news & extras

Shoulder Reset Exploration

1/28/2018

I hope you enjoy these ideas to help release and strengthen the shoulders. Take your time and let me know how it goes!

1. Shoulder Blade Release

We'll begin with a release so you can get deeper in the following exercises as well as bring awareness to this area. We're trying to soften the fascia and muscles around the back of the shoulder - specifically the serratus anterior, rotator cuff muscles, latissimus dorsi and teres major. So, find your tennis ball (or other preferred self-massage tool) and make space at a wall!

Place the ball as pictured so it is at the back of the armpit - where the arm and the torso meet. Keeping the ball in place, lean against the wall and let enough weight relax into the ball so you have a nice sense of pressure. breathe easily and deeply throughout. This area can be very sensational so go slowly and be prepared to give less or more pressure as needed.

Move upwards/downwards, side to side, make small circles, or simply stay in one spot. Take care that the shoulders and arms remain relaxed. Stay for 2 minutes on each side. If you notice that one side is considerably tighter than the other, spend more time this side and less on the other. having trouble finding the ‘good’ spots? Search around first with the other hand and then return to the wall with the tennis ball.

2. Arm Half Circle at the Wall

1. Begin standing sideways at the wall. Lift the arm closest to the wall out in front of you - touching or almost touching the wall.

2. Lift the arm up towards the ceiling with the hand skimming the wall. As you're moving, follow the fingers with the eyes.

3. Allow the arm to lower behind you. From this point, reverse direction and go back up to the ceiling. Continue to make big half circles with the arm at least 10 times.

The ribs and hips move as they want. If it feels like too much of a stretch or too intense in general, simply step further away from the wall. To make the sensation more, take a step closer to the wall but always keep at least some space between the inside shoulder and the wall.

Repeat on the other side.

3. Elbow Squeeze #1

Stand or sit with the upper arm and if possible elbows touching the sides of the body, forearms parallel to the floor out to the side (you can see the finger tips out of the corner of your eyes), palms toward the ceiling, and fingers spread wide. Breath is active throughout and the neck relaxed.

Check that the shoulder blades are pinned on the back, shoulders are away from the ears and the ribs are relaxed. Both the upper back and the chest feel wide.
Begin to squeeze the upper arm bones in towards the side of the body.
Then imagine that you want the thumbs to meet behind the back (do not let the arms actually drag back behind you).
Keep this squeeze and pull continuously in the arms for at least 10 breaths. Notice where you feel effort. Ideally this would be in the backs of the arms and around the back of the armpit.

4. Elbow Squeeze #2

Stand with the feet in parallel and place the elbows at the side of the body, forearms out in front with palms facing toward each other. This is your starting shape.

Feel the collar bones wide - imagine them moving east and west.
Press the elbows back behind you as far as they will go while the chest remains open with collar bones wide.
Rest the fingers/hands on the front of the rib cage*. Notice that the ribs are not eagerly pressing forward.
Begin to squeeze the elbows towards each other while keeping the chest open.
Stay and breath for about 5 deep breaths. Rest and repeat at least one more time.

*When this starts to feel clear, slide the hands further back along the ribs so they rest more towards the side of the ribs than front.

5. Wall lean

Stand sideways to a sturdy wall. Find a distance where the inside hand can be on the wall, with the elbow bent, and you are leaning in a straight line in to the wall. The hand is a little bit below shoulder height, and the elbow points down to the floor. The feet are close together. This is your starting shape. You can always adjust the distance from the wall to make the exercise easier or more difficult.

1. Feel the hand actively pressing into the wall and energetically dragging down the wall. The chest is open, shoulder away from the ear, shoulder blade on the back and neck relaxed.

2. Push the hand into the wall and bring yourself to vertical. Let yourself fall back towards the wall and catch yourself again in the starting position. Continue to push into the wall to come to standing and then fall 10 times on each side.

The goal is to feel a sense of effort in the upper arm muscles and possibly also underneath the armpit on the back. Abdominals are also supporting. Ideally the shoulders feel more relaxed afterwards.

Congratulations, you made it all the way through! I hope you're feeling stronger and more relaxed around the neck and shoulders.

0 Comments

Cabbage noodles!

1/11/2018

0 Comments

Happy New Year!

I hope 2018 is full of many moments of joy and gratitude for all of us!

I’ve recently been experimenting with my diet and noticed that I feel better when I eat less carbohydrate. At first I was pretty sad about this but now I love all my extra energy! So I’ve been playing with different substitutions and in an effort to find a replacement for noodles, I discovered cabbage! Now, I happen to love cabbage so this is a natural progression for me but even if you’re on the fence about it, I would encourage you to give this a try. You can use this preparation for any sauce base that would usually have a pasta or grain with it.

Two generous servings.

Ingredients:

1/2 cabbage
Salt & Pepper
Coconut Oil (or your oil of choice)

1. Prepare the cabbage by removing the wilted, discolored, and thicker outer leaves. Rinse under cold running water. Cut the cabbage in half and remove the coarse stem. Save one half for another use.

2. Cut the cabbage into slices. I prefer fine wide bite-size slices.

3. Melt the oil in a pan.

4. Add the cabbage with a pinch of salt and pepper.

5. Cover and stir occasionally for 15-20 minutes until the cabbage is tender to your liking.

6. Add your desired sauce!

If you have extra cabbage - it will save better if you keep the sauce and cabbage noodles separate.

Hope you enjoy!

0 Comments

pilates inspired practice.

news & extras

Shoulder Reset Exploration

1. Shoulder Blade Release

2. Arm Half Circle at the Wall

3. Elbow Squeeze #1

4. Elbow Squeeze #2

5. Wall lean

Cabbage noodles!

Archives

Categories