1. Healthy Bones What’s new? Petra Riedel-Willems January 22, 2009

2. Understanding Bone Health Bone is living tissue Functions of bone are: Storing minerals Making red blood cells Providing skeletal foundation for movement & posture Anti-gravity device

3. Bone is stronger than steel Bone - tensile strength around 20,000 psi "Mild" steel - tensile strength of 70,000 psi BUT: Steel is about 4.5 times heavier than bone. Bone is actually stronger than mild steel on a per-weight basis.

4. What can Deplete Bones? Disease Medication Lifestyle

5. Medications Depleting Bones Corticosteroids Glucocorticoids Thyroid replacement hormones Antacids Proton pump inhibitors Chemotherapy

6. Diseases That Deplete Bone Digestive Disorders - Celiac Disease - Crohns, Colitis - Irritable Bowel Syndrome Endocrine Disorders - Pituitary gland - Thyroid gland - Parathyroid gland

7. Life Style Choices That Deplete Bones Smoking Alcohol Caffeine Lack of calcium and vitamin D Lack of sleep - Stress Highly Acidic Diet – sugar, animal protein, refined carbohydrates

8. New recommendations: 1,000-1,200 mg/day for women 50 + 500 mg/day for men Calcium Supplement - Carbonate - Citrate - Lactate and Gluconate Good Sources of Calcium - Dark green vegetables - Almonds – soaked How much Calcium?

9. 20 sec Movie

10. Carry up to 80 pounds on their heads Walk for miles BUT Bone density lower than in the West YET Very low fracture rate (1%) Women in Rural Africa

11. Impact - experience of bearing weight - vibration Posture - stability - flexibility well-coordinated movement Balance - resourcefulness of coping with equilibrium What affects resilience in bone?

12. The Good News All these factors can be learned

13. Weight-Bearing Exercise Exercise that forces your body to support your full weight 20-30 minutes at least three times a week Examples – Walking – Dancing – Jogging – Tennis – Climbing stairs

14. Other Exercises Strength & Balance - Swimming - Bike-riding - Weight-lifting - Tai Chi Posture & Flexibility - Yoga

15. - stimulating bone strength -through natural movement & weight-bearing posture -develops an organization of posture that is well-aligned Bones for Life ® Developed by Ruthy Alon Trains optimal human biomechanics

16. The Bones for Life ® Program - Strengthens bodies - Reverses bone loss - Coordinates movement as nature intended - Promotes a spontaneous, springy walking style - W hile restoring health and - Boosting our “biological optimism”

17. - Uprightness - Flexibility -Stability -Reversibility -No compression -No pain Elements of Good Posture

18. -Domino Effect : Coordination of all body parts into a consistent alignment - Ready to Fall: Ready to respond to environment directly Dynamic Alignment

19. Changing Posture is Difficult - Emotional state is expressed in bodily organization - Attachment to body patterns & emotions

20. Safety - Safe transmission of force without shearing stress in joints Comfort - Nervous System learns better BFL’s Main Concerns

21. - Walking - Pushing - Running- Pulling - Jumping- Carrying weights - Moving to and from the floor Essential Functions

22. -Incremental -Sequential -Learning in approximations -Easy to learn & do at home How is it done?

23. Tools - The Floor - The Wall - Chairs - 7 yd. cloth - Weights

24. Getting up

25. The Wave Through the Skeleton

26. Sensing Alignment

27. Sensing Alignment: Wave

28. Sensing Alignment: Axis

29. Foot Pushes Knee

30. The Wrap

31. Safe Jumping

32. Horizontal Climbing

33. The Crown: Aligning the Neck

34. The Crown: Walking

35. Research Does BFL help with Osteoporosis ? Bone Mineral Density (BMD) improved in a statistically significant way in 31 female participants, aged 28 - 69 years old, who worked with Ruthy Alon for four months, meeting three hours per week.

36. Summary In BFL, you will learn gradually and safely how to: - Stimulate your bone strength - Experience Biological Optimism of a reliable skeleton - Coordinate a springy and dynamic walk - Align posture into safe weight-bearing uprightness - Develop your skill of restoring equilibrium - Enhance the pleasure of moving