Your pointe shoe - pointe shoe sizing, ballet stretches, preventing dance injuries, increasing ballet turnout, adult ballet beginners, men in ballet, boys in ballet, and cheer leaders too.
I really enjoyed my latest copy of Pointe magazine - except for the recommendation for soy as a healthy snack.
Typically, soy may be a healthy food if it is fermented and organic.
All soy crops in the US that are not grown without pesticides are GMO - in other words, soaked with, and genetically spliced with pesticide.
Pesticides in and of themselves are estrogen mimickers. Combine that with unfermented soy foods and you have a double whammy of estrogen.
Estrogen - out of balance with other hormones - can cause:
weight gain
cancers
heavy periods and pain
uterine fibroids
endometriosis
thryoid deficiencies (leading to weight gain)
It really is not a fun scenario.
Fermented organic soy products are healthy.
For instance San-J Tamari - soy sauce without wheat - has a good vitamin B12 content. It is very flavorful, more than soy sauce. It is also Gluten free, organic and comes in a reduced sodium version too.
Miso paste - organic and in the Red version - is also good for vitamin B12.
Here is a page full of information about estrogen dominance, if you want more. I am not familiar with the supplements ts shows, but the info is excellent.
Here is a short video about estrogen rich foods and how harmful they can be.
I got the Lisa Howell newsletter today about the "over" splits leading to possible injuries. I am so glad she's written about this.
Honestly, for years I've viewed the 'beyond' split position and I don't find it that aesthetic.
In Classical Ballet the straight 180 degree splits line in a grand jete or penche is a beautiful line.
Just my opinion, but in Swan Lake or Giselle, and many other classics, the 180 isn't needed - but can look fantastic.
Anything beyond that starts to look like a circus.
Having sat in on many auditions in a professional ballet school, I've seen the heart break on the face of very expressive young dancers who don't make the grade when the assistants get up and stretch them for the onlooking panel.
But I get it - if they can't do a split or a deep back bend - why lead a hopeful on?
On the other hand, if you have a child who is almost like a contortionist - how easy will it be for them to conquer classical ballet technique? Without injury?
I've worked with chiropractors for many years, including a couple of kinesiologists.
Many patients have come in with injuries due to lax ligaments. They are just born that way. And they have supplements recommended for them - specifically to tighten up lax ligaments.
In dance, "tighten up" is a bad phrase. But let's keep things in perspective.
If you can do the splits, I say - hooray. Now you can concentrate on other technical weaknesses you may have (everybody has some) and become better than good.
When I see the you tube videos of young dancers demonstrating their "waaaaay" over-split, legs bowing up onto chairs while their pelvis sits on the floor, I feel slightly nauseated.
Am I old-fashioned? I know I was deemed fairly picky as a ballet teacher - and I can't get used to this circus-like flexibility that is spun as a wanted quality for dance.
I understand that a high degree of flexibility is needed to train.
But the dancer who succeeds - is the dancer you can't help watching. And it's not about the splits.
Beyond splits - is more for the circus.
And for the dancer who can do that, it'a about a lot of extra exercises so she/he doesn't get injured.
I am glad Lisa Howell asks the questions: why; and how to prevent injury.
O.K., this was a bit of a rant so I'll lighten up with this funny video of Nina Dobrev and Conan O'Brien doing the splits.
These head bands relay, in real time,
the impact of hits the players receive, on their heads during a game.
There is a point at which a player
could be pulled from the game if a hit impact is hard enough to give
them a concussion.
I wondered - could a sensor be made for
ballet dancers in pointe shoes? It could measure how they come up and
down off point.
It could also measure how they take off
and land from jumps - which means men in ballet could use them too.
These toe shoes sensors could keep
track of:
are the dancers' weight distributed evenly
over the “tripod” of big toes, little toes and heels
do they pronate (roll inwards at the
ankle joint(s)) when they push off
do they lift their heels before they
push off
do they push from their plie then fail
to push with their forefoot or feet
do they land controlling their sole of
foot muscles or let their heels impact the floor
These are important moments in pointe
work or allegro.
For example, if the ankle(s) roll in on
take off or landing, it's setting the dancer up for both sprained ankles or a knee injury.
If there is no strength in the
forefeet, an Achilles Tendon injury can be easily forecast.
If the heel pops on take off and the
forefeet do all the work, an Achilles Tendon injury may be imminent.Not to mention foot sprains.
Well, just my thoughts today...Quick and fluid ballet footwork is lovely to watch, but tense plies (heels up) and usually more so in pointe shoes, are the obvious weaknesses.
There are many nit-picky issues that a good teacher will nag you about.
I wonder if you know all the ballet tips in this book! Get the best technique you can!
So who the heck gets
rich in ballet, among the successful?
Riches are relative
of course. A successful Wall Street broker would snort at the
ballerina's pay.
It is all relative.
Yet, your world
counts. You, the aspiring child, teen or adult ballet beginner.
You have a muse who
invites you to dance. That muse is You!
And maybe you're a
recreational dancer. Or a hopeful for dance competitions. Or a ballet
student in a professional program.
Believe me, I know
even the latter is not bereft of overwhelming anxiety and self
doubts!
And I don't know
where the science stands on EFT - it is related to acupuncture.
But you certainly can pick up many positive self talk quotes!
Yet, having viewed
videos about the emotional freedom technique tapping points I don't
think this is useless.
Have a look and see
if this might be of some use to help you or another eliminate self talk.
See what you think.
" In partnership with Dr. David Feinstein, Dr. Church has been able to
confirm that tapping on specific meridian points has a positive effect
on cortisol levels. Cortisol, known as the "stress hormone," is integral
to our body's "fight or flight" response." Huffington Post an article by Nick Ortner, posted:
http://www.eftfree.net/latest-scientific-research/ - more about
One of the symptoms
of hormone deficiency is bad sleep.
And also hormone
deficiencies cause bad sleep.
That is why the word
"balance" is key!
One of the best easy
tips for losing weight is sleeping well.
Recently Dr. Mercola
author of "Effortless Healing" wrote an article "How To Stay Thin For Life". Yeah right
that's so easy!
Many of us know it's
not.
And his article was
about sleep. Good sleep = good body weight!
I believe this and
I'll tell you why - recently I started Intermittent Fasting -which I
talked about here.
I lost four pounds
suddenly but then slept quite badly one night - and the next morning
had gained three.
But 2 mornings later
after 2 good night's sleep - I had lost six pounds since the start of
the Intermittent Fasting.
Dancers often suffer
from aching muscles - and that's a deep ache!
About 300 to 400 mg
magnesium will help relax muscles. Yet it's good to add some
potassium and B6 since these vitamins act in concert - yup they have
their own choreography in those muscles!
In extreme cases of
insomnia ask your doctor about melatonin and do your own search. Some
medical doctors shy away from it because it's a hormone. But if
you're not sleeping...well it's a late night brain released hormone
that cleanses your brain.And helps you sleep, deeply.
Melatonin can be
deficient for different reasons. Lack of sunlight. Or simply a
personal deficiency.
I wear Amber tinted
glasses when I'm on the computer in the evening. That eliminates the
blue-light brightness that stimulates the brain. The UV spectrum.
In fact I'm yawning
now - so I'll say - g'night and sleep well! Time to go take my
melatonin and keep losing weight!
Click here to get "Effortless Healing" with some more easy tips to sleep well and lose weight:
I decided to start a second Kindle book
(first one done but not published yet) called Teen Diet Plans -
tentative working title.
Talk about overload! I couldn't avoid
the issue of grass fed meats, dairy and wild caught fish. And organic
vegetables.
Because the conventional GMO or
pesticide/herbicide laden foods mess with our hormones.
As I've written here
I grew up with a progesterone deficiency which plagued me all my
life.
I struggled with staying thin having no
clue about stress hormones or estrogen dominance (which can lead to
cancers).
And now that I'm looking at the latest
research on what's in our foods - it's a horror story!
As an example - a few years ago it
became illegal in the US to feed cows cow products. This was to
prevent the spread of Mad Cow Disease. But chickens don't get that so
they get fed cow “products” - usually blood, bone meal and
unmarketable parts that don't go into hot dogs.
But it is legal to feed cattle “chicken
litter” which is chicken poop, feathers and other unmarketable bits
and pieces. So it is still possible for cows to eat recycled cow
products with a chance that Mad Cow disease could be passed on.
We eat cows fed chicken poop.
But the good thing is:
You can vote with your dollars! Even if
you're not a voter.
Because of the persistence of consumers
buying organic and grass fed foods, the prices have dropped.
Availability has spread.
Yet the yuk factor of what I now feel
obliged to put in this short guide book on healthy teen meals (mostly
“fast food” Nutri Bullet drinks made at home) has increased.
BPA's, flame retardents, household
cleansers, antibiotics...and more! All estrogen mimickers or
endocrine disruptors.
Which disrupt what would have been a
teen's normal weight, given the growth/hormone spurts and lulls.
But we can still beat this thing!
"The Meatrix" - the first 3 minutes address the situation.
I really don't want to get political. I just want to provide info about healthy fat burning meal plans.
Simply spending your dollars on the healthy foods is all one has to do.
