to run,, or not to run...

Hello everyone!

I have always been a pretty active person, 

--give me dancing, and I could do that for hours and hours!--

but if there was one activity that I just could NEVER bring myself to enjoy, 

it was running.

I mean, if it was a part of a sport, like basketball,

I had no problem with that,

but running for the sake of running?

I just could never get myself to enjoy it, 

or want to do it enough to do it consistently.

so that was that, no running (for the sake of running) for me. ever.

Until... I met this person.

He has got to be the most active person I know!

he runs or swims every day, and also dances with me, and etc etc,

and soon after we became dance partners, 

he asked me to go on a run.

a run!

a run?!

and I said, 'sure!'

...

excuse me?  

what did I just say?

why..?

So we went on a run together around the Rice loop.

I warned him that I was a terrible runner,

but he seemed to be unfazed by it all, so we started.

I was already dying about 2 minutes into it, 

and I remember asking how long the loop was,

and him giving me some vague answer along the lines of,

"umm,,, hmm,,,, I don't know...?"

Only when we got done, -me only half alive and probably delirious- did he tell me,

"oh, yeah, the Rice loop is 3 miles long!"

...

Despite this rocky beginning,

we kept going for runs regularly -at least 3 times a week-

and somehow, I began to enjoy it a little more.

It also helped with my tendinitis/back pains from violin playing,

and actually, a physical therapist came in to one of the career development classes I was taking last semester, and told us that one of the best things we could do to prevent/manage injuries was by getting a lot of cardio!

She told us that for an hour of practicing, we should be walking/running a mile.

so remember folks, 

1 hr of practicing = 1 mile

This semester, it's been a lot harder to fit in 3 runs a week;

we usually run M,W,F, 

but this semester, I have 3 hour opera rehearsals on those days,

and after I get done with those, all I want to do is crawl into bed or maybe get a massage,

never a run.

but today, it's so gorgeous outside, 

and the Rice campus is so beautiful and green right now too! 

so maybe,, a run?

but he is not here to run with me--off to the airport and such,

so it will be my first time going for a run by myself...

hmmm

to run,, or not to run,,,?

and here I am blogging, instead of going running,,  haha

maybe after I get done  =)

have a wonderful day!

--Janny

The Battle Continues...

Hello everyone!!

Remember the neurologist friend from this post?  His story is a really tragic one:  His daughter was an extremely talented violinist, but she kept playing through the pains she was getting in her arms.  She didn't realize that it was tendinitis, and by the time she asked for help, it was too advanced to do anything for her.  Because of this, she had to quit violin, and as her father (and a doctor), it really broke his heart to watch his daughter give up something she loved so much as he watched helplessly.

So when he found out that I had tendinitis, he lost no time in instructing me in how to protect my future as a violinist.  One of the things he kept emphasizing was that if it hurts, stop playing and seek help, even if the pain is slight.  As violinists (or any other musician), his philosophy is that our bodies are more of our instruments than our actual instruments themselves, and therefore must be looked after with just as much care as we give to our instruments.  I mean, think about how carefully we look after our instruments.  For me, it seriously breaks my heart every time my violin gets even a tiny scratch! =(

Along with that, because my back was really tense, he gave me this exercise to do.  He has a background in reflexology as well, and I think this is more of reflexology than neurology?  I'm not sure,, but hey, it sees to work!

X marks the spot!

Because my left shoulder blade area is usually the tense area, I do it on my left hand.  Press the X with your other thumb. (if you are having as much problem in that area as I am, you will know that you have found the spot because it will hurt)  Press pretty firmly, and while pressing, roll your left shoulder forwards and backwards 10 times each.  This is one set.  Do it about 3 times.  He said that this helps loosen the muscles in that area.  Feel free to do it on your right hand and shoulder as well!

Then, I went to my chiropractor again yesterday because I got... well, a little too excited about this  and over-practiced  haha.  He said that since I am no longer in pain, I should start working on strengthening my muscles that are giving me so many problems; the rhomboid something something... and some other muscles around my shoulder blade...  anyway, this will prevent me from getting hurt too easily!  =D  yay! so  here are the exercises with the resistance band he showed me  =)

Exercise 1.  

This works the muscles around the bottom of the shoulder blade.   

Step 1. Bring your arm up parallel to the ground, making sure to keep the shoulder down.

Step 2. Rotate the arm very slowly upwards.  Your elbow should stay in the same spot as you are rotating.

Do it about 10 times, and that is 1 set.

Step 1.                                                                                         Step 2.

When doing this, make sure that you are rotating your arm from Step 1 to Step 2 by using the muscles in your back.  The first time I did it, I was like, "wow, this is so easy!"  but I was rotating by using my arm muscles, and therefore doing it the wrong way... So if it's too easy, you may be making the same mistake I made  haha.    Do a couple of sets, or as many as you can.

Exercise 2. 

This works the rhomboid something muscle.

Step 1. Start with your arms bent at a 90 degree angle in front of you with the band.

Step 2. Move your hands out to the side as much as you can while keeping your elbows close to your body

Step 3. Rotate more by engaging your back muscles. There should be creases in your back because it is being folded back.  It is very important that while you are doing this, you keep your shoulders down.  

Hold for a couple of seconds, or 'until you start shaking' as my chiropractor put it, then return slowly to step 1.  Repeat perhaps 10 times.

Step 1.                                                          Step 2.                                                         Step 3.

Then, he showed me some stretches.

Stretch 1. 

The reason the back muscles are so tired is not only from constant use, but also from the fact that the pectoral muscles are so tight that it keeps pulling at the back muscles.  So here is the stretch for those pectorals.

Step 1.  Hold the band over your head a little wider than the width of your shoulders.

Step 2.  Breathe as you slowly lower your arms.

Step 3.  Once you are at the bottom, release one hand from the band and return both arms to the front (don't come back up the way you went down!)

Make sure that your alignment is right (head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over heels), and do it a couple of times.  

Step 1.                                               Step 2.                                                     Step 3.

Stretch 2.
This stretches that muscle that connects your neck to your back.
Step 1.  Hold your left arm behind your back with your right hand.
Step 2. While pulling the arm down, bend your head forward at a 45 degree angle.  Hold for 10 seconds.
Do it on both sides a couple of times

Step 1.                                                                                            Step 2.

Stretch 3.
Stretching out your neck.  Because we are always craning our necks to our left as violinists, it's important to stretch it out the other way.
Step 1.  Hold your head and pull gently to your right.  Hold for 10 seconds.  Release gently.
Step 2.  Hold your head and pull gently to 45 degree angle forward and right.  Hold for 10 seconds. Release.

Step 1.                                                                                                Step 2.

I hope this will help all of you in battling your own tendinitis!  More weapons we have to battle this annoying foe the better, right?   =)  Thankfully, I have not had pains in my arm for a couple of days now, and I am back to practicing a couple of hours a day! So exciting!

Please let me know if any of the instructions above were not clear, and I will do my best to clear things up for you.  

And as you try these, you look like this... well, welcome to the club  haha.  That pectoral stretch really hurts!

oh the pain!!  hehe

Thanks so much for stopping by!

--Janny

Occupational Hazard

Hello everyone!
This is for all of my violining readers out there  =)

When people see a violinist performing, they only see the beauty of the instrument and the music (well, hopefully...) However, all of us violinists out there know that behind every beautiful and seemingly effortless performance, there are countless hours of trying to figure out this wonderful, yet extremely complicated instrument.  During this process, almost all of us will develop something that will in the least cause us some annoyance, and at worst cause us to give up playing the violin all together.

This awful thing that strikes fear into every violinist's heart, is tendinitis.  

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been dealing with this for a while. Even though there are terror stories about this, if you have it, the world does not need to end.  We simply need to take care of our bodies better from now on.  Here are a couple of ways I've come up with  to deal with this dilemma while trying to stretch all of the tense muscles and working on my set up itself so that it's not so tense.

1.  Get a massage!
ahhhh.  doesn't that look wonderful?
I have had countless deep tissue massages for the past couple of years, and I think it helps.  It is relaxing, and it works on the knots that build up in the back (yes, we may have tendinitis in our arms, but actually, all of the problems begin in our backs)

Though I love getting massages, I have discovered something else that is forever going to replace them in my quest to deal with this problem...


so, the new 1.  Go to a CHIROPRACTOR!
Now, when you find a chiropractor, try to find one that does alignments and massages at the same time.  I started going to mine, Dr. Lee, last week, and had my second session 2 days ago.
Let me tell you, in this massage, there were no oils, flowers in my hair, or relaxing scents.  Dr. Lee is really strong, and as the knots in my back were getting their butts kicked, I also had the privilege (not) of sharing their pain.
Then came the realignment. I'm pretty sure all of the bones in my neck got popped.

He is the best! =)

Then he worked on my tendons on my arm.  ouch.

Though 'no pain, no gain' is possibly the worst motto to live by as a violinist, it really rang true for my session with Dr. Lee.  I woke up the next day feeling freer in my neck and back than I had felt in a really long time.  In a couple of days, the pain in my arms were virtually nonexistent!
So Thank You Dr. Lee of Yonsei Chiropractic! If any of you live in Seattle area, and need a chiropractor, I would seriously recommend him.  He practices in Mill Creek, WA.

2.  Stop practicing so much!
Gasp! right?  about 90% of fellow violinists I have met have been workaholics, so this is probably going to be the most difficult step.  However, this is really crucial.  We need to give our bodies some time to heal itself once in awhile.  Usually, when I get a particularly bad tendinitis attack, I stop playing altogether if I can do so.  For example, right now, since I am on summer break, I can get away with doing maybe a couple of minutes of scales here and there. During the school year, if I have performances coming up, then I do a lot of mental practicing.  This really works!!  (I may do a separate post on this later)

3.  Eat well and sleep at least 7 hours a day.

This may sound silly, but I have found that getting at least 7 hours of sleep makes a huge difference!  Our bodies rebuild itself while we are sleeping, so after doing a lot of physical activity, like playing the violin, we need to give it time to relax and fix everything.  When we are sleep deprived, not only are we fatigued physically, we are also more prone to injury because we are not as alert about the signals our bodies are sending us.  And for eating, as they say, 'we are what we eat'.

sleep. what a wonderful concept.  it's especially enjoyable if the blanket becomes your cocoon =) 

So these are my go-to remedies for tendinitis.  A family friend who is a neurologist also gave me some tips, so after I try them out, I will post them for you here as well!  =)

Do you find yourself dealing with tendinitis?  What do you do to alleviate the symptoms?  Please share with us, we would love to learn from all of you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Happy Friday!  =D
--Janny