By: Hettie Basil Lighttower
I learned something new this week. I learned new benefits about squatting. Not the kind where you take shelter in a structure that doesn’t belong to you, but the kind I have not done since in my thirties. You know, when you bend your knees and drop your butt down and have a pretend invisible seat?
Mid-life I tore a meniscus, then again in the second knee. Squatting down became a thing of the past because the pain was so much when I went to bend down it was not worth bending down. I started to just lean over anytime I had to pick up something or I asked my kid to do it for me.
A friend of mine contacted me this week and she has been struggling with a weight problem, like most of us have or do. She told me that she started squatting and holding the position for about 30 seconds her first few tries. She went on to explain about this video she had come across and then sent it to me. She also admitted that squatting down was a thing of the past for her also until she came across this new information.
Additionally, she mentioned that it was very hard and that she had to hold on to a chair and also her counter to get down and more importantly back up. Evidently it is okay to “modify” the squats in the beginning of getting them started again, until your body realizes it CAN do this.
The last time I did a squat for the fun of it and on purpose was in a gym and in my twenties while trying to build muscles. I’m four decades past my twenties. So, it has been awhile.
The video she sent me was podcaster called “Codex of Reality”, an interesting name. If you have access to YouTube and check them out, you will find all sorts of interesting topics of ways to control your own health. Some of their topics are reverse aging techniques, breathing patterns for different beneficial reasons, fascia resets, tongue exercises, ancient beneficial fruits, things about the thymus gland, waking your cells up, things about the pineal gland and so many more incredible topics. I mean, this site just gave me three more months of topics to write about!
But today I am going to discuss squatting. By the way I have done this exercise for two days now. Not for the recommended length of time yet, but I am working my stamina up. And yes, I did have to hold on to a chair and my cabinet in order to get back into standing position. Pathetic, I know. Not pretty, I know. And this certainly gives the words “Pull up a Chair” a whole other meaning! I did it and actually felt better afterward. I could tell it was definitely waking up my systems and here on the third day I can tell you I actually feel healthier.
Here’s the deal, the goal is to hold the position of squatting for three minutes a day. That time interval should be consecutive, and until you get back into shape, it can be in intervals that add up to three minutes a day. I am not up to three minutes a day. I hope that will happen in intervals in a week or two. I am not putting a lot of pressure on myself.
To do them properly, you stand with your feet out and even with your hips and shoulders. Bring your hands to your chest, like in a prayer stance, and your toes outward in opposite direction just slightly and not just straight ahead. When you begin to drop into the squat, your heels should be flat on the floor. Your heels will want to rise upward and your toes will want to compensate. Don’t let them. The more you engage with your heels flat and drop all the way into an actual sitting squatting position the more benefits you will gain from this. Don’t cheat yourself and stay as many seconds as you can. Your legs and butt will start screaming and objecting. Push through and have your chair ready or a person with you to help pull you back up.
Why are we doing all this nonsense all the sudden? Well here’s what will happen: You will be sending a new message to our bodies. We are sending the message that we are alive and want vitality again, that we are mobile, we are strong. Instead of sitting in a chair all day sending the message to our cells and systems that we are sedatary and dying and not interested in living, this changes things. Ancient yogis understood this message to the body and knew it changed the body’s will to live. They did this without seeing the blood results and changes in the cellular structure under a microscope.
Here are some REAL benefits to doing these deep squats: better mobility, less joint aches and pains, stronger knees, better sleep, better body systems functioning, increased immune system, better overall strength, longer life, more vitality, more mental clarity, and more stamina. All from simply bending your knees and dropping your butt into an invisible sitting position. So, it is more than just an exercise to have nice looking legs. I am just blown away by this new information and plan to make my life better as a learn to make friends with my knees and legs again.
Send in your notions and comments to [email protected]. And remember, kindness is contagious~*