What does a Clydesdale have to do with a balance ball?

I went to some Scottish Games the other day, and wandered over to the livestock area. Have you ever seen Scottish Highland Cattle? Formidable animals. Unfortunately, they looked completely out of place with their thick shaggy coats in the too hot California summer. I stood there wishing that I were back in the Highlands looking at them in the open fields.
I stood near the Clydesdales for quite a few minutes. There were two of them, a matched set in dark brown with large white patches over most of their faces. One walked slowly around the pen, nibbling at the grasses poking up through the dirt. The other one slept in the somewhat cooler shade and the moving air. He stood with his right hind leg bent in relaxation, the other three legs locked to keep him upright. His head was down so that his ears were even with his withers, and in a comic pose I had witnessed often with my own horse, his lower lip drooped away from his jaw and fluttered a bit with the breezes.
As he came awake, he leaned back against the fence and gave his hindquarters a good scratch, re-adjusted his body, and stood alert while he was trying to get the attention of his handler who was rustling around with some food; evidently, this equine charge was hungry for a snack. He stood on all fours equally, legs straight and ready to move, head up and neck long and lean, ears forward pointing directly at the action near the food cooler.
Within a few seconds and with a few simple adjustments of his posture, the Clydesdale went from looking like an old nag to looking like a young colt ready to gallop across the fields.
Posture is a very important part of health. Recent studies show that posture effects pain, stress, and even willpower. Good posture has been proven to reduce pain sensitivity. Poor posture has a negative effect on the internal organs of the body and in how the body functions as a whole. My equine friend was demonstrating the adages that if you want to look thinner, younger, and healthier: stand up straight.
Finding "straight" can be difficult. Many years of injury, trauma, surgery, illness and/or downright poor posture bring a situation where we cannot find our neutral point, our balance in our bodies, our core. There seems to be some mystery about "the core" of the body: sometimes it is mistakenly thought to be the outer (anterior) abdominal muscles, the ones you would use to "suck in" your gut. The core muscles are actually on the posterior wall of the abdomen, located just in front of the spine. The core also includes the small muscles in between each of the vertebrae in the spinal column. "Balance" in this sense does not merely refer to not falling over; balance means "homeostatis", the body's desire to move and be in internal balance with all systems functioning smoothly and in good health.
One way to truly experience/ feel your core is to use a balance ball. The mere act of sitting on it correctly educates the body-mind about what balance is and how the core muscles are used and strengthened in order to maintain that balance. Too often, people just sit on the ball without correcting their posture and taking the time to learn to feel their core, and injure themselves by exercising from an un-balanced place. Too often I hear the complaint that working with or on the balance ball caused lower back pain. This does not happen, and in fact low back pain is relieved, if the core muscles are used. The exercise ball supports the weight of the body so that each part of the body can be exercised while supporting and strengthening the core and keeping the body in balance. Finding the "core" is an exercise in discovery of one's own body.
Strength training and resistance exercise is one of the top ways in which we can combat bone loss (osteoporosis). Both can be done with the balance ball, and working with the balance ball will transfer the awareness of being in one's core to any and every other form of exercise.
Even during chemotherapy, exercise is recommended to help keep the body toned, relieve stress, and increase energy levels. Because of the effects of chemotherapy on the muscle tissue, exercise should be in the form of gentle toning movements. This is why I recommend the balance ball during recovery.
Finding the "core" will be discussed in future blogs; until then, Be Well.