Leaderboard

It's been some time since I posted. The hip internal rotation improvements had some knock on effects on my old ankle sprain (the lack of hip internal rotation on that side was probably a side effect of that sprain). I stretched too far with the deep pike/pancake (I think the depth I went to was fine, but I went too quickly into my usual limbering range of motion a few days later and that was not). A lesson about always being mindful with the 'easy' things. So I've spent ~6 weeks doing ankle, hamstring, and adductor isometric holds (building back up to 3x30s/side single leg from partial range two leg ~10s holds) and I started quite recently to introduce weighted SLRDL with slow eccentrics again and some (non-stretching) unweighted lunges. It'll probably be a couple months before I bring back the heel slide outs. I was blissfully, and for reasons I still don't fully understand, able to keep doing TGU a few times a week. I did my first set of two hand swing in ~6 weeks this morning, I didn't feel it at all during the set, but I'm noticing it a little now so I'll continue with the current isometrics/eccentrics for another month or two before I try again. Somewhere in there, I did something, that aggravated the tendons on the inside of the forearm on my less stable wrist. That's better, and I've been much more diligent about doing the usual exercises for that wrist. I think it might have been some of the residual tension on that side finally relaxing since one of the 'permanently' tight muscles in that forearm has finally relaxed. So I suspect the tendon annoyance was an intermediary phase where those tendons had to regain strength in the fully lengthened range again and the current instability is that wrist having to find a new equilibrium with the increased freedom in that range of motion. There's still a touch my tightness in those tendons during parts of the wrist sequence compared to my other wrist, but it's much improved from before (very close to symmetric ranges of motion now). The long and the short of it is that I haven't done much at all on the exercise front other than LRP, walking, isometrics, and eccentrics in the last 6 weeks. That's pretty much what I'm planning to continue with for the foreseeable future as well since enough things seem to be needing that I've just started the isometrics + slow eccentric protocol everywhere. I plan to re-introduce the daily 5 + lunge + hangs this week depending on how everything is feeling.

It can simply be a habit, too; no problem, once you realise this. One of my teachers said to me, the illusion of having control is one of the most destructive delusions – in reality we have very little control over the big events that occur to us in our lives (being born, where you're born, the language you speak, your partner, your daughter, your work, your passion for dance), but we have every capacity to control how we react to what happens. This is a much more subtle skill and a lifetime skill as well. You have made a massive contribution to this forum – let me say that publicly. And we use that little film that you made about your progress in dance as the first thing that people see if they're visiting the Stretch Therapy homepage in YouTube for the first time. It is brilliant. And your contributions here have been truly excellent, and your contributions were the springboard for many of my comments, too. Sincere thanks.

I miss posting on this forum and tracking my progress, despite regularly visiting the platform and perusing and picking up little bits here and there, like this: > It means you felt tightness in the groin, on that occasion; nothing more. See what the next session brings. There are N different possibilities as to the 'why', but unless it is severe tightness, there are usually no point in delving into this. See what happens next. The comment from Kit really resonates with me. As a curious person myself, I often am asking WHY WHY WHY; this simple single worded question tends to be both effective and reinforced in my professional work (in the tech world). However, sometimes, constantly asking WHY can be counter-productive in certain situations like dance and stretching. It may be so simple and obvious to others but over the past 6 months, I've been training with a dance coach very seriously and initially, I find myself asking WHY not only because I'm curious but sometimes it's an unconscious moment of procrastination. His response, normally, is "Shut up. And just do the numbers". Anyways, I like to return to periodically posting on this forum but I had previously halted cause the frequency of my stretching has dropped. Related to this, I found that both stretching (and this little corner of the internet) helped me (dare I say) survive a very very very rough period in my life where I had felt the world was falling apart and one of the few things in the world I could turn towards for some (perceived) sense of control (these days, I find I have less and less control about things in life): turning inwards and wiggling and sitting with the body. Perhaps less "perfect" moving forwards, and hope to continue contributing, sharing, documenting etc.

They recommended monitoring it and not overdoing any stretching (this is what triggered it). Smaller mouthfuls and eat on the bad side to lessen certain forces on the jaw joint on the bad side. Maybe go to an osteopath for neck strengthening.

I did the quad wall hip flexor stretch yesterday using contract and relax.I often feel a tightness going up my upper leg. @Kit_L you said running made you tighter.My experience is similar it definitely doesn't make you looser.Stretching is important to feel decent in one's body

Hi Kit-Yes, DOMS not DOMUS. My mistake. Thanks Patrick

Hi Kit-Thank you for your reply and suggestion. I have begun implementing your recommended modification to the chair spinal rotation exercise by lifting my chest prior to the shoulder rotation. As you mentioned in your reply this seems to increase thoracic rotation as well as reduce lumbar rotation. This is a welcome change. Thanks. Yes, DOMUS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Any recommendations regarding DOMUS would be appreciated. Your reply is spot on regarding my right sided flank. My pain feels exactly like my ribs (and thinking my intercostal m.) are jammed with intercostal cramping. Thank again for your recommendations. The Piano stool back bend that Olivia demonstrated is doable and work in progress. That recommendation is also greatly appreciated. My best Patrick.

Many thanks indeed for your response and your insights. I'll use them to investigate and experiment further, and increase the range of exercises as my confidence in the recovery improves. Any maybe hold back a bit on the maximal slow eccentric contractions, intended to give micro-trauma to the muscles - it look like they succeeded. Best wishes, Jim.

I think I am a heel striker,I'm aiming to transition away from it and become a mid-foot striker.Heel striking is possibly one of the causes of shin splints. I definitely overpronate and I know it's a problem.Overpronation has a negative impact on balance as well as there's no weight on the outside of the foot.I started the exercises to correct it yesterday lifting up the toes and putting weight on the outside of the foot

Perhaps especially with easy things; internally, this is like hearing yourself say, 'I know that'. All excellent.

Pulse 60 upon waking

This will take as long as it takes – and there's nothing wrong with snoozing or sleeping when you're doing lying meditation practice – and that's what will happen if you're fundamentally tired over a long period of time. That's probably the phase that you're in now. I know people have done yoga nidra practice for two or three years before they suddenly realise that they're listening to half of the recording that they haven't ever heard before because fell asleep. If you need to sleep it's very good for the body to sleep. You are noticing it though – that is the key point most non-meditators are simply not aware that they're being distracted by their own thoughts all the time. This is all part of the process and there is no such thing as a bad meditation session – if you're paying attention to what is actually happening. I cannot speak for you. The depth that you reach is constrained by many factors. In my view, there is a danger in trying to calibrate your practice—the spectres of "progress" and "improvement" are close by! Better, in my view, to simply pay attention to what's happening now, and make your 'now' window as narrow as possible. Most people are thinking about now, but now is actually a physical experience – it is pure presence and nothing else can be found there. If you're thinking about now, you are definitely not present (you have moved from the experiential realm to the conceptual one). I do not believe that trying to sit for longer will yield any "better" meditation; I have mentioned this to you before, IIRC. If a sit (or whatever position you are using naturally extends), that's one thing. Trying to sit for longer is something else, I believe. Most definitely. Keep going.

Been a while since I posted, but still busy doing relaxation and flexibility work. The relaxation has become more of a priority to me since my main interest is meditation. I guess I can say that my main goal in all of 'this' is building a meditation practice. I tried doing this before, but got stuck with sitting meditation, qigong, ... Main problem is my sleep got really bad. I can certainly say I trained too hard. Right now my relaxation practices are about 40 mins long. Sometimes it feels as if I snoozed for half the session but I do also have some sessions where I'm more or less 'awake'. This does get a little bit better as weeks pass I feel, but slow. Mostly doing breath counting. Sometimes reset on 10, sometimes just counting up. But I do notice my attention spanning is short and when I do count up, I get interrupted by other thoughts quite quickly. I do still have some spinal alignment problems which I feel put some more pressure on the neck than is problably normal. About 40 mins in I start to feel it slightly in the back of the head. Little bit unpleasant pressure feeling. Not very strong, but it's there. That's the main thing preventing me from doing longer practices. Building up my relaxation practice is the short term goal, slowly increasing the duration. How does it feel to do 90, 120 mins practices? Does the keeping attention on counting improve over time? Still doing some stretching, but a little bit unfocused there. Doing the neck program and some of the other stuff like hip flexors. Not much strength work right now but I do feel I could benefit from that. Lot's of swimming though.

Quad wall hip flexor stretch,I felt a strong stretch on my left side,not as strong a sensation on my right side.It took longer for me to get into my right quad.No problem with my groin

Dear @Matt Chung: you are overthinking all this. Q. answers to your questions: 1. Simply, different parts of the hamstrings are emphasised, and for the same reason as one of your earlier questions: if the back leg is extended behind you, then the pelvis is positioned differently to Liv's exercise. It's impossible to cheat in the lunge hamstring; a small completely OK amount of cheating is possible in hers. Both are excellent; both emphasise different parts of the three hamstrings. 2. all the hip flexors: rectus femoris is the main one for most people for reasons I go into elsewhere. 3. None: everyone will need to use their hands to pull the feet into the body. No problem here! 4. About the back leg foot cramp you mentioned later: Try pointing your toes/foot hard—feel that cramp? Completely normal, and happens to everyone. Now pull the toes to your knees: cramp goes. The general principle: any muscle asked to do work in the shortened end range is liable to cramp—any muscle in the body. Keep going, and in any exercise, try to keep any parts not being used as relaxed as you can. The general rule? No unnecessary tension.