Many people put a lot of effort into securing their financial future, but do so at the expense of the health of their bodies. It is not uncommon for people to live to 80 years and older now, ( I am speaking of the half of the population who earn more than 1UDS and actually have access to this ).

Not much point in Being financially secure, if you are trapped in an old worn out body. You do not have to be a complete health nut to invest a little effort and time into looking after your body, It is after all the vehicle you will spend the rest of your life in. Would you choose a clapped out bomb for the ride of your life when you could have a 4WD Porsche? Fortunately, having a healthy body is available to most of us. 

 

 

On a Physical level the health of your body depends largely on the health of your Joints and the health of your Organs.

Apart from sudden violent accidents, joint problems mostly occur from a prolonged excessive force being applied across the joint, apart from additional physical loading. This excessive compression of the joint restricts the blood supply that brings oxygen and nutrients and also carries away waste products. Prematurely ageing the joint, this sets the stage for a "weakest physical link" and can be the site of your next injury.

 

Normally slow stretching while concentrating your awareness on areas of greatest resistance to the motion will provide a clue to where these over-loaded areas of the body are. Everyone has them and they are Chronic, (long term) conditions that come to affect the way we walk  and move. We get so used to these limitations of movement that they become invisible to us, so we really need to look deeper and ask " where exactly am I holding tension right now?" can I stretch in out over a period of weeks/months and/or do I need some professional help to work on the area?

 

Constricted areas are normally the result of very old injuries that have healed badly leaving scar tissue that is shortened, inflexible and weakened. A persons state of mind can be observed in the way they carry themselves and move. Over a period of decades the overall pervading beliefs we have about ourselves and the world can become locked into our postures and the way we move. One of the reasons why Yoga and Breathing exercises are used in advanced personal development and self knowledge training.

 

Ligaments and Tendons have a much lower blood supply than muscle tissues, this is why they grow and heal much more slowly than muscle tissue. By removing as much as possible, excess tension from "EVERY muscle, and the Fascia that is acting across the your joints, you provide an optimal healing environment for the Joints, tendons and Ligaments.

Bone and Ligament specialists such as Chiropractors and Osteopaths tend to put too much emphasis on the Bony Architecture of the body. Likewise, soft tissue specialists tend to approach all problems from their own perspective. Ideal solutions involve both fields of expertise but most importantly is the individuals own participation in and understanding of their bodies health and well being. Your next potential injury sight can often be discovered as a "tight spot" through slow deliberate stretching.

 

All this rambling essentially means - Apply ice to injuries immediately, massage the hell out of everything that is not too sore to touch, slow down and listen to your stretches, in order to find potential weak areas. Then massage the hell out of them. After all a good massage in Thailand costs only a few dollars.

 

Of course this is scratching the surface of an immense subject.