Springtime is the start of golfing season, which is the time of year to pull out those clubs and take advantage of the warmer weather. In this article, I am going to talk specifics by explaining how flexibility helps you reduce injury and achieve a more powerful swing, as well as how to maintain that flexibility to ensure you have the most enjoyable experience.
We all know that flexibility is important. We throw the word around all the time, but often do not know why it is so important, specifically with golf. Flexibility as a whole refers to all the soft tissues within the body moving freely and without restriction. When this is sufficient, you are able to obtain full range of motion without having to compensate elsewhere. This is important for two main reasons; it avoids unnecessary injury and improves the power of your swing. Let us look at these points in more detail.
There is nothing more disappointing than getting out for the first golf game and walking away in pain, or even injured. Unfortunately, this is all too common because over the winter months, our muscles stiffen up with the lack of activity. This has some serious implications for proper posture, resulting in injuries to the neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees and ankles – the most common golf injuries that result from lack of flexibility.
To understand why unrestricted movement is so important, we need to first dissect the swing. As previously mentioned, posture is critical. To make successful contact, you must rotate your body while keeping your shoulders square and your eyes on the ball. If you have limited flexibility in any area, what starts happening is that you struggle to get the rotation (shoulder turn) you need to drive the ball. This shoulder turn not only keeps the club on the proper path, but is entirely responsible for the power behind your drive as well. Therefore, unrestricted movement allows for a wider and more controlled shoulder turn, greater core rotation, direct vision of the ball at all times, a direct path for your club, and ultimately more power and distance upon contact.
On the reverse side, when there is restriction in your torso, arms, hips, legs, etc., this interrupts the smooth coordination between these movements. Unfortunately, as a human, you are very smart and very stubborn, so you still find a way to hit the ball. In this circumstance, your body instantly starts figuring out a way to complete the task regardless of your restricted movements. So imagine this, with your eyes on the ball, you go to rotate your body backwards to wind up your swing. Unfortunately, at a certain point during that rotation, your body literally stops because of restrictions you have from tight muscles. From that point, in order to complete the task you now need to compensate using other parts of your body. So what happens? Well, you have reduced rotation in your core and your shoulders. Thus, the only other option is to use your arms instead of your trunk to complete the task. You are now driving your swing almost entirely by your arms as opposed to benefiting from proper posture, and the power of your core and shoulder rotation. In sum, you have significantly less power, a disappointing shot, and more often than not walk away with pain and/or injury from the overcompensation.
At this point, the importance of having proper flexibility when golfing should be clear. So let us touch on the proper way to work on this before diving into your game. First and foremost, always remember to warm up before you stretch. And no, this does not mean a walk from your car to the driving range. I am talking about a good, thorough warm up that gets your blood pumping. Athletes everywhere call it a warm up for a reason – because of the overall sense of warmth you experience throughout your body. You should often feel a light sweat coming on as well. So, be sure to use these two bodily responses gauges to whether you have done it correctly.
As previously mentioned, walking from the car to the range does not tend to provide the proper warm up needed for the game. Therefore, here are some very simple options that are highly effective, quick, and require no equipment:
- Side steps
- Marching in Place
Once nicely warmed up, the next step is to start stretching. One very important thing to consider while doing so is that you always need to keep the stretch in a pain free range. Move gently with your body and do not try to force the stretch. If you find yourself going outside of that comfort zone, back off slightly, take a deep breath, relax, and let your body guide you.
If you are just starting and not sure what and/or how you should be stretching, these following stretches are by far a couple of the most amazing for golfers looking to improve their game. The Backswing Stretch touches on all the critical flexibility points necessary for a proper drive, and the Latissimus Dorsi Stretch really allows for that full rotation by stretching out the shoulders. Complete the following steps for incredible stretches that will loosen everything up in all the right places.
Backswing Stretch: 
- Take a wide grip on the golf club with one hand at either end.
- While holding onto both ends, rotate backwards in a slow, smooth, and controlled fashion (same motion as during your swing). Again, do not rotate so far as to cause pain.
- Come back to center.
- Slowly rotate to the other side.
- Repeat steps 1-4 alternating from side-to-side until you feel little remaining restriction.
Latissimus Dorsi Stretch
- Stand your club upright in a vertical position.
- Place both hands on top of the club.
- Drive your hips back as you drop your head between your arms, feeling a nice stretch through your shoulders and down your sides.
- Hold for at least 15 seconds, release the stretch, and repeat.
- Increased stretch – while still bent over in the stretch, bend your left knee and very slightly rotate to the right (right should towards the sky) – this should increase the stretch in your left shoulder.
- Hold for 15 seconds, and then switch to your left side by slightly bending your right knee and slightly rotating to the left (left shoulder to the sky).
- Continue rotating from side-to-side, holding for 15 seconds each side until you feel your shoulders loosen up.
NOTE: You can also do this stretch one arm at a time if preferred. Simply place one hand on the club and follow the same steps.
Cory Boyd
Registered Massage Therapist
Personal Trainer
Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
When we’re young, we’re the center of our own universe; or so we assume. During this time, the subconscious mind has more than a million times the neurological processing power of our conscious mind. Every word, action, tone of voice and body language experienced when young, informs the developing perceptions of our world and the degree of security and acceptability we feel within it. Core beliefs are formed by the age of six and become our “operating system”. These matter deeply because it’s estimated ninety five percent of our conscious thoughts, decisions and perceptions are shaped by these early subconscious programs (i.e. beliefs).
The subconscious has a number of roles and one of its most important is to keep us safe. The best way it knows how, given the early programs/beliefs it’s taken on. One powerful method it employs is to make us far more self-critical and self-judgemental than we would ever consider being with anyone else. The subconscious belief is that this will prevent us from being unsafe or unacceptable to those around us. This often leads to assumptions that anything positive said or implied about us can’t be true. They’re just being kind or polite. On the other hand, any negative words, body language or expressions are taken as self-evident truth.
For many of us, these translate as negative tapes running in the background of our consciousness. An interesting test is to become aware of these harsh self-talk tapes. When hearing them, stop and really think about whether you would ever talk/judge so harshly with a friend or child. Just the act of continually assessing self-talk through this lens can gradually lessen the power of these old programs.
A much more direct and elegant way is to harness the power of Emotional Freedom Techniques, (EFT, Tapping, Picture Tapping Techniques). Every feeling is attached to a belief. By using the language of feelings, we can open a collaborative dialogue between the conscious mind with its life time of rational thought, knowledge and understanding and the subconscious mind carrying all our early programming and beliefs. With the support of an experienced and skilled practitioner, old programs and beliefs can be brought into the light of day. One safe piece at a time, to be re-examined in the current reality. So every part of our psyche gets to understand “the rest of the story”.
During the course of this work, we begin to develop real self-compassion. Understanding at every level that we are human which is both a great and a challenging reality.
We’ve all done the best we knew how, with the tools we’ve had at the time. It’s never too late to get better tools. No matter what our earlier childhood programming and experiences, we all have the opportunity to learn to become worm nurturing mentors to our inner child. We don’t have to worry about how good we are at it at any time, because our inner child isn’t going anywhere. We can go back as often as we need to, to gently educate, reassure and heal hurtful, fearful or limiting beliefs; without trauma.
To learn more about these techniques, set up an initial interview with David Gilbert. Our gifted Integrative Therapist. He can be reached directly @ 613-747-5458 or wellness@david-gilbert.com . Offering work so powerful it’s guaranteed.
Yours in good mental and emotional health.
One of the reasons that diets backfire is because people restrict too much. They allow the number of calories they consume to drop below their resting metabolic rate, or the basic amount of energy or calories needed to run our metabolism for the day.
Eating less than your resting metabolic rate means that your body instantly perceives danger, and in response, will turn on the alarm system that protects you from starvation and slows your metabolism. You go into starvation mode and eat until you inevitably stop the diet — the classic rebound weight gain.
Just think of what happens when you skip breakfast, work through lunch, and finally return home in the evening: you eat everything in sight. Most people are reasonable and know they shouldn’t overeat. Nonetheless, time after time, people repeat the same mistakes.
If you’ve been through a number of diets that have failed, your body has been through this process a number of times. In short, dieting makes you fat. Ditching that diet mentality becomes crucial if you want to lose weight. You’re embarking on a healthier way of eating, not a diet. Below are some strategies to help lose weight and reduce the risk of diabetes:
1. Cut out the processed stuff and eat real, whole foods.
Eating as many real, whole, unprocessed foods in your diet as possible becomes your best strategy to lose weight and keep it off. Make a switch to whole, real unprocessed foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, olive oil, organic, range, or grass-fed animal products (poultry, lamb, beef, pork, eggs), and wild, smaller fish such as salmon.
2. Eat breakfast.
Skipping breakfast means you’re eventually starving, and throughout the day you eat much more food than you need to feel full. To optimize health and weight loss, you need breakfast to spread your food intake evenly throughout the day. And try not to eat for at least two hours before bed.
3. Eat mindfully.
Eating while we are stressed or distracted makes us fat, both because we don’t digest our food properly and because stress hormones slow metabolism and promote belly fat storage. We also tend to overeat when we eat quickly, because it takes the stomach twenty minutes to signal the brain that we are full.
4. Record your thoughts.
Keep a journal. Writing things down is a great way to better metabolize your feelings so that they don’t end up driving unconscious choices or overeating. A diet of words and self-exploration often results in weight loss. You metabolize your life and calories better.
5. Get sufficient sleep.
Get eight hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep every night. You’ll become less prone to cravings and normalize fat-regulating hormones. One study found even a partial night’s sleep deprivation contributes to insulin resistance, paving the way for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
6. Control stress levels.
Chronic stress makes us overeat, not to mention overeating the wrong kinds of food, which ultimately leads to weight gain. Learn to actively relax with meditation, yoga, deep breathing, or any other technique that helps you reduce stress.
7. Get moving, and make it enjoyable.
You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet, but the right exercise can help you lose weight, maintain weight loss, and control your appetite so you don’t overeat. Ideally you should do a minimum of 30 minutes of walking every day. Get a pedometer to track your steps. Wear it every day and set a goal of 10,000 steps a day. Consider interval training for more intense, fat-burning exercise. Whatever you do, make it fun and you’ll be more likely to stick with it.
If you have any questions about weight loss or all things nutrition or exercise, we’d love to hear from you!
613.599.2311 or info@wholetherapyottawa.com
🙂
When I’m working with clients with anger issues, there are always layers and aspects.
We start with the dominant feelings at that moment about a given situation, then use advanced Emotional Freedom Techniques or Picture Tapping Techniques to allow the conscious and subconscious minds to examine the issue from all sides, reprocess it and finally remove the “Big T” or “Little T” traumas attached.
As we do, one by one each of the layers underneath come to light for the same attention. These techniques are very gentle so the work is safe and clients are not re-traumatized. The following diagram from the Gottman Institute illustrates this very well.
When anger is getting in the way of living the life you want, consider booking an appointment with me, David Gilbert, Integrative Therapist.
Yous in health and wellness.
Most people don’t set out to be angry. A button gets pushed and they’re gone. They don’t plan it. It just happens. All the good intentions in the world go by the wayside once they’re triggered. Most often, it’s angry hurtful words. In extreme cases it can result in physical assaults.
These seemingly uncontrolled responses seldom make the situation better. So why would people who appear calm and rational other times have such sensitive “switches”? The answer lies in the non-logical parts of our brains. Just behind the forehead, lies the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for our logical thoughts and planning. Everything else behind that plays a reactive supporting role. When we’re feeling calm, cool and collected, we have great blood flow to the logical brain. It gets to largely stay in charge and works pretty well.
As soon as we become stressed, blood flow begins to be diverted to the more primitive survival portions of the brain. Now we’re in reactive mode. Our body gets tense, hormones flood our system and we become combative as our central nervous system triggers the fight part of the basic fight/flight/freeze survival modes. What determines these responses in reactive mode? The subconscious mind.
The problem is, the core beliefs and assumptions informing the subconscious mind are laid down by the age of six. In effect, when we’re stressed, a one to six year old is calling the shots. That’s scary for both the adult and the little kid pulling the levers. The subconscious mind isn’t trying to be hard to get along with. It’s just trying to keep us safe; the best way it thinks it knows how.
Fortunately, there are powerful Integrative Therapies such as Emotional Freedom Techniques and Picture Tapping Techniques. In the hands of a skilled practitioner these allow us to gently and effectively rewrite the early programming through the language of feelings. Every feeling is attached to a belief. So negative feelings are the “diagnostics” of where early programming doesn’t fit well with our current realities. Over four hundred clinical studies including brain imaging studies attest to the impact of these techniques. To enhance the progress of each session, our Integrative Therapist allows clients to have time prior to each session with a class II medical device system at no additional cost. In Canada, this is registered for the treatment of pain and circulation issues, but it also helps calm the mind and body. By reducing the alarm signals being sent from the body to the subconscious, sessions progress more easily.
How effective are these tools? They’re so powerful they’re guaranteed. Once a client has experienced their first session, they have the option to enter the warranty program. In this program, they purchase an additional four sessions. In the unlikely event they do not make significant progress within those five sessions, we refund the fees.
To learn more, stop by the clinic and pick up a free Health Pass worth $80.00. This covers the cost of the initial assessment and information session. David Gilbert , our Integrative Therapist can be reached directly @ 613-747-5458.
Yours in good mental and emotional health.
As an Integrative Therapist I have many supplementary tools and resources to help clients become more self-secure. Breath techniques are one small but useful tool. Breath is one of the most critical requirements for human life and how we use it profoundly influences our entire being. Quite literally, how we breath affects every cell in the body via changes in gene expression; for better or worse.
When stressed, our breathing naturally becomes more shallow and rapid. Triggering the body’s fight/flight/freeze responses which are managed by the sympathetic nervous system. The extreme, is hyper ventilation with that panicky “can’t get enough air” feeling caused by to little CO2 in the body. We need a good balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our bodies to function efficiently. The appropriate amount of CO2 actually helps the body utilize oxygen. In fact this is why 1st responders in Europe administer oxygen mixed with CO2 instead of straight oxygen.
Understanding this is great, but the devil’s in the details. Forcing ourselves to breathe deeply feels hard, and overdoing it can leave us with that feeling anxious and light headed feeling. Hardly calming.
Harnessing the Power of Breath Management
While breathing in, imagine you’re sucking the air down into your lower belly using the muscles in your lower belly. Now gently and naturally exhale supporting your breath by tightening those same muscles. Notice how easy and natural this feels.
When we breathe in, it stimulates the fight/flight/freeze or sympathetic nervous system. Breathing out stimulates the parasympathetic or calming nervous system. When feeling stressed, take a few minutes to do the following.
Draw your breath in deeply from the lower belly; fairly quickly, say a count of 4-6 as feels comfortable. Now hold that breathe for the same amount of time, followed by calmly breathing out using twice the count used on the inhalation. Remember to lift that breath out from that cradle of muscles in the lower belly.
If the stress levels you’re experiencing require more substantial resources, you may wish to book a session with David Gilbert our Integrative Therapist – Providing tools so powerful they’re guaranteed.
Yours in good mental and emotional health.
We’ve all seen that person who shows up with a circular hickey-like bruise on their body. I remember witnessing this for the first time and thinking “What the heck is that?! And why would anybody do that to themselves?!” Or even, “What happened to that person?!” Well guess what? You were witness to someone who just had cupping.
Believe it or not, they are not crazy, nobody injured them, the treatment is actually incredibly relaxing, and the benefits are amazing! From helping to relieve back/neck pains, loosening stiff muscles, and even helps to promote relaxation (good for anxiety, fatigue, migraines, and rheumatism) this type of treatment is something that everyone can benefit from.
Cupping is a body treatment that involves creating suction on the skin using glasses, or plastic cups. It is most definitely a very trendy thing these days; however, the reality is that it is not new at all. It dates back to ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures. During that time, they discovered that by placing a cup on the surface of the skin, then subsequently using a suction device to remove the oxygen, that they could create a negative pressure inside the cup. This is why cupping results in elevation of the skin into the signature dome-like appearance inside the cup. The benefits they uncovered, and that we are now just experiencing, are beyond what you would imagine. They include:
- Creating a mild immune response and increasing anti-inflammatory chemicals in the body by mobilizing blood flow to the skin. Since the same reaction takes place during muscle recovery, cupping results in a faster and more efficient healing process.
- Improving blood circulation to the tissues by drawing stagnant blood to the surface. This speeds up and helps with the recovery of the treated muscle.
- Stretching tight muscles and the surrounding fascia, resulting in looser muscles, decreased pain, and improved mobility.
Whether you are suffering from pain, discomfort, or immobility, or you are a gym goer or an experienced athlete, cupping is a fantastic way to improve the quality of your movement and return to your daily activities significantly faster.
When it comes to negative side effects of cupping, there are a few things to keep in mind. The most apparent side effects are the odd circular bruises often left behind following the treatment. Although this is completely normal and will dissipate very quickly (often within a couple of days), you might not want to schedule a treatment then head to the beach right after! It is also normal to feel stiff and tender in the areas the cups were applied. Just as with the bruising, these symptoms do not last long either and are normally resolved within a day or two. Ultimately, the negative side effects are incredibly minor and most definitely do not outweigh the benefits.
Although there are multiple types of cupping that exist, such as wet cupping, fixed cupping, moving cupping, and fire cupping, the focus for my treatments revolves around air cupping, or dry cupping.
Dry cupping uses a specially designed pump that attaches to the end of the cup and creates suction when applied to the skin. Dry cupping includes both fixed and moving. Determining which of these to use depends entirely on the focus of the treatment. Fixed cupping is where the cups remain in place throughout the treatment, and are normally left in place from anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes. Moving cupping (also known as gliding cupping) is where the cups are moved during the treatment to massage the muscles. To do this I use oil on the skin to allow the cups to move easily without any uncomfortable friction. Now that we understand what cupping is and how it works, let’s talk a little bit more about the benefits.
Pain Reduction
Cupping in general, but particularly moving cupping, has similar effects to a massage and is beneficial in relieving muscular pain. As mentioned previously, the combination of triggering an inflammatory response, increased blood flow, and stretching of the muscles works 3-fold to not only relax tight muscles, but to promote better overall muscle health. Therefore, the ultimate outcome results in decreased pain associated with improved mobility. Another very interesting fact is that practitioners even use cupping to help treat fibromyalgia.
Releases Muscle Tension
We have all been subjected to the VERY uncomfortable experience of having tight, knotted muscles. Through the process of stretching both the muscle fibers and the surrounding fascia, cupping actually softens muscle tissue. Through this process, there is significant relief in muscle knots and tension. While there are always exceptions to the rule, cupping usually targets muscle groups that are prone to tightness. These include hamstrings, adductors, and the back and shoulder muscles. So as opposed to going through the self-inflicted torture of using the foam roller (and we have all been there!), you will have one of the most relaxing experiences with incredibly effective, and often better results. Therefore, not only will your muscles be looser and more flexible at the end of your treatment, but you will also find yourself on cloud nine. Win win!
Improves digestion/relieves digestive disorders
Given the increasing interest and popularity in this treatment, research continues to expand on the overall benefits it provides. One of the more recent discoveries includes improving digestion. Studies are showing that the overall relaxation experienced by the body also results in improved digestion. Theories say that the stress, anxiety, and muscle tension that we carry with us on a daily basis can actually lead to congestion and stagnation in the digestive system. Therefore, as the body and mind relax during this treatment, the thought is that it releases this stagnation to help increase digestion. As mentioned, this research is still in the beginning stages and there is a need for more, but the initial results are looking extremely positive.
As you can see, the Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures were well ahead of the game when it comes to benefiting from cupping. Luckily, we are now in a position to share these benefits nationwide. Without a doubt, cupping will be around for an incredibly long time, and I hope that you now have a better understanding of not only what it is, but also how it works and how it can benefit you to improve your every day quality of life!
Self-sabotage. The art of subconsciously preventing ourselves from reaching the dreams and goals we think we desire. This takes many forms and comes from a variety of root causes. One of the most insidious and frustrating is what Dr. Lewis Engel Ph.D and Tom Ferguson M.D. call “Imaginary Crimes”. Our core beliefs and assumptions about the world and how we fit into it are laid down by the age of six. From that point on, the subconscious tries to fit every life experience into those early programs. Why the term “Imaginary Crimes”?
Young children are typically moralistic. Everything has to be fair and equal. Everybody gets the same size piece of cake or pie. As we grow up, life gets more complex. We can’t divide the world into identical equal pieces. But unless the original programming is altered somehow, the subconscious mind will still try to keep things fair. If we start to move toward success in any field our family, culture or tribe hasn’t yet achieved, internal struggles with the subconscious becomes more and more intense. Like being attached to the wall with bungee cords, the first few steps are easy. But the further we go, the harder we’re pulled back. Eventually we find ourselves mysteriously failing again.
When the conscious and subconscious minds disagree, the subconscious wins every time. It knows where all the buttons are and does whatever it takes to keep you safe the best way it thinks it knows how; based on these early programs.
EFT, otherwise known as Tapping or “Energy Psychology” offers powerful tools to help the conscious and subconscious minds collaborate. Re-examining these old programs until there is agreement on what’s the whole truth now. Progress is so much easier with the emergency brake off.
If these patterns sound familiar, you may wish to book a session with me, David Gilbert – Integrative Therapist.
Some of my most powerful work involves the use of advanced Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Picture Tapping Techniques (PPT), Grounding, Pulsed Magnetic Resonance Stimulation (a class II registered medical device), audio/visual brain entrainment and anti-inflammatory protocols. All the resources I use have been so powerful they’re guaranteed. This means we can relax and concentrate on recovery without fretting over whether it’s a hopeless waste of money. Spending seventeen years on the research side, has given me an unusual birds eye view of how every part of our being is connected with and interacts with every other; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Yours in health and well being,
David Gilbert
When spring hits after the freezing cold weather of winter, a big realization sets in. The perfect swing you mastered from last summer has left you once again. As you rotate through the changing seasons, this becomes an unfortunate reality every year, leaving you to start from the beginning as each golf season commences. It leaves you wondering whether you can do something to avoid being stuck in this continuous pattern, and improve every year rather than breaking even. Well guess what, the answer is YES!
To be well prepared upon return of the off-season, it is important to take care of your physical self. Training year round is critical for golfers to identify and correct any physical limitations, thus developing a solid foundation of mobility and stability. This is necessary for optimum strength, which reflects in improved speed and power. Being physically prepared will allow you to play the most consistent, enjoyable, injury-free golf of your life.
Given that the golf swing requires a unique combination of motions, keeping flexibility and strength over the winter can be the key to a good start when golf season returns. Unfortunately, all too often there is a lack of activity and mobility during winter, which results in reduced range of motion/fluidity in your swing, and decreased strength. Therefore, it is pertinent to have a game plan to ensure that both these factors remain in place. A regular routine consisting of massage therapy and exercise is critical to maintaining consistency in your game. When appropriate massage therapy is applied, there is the obvious effect of relaxed muscles and improved flexibility/fluidity. However, the benefits extend much further and include enhanced golf performance, eliminating pain, reduced risk of injury, and more efficient/accelerated recovery from activity and/or injury. Combining massage therapy with a proper exercise program provides the strength, stability, and power required to not only maintain, but improve your performance as well. Without a doubt, both practices are critical to returning to the course in April with your best foot forward as opposed to rebuilding your swing all over again.
As previously mentioned, the game of golf is highly complex, involving significant strategy, skill, and technique. Therefore, reviewing, analyzing, changing, and practicing your set-up (grip, stance, posture, ball position and alignment) is just as important. Unfortunately, too many golfers fail to address the off-season as a time of growth and development, and fall into the same trap of inactivity and lack of practice. To avoid finding yourself in this category, focus on one or two key improvement priorities that are most likely to help you return to the course in spring with more skill and confidence. The following are common issues affecting a golfer’s game that one should keep in mind for practice during downtime:
- Poor golf posture: A proper golf posture is the foundation for a consistent and powerful golf swing. Without proper physical preparation (i.e. strength and stability), maintaining a proper golf posture is difficult.
- Stiffness, immobility and/ or pain in the golf swing: People most often neglect and/or do not fully address this limitation during the off-season. As a result, this lack of flexibility and reduced range of motion is the primary cause of golf-related injuries early in the season. The golf swing is a very dynamic and complex movement that can put a great deal of strain on the body if not properly prepared.
- Early fatigue: If you walk the course, golf rounds can last up to 5 hours. Without adequate endurance, early fatigue can lead to poor performance, frustration, additional injuries from lack of form, and overall lack of enjoyment.
As you can see, the off-season is the ideal time to make positive changes to your game through the maintenance/improvement of flexibility, strength, and stamina, as well as the progression and enhancement of your skills to ensure your return to the game is enjoyable, rewarding, and leaves you excited about your performance.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or thoughts! I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Cory Boyd
Registered Massage Therapist
Personal Trainer
Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
Happiness doesn’t happen by accident. They say we are in charge of how we feel, and I believe it, even though during some of my lower moments I’d like someone else to blame. I’m 35 days into a personal project on happiness, and I’m already living proof that we can choose to be happy or sad.
Life happens all around us and we can’t control most of it. In fact, the general consensus is that about 90% of what happens to us is beyond our personal control. So how do we maintain composure when someone rear-ends our car? Or a snowstorm derails our plans? Or our toddler spills our coffee all over aisle 3 of the grocery store?
Your Subconscious is Listening
Studies show that what we tell ourselves, we believe. Most of our thoughts are pre-programmed, with only about 5% of our thoughts being conscious. And unfortunately, most of our programming leans toward a negative bias. If you struggle with positive thoughts now, it’s likely you’re going to keep struggling with them.
This winter, I was struggling hard with keeping upbeat. The weather was oppressive. I have a lot of kids, and a business, and a small house (you get the idea). I needed a new focus, and a better coping strategy than simply counting the days until spring.
The solution is re-programming the subconscious. The way to do it? Repetition.
It’s easy to repeat negative things to ourselves. Positive things sometimes take more effort (and if we’re honest, they often don’t feel 100% true), but the subconscious is listening.
A Positive Challenge
Enter #100happydays. I first stumbled across this project in 2015, and I gave it a try. The idea was to post a picture of something that made you happy every day for 100 days in a row. It was brilliant, and I loved the experience. I opted to try it again, with a few rules:
- Minimize the ‘stuff’, maximize the feelings. It’s really easy to focus on an object or material thing and say that it makes us happy. Instead, I wanted to focus on the little things, experiences and nuances of my day. I felt it would create a richer experience.
- Be true. Whatever I posted about had to genuinely make me smile, laugh, or warm me up inside. No fake stuff.
And that’s it! It’s been 35 days so far and I’m loving the experience. Stay tuned for another update soon, but in the meantime, please feel free to follow my happy days on Instagram @wholetherapyjen
I’m also challenging each of you to pursue your own happiness! Share your warm and fuzzies with us on Instagram @WholeTherapyOttawa
