Stack your head above your body - Habit of the Week - HOW

We can stack the head above the body by organizing the neck.

This week's habit is to lengthen the neck by angling the chin downwards.  Thus the head is effortlessly carried above the body in good alignment.

Why

We need to be reminded  because when we are distracted, our heads creep forward.  Distraction can take many forms.  When we are concentrating on something, like singing or driving even watching TV.  Alternatively, when our energy is low, such as  feeling a fatigued. Our head comes forward and down.  

We pay a heavy price for this poor posture.  Even though it feels comfortable our heads are, in fact,  heavy.   It's just physics. The longer the lever (our neck), the greater the effort is required to hold the head (the load) up.

How

Imagine a line from your ear to the tip of your nose:- that line should angle downwards
The habits build one upon another.  

• It is difficult to stack your head above your body when your shoulders are hunched up and rounded forward.  
• It is impossible to melt your shoulders down the back without opening the upper chest "triangle". 
• There is no triangle without pulling up the Golden thread, elongating the spine and neck.

So draw up the Golden Thread
Spread open the  triangle of the upper chest
Melt the shoulders down the back 
With a long neck, tilt the chin gently downwards

Melt your shoulder blades down the back Habit of the Week - HOW

When we are distracted, preoccupied, tense, or anxious. our shoulders creep or pop up towards our ears. Let me prove it. Just take a sharp intake of breath. Gasp, as if in a fright.  Did your eyebrows go up? Did your shoulders jump up? In these interesting times of wall-to-wall news, our shoulders might LIVE up in our ears. What a waste of effort! This week's habit is the antidote.  

Melt your shoulder blades down the back 

Whenever you are at rest, ensure your shoulder blades glide downwards and stay there.  This builds upon the last two habits.  Draw up the Golden Thread to lengthen and straighten the spine. Gently spread open your upper chest triangle. In other words, make sure you are in good posture. 

You can get there by a few different means.  You can try one of these three

1. Roll your shoulders first forward, up, back and down - leave them there or
2. Shrug your shoulders - lift them up and drop them down or
3. Turn your upper arms outwards.

Melting your shoulder blades down your back is an example of the mind/body connection at work. Holding our shoulders up might very well make us even more tense, and stressed. Whereas melting the shoulders down the back, may help to calm the mind.   

The dreaded rounded shoulders.

Left unsupervised, our upward-creeping shoulder blades may also contribute to rounded shoulders and dreaded head-forward position.  

So 100 times per day, whenever you think about it, melt your shoulders down the back.  Remember, our body adapts to the load we give it. The more we move particular muscles, the stronger they get. So with our shoulder blades melted down the back, if the wind did change, we'd stay THAT way. 

A very challenging idea

This video is a game changer.  We human grown-ups don't change our minds easily, but this Ted Talk changed our minds about using the phone while driving Not even the Bluetooth
AND, as well, towards the end of the video is a lovely segment about how being outdoors helps your creativity and problem solving.

 Here is the link:-

Paul Atchley's Ted Talk.

Spread your Triangle of Joy Habit of the Week - HOW

This week we are focusing on the upper chest area. If we imagine a triangle at the very top of our chest this way:-  One  dot at the front of each shoulder, and one dot at the bottom of the sternum.  This forms a triangle. 

If we shrink that triangle, lots of postural problems follow - for example, our shoulders become rounded and turned inward,  then it would be very difficult to lift or turn your head, our abs could become, let's say, more pronounced.
In contrast, by expanding our upper chest triangle, our posture becomes more positive, our ribs can move better as we breathe, our head and neck are more comfortable and are in their correct position. 

We could look younger, slimmer, and smarter.  

Spread your upper chest triangle a hundred times a day, every time you think of it.  And within a week, those postural muscles become stronger and posture will improve.

I am excited.

Draw up the Golden Thread. Habit of the Week - HOW

This week's habit is to draw up the golden thread.  It is an idea, taken from Tai Chi.  Imagine a thread that runs from the ground up through the centre of your body up into the top of your head.  Pull this thread upwards, like a a puppet on a string.  At the same time, however, relax your shoulders and hips.

The effect of this is manifold.   Pulling up on the golden thread lengthens the spine, and ensures the head and neck are in the correct position.  

It is a winner and it is Habit of the Week, which means, all week long we practice this  many times a day, as often as you think about it.  It should help with neck pain. (and my sore shoulder)

This week's timetable... some tweaks and minor changes

For the week, starting Sunday 5th April, there are some slight changes to the timetable. 
For every class, it is helpful to arrive 5 minutes early, so we can start on time. 

Monday 8.00am Light paced class 

  simple aerobic exercise
  a little High Intensity Interval Training H.I.I.T that is 8 seconds fast, 12 seconds slow
  strength exercise like squats and lunges
  Balance
  Seated core exercise and stretches  
  No floor exercises

Monday 9.30am Medium paced class  - 

   more complex aerobic exercise
   more H.i.I.T. 8 Seconds fast, 12 seconds slow
   Balance
   Strength Exercises with Cords or ties and squats and lunges

   Floor exercises performed on the mat includes:-      leg stretches, bridges, core strength
   Finish up with your own weights (optional)

Tuesday 9.00am -  Vigorous class new timeslot

  Aerobic exercise to music
  Even more H.I.I.T. 8 seconds fast, 12 seconds slow
  Balance,
  Floor Exercise, stretches, strength core strength and back exercises.

Friday 8.50am  Quiet class. new timeslot 

Gentle standing movements
Balance,
Release movements
Seated pilates and stretches

Floor exercises (optional, use a chair if you prefer)
Release movements,
Core strength
Stretches
Mindful relaxation 

Classes have been great. Thanks everyone

So much fun

I taught four classes last week and hosted two morning coffees. It is so wonderful to be teaching classes again. To see members from different classes and friends, and even my cousin "show up" for class.  It has been such a delight - It is a comfort to be in touch, albeit online. Thanks to those who took the leap. Thanks for your patience.  

Behind the scenes, the classes require a little ingenuity, with, say, the music sound system, some trial and error with the microphone and camera and some hard learning connecting up to Zoom. Through my errors and missteps there are lots of lesson for me. Ogni sbaglio e' un relago,in Italiano means every mistake is a gift. 

As I learn more, I can assist others to connect up. It is not my strong suit, but we are getting there.  A big thank you to Don, who is calm in a crisis, and an amazing problem solver.  He even participated in Friday's class.

Getting together is so important.  So next week I am scheduling a morning coffee together, online after class.  I will leave an interval of time - around 15 minutes for everyone to take a break.  Then I schedule a new meeting and I turn on your microphones and we can have a coffee and a chat together. 

If you enjoyed the class,I hope you spread the word amongst fellow class members. We might be in this stay-home situation for months, so let's make the best of it.

Coming up in the next blog post

Next week's timetable, 

some class helpful hints

and a method of payment

Zoom, Safety and Privacy

Every class/meeting that I host, I am the gatekeeper and I admit each person, one by one.  So every participant is known to me.  During our classes, I will be turning off YOUR mic and YOUR camera.  I do this to reduce the amount of outside noise, to hear me more clearly.  It also means no one else sees you or hears you.  Next week, we will be having an additional meeting after each class, with your mics open. We will be able to chat with each other

The meeting ID is different. Each "meeting" has its own ID number. So last week's number won't let you into this week's meeting.

To summarise, I feel confident that Zoom is a safe platform.  Some people even "attend" their church service on Zoom.  For our purposes, our classes are by invitation only. Provided your own password is not be given out. it should be safe.. 
I was referred to to an article in Nine.com which said to watch out for hacking and trolling.  So careful.... do not give your own password to anyone.  Please feel free to comment below