Day 6 - Journey to the Center of the Core

Sometime in the last decade, I took a "Yogalates" class at the gym of which I was a member. Yogalates is a form of exercise that combines Pilates and Yoga. Now, I don't know a lot about what it is except that I enjoyed the class because it worked on my muscles and it was - in a weird way - relaxing. At the time, I wouldn't have been able to tell you which part was Yoga and which part was Pilates, but I've since learned that the Pilates part was the part that really worked the "Core" muscles. When the Yogalates instructor talked about "engaging our core," I thought she was talking some sort of Eastern Zen-type thing, something hocus pocus as far as my Western mind knows. Well, come to find out, we really do have CORE muscles and it doesn't have anything to do with hocus pocus! And that's was Day 6's class was about - the Core muscles.
Of course, at first, we reviewed past material for the final on Thursday. Yes, folks, I'm having a FINAL on Thursday night! I've only been in class about a week and half, and we're already having a final exam on what we've learned! This stuff moves quickly, I must say.
After the review, we jumped into a concept of Economy of Motion. Well, anytime you talk economy, I think dollars, so I was particularly interested in what this "motion" was going to mean...especially if the motion meant dollars moving into my pocket. Well, it had nothing to do with money. It's about how the intrinsic muscles work with the extrinsic muscles and move smoothly and efficiently.
I'm pretty sure I understand the concept of intrinsic and extrinsic muscles, so that's a good thing because looking up what it is reads like assembly instructions without the pictures.
The instructor, Molly, has made these totally foreign concepts easier to understand, using examples, humor, Bob the skeleton, and the TA's(teaching assistants) to show her point. She has been so encouraging, too, telling us about how glad she is that we're so flexible and patient and polite - and the best part, that we'll do fine on the exam.
For the last half of the class, as usual, we worked with a partner to understand about "viewing" possible problem areas that we want to address as bodyworkers. At first, it was a wee bit uncomfortable (ok, a lot) with somebody looking at my body to determine where I'm out of alignment. I think as Americans, we're not used to people looking at us so intensely, since our parents taught us not to stare. So somebody looking at me took a little (a lot) getting used to.
I'm sure that after I graduate from this program, I will feel totally different about all sorts of things. It's only been a week and a half, and I feel like I've learned so much.
Anyway, after the "viewing," we worked on "re-patterning" again. This time, because we were studying the core, we got to do some really exciting exercises: leg lifts (with the abdominal muscles, not leg) and the PLANK. If you don't know what a PLANK is - lie on the floor on your stomach, do a push-up (with your butt flat - not sticking up in the air), and instead of going back down in the push-up, just hold your body and arms straight. Just keep your whole body straight, like a plank.
And hold it.
And keep holding.
Are your arms shaking yet? Are your abdominal muscles killing you yet?
Ok, good. It's working.
Keep holding.
And hold some more.
After about a half hour, you can let go.
Just kidding, we only had to hold it as long as we could. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised with how long I could hold the pose, especially with as out of shape as I am, and as much weight as I've gained in the last year.
Which brings me to my other goal during this program: not only learn about massage therapy, but also lose some weight and get into better shape. I always feel better physically and emotionally when I am in shape. Go figure.

Day 5 - Form & FUNction

Several years back, my father, my sister, and I drove to Oklahoma for my aunt's funeral. We made the 1,200 mile trip in about 28 hours. We drove straight through, after renting a car - a Nissan Maxima. Upon our arrival, we dropped Dad off at his sister's house, where he would be staying, and my sister and I checked into our hotel. After getting our bags settled in the room, I noticed my lower back was KILLING me and I could barely move. I figured that between a strain on my back several months before and the long drive and the stress of getting everything together for the last-minute trip, I had pretty well wrecked my lower back. I used a topical cream that soaks into the muscles to help ease the pain, but nothing truly soothed the pain fully except time and trying to relax as much as possible during this whirlwind of a trip.
I had a revelation about that experience in class last night, which may take some explanation to understand it.
In Day 5 of the class, we covered "Form and Function" as well as being introduced to the Shoulder Girdle. Well, in the Form and Function section, we learned that 1) all parts of the body are connected and 2) how we use our bodies in our day to day lives affects the ability to achieve the Structural Objective - which is the goal of all the bones stacked in alignment.
We discussed how carrying a heavy purse on one side constantly can make the shoulder dip to one side, carrying a small child on the hip can make the hip tilt to one side, or being constantly on a computer all day can make the shoulders rotate toward the front of the body, creating a hunched posture. And get this - driving for long periods can create hunched shoulders or lower back pain!
The lower back pain may come from a muscle called the psoas muscle, and it goes around from the derriere around the hip and connects up front, around the groin. Well, how does that affect driving? Well, it's also the muscle that makes the leg move up and down when you're in a sitting position...like when you are using your foot to press on the gas or brake pedals. *Ding!* The light went on in my head and I understood why I had all that lower back pain after that long marathon drive to Oklahoma!
Wow!
Ok...it may not be big news to you, but it helped me realize that I need to be more aware of my posture and how I function...at least a few minutes a day and maybe I can reverse some of the really bad habits I've gotten into - slouching, hunching over the computer, and how I carry my purse.
In the next part of the class, we looked at the Shoulder Girdle, what parts it's comprised of, and how to work toward the Structural Objective for it. We learned the re-patterning exercises for it, which we worked on with a partner.
I'm almost getting a work-out during the part of the class where we work on the re-patterning techniques.
You know...almost.