PRIDE BEFORE A FALL

David Worboys Thinking Aloud

DESPITE the lack of sunshine, I love the country I grew up in. When I was quite young, it was a united country whose people had shown courage, discipline and humour throughout and after the deprivations of the Second World War. ‘Made in England’ suggested quality. We had widely respected institutions such as the Church of England, the BBC, the NHS and the National Gallery. We had a highly regarded monarchy, parliament and judiciary. It was a pleasant country to live in.

Some of those institutions have deteriorated or lost support. But we still have Covent Garden opera, Arsenal, the Financial Times and Oxfam. If there were a capital of the world, it would still be London. Oxford and Cambridge remain among the most prestigious universities. English villages are among the most charming anywhere.

There was ­ and is ­ a lot to be proud of, but pride (or complacency) is one of the major causes of the current demise, as manifested in the complacency of Conservative government ministers who repeatedly express pride in what they and their party have achieved. They promise a world­beating NHS and an education system second to none, which seems about as realistic as a pledge to make Manchester the most glamorous city in Europe.

And I believe it is this arrogance that led to Brexit and all the UK’s economic, political and social woes. When you look at our current predicament, the EU, for all its shortcomings, worked well for our country for 47 years, with free movement of people, goods and services among and within our most important partner­countries. But no! It was not considered good enough for the UK.

Getting back into the club is probably about as likely as Russia being admitted, but I fear we would be too proud even to think about it.

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REGULAR contributor to Expat Radio, Marcel Salazar takes us through the benefits of stretching. No, he is not referring to what we may do when we get out of bed in the morning, but to setting aside five minutes a day to improving the elasticity and range of movements in our body.

Marcel describes six forms of stretching that can bring about amazing results in our bodies. The first types are Static and Dynamic stretches. These are easily done at home on our own and consist of a series of simple movements which helps to keep our muscles in shape and which can also help us to avoid injuries.

The other types: passive, ballistic, PNF, and active may require the assistance of another person such as a therapist, but can both help to prevent injury and in injury recovery. Marcel recommends that people with pre­existing conditions such as osteoarthritis may need to consult an expert before launching into such a programme. He talks about how muscles work and how regular and targeted stretching of specific muscle groups, sometimes before exercise and sometimes afterwards, can make significant improvements in how a person feels. He also explains how much of what we learned during our child­ hood years has proved to be counterproductive in helping our muscles function well. We all remember the bouncy technique when stretching our leg muscles before a run (those of us of a certain age, that is).

Marcel can be found on his own You Tube channel https://www.youtube.co m/@strongforlifephysi caltherapy where he gives good advice on health and fitness and the full in terview on stretching can be seen on this link: https://youtu.be/bc9Zfct H2eY

BY NICOLE KING

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