Thoughtful Thursday - July 23rd
Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday! This week’s features special guest Brad Taylor DC, who’s going to give us a shameless plug and answer a very popular chiro query. But first…
Clinic Updates
Hope you are all having a fab week! We do have some practitioners away at the moment:
Sammy from Fulham is off from tomorrow and back on August 3rd. Mike and Ami-Bree are covering but are nearly full already, so we have also opened extra time at our Putney branch. Give them a buzz on 02087856144 if you can't get in at Fulham.
Bryan from Putney has had his plans change and is now back in clinic as per usual next week.
Craig from Putney is off paddle boarding in Cornwall still, but we are trying to coerce him into running a satellite clinic there – if you have any interest in this, let us know!
Our osteopaths at The Berkeley Clinic in Marylebone are back in action again. Please contact us if you would like to get in to see Fernando or Jonathan.
Podcast(s) of the Week
Craig’s been away but apparently podcasting is a lifestyle choice – nothing’s going to stop him now! He’s recorded two episodes so far while he’s been in Cornwall.
The first is with our marketing maestro, Tommy Tonkins, who revealed a few secrets to successfully marketing a chiropractic business, which is still pretty valuable intel for other businesses, too. Tommy, however, made the mistake of mentioning to some of us that the photo Craig took to promote the episode looked like it should be “on the cover of a middle-aged Attitude magazine,” so we took the liberty of doing just that. Teehee.
The second podcast features brothers Simon and Neil Finemore, who are not only chiropractors but gin distillers – can you see where we’re going with this? Craig decided it would be rude of him not to sample the product before the chat, so it’s best if you listen to the rest of the podcast with this in mind.
Also keep this in mind – the Finemores are kind enough to be giving away a bottle of Monterey Gin to a lucky listener, and all you need to do to enter is listen to the podcast (obviously), visit this Insta post, tag a friend, and answer the following question: “What cocktail are the guys drinking at the start of the episode?” The competition’s open until Tuesday, July 28th and to residents of the UK aged 18 or over.You can find both podcasts here.
And now, over to Brad!
Shameless Plug(s) of the Week by Brad Taylor DC
During the lockdown period, I (like many of us) have been adapting to my usual routine being disturbed. One of the things I really enjoyed doing pre-lockdown was hot yoga. I have since tried to adapt my routine to doing yoga online at home, and used it as a chance to work on areas of my yoga practice that were lacking before.
One of the main areas I’ve been working on is balance. Balance training increases the strength and endurance of postural and stabilising muscles around the body. It trains complex neural pathways, which fire to co-activate postural and stabilising muscles that keep you from falling over. This, in conjunction with my regular chiropractic adjustments, which help my brain and body communicate better, has really made a difference to how I move and perform when balancing.
Throughout the time I have been practising yoga, I have always been cautious of headstands because of the potential of injury to the neck, thus limiting my ability to train balance significantly. I came across a pretty cool product right at the start of lockdown that has unlocked a much safer method to build confidence in doing headstands. It’s called a FeetUp Trainer. Its design allows me to balance on my shoulders, and I also use it in front of a wall so I can practice balancing safely.
I have really missed my weekly yoga sessions under infrared light. The hot environment allows me to get deeper into each pose, and there is also something oddly satisfying about getting a good sweat on to flush the system. Infrared light and the sauna environment are also good for the immune and cardiovascular systems. I am extremely excited that the long-awaited re-opening of my local hot yoga studio in Richmond, yogahaven, is happening on Saturday, so I can’t wait to get down there.
If you have never tried yoga or are worried about not knowing what you are doing, I would encourage you to give it a go with an instructor first (and highly recommend yogahaven or The House of Yoga in Putney/Fulham). They will be able to guide you through the session well and adapt to any injuries you have. Yoga practice takes you through so many natural movements, which are incredibly healthy for your spine and body. Ultimately, yoga practice is about you and really gives you a chance to focus, be present and get some good movement into your body.
Ask the Team
Brad Taylor DC also answers your question…
Should I get adjusted before or after my workout?
It depends on how you react to adjustments. If you are someone who feels “spacey” or a bit “knocked out” after an adjustment, this is a sign of a strong parasympathetic response to the adjustment.
If you are someone like this, it is probably better to exercise before getting adjusted and let the parasympathetic state aid your recovery. If you don’t feel this kind of response usually, getting adjusted before working out could be beneficial, as you will be loading your joints during your workout and the adjustment can improve their movement pattern.
Is there something about chiropractic you’d like to know more about? Have a health-related query we might be able to help with? Feel free to fire us back and we will answer it for you and everybody else!
Thanks to Brad for a very relaxed Thoughtful Thursday plug. I think Michael from Tooting may be up next? Suspect it may be another calming one given his penchant for hanging in the park!
Until then, look after yourselves and let us know if you have anything you would like us to plug.
Cheers,
Drew