Thursday, April 15, 2010

New Feature! : "Mid-Month Moment of Health"

We are launching a new feature on Ascending Butterfly called 'Mid-Month Moment of Health'. We are going to have guest bloggers post articles related to health. The health of our bodies. Our daily inspirational posts are very much 'mind' and 'soul' oriented, but the health of the body is equally important. Helping you get BOTH in sync makes for a better you. We aim to offer something for the 'body', 'mind' and 'soul' and this feature helps us to do just that! We thought this article would be a great place to start considering the tension that builds up on 'Tax Day'.

This is one of several new regular features we will be offering. Stay tuned, we are soon going to launch a new feature that YOU will play a part of!

Without furthur ado, here is our first "Mid-Month Moment of Health", this feature will appear here each month on the 15th!

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Comfort is Key

by guest blogger, Dr. James Lee, inventor of the UGLee Pen, who writes about ergonomics

Have you ever noticed that when you don’t feel well, it’s hard to be happy? When you have an ache or a pain it’s just constantly on your mind, so, not only is your body feeling poorly, your mind follows suit encountering challenges with focus and happy thoughts. There are so many things that can cause dis-ease in the body and create pain and discomfort. I love to enlighten people to the joys of ergonomic living because it can help alleviate stress and strain to the body which provides comfort. And, comfort can definitely be the key to happiness!

Why Ergonomic Stretching is Important

The body was not designed to stay in one position all day. Sitting or standing at a desk, computer or work station can cause muscular tension. Ergonomic stretching is important to ease the stiffness of your major muscle groups. Taking short stretch breaks, at least once per hour, can ease stiffness and muscle strain in the hands, wrists, arms, neck, back, and legs. If you notice pain or tension in any area of the body, just give it a quick stretch to reduce and stress on your muscles.

Here’s 5 easy-to-do ergonomic stretching routines for the hands and forearms


Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Wrist Bend

Open the palm of your hand and face it downward. Gently bend the wrist from side to side. Hold for 3 – 5 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Forearm Rotate

Stretch your arm out, palms facing up. Slowly rotate your palm facing down. Hold 3 – 5 seconds. Rotate palms back up. Hold 3 – 5 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Wrist Stretch with Fingertips

Hold one arm out straight. Hold the hand up, like motioning someone to stop. Grasp and hold the fingers with the other hand and pull towards you. Hold 3 – 5 seconds. Relax. Repeat 3 times. Then bend your wrist down and with the other hand, pull the back of the hand toward you. Hold and relax as before.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Palms Together

While sitting at your desk, place your arms on the table with your palms together. Move your elbows outward as you slide your wrists down, attempting to touch the table. Stop when you feel a good stretch. You do not have to rest your hands on the table, just keep your palms pressed together and get a good stretch for 5 – 7 seconds. Repeat 3 times.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Finger Roll

Start by opening your hand. Then, make a fist but keep the thumb out. Slide your fingertips up your palm so the tips of your fingers are now near the base of your fingers. Keep the fingers curled tightly for a good 5 second stretch.

In addition to ergonomic stretching, you can also consider using an ergonomic pen. This will ease muscular tension when writing for long periods of time at work because a properly designed ergonomic pen will almost grip you, so you don’t have to expend muscular energy to tightly grip it. A more relaxed hand grip will ease tension in the fingers, hands and arm.

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Dr. Lee,
Inventor of the UGLee Pen

Remember to show our guest blogger some love and make him feel welcome, leave your comments and questions for Dr. Lee HERE!

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3 comments:

  1. wow,great idea,i,m looking forward to reading all the mid month moments of health.thank you Dr.lee for your input and the excerise's I will be trying them out.I have your pen,s and love using them!!Congrat's to sue baby hope you love your pen,s.

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  2. Thanks Dr. Lee for kicking off our 'Mid-Month Moment of Health' - we look forward to more great posts. I will definitely be doing these excercises. I want to fend off carpal tunnel, constant typing takes a toll on the wrists! And definitely poor sitting habits while writing are no good for me, this article made me more aware of the fact that I need to do more to make my home office more ergonommic!

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