Inspirational Quote
“The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.”
—Jim Rohn
Do You Need Yoga For Your Hips?
My business is quite fascinating – or at least I like to think so.
Often, when something is really a problem in our society, I will see it over and over and over again.
This year, for whatever reason, I have seen countless women clients in various stages along the spectrum of partial to total hip degeneration.
One woman had a right leg literally two inches shorter than her left leg – and this was after back surgery and one month out of work. At age 60, she was walking with a cane and declared to me, “I don’t want to be a cripple.” By that point, I had her attention. She had to use a handicapped sign in her car because it was so difficult for her to get to one place to another. All her beautiful shoes had to be set aside for more practical ones.
Another woman wanted to know if she could avoid hip surgery altogether. An energy healer who did no exercise, she came to our first session but did not return to find out which exercises she could do to heal herself. Energy healing is great, but if your bones are rotated out of joint and your muscles have degenerated from years of sitting and no exercise, there is no amount of energy work that will restore you to normal function. Sorry, them there is the truth.
A third lady had literally seen five M.D.s and physical therapists with no relief. I heard her complaining about her hips when I was on a vacation and gave her a free hour of my time. She was listening. No shot had worked. No previous exercises had worked. But she listened to me and was astounded how intelligent exercise and natural supplements worked a miracle for her. She spent 20 minutes every morning faithfully following the exercises I taught her to heal her hip and was delighted to find she could walk again.
The solution: yoga for hips.
For a gallery of photographs, please visit: https://pinterest.com/carrigan112/yoga-for-hips/
Client Testimonial, Yoga for Hip Pain: Vicki Strickland, Ellijay, Georgia
I had hip pain for 3 years. I had seen five doctors, orthopedic doctors in four cities – Atlanta, Ellijay, Jasper and Nashville, Tennessee. I saw two different doctors at Emory.
The Emory doctor sent me to a physical therapist. I did physical therapy for three weeks. He said, ‘I am not helping you, you don’t need to keep coming.’ The physical therapist sent me to an orthopedist that specialized in hip pain in Nashville. When I got to that doctor, he gave me an injection of cortisone, which didn’t do a thing. Nothing that any of the doctors or physical therapists did seemed to help alleviate the pain. One doctor recommended physical therapy to see what that would do, but all of them recommended hip surgery.
The official diagnosis was arthritis on the acetabular rim, a labral tear and tendonopathy.
I was very frustrated.
Then I found Catherine!
Catherine helped me with exercises and supplements and changed my diet. My hip pain went from a 10 to a 2 or 3. I do my hip exercises every day. I am not going to lie and say my diet is perfect, because it is not, but it is so much better than it was.
Before in my job I had trouble going up stairs. I am 62. I am the manager of a lodge, which has many steps! Steps everywhere! I am up on my feet three-fourths of the day. I don’t sit much.
It takes me 20 minutes to do my hip exercises. After I do them, I feel much better. Everything is looser and just moves easier.
I have a snapping hip. It is pulling that comes from the tendons.
Definitely try to find Catherine. Don’t think the doctor’s word is the final word. A lot of time, that’s not the case.
I feel great – I am very excited.
The other day I was out shopping and it hit me how far I had walked without my hip hurting. I am 100 percent better.
I am walking so much better. It is amazing!
The Six Movements of Your Hips
Here is the key piece of information that you need to know.
The hips have six movements. A proper yoga for hips sequence addresses all six movements.
If you are going to restore your hips to balanced functioning, you must restore the range of motion in ALL six directions:
- Flexion
- Extension
- Abduction
- Adduction
- Internal rotation
- External rotation
Now in case, at this point, you are starting to nod off because all this sounds way too technical, I will tell you a joke.
Every once in awhile, I will get the husband of one of my clients – usually the wife is far more diligent about her self care, but not always – who asks me for the ONE exercise that will fix ALL the problems in their back, hip, shoulders and/or knee.
I will joke to my client – the wife – that the one exercise their partner needs is actually a two-count exercise, a slap across each side of the cheeks accompanied by the message, “Wake up! You have only one body. Your body is not a car. When you have driven your body 100,000 miles you can’t just expect to take it to the doctor shop and expect the surgeons to fix absolutely everything!”
Many hip programs fail in providing relief for people because they do not take into account basic anatomy.
Not understanding how the muscles and bones of the body actually work is why most trainers (I apologize if I offend anyone here), doctors, physical therapists, etc. etc. etc., are not able to help you.
In order for you to get relief in your hips, someone who understands the body has to analyze your body and help you understand which movements of your hip are A) not working and B) which specific exercises you need to get better.
The husband of one of my regular clients had hip surgery over a year ago. He was surprised to find that surgery is not as easy as taking your car in to replace your tires. He walked with a cane for many months and had to go to physical therapy. He was someone who had never made physical exercise a priority in his life, and his wife had to take care of him while he went through his recovery.
Sometimes we forget that the better we take care of ourselves as we age, the less burden we place on our loved ones.
If yoga for hip pain could cure your problem, wouldn’t that be less expensive, less painful and less inconvenient than hip surgery?
Your Anatomy Lesson For The Month
What are the six movements that yoga for hip pain addresses?
If you are not technically inclined, you have my permission to skip over this section.
Flexion: bends the joint or brings the bones closer together
Rectus Femoris, Gluteus Medius (anterior fibers), Gluteus Minimus, Tensor Fasciae Latae, Sartorius, Psoas Major, Illicaus, AdductorMagnus(assists), Adductor Longus (assists), Adductor Brevis (assists), Pectineus(assists)
Extension: straightens or opens a joint
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus, Semimembranosus, Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius (posterior fibers), Adductor Magnus (posterior fibers)
Abduction: moves the limb laterally (away from the midline)
Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, Gluteus Minimus, Tensor Fasciae Latae, Sartorius, Piriformis (when hip is flexed)
Adduction: moves the limb medially (toward the midline)
Adductor Magnus, Adductor Brevis, Adductor Longus, Pectineus, Gracilis, Psoas Major, Illiacus, Gluteus Maximus (lower fibers)
Internal/ Medial Rotation: limb turns toward the midline
Semitendinosus, Semimembranosus, Gluteus Medius (anterior fibers), Gluteus Minimus, Adductor Magnus, Adductor Longus, Adductor Brevis, Gracilis, Pectineus, Tensor Fasciae Latae
External/ Lateral Rotation: limb turns away from the midline
Biceps Femoris, Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius (posterior fibers), Sartorius, Piriformis, Quadratus Femoris, Obturator Internus, Obturator Externus, Gemellus Superior, Gemellus Inferior, Psoas Major, Illiacus
What Does This Mean For You?
OK, you can wake up now from anatomy class.
Even if you know nothing of anatomy, you can gather from this list that there are any number of muscles that can go wrong and that fixing your hips will require someone who may actually understand all this.
What this list also does not even begin to mention is how your hips are connected to your lower back. If your sacroiliac joint – the very base of your spine – is out of balance, your hips will be out of balance. A proper assessment of your hips also includes an assessment of your spine.
I was shocked about the client who was walking with a cane. Her back surgeon had not addressed the problems in her hips and she still had severe scoliosis after her back surgery. It is naive to expect doctors to fix all your problems. My client believed she had worked with the very best surgeon in her area. She was dismayed to discover how much difficulty she had moving around even after a major operation, deep tissue massage and physical therapy.
The update: I taught her yoga for hips, yoga for her back and yoga to stabilize her sacrum and she is now walking without a cane!
Your Feet Control Your Hips, Your Hips Control Your Knees
Even if there is nothing wrong with your hips, here is something important for you to learn about your body.
Even if you do not have a Ph.D. in anatomy or years of training, as I do, in healing the body, you can tell a lot about your hips by observing yourself.
Point One: Your feet control your hips. If your feet are rotated outwards, your hips will be rotated also. Your feet are the outward sign of what your femur bone is doing inside the hip socket. If you have hip problems, more than likely your feet will tell the tale.
Point Two: Your hips control your knees. If you have knee problems, look to your hips. If your hips are out of balance, you will be placing uneven pressure on your knees. You will have to fix your hips in order to fix your knees.
This is why a good physical trainer is all about form. If you are moving with good form, you are less likely to injure yourself and more likely to fix your many postural imbalances.
I remember, a long time ago, a young trainer asked me, “What do you do with your normal clients?”
I just laughed.
If you do postural analysis you will find that almost everybody has a postural imbalance that can be significantly improved through intelligent exercise.
Even if you are young, fit and healthy, if you work out with someone who actually knows what she is doing you may save yourself thousands of dollars in surgery and physical therapy later on by correcting your imbalances right now.
This is also why, as you age, group classes or exercise DVDs or trying to work out to a TV or computer program may be a recipe for disaster. You yourself probably don’t understand all your imbalances and there is no one watching to save you from yourself.
Yoga for hips and yoga for hip pain requires a thorough postural analysis so that the program can be personalized to your body.
The Role of Nutrition
If you have painful hips, you will probably find relief by improving your diet and using natural anti-inflammatory supplements. You have to make a choice. Would you rather continue to eat junk and feel terrible? Would you rather learn how an anti-inflammatory diet and supplements can completely eliminate your pain? Eating well and learning how to move your body intelligently is a whole lot less expensive than surgery, even if you have good health insurance.
The Bottom Line
There is not just one hip stretch you can do to heal your hips completely.
A one-size-fits all approach to exercise, such as you get with exercise DVDs or group classes, may be a recipe for disaster if you yourself do not understand what is going on with your body and because your instructor (if physically present) can’t take time out of a group class to keep you from injuring yourself.
C. If you are having trouble with your hips, make an appointment with me so I can analyze your body and teach you a balanced program to bring all your muscles back into balance. You can call me at 678-612-8816 or email catherine@totalfitness.net.
From My Blog: The Top 5 Things You Can Do NOW To Get Out Of Pain
You can read my blog regularly by visiting www.catherinecarrigan.com
If I could summarize the top 5 things you can do to get out of pain, they would be:
- Find the emotion.
- Eat an anti-inflammatory diet.
- Learn how to sit, stand and sleep with good posture.
- Practice qi gong, tai chi and/or yoga.
- Identify your payoffs and cut it out.
O.K., so there are your headlines.
1. Find the emotion. I have studied and practiced all kinds of healing work now for about 20 years. What I have learned about emotions is that your emotions can shut down literally any process in your body on ANY level – physically, energetically, emotionally, mentally and even spiritually. If I am doing a healing with a client, the first thing I have to do is find the emotion so I can clear it out at the same time I am removing the pain. Otherwise, what happens is this. I fix the knee and the problem moves to the elbow. I fix the knee and the elbow and it moves to the neck. And so on. In other words, if you want to completely eliminate your pain you have to be very honest with yourself and identify the emotion that caused the pain and clear that out SIMULTANEOUSLY if you want to done. I am the kind of healer who wants to be done instead of playing around with one problem after the other for years on end.
2. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet. I usually start all my new clients by working with them on what they eat, and when necessary, using high quality nutritional supplements. Frequently, new clients balk at this step. Can’t they keep on eating junk and feel good anyway? When they finally follow my advice and change their diet and take the necessary supplements, it’s like a big lightbulb goes off in their head. They finally connect how they were eating and the inflammatory processes that had been going on in their body with how they had been feeling. Inflammation is like fire in your body. It starts in your gut and then goes everywhere. If you are in pain, by definition you have too much inflammation. The top pro-inflammatory foods to cut out or reduce include caffeine, alcohol, tobacco and sugar. Just remember nobody in their right mind eats CATS! And then throw in fried foods and gluten. You can pretty much count on feeling 110 percent better if you get that junk out of your diet.
3. Learn how to sit, stand and sleep with good posture. Most of your life you are either sitting, standing or sleeping. If you are sitting, standing or sleeping with bad posture, you change the way you use your muscles. When you sit, stand and sleep in proper alignment, your muscles can be balanced. I helped a lady with scoliosis reduce her pain dramatically just by changing the way she was standing. You would need to be trained by someone who can observe what you habitually do, show you just exactly how that is making you worse and then teach you how to do these things better. Set up an appointment with me by calling 678-612-8816. I will show you how your current posture is making you feel bad and teach you how to do everything better.
4. Practice qi gong, tai chi and/or yoga. Pain happens when there is some sort of energetic block in the body. When your energy is open and balanced, your body naturally heals itself. Qi gong, tai chi and yoga are all designed to open and balance your energy system. Yes, other forms of exercise are wonderful also, but other forms of exercise were not purposefully designed to open and balance your chakras and acupuncture system. If you don’t believe me, ask someone you know who practices qi gong, tai chi or yoga with any regularity – and by that I mean at least three days a week and preferably daily – how much pain they have in their body. The answer will typically be, “Zero!” Some of the most difficult clients I work with are naturally slim. They don’t understand why they too need to exercise. If your chakras and acupuncture meridians are blocked, you will have pain somewhere in the body. Get your energy moving and balance your energy centers by practicing qi gong, tai chi and/or yoga. Personally I practice these forms of exercise a minimum of five times a week and nothing hurts. You can join my yoga classes on Tuesday/Thursday evenings at 7:30 and Thursday mornings at 11. You can join my qi gong class on Wednesday afternoons at 5:30. Just call me at 678-612-8816 and I will share the particulars.
5. Identify your payoffs and cut it out. O.K., if you have followed these previous four recommendations, now comes the hard part frankly. Many people get a massive payoff out of being sick, in pain or suffering. In my book, What Is Healing? Awaken Your Intuitive Power for Health and Happiness, https://shop.totalfitness.net, I talk about 25 payoffs you can get by holding on to your pain. The truth is that once you recognize you are juicing your victim, loading up your martyr, giving your poor me even more ammunition and feeding your lost child, you can get a hold of yourself and cut out your self sabotaging thought patterns. I mean really. The medical literature is full of recorded instances of recovery of virtually every affliction known to mankind. If someone else overcame your pain that means you can too. But you will need to be totally honest with yourself. Once you are 100 percent onboard with your healing it won’t be that difficult to take the steps necessary to let it all go. If you don’t know what your payoffs are, set up an appointment and I can use kinesiology to explain to you what you are getting out of staying in pain.
What is healing?
True healing happens when we work through our issues mind, body and spirit.
New Reviews of My Book
I very much appreciate every person who has taken the time to write a review of my new book, What Is Healing? Awaken Your Intuitive Power for Health and Happiness (Atlanta: Total Fitness, 2013).
Writing a book is hard enough. Publishing a book and an audiobook is a whole other enterprise altogether and I appreciate all the love and support I have had through this project!
You can read the reviews at this link:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Healthcare Providers guide to comprehensive healing, August 22, 2013
By Holly Parsons (Phoenix, AZ)
Catherine Carrigan has personnally journeyed through the many layers that represent the existence of multiple dimensions that comprise Human health. She has discovered through keen observation and scientific analysis a new rubric for healing; successfully applying her knowledge and abilities to the comprehensive healing of patients in her practice for decades. This book is suitable for anyone devoted to permant healing – as the development of intuitive abilities particularly for healthcare providers is essential to supporting patient wellness!
5.0 out of 5 stars Catherine Carrigan is The Real Deal, August 20, 2013
By
Clea Calloway (Atlanta, GA)
Catherine Can Help You Heal. She has intuitive powers and shares her wealth of knowledge openly. Her kind spirit shows in everything she touches. After years of training, philosophizing, meditating and internal growth Catherine shares her world of healing to us all through her book, “What is Healing: Awaken Your Intuitive P
ower for Health and Happiness.” She has counseled me many times and I have grown spiritually because of her work.
5.0 out of 5 stars A simply great book, August 20, 2013
By Cris71
Catherine has taken a vast and potentially complex topic, and explained in a straight-forward, simple and accessible way.
I’ve been interested in healing and holistic health since 1998 and have ready many books on the topic; `What Is Healing’ is right up there with the best of them.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in maximising their health, happiness and longevity.
Cris Ramis
Holistic Fitness Coach
www.ramis-hf.com
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Insights, August 20, 2013
By Jean Adrienne Miller “Jean Adrienne” (Atlanta, GA)
Catherine is an amazing healer, and her new book has very valuable insights into getting out of our own way in order to facilitate healing in every area of our lives. It starts with forgiveness and moving away from judgment, of others and ourselves. Thanks Catherine for leading the way!
5.0 out of 5 stars What is healing?, August 20, 2013
By V T Wright
Thank you Catherine for writing this book. It has been a dictionary for me to understand the intuitive powers that we all have hidden inside our junk yard of emotions. I have treated it like a workbook and have slowly read through the chapters that introduced ideas and concepts to me that I have never imagined. I would stop reading after an exceptional chapter and do the suggested exercises for opening my heart to find unconditional love or talking to my angels to find my highest and best needs. This book has the potential to change my life by showing me new possibilities to find love and happiness. It is a treasure and comfort to read, and a true gift for you to write and share with the world.
5.0 out of 5 stars What is Healing? by Catherine Carrigan (Audio Book), August 20, 2013
By Greg “Silver Knight Author Websites”
I have the Print as well as the Audio book for What is Healing? Catherine has chosen an excellent reader to bring out her message on how we can take control of our own healing. This is a time-less audio. You can listen to it over and over and get a new message each time you listen.
Catherine writes about real life stories that anyone can easily relate, whether it’s their own current situation, or something that may have happened to them in the past. By doing this, it helps to solidify that this book isn’t for just for someone else; it’s for everybody.
I suggest that you get both the print book as well as the audio. Use the Audio book to hear the messages coming to you. Then read the print version to hear your own mind presenting the ideas and messages from within. Just as Catherine conveys in her book, the healing begins from within one’s self. Then visit her websites for more information on Healing and Inspiration at https://catherinecarrigan.com and https://unlimitedenergynow.com
Thank You Catherine, for allowing us to be a part your Wisdom, Truth, and Experience, so that our own journeys are full of Life, Love, and Healing.
Write A Review Of My New Book!
So far I have five 5-star reviews of my new book, What Is Healing? Awaken Your Intuitive Power for Health and Happiness.
If you would like to write a review, please visit this link:
Then click on the button that says “Write a Customer Review.”
Purchase My New Book, Take $5 Off Nutritional Supplements
When you purchase your signed copy of What Is Healing? Awaken Your Intuitive Power for Health and Happiness or any of our top-quality supplements through our webstore, take $5 off your order of $50 or more.
Just use the code WHATISHEALINGSEPT. Offer ends September 31, 2013.
Exercise Of The Month: Walking Reverse Lunges
You can view FREE exercise videos by visiting the following link: https://unlimitedenergynow.com/exercise-library
Your exercise of the month is Walking Reverse Lunge.Visit this link to watch how to do it:
I have spent a lot of time in this newsletter talking about what to do once your hips have become a problem.
This is an advanced exercise for people whose hips are in great shape.
What’s so great about this exercise:
1. By lunging backwards, you are challenging your sense of balance. You have to use your core muscles – your abs and back. It’s a great functional exercise for sports where you have to move backwards quickly – such as tennis – without losing your balance.
2. By lunging backwards, you have to find the direction inside yourself rather than by watching in a mirror. You have to feel great form by placing your feet and knees carefully behind you. This causes you to develop great mind-body awareness.
3. You will be raising your heart rate, getting an aerobic training response.
4. This is actually a whole-body exercise.
5. You have to use great posture. If you lean forwards or backwards, you will probably fall over.
6. This is a great exercise for toning the lower body, buttocks, legs and hips.
To set up an appointment for personal fitness training in Atlanta, email me at Catherine@totalfitness.net or call 678-612-8816 to set up an appointment today.
Mark Your Calendars!
Join me on Thursday, Sept. 5, as Tom Matt interviews me for Boomer Rock! Radio Show. We will be talking about how you can be healthier and happier. You listen live or hear the recording afterwards at this link: https://bit.ly/19SCj0L
Join me on Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church, https://www.gmuuc.org, in Dahlonega, Georgia, where I have been asked to speak during the Sunday service.
Thank you for reading my September newsletter.
May you be inspired to experience health and happiness!
Love and light,
Catherine Carrigan
catherine@totalfitness.net
www.totalfitness.net
www.catherinecarrigan.com