How to Reduce Pain & Stiffness From Prolonged Sitting→

Do you get pain and stiffness from long hours of sitting everyday? In this video I will share simple strategies I use to stay mobile, comfortable, and active while sitting in a chair.

*Clicking the image below will take you to my YouTube video “How to Reduce Pain& Stiffness From Prolonged Sitting.”

*Muista Chair (Active chair that supports comfortable sitting I personally use at home): https://muistachair.com?aff=3 (this is my affiliate link. When you purchase using the link above, I will receive a small commission from Muista)

Hunchback posture: AVOID these posture exercises!!

There are so many posture correction exercises, but not all posture exercises are beneficial. Some are even harmful to your body.

In my previous video (Hunchback posture correction without correction) I introduced a few exercises that will retrain your movement and posture. In this video, you will learn which exercises you should avoid.

How to Prevent Hunchback Posture from Feldenkrais Perspective

Why is it that some people get hunchback and some don’t regardless of their age?

There are many factors influencing your posture. There’s a genetic factor which you cannot control and environmental factors that you can control.

Environmental factors include your daily routines, activities, home environment, work environment, occupational routines, recreational activities, etc.

As posture is a reflection of habitual movement patterns, it is helpful to assess your environmental factors from a movement perspective and how each factor influences your movement and posture.

By the end of this video, you will learn how people get hunchback and how to prevent it.

Hunchback correction without correction

Are you tried many posture correction exercises without getting results that last? The problem is NOT YOU. The problem is CORRECTIVE APPROACH.

The body’s natural response to correction and force is to resist. If someone pushes you back, you will automatically push against the force. That is just a body’s reflex. When you force your body to move, you are actually reinforcing your habitual movement patterns. This is why your body soon reverts back to your old habitual patterns.

As I mentioned in the previous video and post, posture is a reflection of years of your habitual movement patterns.

By the end of this video you will learn how to retrain your movement patterns and improve your posture!

Hunchback posture correction while you are SLEEPING?!

What if I told you you can improve your hunchback posture while sleeping?

This may sound crazy and too good to be true, but if you understand how your posture is developed, it’s not surprising that you can improve your posture while sleeping.

A common misunderstanding about posture is that many people believe posture is a fixed state of our body, and their approach to posture is to correct it by stretching and strengthening muscles. If your approach is based on the wrong belief, you will not get desirable outcomes.

So what is posture? Posture is a reflection of years of your habitual movement patterns. That’s right, it is MOVEMENT! You probably never thought about sleeping as movement patterns, but how you hold your bodies when sleeping can reinforce your habitual movement patterns or can retrain your movement patterns.

By the end of this video you will learn how sleeping position affects your posture and how to set up optimal sleeping position to improve your hunchback posture.

How to improve and optimize your breathing

Breathing is a topic many people are interested in. What is optimal and ideal breathing?

There are many ideas, theories about optimal breathing. You probably have learned some breathing techniques and exercises (what muscles to use, specific way to breathe in and out, how long you need to inhale and exhale, etc).

I am not going into details of breathing mechanism or anatomy here. Instead, I want to share my perspective on breathing.

I look at breathing as movement just I look at posture as movement. Breathing involves mobilization of our bodies (ribs, belly, back, chest, shoulders, etc). Our nervous system adjusts breathing automatically in response to changes in physiological demands, stress, body positions. Just as our posture and movement patterns can become habitual, our breathing patterns also become habitual as breathing patterns adapt to our habitual movement patterns. For example, in a slouched posture, certain parts of your body can move more easily and other parts become more restricted. This constraint makes the nervous system adjust your movement and breathing patterns. As you adapt this posture more, it becomes more habitual, and so does your breathing pattern. I am not implying that a slouched posture leads to an inefficient breathing pattern. My point is that your habitual movement patterns can influence your breathing patterns, thus, in order to improve your breathing, you will need to expand movement awareness and options so your breathing patterns become adaptable and responsive.

The bottom line is: breathing is movement. Movement is life. Improving movement is improving breathing and improving life!

Happy Mindful Movement and Breathing!

Asian Squats: Is it good for lower back pain?

I’ve come across several articles on the internet that say Asian Squat can improve back pain. I’d like to share my opinions on this topic based on my experience and knowledge as a movement teacher and Feldenkrais practitioner.

There are many origins of back pain, so you cannot generalize back pain as one. Back pain could be related to muscle strain, ligament sprain, disc degeneration, joint degeneration, arthritis, nerve tissue injury, nerve sensitization, stress, anxiety, fear, lack of movement, etc. Thus, it’s hard to say Asian Squat can improve back pain without being more specific.

It is true that many experience improved back pain as a result of incorporating Asian Squat into their daily activities. My guess is that their experience is related to increased movement. By adapting Asian Squat, you are mobilizing many body parts that you haven’t mobilized before. Getting in and out of Asian Squat mobilizes your ankles, knees, hips, and spine a lot more than getting in and out of a couch. You are “waking up” all those parts that have not been used before.

I believe the most significant benefit of Asian Squat is all movements required to get in and out of Asian Squat. As a result of more movement, you’ll improve blood circulation, which delivers oxygen and nutrients to all of your body system. I can see this can have a positive impact on heath of back, and this may be one of the reasons why some people experience improved back pain from doing Asian Squat.

I feel many believe Asian Squat position provides benefits, but I believe increased mobilization required to get in/out of Asian Squat provides more benefits, which many people don’t discuss. So, the bottom line is movement matters; movement is life; let’s move more!

Happy Squatting! Happy Mindful Movement!

How to sit on the floor more comfortably and benefits of sitting on the floor

This is not the first time I write about benefits of sitting on the floor. In fact, I have been advocating floor sitting for quite some time now.

I grew up in Japan where sitting on the floor is very common for ordinary activities such as eating, social gathering. The significance of this activity was not apparent to me until I had moved to the United States and lived several years (I have been in the United States since 1997). It just dawned on me one day when I realized that sitting on the floor is challenging for many people in this country. I certainly took it for granted.

The impact on our body this activity or a lack of has is very significant. It is actually the act of moving into and out of sitting on the floor that affects our body than sitting on the floor itself. Sitting on the floor requires a lot more movement and mobility of all joints than sitting in a chair or couch. You will also be moving a lot more while sitting on the floor than in a chair, so sitting on the floor provides more movement options. Over the years, the body will adapt to physiological demands, so if you use it, you’ll keep it, and if you don’t use it, you will lose it. Consequently you will get stronger, more flexible, and more agile if you use your body more by adapting to floor sitting. Makes sense, right?

If you haven’t done floor sitting in a long time, you will need to give your body a plenty of time to adjust and adapt to new demands. Sitting on the floor right away may not be reasonable, so you may first sit on a low chair, which will require more movements than a higher chair, then gradually lower yourself closer to the floor. You will also need to start with a short duration like during TV commercial breaks then gradually increase time.

In the video below I share some tips and strategies on how to sit on the floor more comfortably.

Asian Squats: Benefits and How to Practice and Improve

I so often squat while typing on my laptop or working with my clients, and people ask me if I am uncomfortable. I then tell them that I am actually quite comfortable in my squat position, more comfortable than sitting in a chair. My answer almost always surprises people. Why do many people think that squat is only for younger people, and not ideal for older people? Why is it that many older people including my parents and my wife's parents (Japanese) and others in many Asian countries and other countries can squat comfortably? Should older people avoid squatting? When should we stop squatting? Questions go on and on and on.

"Use it or lose it". Just like sitting on the floor (which I also support), squatting requires more fuller joint range of motion than sitting in a chair/couch. It is not so much about being in a squat position that is beneficial, but the act of getting in/out of a squat position is beneficial as you are moving all joints and muscles through much greater range. And, as you use this position for many functional activities such as watching TV, reading a book, using a computer, eating, etc, you'll be moving more frequently, which is a real secret for keeping our body strong, mobile, and healthy. This is why I am a huge advocate of squatting, sitting on the floor, or what I call "becoming friends with the floor". Another huge benefit of this is to become less fearful of falling.

By the way, I am not suggesting that everyone needs to do Asian squat. I am just sharing my thoughts on this topic, and want you to know that age and your ethnicity don't determine the ability to do Asian squat. Our ability to move is largely influenced by how we use our body everyday, which is influenced by our culture. So, the point I want to make is that your body and the ability to move can change based on how you use your body and move daily.

What is Asian Squat?

It is a full squat with feet flat on the ground, buttocks all the way down near heels or touching them. A common position used by people in many Asian countries while talking, eating, other activities.

What are benefits?

1) Keeps joints healthy and mobile

2) Keeps muscles strong and flexible

3) Helps with digestive system

4) May help with posture

*The ability to get up from the floor is corrected with mortality rate. The research shows that people who struggle to get up from the floor or not able to do have higher mortality rate as compared to people who are able to get up from the floor easily.

How to practice and improve:

1) Incorporate Asian Squat in daily activities such as reading a book, eating a meal, watching a TV, etc.

2) Start small and increase gradually

Happy Squatting!

Is symmetrical movement/posture really ideal??

There is something about symmetrical geometry that appeals to people, that includes posture and movement.

The thing about symmetrical posture and movement is that we have to assume one side is ideal, and the other side is not. If we do movement training from this assumption, then we assume an ideal side as a model or goal for the other side.

There is a huge problem with this assumption. We are NOT symmetrical in structures nor functions, and neither is the environment. Ideal movement on one side does not mean it is universal. In fact, two sides of our body including our brain function very differently.

It really does not make sense to assume two sides should move the same way, or make "bad" side move like the ideal side. Instead, we should assume asymmetry and optimize movement in asymmetry, which would be much more beneficial.

This is what I help my students discover. Check out my videos and or join my online movement class to discover your full potential!

Why not tummy time for adults?

I’ve found that lying on stomach is not a favorite position for many adults. Some people even believe they should never lie on their stomach because it is so uncomfortable and painful.

I find it very interesting that we (adults) encourage babies to do lots of tummy time because of developmental benefits, but somehow over the years tummy time becomes unnecessary, or even detrimental to our bodies. Or more accurately I should say that our perception and belief about tummy time change over time.

Why is tummy time so important in the first place? What are the benefits? What do babies learn from tummy time?

From a perspective of sensory-motor development, babies are yet to develop muscular strength to lift head against gravity (all extensor muscles: neck, back, hips). They learn to orient their head (eyes and ears) towards stimulation (mother’s voice, toys, food, light, etc). Because of their desire to move towards their interests or move away from unpleasant stimulation (odor, painful object, loud noise, etc), they will start to learn to organize and coordinate their bodies. Without this process, they will not know how to creep, crawl, walk, and run. All higher level function activities we do would not have been made possible without learning all fundamental movement patterns.

So, tummy time for adults can still play a huge role in improving all our functions. Just because we have learned at one point of life, it doesn’t mean that we should stop learning now. It probably won’t be as pleasant, smooth, easy, or comfortable as it was a long time ago, but if we take a deeper look and pay close attention to how we organize, coordinate our bodies and move and how we can find more ease and smoothness with our movements there, I guarantee that you will improve quality of your movement.

If this interests you and you need a guidance, join my weekly class, or check out my movement video series!

Learning to become more comfortable being uncomfortable with changes

Our natural tendency is to seek familiarity and what we know well because that's comforting and assuring.

This becomes obvious when our physical conditions change (injuries, illness, aging, etc). We look for our best physical state prior to the current state influenced by injuries, illness, and/or aging). We fixate on the past image of ourselves.

Truth is that we are changing every moment and so is the environment and our relationship to others and the environment. So there is no such thing as going back to the past state. This is very important to realize because if you don't, you will keep looking for the "ideal state" that doesn't exit forever, and you will continue to feel pain.

What we don't very often do is that we seek new connections, relationships from the current state. This sounds vague and abstract without tangible experience, so I will make it more concrete.

In Feldenkrais movement class, we pay attention to our bodies and movement in detail, probably things you have never paid attention to before. For example, we pay attention to a particular rib during movements and notice how that rib relates to sternum, the spine, and how the movement of the rib affects the sternum, and the spine. By noticing and sensing these new connections and relationships, you sense your body and movement in a very different way, often in a more pleasant and comfortable way. Now you have discovered a new relationship/connection with your body and yourself, and that is more pleasant and comfortable.

While you cannot go back to the past, or return to the "normal", you can create new connections that can bring more joy and excitement into you if you allow yourself to seek new and unfamiliar. This applies to all of us now in this pandemic because there is no such thing as returning to the "normal". We are always changing, and so is the environment and relationships.

Sign up for my newsletter to receive mindful movement videos twice monthly in your inbox and start to create new connections to your body!

Creating new connections in the moment

We went hiking last weekend. Our son told us to stop walking as he continued walking. I asked him what he was doing. He said it sounds different when he was walking alone from when all three of us were walking. He was referring to the sound he was making as he was walking on the leaves.

This immediately reminded me of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lesson as he was fully immersed in sensory motor experience and exploring and sensing and creating new connections through movement, all of which are simply driven by curiosity, but no specific goals attached. He is literally doing ATM all day. Discovery and learning always take place in the moment, not in the past or the future. Sensing yourself and your connections with others and the environment in the moment is something kids naturally do, but as we get older, we often disconnect ourselves from the moment, and stop sensing ourselves in the moment.

I am so grateful for this inspiration and being able to see the roots of this wonderful method close by everyday.

You can bring this quality to your life with mindful movement practice. Sign up for my newsletter and receive mindful movement videos in your inbox twice monthly!

Happy Mindful Movement!

How to get up from the floor easily with bad knees

This is a very common issue with many of my clients. Getting up from the floor alone even with relatively healthy knees can be a challenge for many. So, how do you do that?

Kneeling is probably a painful position you want to avoid, right? This is much easier to demonstrate in video than to describe in words. Here’s the video on how to get up from the floor with bad knees:

Should you wear orthotics to correct flat feet? Should you wear a posture corrector?

In the past I got asked so many times about the use of corrective equipment. Two most common ones are orthotics and posture correction brace/strap.

Let me share my thoughts on this question as a Feldenkrais practitioner from a movement perspective.

People often associate flat feet and kyphotic posture (flexed mid back) with pathologies such as plantar fasciitis, various knee injuries/pain, back injuries, neck injuries, etc. Based on this assumption, orthotics or posture correction brace is used as a fix for these pathologies.

The problem is that these correction equipment does not take movement into account. Why do people develop flat feet or kyphotic posture in the first place? How do they develop it? Generally, it is a combination of genetics and tissue adaptation over time. Tissue adaptation is influenced by how we use our bodies and how we move.

If we move habitually in a way that reinforces flat feet or kyphotic posture, we will continue to use the same movement patterns that have led us to our current posture and structures today even with corrective equipment. So, you can continue to collapse your arch into the orthocis. You can continue to slouch against the posture correction brace.

The way these corrective equipment can benefit you more effectively is that you use it as a biofeedback device rather than corrective device. What I mean by that is that every time you collapse into the orthotics or slouch against posture correction brace, you will feel your body against it, and you will remind yourself that you can change how you move so you won’t run into it again. So these equipment acts like a car bumper, sort of speak.

Once you start to use these corrective equipment as a biofeedback device, you’ll be relearning your movement patterns so that you’ll be moving out of habitual patterns that have led to the problems you’re trying to solve now.

If you haven’t thought about it from a movement perspective, I’d highly suggest you watch my videos on my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/TaroIwamoto) and/or try my weekly online Feldenkrais movement class.

 Get help to move more comfortably and be more comfortable in your body and feel more vital.

Movement is essential to our life. Improving movement quality is directly related to quality of our life. Teaching people to move well is my passion. Sign up for Trans4Move Newsletters that will teach you how to improve your movements, functions, and your life!

My name is Taro Iwamoto. I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and movement expert. I help people develop new and more efficient movement patterns and expand movement options in order to overcome injuries/pain and move beyond limits. Feel free to post in the comments section below and feel free to share this with your friends!

"Touching Into Presence" Podcast Episode 15

I recently had very nice conversations with Andrew Rosenstock​ and Nikki Olsen (both certified Rolfers, Structural Integraters) on their Podcast “Touching Into Presence”. Their Podcast presents “Authentic and informative conversations with Structural Integrators, Bodyworkers,Yoga Teachers, Healers, Movement Therapists and more ”

I got to guide their audience through a short Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lesson (~15 minutes). If you’d like to like to this interview (30 minutes) and try this movement lesson, please check it out! They featured great guests in their Podcast so you might enjoy listening to them. Thanks to Andrew Rosenstock and Nikki Olsen for creating this great space!

Here’s the link to this podcast:

https://touchingintopresence.podbean.com/e/episode-15-conversations-with-taro-iwamoto/?fbclid=IwAR2f9IJbVUM0Na9un1h-2Hn5fRZtqJRsKySCpq3aewrCIxJC4zU0lXqzpP4

Physical limitation is more than physical. It is a habitual pattern.

“Make the Impossible Possible, the Possible Easy, the Easy Elegant” is one of my favorite quotes of Moshe Feldenkrais (the creator of Feldenkrais Method).  

The moment you experience what you believed “impossible” became possible opens a door to your transformation.

Most students/clients come to me first with beliefs about their physical limitation. Do you believe that you can’t do certain physical movements and activities because of your physical limitation such as stiffness or weakness due to aging, vulnerabilities due to current or old injuries?

So much of what we believe physical limitation is created by our habitual patterns of moving, feeling, and thinking. We often think that our physical abilities naturally decline with aging, thus, we just have to keep fighting against aging process with physical training. It is true that physical activity is a key to our health and we need to stay active in order to stay healthy. However, there’s more to improving physical abilities. What’s rarely talked about is to learn a different way of moving. Learning different movement patterns other than your habitual patterns is a very secret to “make the impossible possible,” and to turn your limitation into a new possibility and greater freedom.

In my Feldenkrais movement class, people often experience that the first movement they do in the beginning of a class is very difficult or even impossible, but later in the class they find the very same movement somehow becomes possible and easy. This doesn’t happen because you magically become stronger and more flexible in 45-60 minutes. This happens because you learn different movement patterns, which allows you to “make the impossible possible.”

What’s really powerful about this is that in this moment you feel more empowered than ever and feel as if so many new possibilities are starting to open up within yourself. This is the transformational moment! This is the power of movement!

Join my Tuesday Mindful Movement Class (ONLINE) and "make the impossible possible, the possible easy, and the easy elegant!."

Happy Mindful Movement!

Movement is essential to our life. Improving movement quality is directly related to quality of our life. Teaching people to move well is my passion. Sign up for Trans4Move Newsletters that will teach you how to improve your movements, functions, and your life!

My name is Taro Iwamoto. I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and movement expert. I help people develop new and more efficient movement patterns and expand movement options in order to overcome injuries/pain and move beyond limits. Feel free to post in the comments section below and feel free to share this with your friends!

Four Elements of Awareness

Deepening your self awareness would mean that you will live and move through the world more mindfully.

You can deepen your awareness through all your actions that is to sense, feel, think, and move. This infographics created by my wife, also a fellow Feldenkrais practitioner, represents that relationship simply. Please feel free to print this out and use it as your mindful movement reminder! This principle is integrated in all my Feldenkrais movement classes. We practice how to pay attention to these 4 elements as we move and observe changes. It is very fascinating to realize how all these elements are intertwined and “move” and shift simultaneously, which deepens awareness.

Join my online Feldenkrais mindful movement class (Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:00pm PST) to deepen awareness through movement and find a new relationship with your body and mind.

Movement is essential to our life. Improving movement quality is directly related to quality of our life. Teaching people to move well is my passion. Sign up for Trans4Move Newsletters that will teach you how to improve your movements, functions, and your life!

My name is Taro Iwamoto. I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and movement expert. I help people develop new and more efficient movement patterns and expand movement options in order to overcome injuries/pain and move beyond limits. Feel free to post in the comments section below and feel free to share this with your friends!

Here is how you can be more yourself and authentic

How do you know you are truly being yourself and authentic?

You wouldn't think it’s so hard to be yourself, but I often find myself changing what I say, how I talk, what I wear, how I sit, stand, walk, etc, to “fit” in the norm and expectations of the society and culture.

Watching my 4 year old son and his friends at his daycare reminds me of what it’s is like to be authentic. Kids are free in many ways. Free in their thinking, free in their feelings, free in their imagination, free in their movement. Their mind and body are fully united.

How can you free yourself from all the norms and expectations you consciously or unconsciously try to meet and satisfy everyday?

As some of you may know, I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and practice and teach mindful movement to help you and others. This practice has a lot to do with what I’m writing here. When you practice movement on your own, or taking a movement class, do you ask someone if you are moving correctly? This is an example of how many of us are detached from our own body and experience and unconsciously trying to meet the norm and expectations. Kids would never ask if they are moving correctly.

You can start paying attention to your body and notice how you’re feeling. The moment you start asking yourself if you are moving correctly, you shift your attention to your body and sensation, and let your body experience guide your movements so you’re experiencing yourself from the inside out and expressing yourself freely through your body and movement. In this moment, your movement, thinking, feeling, and imagination become free, and you are being yourself and authentic! This is the state where your mind and body are fully united.

My job is really not about teaching you how to move better. My job as a Feldenkrais practitioner is to guide you through this process.

Please join my Tuesday Mindful Movement Class (ONLINE) to gain more freedom in your movement, thinking, feeling, and imagination! Email me if you want to join my class.

Movement is essential to our life. Improving movement quality is directly related to quality of our life. Teaching people to move well is my passion. Sign up for Trans4Move Newsletters that will teach you how to improve your movements, functions, and your life!

My name is Taro Iwamoto. I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and movement expert. I help people develop new and more efficient movement patterns and expand movement options in order to overcome injuries/pain and move beyond limits. Feel free to post in the comments section below and feel free to share this with your friends!

Proprioception and Balance

Did you know falls take a psychological toll as well:  up to 50% of those who fear falling limit or exclude social or physical activities because of this fear?

Did you know you have “sensors” called proprioceptors in your bodies (muscles, ligaments, joints, skin, tendons) that are informing you where you are in space, your body part relative to other body parts?

Because of these you can bring your food to your mouth while watching TV or talking with your friend without looking closely at your hand.   With your eyes closed, you can tell positions of your hands, arms, legs because those sensors or proprioceptors are constantly informing your nervous system so you can carry out most of activities automatically.

Unfortunately proprioceptors become less sensitive and decline with injuries, aging, lack of movement.  As you can imagine, this can impair your balance.  A good news is that proper exercises and movement training can stimulate proprioceptors and improve your balance!

Join my Balance Re-training Program starting in January!

Sign up for my upcoming Balance Re-training Program:

www.trans4move.com/balanceprogram

If you bring a friend, you will receive a $100 discount!

Movement is essential to our life. Improving movement quality is directly related to quality of our life. Teaching people to move well is my passion. Sign up for Trans4Move Newsletters that will teach you how to improve your movements, functions, and your life!

My name is Taro Iwamoto. I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and movement expert. I help people develop new and more efficient movement patterns and expand movement options in order to overcome injuries/pain and move beyond limits. Feel free to post in the comments section below and feel free to share this with your friends!