Think back to the 80's when it was fashionable for women to walk around looking like line backers. What were we thinking? This area is designed to hang off us, not emulate shoulder pads.
The shoulder girdle is an area of tension for many people. Just notice right now if you are actually letting your shoulders hang, or are they tensed "up." Tension easily encroaches on this area, and can lead to neck discomfort. Let's see how we can efficiently move this area of our body within the Pilates Mat repertoire. Before I start I am going to look in mirror and notice/feel my shoulders and neck. It's nice to sometimes have a place to measure progress from. Let's liberate our shoulders, and therefore relax our neck!
My goal is not to teach the Pilates Mat Repertoire, but to offer some insight as to what I see when I complete them in my own personal practice. This is a series of postings so please look back at the previous posts to follow along.
1) "The 100"
Goal: Come into flexion without creating tension in our shoulder girdle or neck
I will first come up into the hundreds position. As I go through this exercise, I'll notice how my neck and shoulders feel. They don't feel tense so much, as I feel them having to work quite hard. I'm going to visualize some bones to help me with this movement.
My humerus is the bone of my upper arm. As I come forward I will imagine this bone to turn inward. This is coupled by a counter motion of the scapula in the back, which I will imagine to go outward. The more I come forward imagining the humerus turning in, the more I will imagine the scapula going outward. Another bone I can imagine is my clavicle. As I come forward I will feel a counter motion of the clavicle coming inward. As I complete the hundred imaging the motions of these three bones I feel my shoulder/neck relax, and I can easily stay in a flexed position with the work now drawn towards my center.
I will first come up into the hundreds position. As I go through this exercise, I'll notice how my neck and shoulders feel. They don't feel tense so much, as I feel them having to work quite hard. I'm going to visualize some bones to help me with this movement.
My humerus is the bone of my upper arm. As I come forward I will imagine this bone to turn inward. This is coupled by a counter motion of the scapula in the back, which I will imagine to go outward. The more I come forward imagining the humerus turning in, the more I will imagine the scapula going outward. Another bone I can imagine is my clavicle. As I come forward I will feel a counter motion of the clavicle coming inward. As I complete the hundred imaging the motions of these three bones I feel my shoulder/neck relax, and I can easily stay in a flexed position with the work now drawn towards my center.
2) "The Roll Up"
Goal: Keep the movement fluid, without tensing "up" my shoulders.
I will complete this exercise a few times focusing on the choreography of the roll up. As I am doing this I will check in with my shoulders and how they are reacting to the movements. I could work to hold them in one place, but this feel tense and makes the exercise more challenging than I feel it should be.
I now will focus on the bones mentioned earlier and see how imagining their movements within the exercise might help relax my shoulder girdle. As I come forward I imagine the humerus to roll in, the scapula to equally roll out. As I come forward I will also imagine the clavicle rolling in like a wave equal to my movement forward. The moment I start to lengthen my back, whether it be at the top or bottom of the rollup, I will imagine the humerus rolling back to where it came from equal to the scapula going back to where it came from. The clavicle will roll like a wave outward as my back comes into a neutral position. As I flow in and out of this exercise I now feel a fluid motion in the choreography without any tension sneaking into my shoulder girdle to cause neck discomfort.
I will complete this exercise a few times focusing on the choreography of the roll up. As I am doing this I will check in with my shoulders and how they are reacting to the movements. I could work to hold them in one place, but this feel tense and makes the exercise more challenging than I feel it should be.
I now will focus on the bones mentioned earlier and see how imagining their movements within the exercise might help relax my shoulder girdle. As I come forward I imagine the humerus to roll in, the scapula to equally roll out. As I come forward I will also imagine the clavicle rolling in like a wave equal to my movement forward. The moment I start to lengthen my back, whether it be at the top or bottom of the rollup, I will imagine the humerus rolling back to where it came from equal to the scapula going back to where it came from. The clavicle will roll like a wave outward as my back comes into a neutral position. As I flow in and out of this exercise I now feel a fluid motion in the choreography without any tension sneaking into my shoulder girdle to cause neck discomfort.
3) "Roll Over"
Goal: Keep my arms connected to the mat throughout the choreography, without tensing "up" my shoulder girdle or neck.
I will complete this exercise a few times going through the choreography. One thing I notice is my shoulders tense and want to come up, as does my head, when I bring my spine back down onto the mat after taking my legs over the head. I work to pull my shoulders down and keep my head down. This is only completed by tensing these areas up, forcing the action to happen.
I will now use the bones I have been discussing to see if I can image their movements to assist with the goal. As my legs go over my head I feel my back come into flexion. I'll use an image from my last blog where I pictured the rollup, but reversed from the other end. As my pelvis comes over my head and my low back comes into flexion I will imagine my humerus come in equal to my scapula going out. My clavicle I'll imagine rolling out equal to the rounding of my of my spine like a wave cresting towards my pelvis. To achieve the goal I'll imagine the opposite as my back comes onto the mat. As my back begins to come into a neutral position on the mat I will imagine the reverse. My humerus will roll back to where it came equal to the scapula coming back to where it came from. My clavicle I will imagine rolling inward like a wave towards my neck. My shoulders are not completely relaxed, but because I brought more attention to this area in my body I feel them not having to work nearly as hard as when my attention earlier had them moving as one whole part.
I will complete this exercise a few times going through the choreography. One thing I notice is my shoulders tense and want to come up, as does my head, when I bring my spine back down onto the mat after taking my legs over the head. I work to pull my shoulders down and keep my head down. This is only completed by tensing these areas up, forcing the action to happen.
I will now use the bones I have been discussing to see if I can image their movements to assist with the goal. As my legs go over my head I feel my back come into flexion. I'll use an image from my last blog where I pictured the rollup, but reversed from the other end. As my pelvis comes over my head and my low back comes into flexion I will imagine my humerus come in equal to my scapula going out. My clavicle I'll imagine rolling out equal to the rounding of my of my spine like a wave cresting towards my pelvis. To achieve the goal I'll imagine the opposite as my back comes onto the mat. As my back begins to come into a neutral position on the mat I will imagine the reverse. My humerus will roll back to where it came equal to the scapula coming back to where it came from. My clavicle I will imagine rolling inward like a wave towards my neck. My shoulders are not completely relaxed, but because I brought more attention to this area in my body I feel them not having to work nearly as hard as when my attention earlier had them moving as one whole part.
4) "The One Leg Circle"
Goal: Use my shoulder to counter the leg movement, so my pelvis can remain neutral.
I will go through this exercise a few times seeing how the movement of my leg affects my pelvis. As I complete the circles I feel the pelvis want to move around. To keep this from happening I work to hold the pelvis in place as the leg moves, but this seems to tighten up my quads. Not only does my pelvis feel tight now, but the shoulders have started to tense "up" as well.
I'll see how I might could use the shoulder girdle to help stabilize this movement without causing any tension to sneak in. As my left leg goes outward to the left I will now imagine my right shoulder girdle getting heavier. As my left leg goes inward I will imagine the left shoulder girdle getting heavier. This seems to help, but there is still some tension in the movement.
I will now try and see what happens to the bones of the shoulder girdle as I get heavier on their perspective sides. When I allow my shoulder girdle to become heavier on one side to counter balance the leg movement I will imagine an outward movement of the upper arm (humerus,) equal inward movement of the scapula, with the clavicle rolling in like a wave cresting into my neck. If I focus well enough on these movements and see this happening as I go through the leg circles slowly, I can not only keep my pelvis relaxed in a neutral position, but also keep my shoulder relaxed as it helps to counterbalance the movement of the leg.
5) "Rolling Back"
Goal: Articulate my back keeping my shoulder girdle relaxed throughout the choreography.
I will first complete the exercise working to simply articulate my spine in a c-curve flexed position. The articulation of my back does not seem to be a problem, but as I do this exercise I feel my shoulders slowly want to creep "up" with tension.
This time I will imagine the shoulder girdle as I am completing the exercise. I will picture the bones of the shoulder girdle as I roll. Since I am in a flexed position I will imagine my humerus in, equal to my scapula out as well as my clavicle rolling in like a wave cresting into my neck. This helps, but since I am holding them in this position I still feel tension wanting to creep into my shoulders and neck.
Now I will try and find a way to move these bones in the exercise, so they are not stuck in one spot throughout. I will imagine my humerus rolling in more equal to my scapula coming out more as I go over my mid back. This allows me to swing my scapula out more and my back to come into better contact with the mat. Another image I decided to play with was the clavicle as a wave crashing. As I rolled back I imagined my clavicle as a wave coming into my neck and as I came forward I imagined my clavicle of a wave coming forward with the motion of the exercise.
When I focus well enough and picture these movements not only do my shoulders and neck relax, but the exercise actually is completed with more precision. My back receives much more articulation from the newfound awareness in my shoulder girdle.
I will go through this exercise a few times seeing how the movement of my leg affects my pelvis. As I complete the circles I feel the pelvis want to move around. To keep this from happening I work to hold the pelvis in place as the leg moves, but this seems to tighten up my quads. Not only does my pelvis feel tight now, but the shoulders have started to tense "up" as well.
I'll see how I might could use the shoulder girdle to help stabilize this movement without causing any tension to sneak in. As my left leg goes outward to the left I will now imagine my right shoulder girdle getting heavier. As my left leg goes inward I will imagine the left shoulder girdle getting heavier. This seems to help, but there is still some tension in the movement.
I will now try and see what happens to the bones of the shoulder girdle as I get heavier on their perspective sides. When I allow my shoulder girdle to become heavier on one side to counter balance the leg movement I will imagine an outward movement of the upper arm (humerus,) equal inward movement of the scapula, with the clavicle rolling in like a wave cresting into my neck. If I focus well enough on these movements and see this happening as I go through the leg circles slowly, I can not only keep my pelvis relaxed in a neutral position, but also keep my shoulder relaxed as it helps to counterbalance the movement of the leg.
5) "Rolling Back"
Goal: Articulate my back keeping my shoulder girdle relaxed throughout the choreography.
I will first complete the exercise working to simply articulate my spine in a c-curve flexed position. The articulation of my back does not seem to be a problem, but as I do this exercise I feel my shoulders slowly want to creep "up" with tension.
This time I will imagine the shoulder girdle as I am completing the exercise. I will picture the bones of the shoulder girdle as I roll. Since I am in a flexed position I will imagine my humerus in, equal to my scapula out as well as my clavicle rolling in like a wave cresting into my neck. This helps, but since I am holding them in this position I still feel tension wanting to creep into my shoulders and neck.
Now I will try and find a way to move these bones in the exercise, so they are not stuck in one spot throughout. I will imagine my humerus rolling in more equal to my scapula coming out more as I go over my mid back. This allows me to swing my scapula out more and my back to come into better contact with the mat. Another image I decided to play with was the clavicle as a wave crashing. As I rolled back I imagined my clavicle as a wave coming into my neck and as I came forward I imagined my clavicle of a wave coming forward with the motion of the exercise.
When I focus well enough and picture these movements not only do my shoulders and neck relax, but the exercise actually is completed with more precision. My back receives much more articulation from the newfound awareness in my shoulder girdle.
Conclusion:
I take a moment standing to feel my shoulder girdle and neck. I look in the mirror and notice their position on my body. My shoulders feel and look more relaxed now than when I started this session. Movement is life. When I inhibit movement in my shoulder girdle within the Pilates Mat Repertoire, I instantly feel tension arrive. Even if I don't want an outward appearance of movement in the shoulder girdle, by simply imagining some type of movement I was able to discover liberated shoulders and a relaxed neck.
I take a moment standing to feel my shoulder girdle and neck. I look in the mirror and notice their position on my body. My shoulders feel and look more relaxed now than when I started this session. Movement is life. When I inhibit movement in my shoulder girdle within the Pilates Mat Repertoire, I instantly feel tension arrive. Even if I don't want an outward appearance of movement in the shoulder girdle, by simply imagining some type of movement I was able to discover liberated shoulders and a relaxed neck.
©2011 Matthew Deal Pilates
No comments:
Post a Comment