Hello Mark!

> There is one thing I found to be particularly motivating to do with
these
> exercises. As you probably have noticed many Strelnikova exercises
consist of
> various dance-like movements. For instance, the exercise that is
called Rock
> n' Roll is actually a dance. Perhaps, the same can be said for
exercises,
> such as Ears, Step, Back Step, and probably many others. In fact,
when I am
> doing these exercises, I feel like I am dancing. As you know,
dancing to silence
> is not interesting. Therefore, I listen to my favorite songs, and I
"dance"
> to them. Each time, I do my exercise routine, I listen and dance to
different
> songs. Moreover, these exercises (the sniffs, I mean) can be
synchronized
> with different song beats. I found some trance and new age music
can be suitable
> for it. Your child and you probably like to dance as well. You all
have
> favorite music. Listening to it and dancing to it might provide a
long term
> motivation for both of you. It is just my suggestion for keeping
everything
> interesting.

Good point. In almost 3 years that we are doing the exercise,
we tried pretty much every entertainment imaginable,
including doing it with music. It is one of the good choices.
One disadvantage specific to having music in a background
with a kid (or beginner) is that you can not hear the sniffs
so you can not evaluate if they are doing it right. But once the
person is experienced and does not need a reminder to sniff loudly,
music is great, specially if the beat is not too fast or too slow
compared to your usual exercise frequency.

> I think it is great you found other exercises that will keep you in
a good
> shape. Running felt uncomfortable for me. The stick did not yield
good results
> in my case.

You actually tried it? I thought I was the only person that was
into this idea... Anyway it is working for me on and off for almost 15
years. I like it because it is more entertaining than just running
(and more useful as it involves upper body and hands, and not only
legs). It is almost like having a partner for the exercise, as the
stick has its own will and own dynamics, you need to fight it
as opposite to an exercise machine. Of cause there is a learning
curve until you get enough tricks that you can do confidently enough
that you can fill 30-40 minutes with them. On a downside, it is to be
used with caution (the stick IS heavy), as even after 15 years I am
occasionally getting hit although it was never anything serious.


>However, I do Strelnikova exercises twice a day (30 minutes each
> time). In the morning, it gives me a good work out. In the evening,
it gives
> me a boost of energy.
Yes, twice a day is much better than once. In the morning it wakes
you up, in the evening it gets you sufficiently tired to sleep.
Due to morning being too busy time with a kid - school, getting ready
for work etc, we mostly do it once a day except the times when
I feel she might be catching a cold or allergy, than we do it twice.


>I just do not like the names Norbekov gives to his
> books.
Yes, he is a bit over the top. But some ideas are not bad,
such as not taking yourself and what you are doing to gravely.
Indeed, all our problems are fleeting in the great scheme of things
so why not work on solving them with a smile :-)


>
> I have noticed it too. It definitely acts like a cup of a good
> tea, wakes you up. I guess it is due to elevation of oxygen
> level in blood, which interestingly occurs without significant
> drop in CO2 levels which makes it unique for preventing asthma
> attacks (maybe absence of a strong exhale helps with this?).
>
> I think the explanation why these breathing exercises work is simple.
> Shetinin talks about it himself in his book. As oxygen goes into our
bodies, it
> revitalizes and invigorates all organs and systems. They begin to
work more
> efficiently. The contraction of chest with various movements makes
oxygen go
> deeper and everywhere in our bodies, so each organ and system can be
reached.


Interesting explanation. Of cause a lot of it have not been physically
tested - for example how do you test how deep increased oxygen
concentration reaches? I know there have been some studies, but they
were measuring the oxigination level in one place not in different
organs. With new ways of testing such as MRI I am sure we will learn
more about what is really going on.

>The
> same can be said for ancient Chinese practice called chi kung and
even yoga.
> However, in chi kung, you do not take as much oxygen in as with
Strelnikova
> exercises. Also, oxygen does not go too far and everywhere. As a
result, the
> healing with Chi Kung might take years. With Strelnikova exercises,
it might
> take months. Also, Chi Kung is basically a meditation practice even
though
> some slow movements are allowed. Strelnikova exercises are mainly an
active
> work out. In any event, Chi Kung and Yoga can be pretty boring. On
the other
> hand, Strelnikova exercises are not.


Somehow I never tried yoga, but chinese exercises appear to focus
more on plasticity than on breathing although the do favour
shalow breathing which makes them compatible with Strelnikova. Than
again, china is big so you could bet there is an exercise for everything.
I wonder why in the past there was so much focus on things that
people do themselves to improve their health, while now everything
is supposed to be done "to you". This is some of the things where
state should step in and finance research and education. Obviously
medical community and farma companies are financially interested
in people statistically not being healthy which is partly
counter-balanced by competition that requires to demonstrate
individual results better than a competitor. So what we are getting
is a mixed picture with some localized great victories (widely
hyped) and and the same time the entire areas of health-care
statistics sinking through the cracks. 10% all kids have asthma and
need continious medications?? 10% of all kids are autistic and need
continuous medications??
Something is wrong with this picture... If we are doing
much better than the ancestors with infections, we
should be doing better with asthma and diabetis and all other
areas. As it apparently does not work with the same approach
(medications), than scientific method should turn to other approaches.

> Also, Strelnikova exercises are "able" to relieve anxiety. They can
also
> reduce one's fear or fears of something even though the effect is
rather
> short-lived. They boost confidence. For anxiety relief, I do only a
few exercises
> (one set of 32 sniffs each).

I also have noticed that it really only takes a few exercises
to feel the effect on the mood.
That is certainly much better than swallowing antidepressants.


> >The down side of all exercises is
> > the more I exercise. the more I tend to eat.
> Is that also true for Strelnikova exercise?
> For me I don't notice much hunger in this case (too
> little energy spent per one session), but for
> intensive workout that is definitely true.
>
> In my case, everything might stimulate hunger. I also love sweets and
> chocolates. It would have been nice if these exercises could reduce
cravings for
> such foods. After all, they have the ability to help somebody with
>smoking.

There is at least one way how it does certainly help. As it
improves mood, and people sometimes eat a treat or two to "cheer
themselves up", it clearly provides an alternative way to cheer up.
It also does take away some of the free time that people otherwise
might be using to grab a snack :-)

> Shetinin recommends to do three sessions each day for people who are
> overweight. However, it might not be realistic because of time
issues and possible
> boredom. I found it funny to read various posts on Russian forums
about these
> exercises. People are willing to discuss them for a short period of
time
> because nobody can really add anything to discussion. Why is it the
case? Very
> few people are actually doing them. They site their lack of time and
other
> family/work commitments as the reasons for not following through.
Obviously, you
> cannot get results for sitting on your butt in the front of TV when
you are
> tired each evening. If it was possible to do, I would not have had
health
> concerns.

On the bright side, they can do this exercise even in front of the
TV, and feeling of being tired usually disapears after the first
exercise. So no excuses really. Of cause in the forums people often
just want to talk, the subject is less important :-)


> I found that counting the sniffs is a big problem for me.
Eventually, in the
> middle of exercise, my concentration might drift away. Sometimes, I no
> longer remember if I have done a full set of each exercise or not.
Shetinin
> recommends using matches, as I remember, for counting and looking at
different
> corners of your room when a full set of exercise has been done.
However, his
> method is not for me. I do not like changing places and looking at
different
> things during my exercise routine. Do you have problems with
counting how many
> sets of exercises you have done?

Specially with a kid counting is very useful because it gives
a measure of a progress. If you are half-through, and 3/2 through,
the whole motivation goes up.
We figured out what I think is a perfect method, which is to
count each 8 sniffs as ONE bend finger. As you have 10 fingers, it
results in 80 sniffs per exercise which is somewhat less than 12x8
recommended but for that you will never lose count and have a visual
(!) indication of the progress.
This method can have a lot of entertaining
variations, for example the kid can count the 8ths and than snap
with fingers or give a clap, and than partner bends the finger.
Then you switch turns.
While devised for the kid, it became so automatic that I am
counting with fingers even if I do it by myself, just because
it eliminates the need to think about it.

> Yes, it is a good thing because during this allergy season, I did
not need
> to use much medicine. I still was fighting allergy symptoms, but
this fight was
> almost without allergy medicine. Now, my hope is that these
exercises will
> lower my blood pressure. Shetinin stated it will take about one
month. Well,
> in a few days, it will be one month of doing these exercises
correctly and two
> months of doing them altogether.

Good luck with your measurements. As they usually fluctuate
depending on the time of the day etc it would make sense
to collect the statistics of many measurements each day
and actually plot them so that you can see the tendency
despite fluctuations.

> As you know it was either doing these exercises this season or
Benadryl
> every day for me. I had chosen to do these exercises. The allergy
season is
> almost over.

I noticed that it helps we to reduce the number and severity of colds
that I am getting. So here is an additional motivation for you - the
cold season is starting...


>For now, I get my motivation from reading that these exercises can
> lower one's blood pressure and do tons of other good things when it
comes to
> one's health. Let's hope all of this is true and the results will
"show up"
> fast.

Good luck with that! As with any results having a baseline
of multiple measurements a day over some period of time before
and after would allow to say clearly if you have an effect or
not.

Regards,
Yevgen