| Well, I met with my teacher on Friday, and learned a couple things about headstand that I hadn't known. One in particular was that I was wrong in trying to keep my elbows bent at 90 degrees. They're supposed to bend more than that, so that the shoulders go forward past my elbows. I never knew that. Or at least I had never been specifically taught that. Guess I have some deep-seated fixation with right angles, I don't know.... Regardless, my teacher said that the curve in my neck is just fine, and I need to work melting the space between my shoulderblades more without allowing my lowerback to over-curve -- my usual prescription, so it wasn't anything radically new there. After half a dozen attempts, the last one did feel remarkably easeful, and I definitely did not feel any pain in my neck or head during the entire session, so it was all good. We'll see how this morning's class goes, equipped with this somewhat new information and insight. |
| spyrotone - 2008-04-30 9:46 AM
Good news. Good adaptation.
If you're having trouble with the over-curvature of your lower back, try lacing the ribs together tightly and holding them.
Emil
what do you mean by "lacing the ribs together"? even as a teacher, I have difficulty with this sort of imaginative language, because the ribs are parallel rods of bone - they're not going to lace.
if you're talking about contracting the seratus anterior, which connects the rib cage (from the 1st through 8th rib, anyway), to bring the lower ribs closer to the scapulae (which you hold in place with the other muscles of the shoulder girdle)... that might effect a slight posterior shift of the rib cage, and prevent the thoracic from arching towards a backbend? |