How Yoga Can Wreck your Body in New York Times

There is a wonderful article this week in the New York Times about yoga.  There is also a bigger issue to address.

 A lot of students think pushing hard to almost an injury is a hard workout.

Many new students trying Pilates for the first time complain about being not hard enough.  The majority lack awareness and deep internal connections of how to stabilize.  If you are doing legs in straps or leg springs with no center control,  you can be pushing from your back.  Rudoph Laban had a wonderful concept of Stability/Mobility.  To mobilize a part of your body, you need to stabilize somewhere to facilitate any simple movement.

When you are weak and you increase the load, a lot of times you will initiate your poor habits to do the exercise.  When I do leg springs with a quiet spine, it targets the legs.  I have had many clients complain that their back hurts in legs springs.  One has to look at their form and retrain how they perform the movements.

The majority of new clients coming in, have no clear idea of how to stabilize the torso.  When you find it,  it has a lot of lightness.  They are very much into the more superficial mucles of the torso and body.

More does not equal more.  Awareness, concentration and precision in form is key to any fitness routine.  This is the “MORE”

Even being a teacher, taking classes/sessions pushes me beyond my own discipline. This summer I had a serious fall hiking. There is definite tear in my meniscus in my knee. I am not in pain but it is unstable. Working with shelley, my knee feels more stable.

Two weeks ago I fell off a chair in my apartment trying to hang a picture on a wall. I landed on my back hard.  I could feel with the fall that I whacked my sacrum out.

My usual techniques of release with constructive rest and rolling on Franklin balls were too painful to practice.  Lying on my back was the worse.  The first couple days on my days off, I just did gentle walking and small movements on my side that I learned from Hanna somatics.

I got some outside help with visiting my rolfer, Kayte Ringer and Cranial Sacral Message therapist, Ula Katsoulis.  Around my sacrum is bruised so I have to wait until this heals.

Movement as always was my savior.  With the bruised sacrum, I concentrated below and above the injury.  Some movements such as Pilates rolldown was impossible.  I modified positions and range of motion of movements.  Gentle movement helped unlock the pelvis stuck from spasms.  I never pushed into pain.  Fortunately at Movements Afoot, there are many props to help modify positions.  For instance, lying on my back, I put extra padding around my tailbone.

When you injured yourself, I highly recommend visiting a specialist to help you recover.  If you feel comfortable to be in class, make sure that you tell the teacher about your body.  At Movements Afoot, our teachers are well trained to help you find modifications for exercises.  Please let them know beforehand.  Movement should not be painful.  Great movement should invite new fluidity into your muscles and joints.

This fall I have come back to teaching on balance props: the foam rolls and the physioball. First I taught to teachers Balanced Body’s Mat & Foam roll. In preparation I practiced on myself and in my sessions w. Clients. Amazing deeper connections happened for all.

The balance props do not lie. They immediately reflect if you are working correctly. It tests your reflexes in organization of your body. Training your reflexes is an important skill to keep awake. Our reflexes are the safety functions to recover from a trip on an uneven surface or a quick stop on a train/ subway when standing.

Join us at Movements Afoot for our special classes using the balance equipment:
Mondays 3:30 PM
Thursdays 5:15 PM

This fall most of our classes will offer some balance training. Make sure to ask your teacher for the balance challenge.

by Lesley Powell

A very interesting article was in the NY Times last week.  Core training needs to be 3-dimensional.  Just training the abdominals is not enough.  Especially with our culture being in so much flexion due to computers, cars, tv and the lack of exercise, people are really weak in their backs.

I just taught a Balanced Body University’s Pilates course this weekend. All the students were active professionals.  Most were having trouble with extension in getting to the deep extensors of the back.  When the deep extensors do not initiated the movement,  the back shortens and for some, cause discomfort.

Another problem with abdominal training, is finding qualities of tone.  To get to the deeper  transverse abdominals, breath is essential.  Once found, it has tremendous lightness.  In teaching all clients from beginners to teachers, many are firing and compressing the rectus too strongly for the required action.  For instance, the rectus abdominus assists in flexion of the spine in crunches and rollups.  Many are unneccessarily firing the rectus with a simple pelvic tilts of the lower spine.

“Abdominals come in many flavors” Doris Pasteleur Hall

Training of the spine in different positions is essential for dynamic stabilization.  How you organize your spine lying down is very different from sitting, standing, plank pose.  Getting aware of where your spine is in space is important.

This simple exercise can be difficult.  Many are firing the rectus which will lower the head down.  Some have trouble keeping a head-tail connection.  You will see the spine rotate and/or unleveled.

What the NY Times article is not addressing is how the training of the limbs in coordination with the core is important.  Awareness of how the body moves is lacking in most training.  We have constant pressure by clients of having a stronger workout.  Many of these clients lack internal awareness of their bodies and training of deeper stabilizing muscles.  Many of the deep stabilizing muscles will never have the feel as a bicep firing to lift a weight.

Learning good form is essential for proper conditioning and balance.

With all that is going on in the world today’s health,  Movements Afoot wants everyone to take care of themselves and others.

It is important for all of us in public spaces and sharing equipment:

• Clean hands thoroughly before sessions
• Wear socks.  The new toesox are great with rubber texture on the soles to prevent slippage
• Clean mats with teatree oil before/after sessions
• In  all sessions, staff and clients wipe down equipment with teatree oil

Tea Tree oil is a natural disenfectant and smells great.

Thanks for taking care of yourself and others.

Without being dramatic, I can honestly say that Pilates has changed my life, both literally and figuratively. Nine years ago I had a very serious accident. As a result, I incurred three injuries to my cervical spine, four injuries to my lumbar spin, carpal tunnel, cubical tunnel and fibromyalgia. I received, acupuncture, physical therapy and chiropractic care for seven years to manage the pain. I felt my condition was hopeless, until my doctor found a therapy center that offered pilates sessions twice a week.

After six months, I had gained flexibility, strength and endurance. In fact, there was such a marked improvement in my physical condition through out that year, that it was clear, Pilates was going to be a life practice for me. I gained a fuller range of motion and learned how my body had compensated for my injury. Then as my stability and strength grew, I learned how to correct my balance and work on improving my alignment. With the new knowledge of my body mechanics and the consistency of my practice, I regained movement that I thought I’d lost forever. My doctor was so impressed with my results that he began prescribing pilates to all his injured patients. He also began practicing pilates as part of his health maintainence routine.

My injury humbled me and pilates has helped me to heal. It has given me a greater sense of control and respect for my body. My practice has developed and with it came a greater understanding of the necessity of self knowledge and individual responsibility for good health practices.

After three years of practice I became certified as a teacher. Having been a teacher all my life, I love learning. Therefore, it was a natural next step to bring my passion and profession to a new level. My intention was to learn even more and I have. I have learned to care for and respect this unique body that each of us is given for this lifetime. I continue to learn and love sharing that knowledge.