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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
AS THE NEW YEAR DAWNS
THE ORIGINAL SANDDUNE™ WISHES YOU A
BALANCED, HAPPY, HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS
NEW YEAR IN 2014!
COG – Center of Gravity
When you begin to learn about the Center of Gravity or COG whether you are standing or sitting, you will learn how many small movements contribute to your COG and how they awaken the spine and your feet as the foundations for your COG.
You learn:
- how to sit properly on your sit bones vs. slouching and how this affects your posture both sitting and standing. If you slouch when you sit, you will most likely slouch when you stand. This
means learning to keep the belly button pulled in, shoulders square, a long spine and open chest (no slouched shoulders or shuffling when walking). - the importance of eye and head movement to sound balance. Most people do not “think” about how eye and head movement affect the body’s everyday functioning. This is especially critical as we age.
- the relevance of sensing your ankle, arch, heel pad, the ball of your foot, and be able to differentiate and move the five toes, which many people never think of doing.
Because the feet are the Foundation for the COG, weight shifting – both standing and dynamic (walking, running, cross training, etc), and learning to work your 
heels and toes together are paramount to healthy gait and balance. This applies whether one is aging, recovering from an injury/surgery or extended time off of the feet due to illness.
Understanding this leads to the comprehension of how these individual systems tie into “proprioception” or knowing where your body is in space. The sensors engaged by this proprioception are in each joint, the bottoms 
of the footpads, the visual and vestibular (inner ear) system as well as touch. For example, proprioception not only helps with daily direction-finding, but also is essential to becoming a beautifully expressive dancer or gymnast, successful professional golfer, or runner.
Together these sensors help to provide information about the environment that we see daily and that the muscles are engaging in judging the height of 
a step, the distance to the rail or ball, the depth of the curb, or the placement of the foot as a turn or a yoga stance is executed.
Learning to stretch and strengthen these muscles, their respective systems and their correlating movements on the non-compliant surface of an Original SANDDUNE™ makes it easier to do on solid ground. Why is it easier? You are not trying to balance your body on the ground as you do on the mirror resisting exercise produced by the Original SANDDUNE™. Referenced from Miriam Tate’s findings and class development.
I am physically active so why should I use the SANDDUNE™?
The Original SANDDUNE™ provides an additional platform for more effective warm-up and cool-down. Incorporate some of your stretches along with an easy jog to kick start the body’s engine. Try adding regular stationary exercises (ie…curls on the uphill slope) on the SANDDUNE™ for greater challenge because of the additional balance required. Golfers, who practice simulated strokes on the SANDDUNE™, report cutting strokes off their game because their bodies are more responsive. With consistent use, muscles are developed that you have been unaware of and were previously unengaged. This apparatus will help increase lean muscle mass. It is an easy workout perfect for a light day – add hand or ankle weights to increase the intensity of the workout if preferred.
For active people and athletes, cross training on the SANDDUNE™ translates into better coordination, more flexible joints/tendons, and responsive musculature. When beginning training or resuming working out after a self-imposed or injury-imposed layoff, the SANDDUNE™ helps reduces chances of injury and shortens recovery time as the sarcomeres (which are groups of muscle cells involved in the contraction and relaxations of muscles) are not so easily torn. It is the breakdown of the cells and muscle tissue that give us the inflammation and soreness we all love to hate. “No Pain, No Gain” as the old saying goes!
Muscles are usually stiff and sore a day or two after returning to activity because of damage to muscles fibers being stressed past their “normal or current” length from daily use. By the time you are into week #2 of becoming “Rocky”, additional sarcomeres have developed within the muscles, lending themselves to greater strength and protection of the muscles as they are being built up. Starting the workout regimen more prudently takes from the amount of “pain we gain” as we begin rolling toward fitness again. Remember that the SANDDUNE™ encourages proper use of the whole body in walking, running, golfing, dancing and sports.
Original SANDDUNE™ 