Keep Calm and Make All Kinds of Gains

[zenwoof]

alchemy truly encompasses all kinds of gains, gains of the soma and gains of the body, gains of the mind, of the emotions, and of the spirit - 'all kinds' being the best umbrella term for the myriad of subjective gains we each experience in the movies that are our own daily lives. (+ shoutout hodgetwins)

 

 

2015 topic title: Overcoming Chrondromalacia: my journey to PLAY again

2016 topic title: Keep Calm and make All Kinds of Gains

- my top goal is to overcome chondromalacia and play again, but I'm optimistic that will happen by the half-year mark or even 1/3 through the year

 

6'2", 24, been weightlifting since I was 13. At 14 I read Rippetoe's Starting Strength, which had a huge influence on me for the rest of my teenage years, and I trained BJJ for 4 years too at that time... Biggest i've been was 240lb at 19 (freshman 35), where I dead lifted and squatted over four plates (and leg pressed two dozen plates for 10 reps but who cares about that)... leanest was 200lb 5-7% bf at 21 (before my first shoulder surgery)... there's a lot I'm leaving out, but right now...

 

MRI the other week reveals my left knee has grade 2 to grade 3 chondromalacia of the lateral trochlea, and knee extensor tendonosis/tendonitis. The MRI report has more to reveal but that's the meat of it. My orthopedic doc says I could have lost up to 25-30% of my knee cartilage (with a knee cartilage graft or arthroscopy being some of the other options) at least there's still hope I can heal it by non-invasive means... basically I'm hoping that correcting all my imbalances and increasing my overall flexibility and mobility will result in permanent changes in my mechanics, which will allow me to return to move in the ways I've taken for granted my entire life. this chonrdomalacia has forced me to miss out on some cherished moments with family and awesome opportunities with friends, and a brief search on the internet reveals how evil it can be as it continues to get a hold over you, so I'm on an all out mission to shotgun it straight in the f***ng face, spending upwards of 3-4 hours a day on my movement practice.

 

oh btw, before I knew about stretch therapy, I took a Starrett approach: I would voodoo floss my knee daily for weeks, and do the other knee gapping/LAX ball SMR mwods for even months - while it made my knee feel great immediately after, I came to truly feel it wasn't making any lasting change. While I haven't removed these from my toolbox (as you will see in my log), I can say with conviction that some ST stretches have been the only thing that's made me walk through life the next day with observable progress - feeling less inhibited in my own body!

 

if the state I am in after these long movement practice / stretch therapy sessions is at all a realistic "default" state I can eventually inhabit (akin to bodybuilding, where seeing your muscles in their pumped state is a glimpse into how big they could be at their cold state) , then I am hopeful I can overcome chondromalacia holistically

 

Things I do daily (at least Saturday-Thursday), that I will not repeatedly post in my log:

• Seated piriformis stretch (usually twice a day)
• Kit's YouTube wrist conditioning sequence
• Lying Relaxation Practice (Yoga Nidra)
  • Kit has at least a dozen recordings, I for the most part select one arbitrarily at bed time
• Chinese Internal Martial Arts (although this I will repeatedly post in my log)

Joint Mobility Sessions generally:

• are Intu-Flow sessions (Scott Sonnon)
  • these involve moving every joint in the body in predominately circles and figure 8 patterns (of course there are other movements, but these two patterns encompass the majority of movements)
• a few movements I've picked up from Liv's follow-along class and L1 from Master Shoulder Flexibility
• 45-60 minutes long

 

Tuesday

• AM
  • Joint Mobility Session
• PM
  • Black Foam Roller Session (1 hr+)
    • HF, Quads, and ITB

I remember that once upon a time, I used the black (most dense) rumble roller on my IT band, as I was able to roll through the entire illiotibial band slowly with the normal cylindrical black foam roller and not encounter a single trigger point. now, I can spend 10 minutes each leg just on the IT band with the foam roller - I definitely have regressed, but good to know theres progress to be made

 

 

Wednesday

• AM
  • Kit's Neck & Jaw Sequence
  • Joint Mobility Session
• PM
  • Dry Sauna (15 minutes, 190º - this heat is nothing for me, but the gym locks it in at this temp)
    • I use the sauna as an opportunity for foot awakening drills, which currently is developing the body maps for straight toe abduction and adduction (no flexing or extending the toes)
  • Cold shower, then Steam Room (20 minutes), then cold shower again

 

I've only done Kit's jaw sequence a handful of times since I learned about it, and already my resting jaw flexibility allows for all four knuckles to fit comfortably in the mouth. Barely did any work today as I have a cold and went to sleep pretty early.

[zenwoof]

also, to preface:

my practice also doubles as a meditation and an opportunity to cultivate mindfulness (when done in silence to the background noise of my environment), or if I put on music it becomes fun and more spontaneous/improvisational

 

the mind state in which I approach my movement practice is one of compassion, love, and caring. this is huge. while I may enjoy animated and unbowdlerized language (e.g. personify chondromalacia as "evil") it's more an expression of vigour and determination... I realize my body is not malacious, and has only adapted the stresses imposed and not imposed on it. while there may well be genetic factors at play, the condition (injuries) I find myself in I consider to be the result of a perfectly normal, healthy body that has simply followed orders (stresses) the mind has placed upon it

[Fidel Pomajambo]

Chondromalacia is going down! Now you know what it is!

 

Even if you don't get it right with no surgery, your body, mind and soul will improve and get you in a much better shape for surgery, if that is the case.

 

If you wanna meet for coffee and/or training, let me know man

[Craig]

cool!

[Kit_L]

I realize my body is not malicious, and has only adapted the stresses imposed and not imposed on it.

 

There's more. Your body has adapted to a plethora of stimuli: those you chose to impose; those you neglected to impose, those you didn't know you needed to impose... etc., etc. and (this is part of the compassion dimension) there was no 'higher force' coordinating it all. You were doing the best you could; and now you want something different. All this is excellent, IMHO.

 

A question: the loss of cartilage aspect: what side of which knee? I feel the bio-mechanical root of this adaptation needs to be addressed. If, for example, it is on the medial side of one of the knees, one must look to the ankle or the hip for the cause. An ankle that pronates under load can be a major cause on one-sided loss (medial). And one, or both, relatively inactive glutes is the other big one (thinking of those leg extensions, now; they can be 100% quadriceps driven, or the thigh can be extended by the glute as well as the lower leg extended WRT the knee). Looking at your legs can yield insight: are the glutes or the quads dominant? 

 

Overall, mastering the single leg squat is the fast track to mechanical optimality, I feel. We have some good drills, and Steve Maxwell does, too: http://maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=60

 

His isometric partial lift-out from the bottom position was what activated my glutes; it really works.

 

Anyway, 2016 may be the big year for you, and what you have written above looks like a good start. 

[Craig]

Sea dog,

Just to mess things up a little, the single leg squats and variations did nothing for my glute activation, I was always able to do (lots of) them with a quad dominant pattern. Since mentioning this at every workshop I've taught, I've had many people tell me that the case was the same for them. It seems lots of people keep quiet about it because it's "supposed to work".

It's definitely a useful tool for the majority, but it's also worth keeping in mind that it's not effective on a small portion of the population.

I'll be filming the drills that helped me most in January!

[zenwoof]

@Fidel: thanks man - that's exactly the attitude. Looking forward to lunching tmrw!

 

@Kit: The loss of cartilage is on the outside (lateral) of my left knee. Also, you can easily see from the MRI/X-ray that the end of my femur, the portion of the bone adjacent to the loss of articular cartilage, is not receiving any blood supply I believe the corresponding technical term of the MRI report states "geographic area of chondral thinning and fissuring (grade 2 to 3 chondromalacia) in the lateral trochlea is associated with bone edema or reactive marrow hyperintensity." I can't quite tell without performing tests, but I would imagine I am quad-dominant.

 

@Craig: looking forward to it! btw, how do you know if you are activating glutes or not?

 

I've found a local PT and have scheduled sessions at the earliest availability, unfortunately this is a couple weeks out from now. From these sessions, I hope to learn Kinesio Taping for my knee, as well as experiment with Graston technique as a form of treatment.

[Craig]

My go to method is to stick a thumb into the glute to see if you can feel any tissue contracting:

https://youtu.be/O9nbJnEpG0w

[zenwoof]

@Craig: So you're telling me what I do in my free time to unwind actually doubles as a glute activation test? 

 

There's more. Your body has adapted to a plethora of stimuli: those you chose to impose; those you neglected to impose, those you didn't know you needed to impose... etc., etc. and (this is part of the compassion dimension) there was no 'higher force' coordinating it all. You were doing the best you could; and now you want something different. All this is excellent, IMHO.

 

Kit, what do you mean by 'higher force'?

 

Also, thank you for the Maxwell reference; I can identify with the introduction. Obtaining the pistol squat had been a minor goal of mine in the months leading up to my injury; now, I see that goal is to be prioritized. The first step in getting there, is obtaining the mobility to even get into the bottom position in the first place.

 

 

And one, or both, relatively inactive glutes is the other big one (thinking of those leg extensions, now; they can be 100% quadriceps driven, or the thigh can be extended by the glute as well as the lower leg extended WRT the knee). Looking at your legs can yield insight: are the glutes or the quads dominant?

 

Are you referring to standing leg extensions as a diagnostic of relatively inactive glutes? Similar to E6 Standing Knee Lift of Master the Squat, except also extend the lower leg WRT the knee?

 

edit: or, also similar to E4 Lying Agonist–Antagonist Hamstring of Master the Pike?

Edited December 29, 2015 by zenwoof

[SwissDanny]

@zenwolf.  Welcome!  

 

Overall, mastering the single leg squat is the fast track to mechanical optimality, I feel. We have some good drills, and Steve Maxwell does, too: http://maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=60

 

@kit.  Steve's material definitely seems to have some potential missing link stuff for me especially strength in the bottom. Also laughed, given my one-pack, at "A primary cause of limited hip mobility is excessive fat storage in region of your gut.  In fact, almost all immobility and inflexibility can be blamed on body fatness."

[zenwoof]

@SwissDanny: thanks!

 

Sunday

• PM
  • SMR
    • Hamstrings, Calves
  • ST
    • Boxing the comp
    • HF Lunge
    • Elephant walk
    • agonist/antagonist hamstring/HF activation

 

Monday

• PM
  • Joint Mobility
    • Intu-Flow
    • Craig's Spinal Waves

 

Tuesday

• PM
  • Joint Mobility Session
    • Intu-Flow
    • Craig's Spinal Waves
  • SMR
    • HF, Quads, ITB, Hamstrings

Wednesday

• PM
  • Joint Mobility Session
    • Intu-Flow
    • Craig's Spinal Waves
  • SMR
    • HF, Quads, ITB, Hamstrings, Calves
  • Internal Martial Arts (IMA)
    • softening, arm bridge silk pulling, tea cups, thoracic/scapular mobility, 5 min standing meditation
  • ST
    • elephant walk
    • lying agonist/antagonist hamstring
    • standing knee lift

Notes:

- Right shoulder struggles/burns much more on IMA exercises

 

TODO:

- Liv's Pike Prep follow-along class

- ordering SMR, joint mobility, stretching, and IMA in my practice? still experimenting myself, but generally I know I like to start with joint circles for the whole body, starting with neck and working down to ankles, which is great at initially "shaving off" tension

[zenwoof]

Thursday

- joint mobility

- wai gong (up down, left right, front back) 10 minutes each (broken into multiple sessions)

- ST (elephant walk, standing knee lift, lying agonist/antagonist)

 

Yep, one more Serge distance learner to the mix.

 

I must have overstretched my HF on Sunday, as since my left HF has been in pain whenever I put my hip into maximal flexion (e.g. as in childs pose)

 

Also, really enjoying Kit's latest yoga nidra recordings.

[Kit_L]

@SwissDanny: Steve has a strong view on this matter, to be sure. He might benefit from searching for "Gita Iyengar"; she is BKS's daughter, and she is—let us say comfortably padded—and she can do the most difficult poses. If you are soft enough, that excess tissue just moves out of the way.

 

@zenwoof, who wrote: 

 

Kit, what do you mean by 'higher force'?

 

I mean that nothing at any higher level in the system coordinates adaptations: they are simple responses to stimuli, and there is no aspect of one's self that is assessing any adaptation to see whether it is a benefit or a disbenefit with respect to the whole system.

[Kit_L]

MH wrote (and sorry I missed this before): 
 

the single leg squats and variations did nothing for my glute activation

The potential problem here is that if you are quad dominant AND have strong enough quads to lift out of the bottom position with them (unlikely, BTW, because they have extremely poor mechanical efficiency in the bottom position), you may have the perception that your glutes were not getting activated because all you can feel is your quads. But to lift out of the bottom position, you have to use your glutes, even if you can't feel them (quad dominant folk will feel that they are using their quads only, when in fact they are using them more than the glute-and-quad folk).

And I would like to see you use the South Park glute testing method in a SLS; that would be worth a video!

I recall you mentioning that an exercise like the speed skater squat, done at all angles, were what really got your glutes to fire; I found this too, as you know.

And (back to SLS now) even if you do not use your glutes much getting out of the bottom position, try this: get into the bottom position, and instead of thinking about lifting up out of it, put as much of your weight in the heel as you can, and tell yourself to use the heel to push the floor away. And only come up to below parallel, then go back down again, for ten or 20. Then tell us where you feel the effort the next day (assuming you get DOMS; I always do!).

[Kit_L]

@ zenwoof: my recommendation for mastering the SLS is about biomechanics only, in your case: you cannot do one SLS if the mechanics aren't really sound. In your case, where the adjacent bone has no blood supply, I can't make any recommendations beyond improving biomechanics—for the simple reason that the better the biomechanics, the better the distribution of forces around the body (engineering 101) and the longer all structures will last.

Watch out for lateral knee movement in and SLS drills: that must be stopped before loading further. Luckily, for the majority, the SLS is self-correcting: if weight is not perfectly balanced, the knee or the body moves laterally and, if far enough, you fall over.

The (IMHO) all-time best glute activator is the speed-skater squat; I have a tute on YT for this:

[zenwoof]

@Kit: awesome. thank you. i think the speed skater squat drill is exactly the missing puzzle piece i need. it is producing the precise sensation i've intuitively been chasing - the sensation of the femur being nicely grounded in the hip socket, and that grounding being the base of support that the body learns to rest on

 

Sunday
- joint mobility
- wai gong 20 mins (basic hands 1-3)

Monday
- wai gong 30 minutes (basic hands 1-3)
- joint mobility

Tuesday
- wai gong 30 minutes (basic hands 1-3)
- some of this was in the steam room and sauna - very nice sensations - the temperature differences (felt from the fingers) is even more perceptible
- 10 minutes foot awakening
- nei dan 15 minutes
- brief speed skater squat drill

I had watched 2/3 of the intro lecture on Tuesday, so didn’t even know what nei dan was until then. but goddamn, so many dots are being connected right now. so nice having a framework and vocabulary for all this. (white moon & serge’s book are both on their way, which will prove quite useful as references)

making alllll kindsss of gains!

Wednesday
- joint mobility
- 30 minutes wai gong (basic hands 4-6)
- 15 minutes nei dan (fingertip)

 

^ i'm making this the cover photo for my log. alchemy truly encompasses all kinds of gains - all kinds being the best umbrella term for the myriad of subjective gains we each experience in the movies that are our own daily lives. (+ shoutout hodgetwins)

Thursday
- 30+ minutes wai gong (basic hands 4-6)
- 30 minutes nei dan
- 30 minutes shen gong
- 5 minutes foot awakening
- steam room/dry sauna/cold showers

again, did some of the wai gong & nei dan in the dry sauna & steam room - delicious sensations in the fingers. i felt like I could stay in the steam room forever, and probably stayed longer than usual - when leaving, i’ve never seen steam come off my body like that, i looked like a human torch

Da Xuan + Yoga Nidra = so. many. gains. 

one such gain in particular, is the feeling of the “buddha smile” (when you close your eyes, feel no tension in the body or face, lips naturally assume a position that feels like they are ever so slightly smirked up) throughout the day, and feeling strongly that eventually this can be the default state when walking through life (I think it's similar to how Kit basically said it took 2 years of yoga nidra practice for him before deep relaxation became homeostasis)

 

i woke up with ache/pain a few days ago on the left side of my lower/mid back that has persisted, but gradually subsiding. no idea what caused it, but has limited me in exercises and movement. anyone know of a back ache fix exercise?

 

btw, saw a video of Emilie Conrad saying that despite her no longer having any cartilage in her right knee, her body has found a way to still provide full, unencumbered movement. that was encouraging to hear.

[zenwoof]

Saw a magnificent sports medicine chiropractor today, who has helped me to connect even more dots.

First off, with all these dots being connected, the lesson that was fully cemented was how intelligent the body really is - if you are just aware, ‘learn-ed’, and sensitive enough to listen to it, it will tell you exactly what it needs. When exploring new movements, or trying certain exercises, a part of me will just intuit that "oh! that repetition produced the right sensation" - and then try to reproduce it. There were some hip circle drills I emphasized as they produced a 'nourishing' sensation, and then Kit, unbeknownst, comes and links the speed skater squat which reproduces the same sensation (being grounded in the hips), but to its most intense degree. You’ll see in my log above I focused more on the neurologically-demanding activation exercises of Stretch Therapy (antagonist/agonist & standing knee lift), because when trying all the exercises in each Master program, some part of me felt this is what I need to focus on. The exercises the chiropractor prescribed are exactly that - neural ‘activation’ exercises, which is really just strengthening the muscles in their end range of motion (whole PNF/C-R philosophy behind ST).

What was really cool, was one of the movement screens he did on my knee, showing how “springy” my right knee was, and how my left knee was not at all. I’m not yet to the point of training “springiness” (I see others are training this in their logs) - but excited for those gains when the time comes.

I posted on Fidel’s log a couple months ago, listing all the left-side asymmetries in my body and how that is probably the root cause. I arrived at that belief after examining myself in my daily movement practice, but the doc obviously was able to deduce this much quicker than I was (being FMS certified helps).

The joint mobility sessions and stretch therapy exercises, done with utmost concentration, were fantastic diagnostic tools that showed me where I’m tight, where I feel impinged, where I’m limited. As a matter of fact, some of the things the chiro had me doing as a diagnostic I was doing daily as part of my joint mobility practice, lol.

He feels the main cause of my chondromalacia is my left hip (my suspicion). Any number of exercises involving maximal hip flexion exposes something is off, but I became especially cognizant of this after seeing the FAI thread on ST months back. And most recently, a sudden back ache on the left side of my lower-middle back.

Turns out, my sacrum is not moving when I laterally bend my spine to the left. Instead, the lateral flexion to the left is initiated & driven by the vertebrae above the sacrum. Lateral flexion to the right, my sacrum freely glides. I felt clear stiffness in the spine waves/circles of my joint mobility practice on my left side, as well as when I did the lateral flexion stretch (last exercise of Liv’s basic mobility class), but never knew why or figured out how to overcome that - now I know what’s going on behind the scenes causing the stiffness (sacrum inhibited).

Also, I lack hip internal rotation in my left hip. This was quite evident since the first time I attempted the inside squat, and seated figure four of Master the Squat. He did some palpations/ART on my forearm and the cause of my “sticky” and adhesed left wrist is actually from my elbow and muscles adjacent to it.

Excited to take my own diagnostic game further, by really getting my anatomy down (recent owner of both Myofascial Meridians & Trail Guide books, yet to dig in).

Essentially, my homework for now is some FRC stuff: hip CARs from all fours, some sort of lying knee/ankle CAR (kind of similar to ST agonist/antagonist), and the 90/90 drill.

Also, the kinesiotape on my knee is feeling wonderful. Stoked I may actually heal up my knee in time to go boarding before the snow season ends…

I’ve had more epiphanies this week than all of last year. All the dots being connected are forming an outline of what looks to be excellent big picture. 2016 is going to be an amazing year...

“Every year gon be our year. Every year gon be my year” - Kanye

[[DW]]

haha! Nice "re-brand" of the the log, Canine of No-Canine.  May the gains over-flow'eth thy Cup of Cups.

[zenwoof]

@Dave: hahaha right back at you!

 

Friday

- joint mobility

- hip CARs, knee CARs, 90/90 drill

- wai gong (basic hands 4-6)

 

So, apparently Wai Gong and Nei Gong use the exact same movements...?? Difference being, in Wai Gong your attention is focused on technique, whereas Nei Gong you've adapted to the point where you only need to focus on the breath?

 

If so, then I'm doing Nei Gong. The basic hands exercises have taken on an incredible feel... (I guess this is what a lot of chi feels like?)... basically, I initiate the circle and then I can just coast on the momentum, seemingly forever... the soft tissue structures and hands have a mind of their own... now I know what was meant by "you don't need to have fun to have fun"

 

Also just recently, time & energy permitting, I'll add a binaural beat visualization-guided meditation after my Yoga Nidra session. Let's just say I had the most intense lucid dream afterwards, where I sacrificed my body to the cosmos lol I will continue to play around with this stuff, but won't be posting about it in my log

[zenwoof]

Saturday

- joint mobility

- hip CARs

- 20 min nei gong (basic hands 4-6)

- 20 min nei dan

- ST:

- elephant walk - Mmmm delicious how this can shave off tension in the hamstrings

- wall pec stretch w/ fascial dimension

- wall calf stretch (the new exercises have made my left calf extremely sore)

 

so, left knee is too bummy to do the speed skater squat drill. when standing on my left leg, I basically can't bend my left knee forward without pain. my depth is the extent to which I can sit back without letting knee bend forward (which doesn't even make it to parallel). when my knee is healed, I can see myself abusing this drill

[Nathan]

Have you tried doing it assisted? Hold on to something (doorway, pole, etc.) in front of you. This way your knee doesn't need to come forward to maintain your center of gravity over the foot. It should allow you to get more depth on that leg, but I don't know if it will give you the sensation/effect you're looking to get out of the movement.

[Kit_L]

+1 to what Nathan said; I was going to say exactly the same. Stick held between thumb and fingertips; vertical shin of working leg against seat of chair, and the only way you can move is back. Experiment with all possible variations on which muscles are doing what in a non-maximal position that does not hurt the knee. 

 

Moving the hip backwards is THE key in the SSS anyway; moving backwards loads lower back, glutes and hamstrings progressively more and the knee less.

[zenwoof]

Thanks Nathan & Kit, I shall experiment with modifications.

 

Stick held between thumb and fingertips; vertical shin of working leg against seat of chair, and the only way you can move is back. Experiment with all possible variations on which muscles are doing what in a non-maximal position that does not hurt the knee.

 

A little difficulty picturing this; is the stick vertical, held perpendicular against the floor - to be used as support? And the chair is in front of the shin.

 

Sunday

- 20 min wai gong (5 min #1-3, 15 min 4-6)

- 20 min nei dan

- 12 min shen gong

 

My traps were pretty sore, definitely from the wall pec stretch with fascial dimension. I posted about it here, yet no matter how hard I try to solely use momentum and swing my arm to get it to stick, pretending like my arm is this toy:

or how convinced I am that I am not using my traps to keep my arm against the wall, my traps still get DOMS from the stretch the next day(s).

 

to-do: try out the floor variation of the pec stretch w/ fascial dimension

[Kit_L]

 

 

A little difficulty picturing this; is the stick vertical, held perpendicular against the floor - to be used as support? And the chair is in front of the shin.

 

Yes, exactly. Does not have to be the edge of a chair seat; anything horizontal in front of the shin will work. And the stick is held out to the side, in a finger and thumb pinch grip (so you can't use the strength of your arm for support!). 

 

Yes to floor version to stop the trap soreness.

[zenwoof]

I've managed to see a PT twice since my last update, a week ago. PT RX:

-basically the speed skater squat variation Kit & Nathan spoke of, except instead of holding onto something for balance, have the opposite (non-working) side of the body slide backwards against a wall;

- also about 7 variations of the side-lying clam exercise, each one hitting the glutes at a different angle;

- lying figure 4 glute stretch (ST variation & instruction way better)

- psoas stretch

- also called me out for slacking on my SMR

 

Only been doing all these exercises for a short while, but hips are feeling much better all-around.

 

Tried floor pec stretch with fascial dimension: no more trap DOMS! I prefer standing variation, but not worth the soreness.

 

Recalling from memory:

 

Monday
nei gong 20 min
nei dan 20 min
shen gong 12 min

 

Wednesday
foam roll it band, quad, HF
nei gong 20 min
nei dan 20 min

 

Thursday

- clam exercises

- speed skater squat

- knee/hip CARs

 

Saturday
- joint mobility
- floor pec stretch

 

Sunday

- clam exercises

- hip/knee CARs

- ST glute, psoas

- nei gong (1-6)

- after feeling solid on 1-6 from every angle or distance from the floor, finally trying 7-8

- tried out basic hands #7 (tea cup) and #8 (ying-yang palms), definitely Wai Gong for these now, especially #8 it was pretty awkward really had to think about the technique

 

Also, been playing around combining certain meditation binaural beats + Da Xuan, not going to log my experiences with binaural beats, but overall positive combo so far.

 

to-do:

- learn to SMR the psoas (I noticed how tender they were when PT massaged it)

- nei dan & shen gong

 

btw Happy MLK day everyone