Obstacles to Success

I was reading a blog at the Soma Institute today and found this quote.  It really applies to me.  How about you?

"Perhaps the greatest obstacle to a simple unfolding of potential is the attachment we all carry to what is known and familiar, however painful or unsatisfactory this may be. With that attachment come fears and anxieties of the unknown as well as resistance to the changes that might take us there."
-Linda Hartley-

Ok.  A little plug for the Soma Institute (that I've never attended), but I like their idea of creating a body and mindset that can easily and creatively adapt to change...If you want to learn more about it, here's a link:  http://www.soma-institute.org

To Lift the Head Neck and Shoulders When on Your Back....or NOT?

To lift the head or not is often a point of contention in a Pilates class.  I remember when I first started doing Pilates  I routinely had a very sore neck.   And yet, I just kept trying to lift my head up.  I thought if I could just figure out how to do it correctly my neck would stop hurting.  So I tried and tried and my neck went right on hurting.

Now I know the thing I kept doing wrong was trying to lift my head up when I couldn't recruit the right muscles!   I would have been doing myself a much better favor if I had just kept my head down and worked deeply into my muscles, gradually strengthening them so that I would eventually be able to use them efficiently.    At the time I was simply unable to stop doing an action that wasn't supporting my workout because I loved the burn from my rectus abdominus when I lifted my head.  Without that burn I felt that I wasn't doing enough work and that I was too easy on myself.  Since I was taking group classes, I probably looked like I was doing the exercises correctly, even though I was actually in a lot of pain.

My stance on lifting the head currently is this:  If you can do it without pain, go for it!  This will really work out the front of the body, especially the upper abs and the rectus.  If not, work up to lifting your head.  Bring it up and down as needed, or use one hand to support the neck. Keeping the head down will work the back body more.  You are still working, but the emphasis is different. The most important thing is not to be in a position that is painful, that causes the neck and shoulders to continuously contract and shorten, as this will not get you where you want to be.  

Be kind to your body and listen to what it is telling you.  Try not to force it to do what it is not ready to do.  It will all come with patience, time, and acceptance.   Lifting the head when you are unable to support that activity will only reinforce existing muscle imbalances.  You absolutely want to feel your muscles being challenged, but that is different from pain.  If you are in pain when you exercise you are not doing your body a service.

Efforting

I think and talk about efforting a lot.   For myself, I usually want to be very good or great at everything I do.  Perfect would be perfect.  But trying, or efforting to be good at something has always been a thorn in my side.  I simply don't know how to do it in such a way that I get the results that I am going after.  I try very hard and then develop an expectation that my results should match the amount that I am trying.  It rarely if ever works out that way for me.

As far as Pilates goes, that might mean that I try to do movements my body is not prepared to do (not warmed up), work too fast (not focussed or experiencing my body) or simply attempt some movement beyond its capabilities (neither strong or flexible enough).  I may be able to continue on this route for some time, but eventually the result will be an injury.  A person with a body less prone to injury might hit a plateau, or develop muscle imbalances that will lead to an injury somewhat further down the line of their life.

What to do?

My current trajectory in Pilates is to put the effort into my concentration and focus.  Being in the present, focussing on one thing:  my body and what it is doing in the moment, and allowing the rest to flow from that.

That doesn't mean I'm not using my muscles!  I am using them, just using them in a more mindful and efficient manner.

SITTING

We do a lot of it in modern living and mostly when we are sitting we aren’t paying much attention to how we are doing it.  We slouch, we cross knees, we splay, we slump.  Think of all the time we spend seated:  in cars, using computers, sitting at work, watching television, eating meals.  We sit and sit and then sit some more.

Since we are spending so many hours on this activity it seems it would be a good idea to figure out how to do it so that we get some health benefits from it.

First things first:  Your chair!

The chair you are sitting in will have a big effect on your posture, so it is a good idea to find a work chair that has some adjustment devices so that you can set up a close to ideal scenario for your body.  Our Posture Keeps bones and joints in the correct alignment so that muscles are being used properly, so sitting correctly is very important!