Saturday afternoon's clinic seemed to be a bit slower than they have been. My guess is that many people were either out of town for Thanksgiving weekend or they were out Christmas shopping. Either way, there weren't as many clients this past weekend. Well, my Shiatsu partner and I got to practice shiatsu stuff on each other during a student exchange.
One of the clients I got to work on was a weight lifter, so his muscles just stuck out and said, "Hey! Massage me!" So I did.
Now, onto tonight's class. My partner and I have been working on our protocol and I gotta say - it flows like the Nile. We have certain moves that we have to do and we have been working on how to transition to the next move. It's been working out very well. I'll get it all typed up tonight or tomorrow and we'll be rockin' an' rollin'.
On another note, over the long weekend, I watched one of the things WGH had DVR'ed from last week: The Biggest Loser: Where Are They Now. I have to say that I was inspired. So much so that yesterday morning, I did a 15 minute yoga routine and then took a 30 minute walk. This morning, I got up and did the same 15 minute yogo routine and took walks during each of my 15 minute breaks at work today. I'm not saying that I'm going to lose a bunch of weight, or any at all, but I know that I need to be way more physically active than I am now. With the exception of a few things I do for classes or clinic, I've been very sedentary and I'm really starting to feel the effects of that. So...I'm trying to find ways to at least incorporate some sort of activity into my routine.
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
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.
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.
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