Today’s blog entry is about something most people suffer with at some point in their life – joint problems. I want to share my preferred choice for controlling my pain with joints.  My choice is exercise.

As a child, I almost broke my back when I had an accident in playground. Due to this accident, my spine contracted and I had to lie down for a few days. When I visited my doctor, he told me I was lucky that I didn’t injure my back seriously and that the best thing was to make my back stronger, so he recommended exercise. Some years later, when I was 13 or 14, I experienced pain in my jaw, wrists, elbows and fingers. I didn’t have any family history of joint problems, but a few members of my family did have arthritis, and one uncle in particular had arthritis when he was only 22.

There are plenty of treatments for joint problems, according to how serious the problem is. Conventional medicine offers treatment, and then there are natural treatments. In every health-food shop, you can find different pills, which offer an alternative to the chemicals you can find in a typical pharmacy. A pill can help, but it’s not magic. To effect long-term change a person really should do exercise of some kind.

Some days, I have the right mood for doing something, and on other days I don’t feel like doing any. It’s easier when you have a training partner, but ideally motivation should come from within, not from someone else. Still, I enjoy emailing my training partner and telling her what exercises I did, or even talking about what we do on our rest-days. She swims and uses exercise equipment in her home. I have exercise equipment at home, and use a gym and swimming pool, too. Exercise is boring if a person only does one kind, unless he/she is really enthusiastic about it, for example a person who loves running.  There’s a man I see every day in the morning, who is a local celebrity. He is 86 and runs 26 miles every day. He’s been running marathons for more than 30 yrs, which shows that exercise is for people of all ages. I should add that his body looks in fantastic shape and he runs quite fast. Look after your body when you’re young and your body will look after you when you’re old.

A simple and easy way to make sure that your body is moving is yoga. Many people work from home these days, so they sit in front of their computer for 8 hrs, or longer, so they are at risk of having sore muscles in their neck, shoulders and back. If you have someone who can massage you, great! What if you don’t have that option? Well, there are so many wonderful books on yoga, or even yoga DVDs. It’s great for every part of your body and if you combine it with meditation, it’s amazing relaxation.  I use meditation in hairdressing. Be patient until April, and you will see how in my new videos and photos.

Marianne – one of Frank Mullert’s top models and who everyone on DV knows through her photos – inspired me to write this blog. She has hair, which almost touches the floor, and she is a ballet dancer. It’s easy to do sport if a person has short hair, but if a person has long hair they can still enjoy sport and movement of every kind.

Be in control of your body rather than letting your body be in control of you.