Morning Stretches

This is an excellent technique for staying in bed for an extra five minutes!

After a night in bed with reasonably no movement we do our muscles the greatest service if we gently stretch them before rising. Your cat and dog do it after napping in the sun, so why not us? It helps to get the blood moving and lengthen out the tight bits which all aids in the prevention of injuries.
So here goes...

Our aim is to start at the toes and work our way up the body to the head. All stretching should be held for the count of 20 and done to a point of tension but not pain. Better to take it slowly rather than to tear a cold muscle. By doing it everyday you will discover over time that you are actually stretching further and further, but without injury.

Pull your toes back as far as possible and then down as far as possible, finally circling round and round in both directions to stretch your ankles and calf muscles.

Using the sheet stretch your hamstring. If you experience any pain in the lower back then raise the other knee rather than having the leg extended flat on the bed. The further towards your toes that the sheet pulls from will increase the stretch into the calf and feet muscles. Good length of hamstring muscles is to be able to have the leg vertical.

Next we stretch our glute muscles (big muscles in our backside) by crossing one leg over the knee of the other leg. Then raise the supporting knee and bring towards your chest as far as you are able. Be careful not to arch your back or your neck. This is a small movement stretch rather than a large all-the-way-to-your-chest stretch.

The last big muscles in our leg are the quads in the front of the thigh. Lying on your side, reach back and grab your ankle and pull towards your backside. The aim is to have ankle and backside touch with your body in a straight line. The 'pull' should be felt in the front of the thigh.



Cross your ankles right over left then take your ankles to the left. Taking your right arm above your head reach over to the left and feel a gentle stretch down your right side. Repeat this process for the left side.

Rolling out of bed onto the floor, kneel on the right knee and place left foot out in front forming right angle. Push forward through hips feeling a stretch to the upper thigh in the front and often into the front of the hip as well. Repeat for the opposite side.







Now just like your cat or dog we need to stretch the spine and attached muscles, so get on all fours and arch the back both rounded up and down.

The upper body requires a good stretch, so begin by stretching your arms back as far as possible so as to stretch your pecs which are across the front of your chest. This stretch will particularly be felt around the front of the shoulder joint and outside front of the chest.

Our final stretch is to our neck. Holding our shoulders down and back turn your head as far as possible in both directions aiming to get the shoulder vertically over your shoulder. Go back to head straight up and forward. Lastly take your ear to your shoulder on both sides.

Although this may seem like quite a few stretches to remember, the sequence will come very quickly after a few days and your muscles will be beginning to give a sigh of relief. So don't give up...you'll be looking forward to that extra five minutes you can honestly crib.
ENJOY!

Angular Cheilitis (cracked corners of the mouth)

A very painful condition! Every time you open the mouth to speak, eat, or drink it bites you, but nothing beats the pain when you smile...that is one sure way to turn your smile upside down :(.

SO WHAT CAUSES THESE CRACKS TO THE CORNERS OF YOUR MOUTH.

There are four main causes: -
1) Iron deficiency - Iron deficiency is generally a lack in the diet of foods that enable the haemoglobin to function well. Symptoms are usually very tired, lacking energy and an aching in your muscles even while resting. Red meats and dark green leafy vegetables contain the most iron. Never underestimate those dark green leafies!
2) Candidiasis - Candida Albicans is a 'bug' that lives on all of our skin. Normally it lives in balance with our bodies, yet occassionally our immune system is not coping well and the Candida can run rampant. Where ever we have a cut or nick tothe skin it will enter and cause infection. If you have a scab to the cuts around your mouth Candida Albicans needs to be addressed.
3) Malnutrition - We need lots of minerals and vitamins everyday. If we don't eat enough min/vits daily then our body uses its' stores. If we eat a lot of 'empty' (empty of minerals and vitamins) food then our body quickly becomes depleted as it uses what we have, not only to function, but also to deal with the empty food and remove the toxins that we just ate.
4) Glucagonoma - A rare type of endocrine pancreatic tumour. One of the symptoms can be cracked corners of the mouth with swelling of the lips and a brownish rash around the edges. If you suspect this then see a doctor or health care professional.

SO WHAT TO DO...

1) FLUSH OUT -DRINK WATER...help the body to flush out the accumulated toxins from the 'empty' diet. At least two litres per day.

2) ELIMINATE THE BAD - Lay off the processed foods, grains, sugars and alcohol. Processed foods (virtually everything that comes in a packaged form from plastic, to box, to can or jar) contains not much good of anything. Grains, sugars and alcohol all work the same where our body turns them into simple sugars. Too many simple sugars inflame the bodies systems causing inflammatory responses. Candida Albicans (and other bugs) then get the OK to have a party and multiply rapidly. Eventually their host (your body) is all done in.

3) PUT IN - Eat fruit and vegetables, especially those DARK GREEN LEAFIES. Natural is always best, but sometimes a multi vitamin containing lots of B vits is needed for the immediate. Try the liquid Floradix if your blood type is A (available from supermarkets and health food stores). Or even better is the Neways mineral/vitamin programme (contact me for details) for all blood types.

4)DEAL WITH SYMPTOMS - Keep the cuts in the corner of your mouth dry. Try drinking from a straw or at least use a napkin to dry after eating and drinking. Avoid lip balms/lipsticks until healing has occurred. Apply a dab of baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) and watch it disappear. Baking Soda is an alkaliser and thus when the ph of the affected area is changed  healing occurs. Dis-ease only occurs in an acid environment.

Hope this information helps. I'm interested to hear how your condition improves.