7 Day Program Hand Out

Page - 1 VitalBody Handout For the 7 Day Program Copyright 2009. Vitalogy Membership Service. All Rights Reserved.

Vitalogy 7 Day Program

VitalBody Handout


THE 7 DAY VITALBODY COURSE

Everyone has a unique, innate ability to stretch and keep their body’s structure aligned naturally, without having to rely on health care providers to do it for them. VitalBody teaches you how to make this a conscious act. So, when your body starts to feel uncomfortable, you can properly and effectively move it to release stress and restore correct alignment… yourself!

The goal of the VitalBody Course is making the human instinct to stretch a conscious effort by incorporating the four VitalBody movements into daily life. Whether structured time, like first thing in the morning or when coming home from work, or randomly throughout the day. It is also extremely helpful prior to engaging in non-routine activities… moving furniture, driving on a long trip, etc. For most situations and especially for those who primarily sit all day, 5 minutes daily will adequately maintain range of motion and compensate for the mental and physical stress of daily life, 10 minutes or more will improve range of motion, balance and coordination, and increase strength and cardio-vascular ability.

Consider that life itself is a range of motion, think of how you use your senses from one extreme to the other. The VitalBody course puts your body through a range of motion quickly, easily, and safely.

Youth is posture. Good posture means each part of the body can move independently of the areas surrounding it. Typically we “cheat” when we move. Think of an elderly person looking out their rear-view mirror while driving, how they turn their whole body, versus a teen-ager whose head appears to be on a swivel.

THE PROBLEM

Technology, with its emphasis on sitting at the computer, long commutes, a sedentary lifestyle, and repetitive movement all combine to create “old people posture;” what medicine now calls “Upper Cross


Syndrome.” The head is forward, shoulders rounded forward, and the body appears hunched over. Vitalogy calls it tech-neck.

THE SOLUTION

Activating the built-in instinct we each have to stretch, release stress, maintain proper alignment, and self-adjust our body as necessary. This is done primarily through shaking along with the other movements demonstrated.

THE THREE BENEFITS OF VITALBODY

Release - Lengthen – Realign

First you release the build-up of daily stress and the muscular contraction that results by shaking until you feel completely loosened up and your joints are moving independently. 1-2 minutes generally. You are getting comfortable in your body again. Next you lengthen your body back out by using lateral flexion, moving incrementally, adding dumbbells, etc.

Finally you realign by letting your body guide you through specific postures at random, using increased distance, direction, and velocity to accomplish it. As you use the new movements again and again, you will unlearn the habits that created incorrect posture and improved performance will become automatic.

• Random, non-habitual movement designed to release stress from the body and get the various joints to move independently again. This is Vitalogy Shaking, the first of the four movements that allows you to feel loosened up in 2 minutes, not 20.

• Letting your body guide you. As you loosen up you will feel your body “take over” and start making movements independent of your conscious mind. This is the self-adjusting and the instinct to stretch at work. As you loosen up your body, you will learn to focus more of your attention on the middle part of your back, the area primarily between your shoulders. This is the area that locks up first, causing the neck and lower back to compensate by working overtime.


• The specific use of incremental movement, varying the direction of movement in small increments. Think of drawing your name in the air with light-weight dumbbells. There are 3 ways of moving the body; up and down and rotation we use constantly. It’s the lateral flexion (side to side) that never occurs in daily life. Use of lateral flexion as the primary movement when doing Vitalogy – think bringing your ear to your shoulder without rotating your face. You cannot have good posture without it, and you first lose the ability to move in lateral flexion as your posture degenerates. It is absolutely critical to move in this manner.

THREE ELEMENTS OF MOVEMENT

Distance - Direction – Velocity

Think in terms of a mid-line running through the center of your body, from the top of your head down between your ankles. The further you move any part of your body from that mid-line, the more challenging it becomes. You start by increasing the length of a movement, like moving your arm away from your body 6 inches instead of 2. Next you add more directions, and this is where the incremental aspect comes in. Finally, you slowly add velocity (move a little faster) to the distance and direction. Velocity is the first of the three we lose. Older people do not move fast.

SHAKING Always shake your body first. Start slowly and become more vigourous as you feel yourself loosen up. Remember mid-line… a line straight thru the middle of your body. The further you move from mid-line, the more work and effort it is. Start shaking close to mid-line, then move further away. A wonderful aspect of shaking is how you can increase the gradient to do more and more… all at the same time. Always try to add lateral flexion no matter how you are moving. Variations of shaking that increase difficulty and provide more effectiveness:

• Bend knees independently. • Bend both knees simultaneously. • Lift heels slightly off the floor, up to one inch, and drop all your weight

down. • Lift one leg off the floor and hop around, then do the same with the

other.


• Hop around with both feet off the ground as much as possible for increased efforts and results.

• Try closing your eyes while shaking… start a little slower and closer to mid-line at first.

• Now add dumbbells, very light at first, and move your arms and body around randomly while using them. Draw your name in the air while holding them. Hold your arms out stationary at your sides and then move the rest of your body. When you get comfortable with this, try lifting one leg up to challenge your balance and coordination. Put the weights behind your back to help bring your shoulders back into proper alignment.

• For more effort increase the distance, then the number of directions, and finally the velocity of your movements. Also, for more variety, hold the dumbbells in front of your body, at your sides, and behind you.

• Use heavier dumbbells. HIP MOVEMENT USING A STAIR Stand on a stair with one foot on and one foot off. Keep knees straight. Then use only your hip to lower the leg that is off the step up and down. Do ten and then reverse and use the other leg. Do twice as much with the leg you have more difficulty with or less range of motion. For more effort do not use the wall or railing to balance yourself, this refers to standing in free space. For even more effort, at advanced levels try closing your eyes. BALANCE AND COORDINATION Stand next to a wall or piece of furniture, pressing one hand against the wall or piece of furniture to balance yourself. Next, bend one knee and lift that foot off the floor. Try to get the body to become “quiet,” which is to not move or quiver, especially the feet. Master that ability to get “quiet” before going on. For even more effort, stand in free space, no longer using your hands to help balance you. Do each leg and spend twice the time on the leg that is least quiet. Most of us have better balance on one side than the other. This will help with that. For more effort close your eyes…this is very advanced. • Practice slow airplane spins, (turning in a circle) going in one direction,

then the other, gradually increasing velocity with practice. Just do two or three revolutions at first to see if it makes you dizzy. Move slowly till you build up the ability to do this without getting dizzy.


LATERAL FLEXION OF THE ENTIRE BODY This is the most important movement, by far, of all. To practice: • For the wrist, hold one forearm with the other hand. Then laterally flex

the wrist of the arm being held. Move the hand from left to right without rotating the thumb up and down. This is great when spending long hours at the computer.

• For the hip, stand facing straight ahead, then bring one leg directly out to the side, without bending the upper body in the opposite direction like you would in a karate kick. Make the lower body do all the work. Practice with both legs. Then for variety and to incorporate the incremental movement, start by moving the leg straight out from the body then the next time go one inch to the rear, the next time two inches to the rear, next time three inches to the rear and so forth. Then extend the leg in one inch increments towards the front as well. Make sure you do not rotate the upper body any.

• For the feet, try to walk on the inside and then outside of your feet. Or stand stationary and attempt to rotate your feet from the inside to the outside.

• For the upper body stand with knees slightly bent and feet pigeon toed to lock the pelvis in place, then turn the upper body side to side, not rotate, as if sliding your hands down the sides of your legs, one at a time.

• For the neck, first look in a mirror then bring your head to your shoulders while keeping your nose pointed straight ahead. Turning your nose means you are rotating your neck.

WALKING MODIFIERS Many people like to go for a walk, which is a great activity except it is repetitive in nature. For variety and incremental movement, practice the following: • Walk a straight line, one foot directly in front of the other. Try it wherever

there is a straight line pattern. Use a normal stride at first and then shorten it till you have one foot directly in front of the other. For more effort, keep your hands at your sides and try to look up instead of down.

• Walk sideways which uses lateral flexion, the most important movement. Make sure to face in both directions so sometimes you lead with your right foot, sometimes with your left.

• Walk with toes pointed out (splayed) then toes turned in (pigeon toed) • Walk with short strides and then longer and longer, then marching -

raising the knee to the chest. • Skip or hop. • Walk backwards.


LYING DOWN SPINAL TWISTING Lie on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Turn the head to one side and the legs to the other, like a washing machine on gentle. Then, as you go back and forth, incrementally increase the distance between your feet and butt, until your legs are almost straightened out. Then do the reverse, slowly bring your feet back towards your butt while you go back and forth. Do this several times to where your knees are all the way bent to all the way straightened out. For added effort close your eyes. Try to keep coordinated movement so the head and legs turn in opposite directions and not the same direction. Next, bring your elbows 90 degrees away from your body, press them slightly into the floor as if you were going to lift your body up, then point your fingers towards the ceiling. Now turn your head to one side and your legs to the other, and you will feel how much more control and specificity of movement you have. You are using your elbows as fixed points. For variety you can move your elbows into different locations, all the while keeping your fingers pointed to the ceiling. For further control and effort, grab a doorway or furniture leg, etc. with one arm outstretched from the body. Now twist from side to side. Then reverse by using the other arm to grab something with. For further effort, use both hands to grab something with and alternate pushing and pulling with the arms while turning the lower body from side to side.

The 10 Principles of VitalBody

Shake your body before, during and after doing any Vitalogy movements, as well as throughout your day. Breathe continuously with each movement to relax and release.

Add lateral flexion to movement whenever possible and immediately after you feel your body realign itself.

Move in small increments of variation – one or two inches at a time per cycle of movement, rather than six or more inches.

Discover your habitual postures and movements, focus on one or two, and try to do the opposite. For example, if your slouch a lot when sitting, work on sitting up straight.

Always let your body guide you; allow it to randomly move about between different movements. When movements become complicated or require a good bit or effort, always make sure you come out of them slow. Attempting to replicate the movement to the other side will often result in realigning or what Vitalogy refers to as a facilitation.


The more you combine the three ways of moving your body, (up and down, rotation, and lateral flexion) all at the same times, using different parts of your body to accomplish this, the easier release, lengthening, and re-aligning your body becomes.

Move safely and within the limits of your ability. Stop knowing you can go further or do more. When using Vitalogy to help rehabilitate an injured area of the body, when pain is felt, try different directions of the same kind of movement. Work the least painful directions first.

Shaking or rocking at the end of the movement or position promotes realignment.

As your body loosens up and as you improve and become more comfortable doing the movements, first increase distance, then add more variety of directions, and finally add more velocity to the distance and direction.

When lying down, keep your neck muscles relaxed by supporting your head with your hands or a pillow.

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7 Day Program Hand Out