pain – Page 2 – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Menstrual cramps or gas

This is my mom. The woman who created the chicken walk.

If you ever asked me if I knew the difference between menstrual cramps or gas, I would have definitively said, “Yes.” With that opening line, you probably realize that this blog may come with a little TMI. I’m going to talk about my bowels more than you may care to know about. I’ll try to make the process at least mildly entertaining. But if you don’t have any menstrual or bowel trouble you’ve been trying to sort out, you can feel free to skip this one. However, if you have ever confused menstrual cramps for gas, keep reading.

Menstrual Cramps or Gas

I’m familiar with gas pain. As a kid if you had gas pain in our house my mom would make you get up and move. She called it the chicken walk. You would make big, exaggerated movements and get your knees up really high, practically pulling one knee up toward one shoulder and then repeating on the other side as you strutted around the room. If you weren’t doubled over in pain from gas cramps it would have been […]

Menstrual cramps or gasMaggie Downie2019-07-31T20:45:46-04:00

Could My Bed Cause Back Pain?

A made bed in our house is a very rare occurrence.

No matter how old you are, when your back hurts you feel ninety. Joe Pilates said, “If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.” I don’t normally suffer from back pain, but a few years ago, I had an ache in my low back that wouldn’t go away. Nothing calmed it. This was especially frustrating since I teach Pilates and I pride myself on knowing what is going on in my own body. I understand a lot about what causes pain and how movement can help unravel it. I stretched, massaged it, and did exercises. They were the right things to do, but nothing helped for a prolonged period. Nothing stopped the chronic pain.

I’d been dealing with the problem for a couple months when I went to visit my best friend Julie in Chicago. Before my arrival, she mentioned taking a bike ride or doing a program that was like P90x. I told her that was […]

Could My Bed Cause Back Pain?Maggie Downie2018-02-14T16:52:02-05:00

A Lump Behind Knee

What’s that lump behind my knee? If you’ve ever felt a lump where that soft tissue at the back of your knee normally is, chances are you have a popliteal cyst (aka baker’s cyst). You probably want to talk to your doctor in case it is something else and also about the best way to treat it (drainage, physical therapy, or wait and hope it goes away on its own which can happen).

Some people will experience pain, others don’t. Range of motion can also be limited. Either way it is usually caused by fluid bulging out behind the knee and is associated with arthritis. According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine baker’s cysts are highly linked to meniscus tears—full tears or partial. Something is going wrong in the knee which then produces too much fluid. I’d recommend you should be doing some physical therapy because something is causing the baker’s cyst, pain or no pain.

I was hoping there was an interesting factoid about how prevalent baker’s cyst are among bakers. Maybe because they are on their feet all day in warm kitchens so their bodies produce more fluid, but it’s simply named after Dr. William Baker who first described […]

A Lump Behind KneeMaggie Downie2018-01-13T16:04:14-05:00

Your Posture Matters More Than You Think

Posture: 1. A position of a person’s body when standing or sitting. 2. A particular way of dealing with or considering something, an approach or an attitude.

When talking about the body, we tend to discuss definition number one—the actual physical position of our body. And while that’s important and does relate to our physical wellbeing, the second definition is directly linked to the first. Think of mopey Eeyore. He’s depressed and you can see it in his whole being. His body sags. His head slumps. He’s miserable, and you can tell before he even opens his mouth.

Yet walk into an interview or any stressful situation after assuming a power pose (think Super Woman) and studies show you will have more confidence and perform better. You can actually alter your hormones and the way you feel by changing your posture. Next time you have a big event go into a bathroom stall (where no one can see you) and make yourself larger than life—pushing your hands up to the ceiling and puffing your chest out or stand tall and firm with your hands on your hips for two minutes. Posture matters—for how your feel physically and emotionally. It also matters for […]

Your Posture Matters More Than You ThinkMaggie Downie2017-12-29T21:40:40-05:00

Learn to Love Moving & Be A Part of the Movement Movement!

Your mindset can make all the difference as to whether or not you stick to a new plan. So let’s try to change some common misconceptions about moving. Let’s learn to love movement.

I Don’t Have Time

This is never really true of anything. We have the time. It’s about how we prioritize our time, and it this case whether we prioritize movement. Most of us have the ability to reorganize our schedule. If you get together with friends you could ask to go for a walk instead of meet up for food or coffee. If you sit down in front of the couch you could get up and march in place. When you pump gas you could do some exercises. On a phone call at work you could do some exercises. But we often feel embarrassed to move in front of others. Screw them. They aren’t moving. And if they aren’t they don’t feel as good as you when you move. Most likely they are just jealous that you don’t care. And, you might even inspire someone else to move.

As a side note, even if you think you don’t have time, you can tweak little things. Park far away […]

Learn to Love Moving & Be A Part of the Movement Movement!Maggie Downie2018-01-13T16:39:42-05:00