Absolute Beginner's Stretching series

[MarkusO]

3 hours ago, Nathan said:

Technology really is amazing, isn't it?! It sounds like it could work great. I suppose the best way to find out would be to give it a try - @MarkusO? 

Yes let me give this a try. Lets see how that goes, my voice is not so lovely as Kit's  I will order such a mic for testing.

[jaja]

4 hours ago, Nathan said:

Thanks for mentioning that. I wanted to touch on that too, but forgot to do so. Personally, I think Kit has a lovely voice and I could listen to it all day  but I'm a native English speaker. My (Japanese) wife speaks English fairly well and has spent time living overseas, but I had her check the subtitles I did above and she mentioned it being a completely different experience. She could actually understand the content (including parts that she didn't realize she hadn't understood until she finally understood them!). Accents can be troublesome for non-native speakers, but we also use a lot of domain-specific terminology when talking about stretches. Even the more general anatomical terms (pecs or shin, for example) can be confusing to a non-native speaker. But another aspect to consider is that listening to a foreign language and reading a foreign language are two very different things. Japanese people feel very confident in their English reading skills, but that's not true for their listening skills. Some other populations may show a reverse trend, but (putting aside where they fall on list of priorities) I don't think English subtitles would be a waste of time.

Perfect reply, I agree 100%. I've always understood well Kit's instructions, but from time to time there were words I couldn't grasp because it was the first time I heard them. That was frustrating. Four years ago, having much more limited listening skills, I would have had to rely almost exclusively on visuals, thus missing subtle cues.

[MarkTN]

There’s a lot of Group wisdom from various health professionals and knowledgeable media promoters on this thread.

A subscription service sounds like a great idea, not just for beginners but for other aspects of the ST system. With your streamlined production set up I could imagine a variety of detailed demonstrations/explanations/explorations of topics perhaps derived from a subscription forum thread.

I’ve purchased most of your VODs. The ones I’ve probably spent the most time with are the follow alongs, with my top 3 being “stretching for meditation”, “rolling on the floor” and “slow flow”. When I recommend a title I recommend “Stretching for Meditation” because it’s a great beginners routine, gentle and head to toe with a philosophy of self care and awareness (and it’s $5). I appreciate the chapter approach of the Mastery series but I prefer following along like I’m taking a class with you. I wonder which format the other forum people prefer and what videos they’ve spent the most time working with.

I’m also really interested in your professional methods of client assessment and thought process for exercise prescription, how you combine ST with bodywork. I would sign up today to see these kind of videos and learn more about these professional applications. I guess that’s the other end of the spectrum form the Absolute Beginners series but something I hope you’ll consider for the future.

[Kit_L]

3 hours ago, MarkTN said:

I’m also really interested in your professional methods of client assessment and thought process for exercise prescription, how you combine ST with bodywork.

Mark, it is the other end of the spectrum, but it is on the radar. In the meantime, Overcome neck & back pain,  the 4th edition, is a significant step in that direction.

We have decided to make ABS follow-along (same with Overcome back pain) for just the reasons you mention. Why don't you start a thread on "I wonder which format the other forum people prefer and what videos they’ve spent the most time working with?" Great idea.

[Kit_L]

On 11/22/2017 at 6:31 PM, MarkusO said:

I have no experience with dubbing but this should really be tested first. It really depends on the speakers skills and the recording quality in general. If this is done badly the quality of the material would suffer immensely. On the other hand, if it is done professionally it would be a great solution and much less work than recording everything new. 

Yes, we will. In the meantime, all you potential radio stars, start practising now. All phones allow voice recording these days. So practise without the lav. mic—and listen to yourself and how you talk and how you phrase your sentences. You might be surprised by what you hear, and this will all work towards feeling completely comfortable once we start recording the new tracks. Start with any program you own, translate one of them (most are only around five minutes long), write an idiomatic 'free' translation into your language (so it sounds as natural as you can), and record the translation, while watching a muted version of the original. See how close you come to the original timing.

Second step: one more time, after you have recorded your version, listen to how I explained the exercise (the tone, intimacy/distance, speed of delivery, the sense of who I am talking to, and so on) and then listen again to yours. How close does it come?

With practise, you will be able to do this fluently and easily. I should add I was a film and television director in another life, so have helped many people with their performances. Good teaching is a particular performance. Starting to listen to your voice recorded straight into the phone is a superb first step in really understanding how you come across to others. If you do all this, your teaching will progress very quickly, and you will be ready when we are ready to 'go live'.

Getting a lav. mic is a last, less significant part, than people think. If your delivery is confident without being aggressive, directive without being assertive, and genuinely you, that soundtrack really could be recorded on anything. The lav. mic into a phone with the right free software only improves the technical quality of it; it is the performance that needs the work, for all of us.

[justinchien]

Hello all, 

I am a bit behind to this party - sorry! :-) I just scanned this growing thread quickly. Let me share some thinking points for your consideration. I apologize in advance for any redundant comments. 

• Putting on my ST practitioner hat: I went to a holiday party here in US just last night. I ran into a couple of fitness trainers and Yoga teachers who I have never met before. I chatted with them a little, and had an opportunity to demo a shoulder stretch on one guy as a talking point. They have reached out to me, and are interested in checking out ST. This has happened to me often enough in my classes or in the social interactions. I know there is no lack of interest in ST. It is good stuff - as simple as that. If you show them and help them experience it, they will come. The challenge is, how to create enough of visibility and establish a sustainable eco-system of support to keep challenging the participants. Especially, there are lots of noise out there, but quality systems are few. 

• Putting on my computer engineering hat: 1) To create a broader visibility, use any channels that you can come up with (plenty were mentioned in this thread already), as long as not being annoying and provide a pointer to the mothership of information (one place, and one place only if possible). 2) There are multiple platforms to consider in terms of creating a positive user experience. There may be a need to adjust the media presentation based on the platform, from desktop to touch devices (such as smart phone and tablet). For touch devices, there may be options of using native app or web-based app (and of course, what web browser you are using can be a factor too). Just look at how Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc. created different experience based on desktop, phone, tablet, etc. for the same app (such as Numbers in Apple's eco-system).

• Putting on my program management hat: With the above comment in mind, the simpler we can make proceed, the easier we can reach out to the user and help them experience ST. It is also more manageable to administrate these materials and platforms. :-) 

• Absolute beginner's stretch series: I think it's great that we will offer solo stretches as a starting point. If possible, we should be sensitive about this: a beginner won't be able to process what a (reasonable) end pose may be, since they are still learning about it. The focus, perhaps, is to help someone experience ST to the point that, they are interested in reaching out to contact class - if it is available to them. Specifically, they can feel the difference via the materials, and get them curious enough to ask for more. 

Speaking for myself, I have laptop, iPad, and iPhone. As much as Wifi is really accessible in US, I prefer downloading the materials (videos, audios, documents, etc.) on all 3 devices. Depending on where I am and what I am doing, I have used all 3 devices (separately of course) to help me refine my knowledge in ST. 

 

Again, if someone is exposed to ST, they will love it. We need to help them with a reachable support to enable a sustainable learning. Contact classes are great if these classes are available. If not, offer some local contacts (as local as possible) is another option. So they have someone whom they can interact with. It makes a huge difference to have a community of practice. 

 

Finally, I was playing with my Apple AirPods and recording my own meditation scripts. The sound quality is actually pretty good. :-) 

 

Please let me know if I can clarify anything. Thanks for advancing the techniques continuously and sharing them openly. 

 

Cheers, and happy stretching! 

 

-Justin  

[Nathan]

4 hours ago, justinchien said:

The focus, perhaps, is to help someone experience ST to the point that, they are interested in reaching out to contact class - if it is available to them. Specifically, they can feel the difference via the materials, and get them curious enough to ask for more.

I agree with this sentiment in general, but I'd change "the focus" to "one goal" and put emphasis on "if it is available." This should be one of the goals of all of the material available online, but the wording also makes it sound like the videos would be a sampler/taster, and I don't think that's the intention. The online materials should be a complete package that makes the ST method available to those who have no access to local/physical sources. Of course, a physical workshop or class will always be best, but for some that will never be a possibility. That's the beauty of these resources. For absolute beginners that decide they want more and only have access to online resources, they can then move on to the Master the... series, or other VOD programs. I have a feeling you agree with all of this and didn't intend to imply otherwise, but I'm just throwing this out there for clarification.

5 hours ago, justinchien said:

As much as Wifi is really accessible in US, I prefer downloading the materials (videos, audios, documents, etc.) on all 3 devices.

That's a great point. Wifi is everywhere when I go back to the US and visit, but here in Japan, that's not true at all. I will always prefer having the content locally on my devices, and I'm sure that's true for a vast majority of users. But Kit is in Australia, and they aren't known for their fast net speeds, so I'm sure he's sympathetic to this preference already  

5 hours ago, justinchien said:

Again, if someone is exposed to ST, they will love it. We need to help them with a reachable support to enable a sustainable learning. Contact classes are great if these classes are available. If not, offer some local contacts (as local as possible) is another option. So they have someone whom they can interact with. It makes a huge difference to have a community of practice. 

Unfortunately, local sources are pretty limited, but if we do end up with an app then it would be great if it helped people connect locally. The app should allow easy access to the forums, and could perhaps even supply its own functionality to help users connect with each other. However, that could pull people away from the forums, which offers so much more as well, so it'd probably be best to try to utilize the forums for that functionality (perhaps dressing it up in the app to make it more accessible/less daunting to new users).

[Pat (pogo69)]

1 hour ago, Nathan said:

The online materials should be a complete package that makes the ST method available to those who have no access to local/physical sources. Of course, a physical workshop or class will always be best, but for some that will never be a possibility. That's the beauty of these resources. For absolute beginners that decide they want more and only have access to online resources, they can then move on to the Master the... series, or other VOD programs.

Ditto.

I'd love to make it to the Brisbane Stretch Therapy workshop next May, having never yet attended one.  But the timing is a little close to a race I've entered; and my hobby (ultra trail racing) can be surprisingly costly; so the ridiculously low price of entry for the Vimeo offerings make them a very attractive alternative, and they're available all the time.

1 hour ago, Nathan said:

That's a great point. Wifi is everywhere when I go back to the US and visit, but here in Japan, that's not true at all. I will always prefer having the content locally on my devices, and I'm sure that's true for a vast majority of users. But Kit is in Australia, and they aren't known for their fast net speeds, so I'm sure he's sympathetic to this preference already  

Yes.  For the most part, streaming in Australia is flaky, at best.  Given the incumbent government's backward communications policies, that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

 

[Kit_L]

4 hours ago, Nathan said:

But Kit is in Australia, and they aren't known for their fast net speeds, so I'm sure he's sympathetic to this preference already  

Are we ever. If you had any idea of what Liv and I have had to go through to even be able to upload the Mastery series, you'd be awarding Australia Day awards to us. Yes, we are very sympathetic to this.

[Kit_L]

On 12/4/2017 at 7:54 AM, justinchien said:

The focus, perhaps, is to help someone experience ST to the point that, they are interested in reaching out to contact class - if it is available to them.

@justinchien: that's the big one: IF. For the vast majority in the world, there will not be a teacher nearby, more's the pity. Liv does a fantastic job on the ST.net site, and regularly updates the teacher section there, and we will be running an Instagram series both on all of our teachers and the ABS Series, once done. So, anyone who is near a teacher will be made aware of them.

#feature-teacher

#stretchtherapy

#ABS I am not sure if acronyms work as hashtags; maybe for something new better to:

#AbsoluteBeginnersStretching

So, to sum up, 

20 hours ago, Nathan said:

The online materials should be a complete package that makes the ST method available to those who have no access to local/physical sources.

@Nathan: this is exactly how Miss O and I are thinking about this. And the better we can do this, the more people will want to work with a teacher, I believe.

[justinchien]

Hello all,

I actually posted two days in a row - this is a record for me. I will try to be more involved here. :-) 

A couple of clarifications: 

• I completely agree with the idea of the online materials should be a complete package. It shouldn't be a teaser - teaser is for the promotional purpose. My thinking is: this is the "absolute" beginner's stretching series. If the content is too complicate/challenging or too much, some folks will be lost. It is nothing to do with the quality of the material, of course. Kit and Olivia always have great quality content. It's more about constructing the material to help the beginners experience enough of ST, so they understand why it is different and effective. They will ask for more. 
• In terms of asking for more, that's the challenge of building an eco-system of support. I have folks checking out the existing videos. They would tell me that it is the same as this and that. I would ask them "let's try it together". After we work in person, they would tell me "this is different than what I thought". My point is: we all need support. Studying alone is a tough way to make forward progress. Few can but most can't. Providing the materials online is a good way to reach out to folks. Establishing and providing some contacts can be an effective way of offering support, for a continuous practice. We have a growing network of practitioners who are willing to help. Let's see if we can utilize it. Even the people who are not in the same state, it is still closer than cross-continent. 
• As an example, the forums here are great resources. The advantage and disadvantage is (as always for a discussion forum like this): the amount of information and the lengthy history of the conversation. As a result, it can be information overloaded. A beginner can find it challenging to walk through the material. I have folks checking out the forums and quitted. I would talk with them about what subjects they were interested, and explain to them what I understand. Personal interaction is a great way of transferring the knowledge. It's true that some people are just high maintenance. If you offer the right trigger for them to realize what they are missing, they will embrace it fully. They just need a little coaching. 

I am spoiled by the accessibility of the internet in US. I am surprised to learned that how tough it is in Australia and in Japan. I would go for a slower Internet connection to exchange for a better president. Sigh... Sorry, had to go there... :-| 

No matter where you are, have a good rest of the day! 

-Justin

[Olga]

9 hours ago, Kit_L said:

@justinchien: that's the big one: IF. For the vast majority in the world, there will not be a teacher nearby, more's the pity. Liv does a fantastic job on the ST.net site, and regularly updates the teacher section there, and we will be running an Instagram series both on all of our teachers and the ABS Series, once done. So, anyone who is near a teacher will be made aware of them.

#feature-teacher

#stretchtherapy

#ABS I am not sure if acronyms work as hashtags; maybe for something new better to:

#AbsoluteBeginnersStretching

Featuring a teacher is a great idea - I would also think how to localise that post. For example, I always hashtag a postcode for my business and use hashtags in German in addition to Englsih. A quick exchange with the ST Teacher will give you that info.

As an example, here is how one of the NGOs here that I follow features its teaching fellows (they are in the Education area):

Teach for Austria 8 (#8 in fellow countdown)

I would NOT use acronyms in hashtags unless they are  well-known, like USSR...

[Kit_L]

13 hours ago, Olga said:

I would NOT use acronyms in hashtags unless they are  well-known, like USSR...

Makes perfect sense.

#absolutebeginnersstretching

Or can hashtags have capitals?

#AbsoluteBeginnersStretching, if hashtags can be written this way. Or would 

#stretch-therapy (or #absolute-beginners-stretching) be better—please educate this non-hashtag-user!

[Kit_L]

P.S.: I spent all yesterday afternoon going through the workshop images (from the FB galleries); we do not have any recent imaged of you, @Olga! Please send as many images of yourself, your studio, working with clients, etc., as you want: we intend to #feature-teacher three teachers per week for a couple of months to get this IG > FB thing happening. We will be emailing all teachers in this regard, but the earlier the better!

[Nathan]

5 hours ago, Kit_L said:

Or can hashtags have capitals?

#AbsoluteBeginnersStretching, if hashtags can be written this way.

Hashtags are not case sensitive, so you should write it whichever way is easiest to read. Personally, I would capitalize, as I find that easier on the eyes. Hyphens will not work. You can use underscores, but I believe avoiding them is the general recommendation.

[Kit_L]

So:

#AbsoluteBeginnersStretching

#StretchTherapy

#CatLikeMovement

Any other suggestions?

[SwissDanny]

35 minutes ago, Kit_L said:

Any other suggestions?

I regularly see posts with 10+ #Tags.... #BestStretch #HamstringStretch #BendyBoy #BendyGirl etc etc... the more the better to a point it seems.

This brave new world works in a different way... I even have a friend with a distribution business; helping niche US sports brands into Europe.  He gets a lot of his traffic from an IG channel that basically features very tame booty shots of girls (edit ie young women... eek) in sporty leggings holding a tote bag with his company logo on it... this pics are sent in for free by said girls as part of some informal cross-marketing thing. He gets 100's of likes per post. Mind is boggled...

 

[MarkusO]

9 hours ago, SwissDanny said:

I regularly see posts with 10+ #Tags.... #BestStretch #HamstringStretch #BendyBoy #BendyGirl etc etc... the more the better to a point it seems.

This brave new world works in a different way... 

I agree with Danny, use more Hashtags and come up with a list of related ones. Instagram marketing works in strange ways. There are websites that help you out to come up with hashtags. Check this: http://hashtagify.me/hashtag/stretching You want to gain reach by using already popular hastags in addition to your own creations. 

 

[Olga]

9 hours ago, SwissDanny said:

I regularly see posts with 10+ #Tags.... #BestStretch #HamstringStretch #BendyBoy #BendyGirl etc etc... the more the better to a point it seems.

This brave new world works in a different way...

Exactly!! Shameless self-promotion, and the less content is there, the stronger that promotional push is. I literally get horrified when I see what's posted on IG and Pinterest under "core exercises". My hair stand out, honestly.

People and businesses with good content cannot stay silent waiting to be discovered... they must compete for those clicks. Hopefully after the first click the truth comes out, whether there is anything on that site or it's just an empty ad banner covering lack of substance.

Also, don't be overly intellectual with those hashtags Step yourself in the shoes of your audience instead. I can bet that #bendybody will work better than #catlikemovement

I add about 5-10 hashtags to every IG post. As in any game, you will get better after some practice. I recently started using Google Keywords Research tools, I think these must be related to hashtag choice. I use the same keywords/tags/hashtags throughout my media. Let me pull up a list from that also. Are we looking for world-wide relevance?

[Olga]

The hashtagify is cool! Thanks for the recommendation. There is also a simple way to research the hashtags in Instagram by doing a search on your keyword and seeing how many posts contain this hashtag. The recommendation is not too many (millions... that's too broad) and not too few (so noone actually searches for it!).

I attach a picture showing what I did with #stretch in IG. Below is a few keywords that might work instead of #stretch (too broad) or #absolutebeginnerstretching (too narrow).

#stretches, #stretched, #stretchitout, #stretchout, #stretchit, #stretchingtime, #stretchyourself, finally #catstretch instead of #catlikemovement

Also

think of the problem users have to start thinking of stretching more: #backpain, #neckpain

And based on

alternative names to stretching: #flexibilitytraining (#flexibility is too broad)

AND I cannot emphasise it MORE: one must think from the target audience perspective. If you want to target people who have never heard of Stretch Therapy why would you use hashtags #stretchtherapy and #catlikemovement. Instead, think of a person who wants to find out more about stretching and why he does that... Back, neck pain, tight hamstrings, cannot sit for meditation? These are our hashtags in addition to #stretchXXXXXXX. NOTE to self: must check my own hashtags for this :-)

[Kit_L]

16 hours ago, Olga said:

Are we looking for world-wide relevance?

Most definitely. Last night I conformed that we will be reshooting ABS with Czon and Kevin (so, all-new versions), in Chinese, and around March 2018. We will do the soundtrack replacement versions as soon as we can; we would like to start with German, French, Italian, and Spanish, we think.

Some more:

#StartStretching, #StretchByYourself, #CatStretch for sure!!!! (thanks Olga), #RelaxedBody, #HappyBody, #BeginStretching, #BeginningStretching, #BackPainStretching, #NeckPainStretching.... Endless.

[Kit_L]

11 hours ago, Olga said:

If you want to target people who have never heard of Stretch Therapy why would you use hashtags #stretchtherapy and #catlikemovement.

a 'D'oh' moment: of course. Or might there be utility in including these anyway, to popularise them? I did go to the hashtagifyme site; interesting to be sure; are there any other sites you can recommend? 

Once again, thank you everyone for participating in this thread; it is gold for us.

[Kit_L]

Another thought: because Liv and I will be recording alternate versions of the programs (i.e., I will record avery second program with me presenting; same with Liv) we will need male and female voices for the new soundtracks.

@Keilani Gutierrez has offered to do the male Spanish voice, but we will need a female voice too.

@MarkusO has offered to do the male German voice; who can do the female version?

I think we will need Italian, Swedish, and French, too. Any other language suggestions? In order of sales of English-only programs so far:

US, Australia, and UK, in that order,

Germany, Italy, Sweden, in that order, then

Switzerland (probably all @SwissDanny! :)), France, and Singapore (but English is very widely understood there).

Others?

[MarkusO]

5 hours ago, Kit_L said:

Another thought: because Liv and I will be recording alternate versions of the programs (i.e., I will record avery second program with me presenting; same with Liv) we will need male and female voices for the new soundtracks.

@MarkusO has offered to do the male German voice; who can do the female version?

Checked with the boss and she is happy to help Kit. We can keep this one in the family :-) 

[Olga]

11 hours ago, Kit_L said:

Some more:

#StartStretching, #StretchByYourself, #CatStretch for sure!!!! (thanks Olga), #RelaxedBody, #HappyBody, #BeginStretching, #BeginningStretching, #BackPainStretching, #NeckPainStretching.... Endless.

I see you are now fully on it ))) a couple of more ideas:

- to link stretching to a super-trendy topic like yoga (comes first in the similar hashtags in that Hashtagify link). So, #stretchforyoga, #yogastretch, #yogasplits, #yogahamstringsstretch etc.

- to link stretching to athletic pursuits like #stretchforrunners, #stretchforgolf or even simply #golf and #mountainbiking if a particular body part can be relevant to some sport

You are allowed 30 hashtags per post.