those fingertips. Stretch your whole body. And now were going to sweep around as though youre sweeping all the clouds away. Youre sitting right on top of those clouds. Sweep them away. Push. Nice straight back. Great job. Okay. Now, come a little bit forward in your chair. Turn your palms up. Were going to reach one arm forward and one arm reaches back. And then lets change again. I want you to really stretch through those fingertips. Reach forward. Reach back. And look back. And do it again. Good posture first. Reach forward. Reach back. And look at that hand. And one more time to this side. You should be feeling those arms right about now if youre really stretching. Okay. Wonderful job. Now, come even a little more forward in your chair. Were going to do some pushups. Put your hands right here on the chair and you are going to squeeze your shoulder blades to begin with. Were going to put one foot on the floor. And as you push up, put some weight on that front foot. Here we go. Big breath. It doesnt have to be a lot. Push. Lets do two more. Push with your hands. Push down on that foot. And change. Push and push. Okay. That was wonderful. Wasnt that a beautiful way to open up the program . Now, were going to get a little more jazzy here. Fun music. Circle. Now reverse that circle. Okay. We are going to swing that leg forward and pull it back. Push and pull. And change. Circle. Let the hands follow. Now push and pull. Okay. Lift this knee. Now, let it come down. One more time on this side. Sit up tall. Change. Come on back. Pat up. Okay. This hand is holding the chair. Youre reaching down and pulling back. Reach. Pull. Make sure youre lifting that hip, and now swing this leg. A lot to think about here. And change. Hold the chair here. Reach and lift that hip. And now kick the leg. Now you are going to lift up your knee. Tighten here. And now you are going to circle. Make a circle with the top of your knee. And reverse it. And now you are going to circle with your foot. Reverse. All right. Sit up tall. I want you to check your posture. Were going to do that all on the other side. Lift up that knee. Stay tall. Circle with the knee. Pretend theres a pencil on the end of your knee. And now reverse it. And now lets do it with your foot. A lot easier, isnt it . Reverse. And now do a heel dig with both of your hands right above your knee. Stay tall. Change. Push down. Now i want you to walk forward in your chair, and were going to stand up. Feet under that chair and come on up and down. Good work okay. Reach for your towel now if you have one. If you dont, just do the movements. Youll still get some great exercise. All right. Were going to roll the towel in half and in half again. Pull it nice and tight. Bring your hands right about here, just about the width of your shoulders, and we are going to make a big circle. That was a little one, wasnt it . Were going to make a big circle here in time. Reverse that direction. Okay. Now take your hands out just a little bit more. Sit up tall on those sitz bones and keep your back straight, tummy tight. Okay. Thats bigger, isnt it . And then take it out all the way to the end of your towel. Keep your wrist straight, just like when you use your band. Tighten the belly. All the way out. There it is. Theres that big circle. And reverse the direction. Take a breath. Were going to go in this direction one more time. And then in this direction. Okay. Hold this towel lengthwise and we are going to roll it up. Get as Much Movement in your wrists as you can. And now were going to do some isometric exercises for the inner thigh. Take a breath first. And then as you breathe out, press those knees together. Press that towel right between your knees and tighten. And relax. Do it again. Breath in first. Then breathe out and press. And again. Breath in. Breathe out. Press the knees together and also pull that belly button in. Nice and tight. Right there. And one more time, breath in first. Now breathe out. Press, and pull in. Good. All right. Now you can relax. Lets work those legs a little bit. Put the towel right under the toes. And were going to pull up on those toes and now push down. And youre resisting with the towel when you push down. Resist. I almost resisted too much and push. All right. Take that foot out. Put it right under those toes. Make sure you are sitting up tall and push the foot right down there. Now pull. Push. And pull. Push. And pull. Okay. Lets just put that towel just a little further under your foot and extend your leg. Now you will begin feeling that calf stretch. Lets point the toes and pull back. Point. And pull back and flex the ankle. One more time. All right. Take that foot out. Lets try that on the other leg. Extend the leg. Sit up tall. Pull back. And push forward. Dont forget to breathe. You can really feel that space right behind your knee, like right now. Can you feel it . And push. All right. Lets take that foot out and were just going to work a little bit more on the upper body. Circling. And reverse. That was great. Its time to pay special attention to the finger joints. Remember, if you have arthritis, pace the number of repetitions that you do and stay in your comfort range. Time to start exercising our fingers. Make a fist. Now were going to spread them and close. Now heres a change. Let those fingers just collapse and slide back up slowly. Do it again. Collapse. Slide up. And again. One more time. Okay. Lets shake it out. Now were going to touch the tip of the pointer finger to the thumb, one at a time. Here we go. Touch, touch. Hold, hold. Turn it, turn it. Now the next finger. Touch, touch. Hold, hold. Okay. Here we go. Touch, touch. Hold it. Turn back. And forward. Again. Touch. Touch. Turn back. And forward. Okay. Shake it out. Now, time to just let those wrists relax. This is a wonderful functional move. Just relax. Okay. Ready . Were going to have the palm facing me. All right . This finger comes down and the thumb is going to go over. Were going to do it one at a time. Ready . Its down. Down. Hold it. Then turn it back. Back. And forward. Next finger. Hold it. And turn it back. Again. Down. Hold it. Turn it back. Okay. Little finger. Thats a tough one. Forward. And then turn it back. Okay. Whew good job. Now, shake it up. All right. Here you go. Palms are facing up. And you are going to rotate down and up. And down and up. And then stretch those fingers as far apart as you can and squeeze the shoulders. And then just let all the tension run down the end of the fingertips. You did a great job. Exercising with weights helps strengthen muscles and bones. Correct form is important. Keep your wrists straight and breathe throughout the exercise. You can benefit from the movements even without using weights. If you have pain or cant maintain good form, do the exercises without them. If you have high blood pressure, check with your doctor before using weights. Well be using weights for this routine. So get into good alignment first, on top of those sitz bones, rib cage is up. Shoulders are back and down. Open up that chest wide and then tuck that chin back in. Put your hands right here, and well start with a bicep curl. Pull up and squeeze. And down. And up. I want you to focus on the muscle that were working. So squeeze the front of your arm right here. And again. Lets do one more. Okay. Now you are going to go into muscle man position, right from here. And youre going to give a little twist as the arms come up. And then go back to muscle man. Now, this is for your core as well as the shoulders and the back. Take it easy. Listen to your body. Okay. All right. Bring your elbows right down here by your side. And elbows are just tucked in. This is external rotation for your shoulder. If you need to wiggle your fingers a little bit, if youre gripping too tight, you need to get that circulation going in there. And now were going to add something. Tighten your belly. Open. And lengthen that leg. Tighten the belly. Boy, youre working a lot of things at one time. Okay. Now here. Hold your weights right here. And we are going to lift the knee and lean. And come back. Lift the knee and lean. Lift and lean. One more. Lift and lean. All right. Lets try it to this side. Lift this knee. Now lift. When you bring that hip closer to your rib cage, youre getting your oblique muscles. Lean and lift. And two more. There we go. Good work. Now, come forward in your chair. This time were going to lean back. Okay . Tighten the belly. Take a breath in and breathe out. And pull back. Again, lean back. As far as you can, as long as you can hold that belly button in. Were going to do one more like this. And then were going to add something. Now, go back and lift that knee and kick. A lot to do here. All right. Again. Big breath. Tighten the belly button. Lift and lean back. Lets do two more, one on each side. Tighten. Good job. Last one. Big breath in. Lean back. Okay. Now, here comes a little bit of a change. Just stack and lift. And stack and lift. Wonderful for leg strengthening and stretching exercises, stand directly behind your chair placing your hand on the center of the chair for balance. If you prefer to stay seated, follow gretchen. Shell be turning during the leg exercises for demonstration purposes only. You should stay facing forward in your chair for a solid base of support. We are going to work those hips a little bit more. All right. You are grounded there. Feel your toes. Your feet are flat on the floor. Pelvis is in. Ribs are lifted. Here we go. Lift. And down. Lift and down. Now, you are actually lifting with those hip muscles. We are going to do four more. Lift. Down. And now, were going to lift and step forward. Lift and step. Put your weight there. Now lift and bring it back. Lets do the same leg. Lift it up. And step forward. Lift and back. Try the other leg. Lift and step. Lift and down. Again, this leg. Lift it up. Good. Now were going to step back. Lift and step. And again, this leg. Lift and step. One more time or two more times on this side now. Lift it up and step back. And up and together. Up. Step back. Up and together. Now we are going to turn in small steps this direction. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. And lets come back. Five, six, seven, eight. And then come back and face center. Now we are going to turn just a quarter turn. So its a step. Together. Step. Together. Step. Together. And step. Together. Now were going to work that buttocks muscle. All right . Put your weight here. Touch the toe and give this a good squeeze. Squeeze. Release. Squeeze. Release. Squeeze. We are going to do a few more of these. Squeeze. Release. Squeeze. Release. Lets change. Other foot back. Squeeze and release. Squeeze. You can check you over here. Squeeze. Release. Squeeze. Release. And squeeze and release. Okay. Lets do just a little bit of stretching. Well start right in this position. Youre going to shift your weight here and lift up that knee and circle the ankle. Reverse that circle. And now flex the ankle and push through the heel and extend and bend. Extend and bend. And now extend and put that heel on the floor. All right. Think about the rest of your posture now. Dont slump. This is the hamstring group of muscles youre working. Then come on up. Bring your feet together. And were going to do that on this side. Lift your knee and circle. A few more circles. And then reverse the circle. And now youre going to flex that ankle and push through the heel and bend again and push again. Now, rest that heel. All right. Hamstring stretch. That group of four muscles back here, thats where you should feel it. And now bring your feet together. Lets do a calf stretch. Im going to put one foot forward, one foot back. Now, now that you are in good position, and i know its hard for you to hold that. Yes, it is. Okay. All right. Just a quick hip flexor. Stretch. And then back down and change legs. Bring your feet together if youre standing. Put the other foot forward. Get the feet pretty wide apart. Think about the rest of your posture. And now hip flexor stretch. Lift the back heel. And if you tuck in that pelvis under, you will feel it right there. And then back to the calf stretch. And now lets sit down. Well begin a little relaxation. Take a breath in. Roll the shoulders up and back and watch your screen. Were going to take just a Little Journey to your favorite place. Breathe in the fresh air and slowly breathe out. Just place yourself in this wonderful setting. A place that you would like to come back to very often. You can just picture it in your mind and keep that picture right in your heart, enjoying nature, the flowers, the trees, the beautiful fields. And notice how naturally they flow with the wind. Its a gentle breeze and you can feel it on your cheeks. Take a breath in. As you breathe out. Let it go. Breathe in. And breathe out. And just keep staying in that wonderful, wonderful place thats just too nice to leave. Take a breath in. Breathe in all of those colors that youre viewing. Feel the energy coming from them. Again, breathe in. And slowly breathe out. Keep this picture in your mind because we have to leave soon, but dont let it go yet. All right. Lift those shoulders up. Open up your heart. And now pull all of that relaxation in. And again. Keep reaching out with us for a better day. For information on sit and be fit workouts, including those for specialty conditions, or for a complimentary copy of the sit and be fit newsletter, write, call toll free, or visit our website. Sit and be fit made possible in part by vq actioncare. Com, makers of the resistance chair. When you imagine your future, you wanted to be healthy and active. Stay strong. 18005706220. Ming i love tea. The tea of asia, but also the fresh mint tea of the middle east. And if youve ever had a black tea flavored with mint, you know the two flavors harmonize really well. So im reaching into both the asian and the middle eastern teapots for todays recipes tea smoked split chicken with mint pesto, bestever mint iced tea and its alcoholic counterpart soju sweet tea, and a teabrasied lamb shoulder with mint salad. And chinese tea and mint have inspired my old buddy and great chef susur lee to pay us a visit and whip up something special. Stay right where you are, because simply ming is coming up right now