The first post in this series asked if a pigeon toe was friend or foe. It is certainly a strategy, an adaptation that has a purpose. For me, my half with the pigeon toe also carried my biggest problems, particularly… Read more ›
Torsion. We all have it: a particular line of twist running through our carriage, gripping us in a certain way and keeping us upright. Each fold and joint tells its story, whether you realize it or not. It’s how we… Read more ›
My previous post got into the shame and embarrassment that prevents many of us from addressing issues with parts connected to sex or excrement. This one is more objective, looking at anatomy and physics. When you seek to understand the… Read more ›
Flexion and extension. Compression and Suspension. There are pairs that govern movement, both globally and locally. The system and its parts act to pull apart and come together. Posture, moving fast, and any sort of training or exercise is versed… Read more ›
This piece serves as the follow up to How To Push Down. When we are talking about compression, we are also talking about tension. It is the interaction of these two push-pulls that creates suspension. Otherwise everything would collapse. … Read more ›
This post serves as a follow up to: A Path Towards Harm. Otherwise titled: The things I did wrong when I didn’t pay attention or have compassionate patience. The tag to this blog used to read, “fix yourself.” But… Read more ›
For the better part of a year, Nicole Uno has been offering me her insights on movement. There have been a few big picture concepts that have completely shifted my perspective (I’ll re-link these at the end), but perhaps the… Read more ›
With every joint that flexes (and extends), there is an element of rotation attached. Three hundred and sixty moveable joints times multiple degrees of orientation at each makes for an almost unfathomable number of alignment options. Much moreso than correct… Read more ›
As I am learning to access and mobilize my ribs, I have begun to understand and control the deep inner workings of my trunk, particularly the space between the ribs and pelvis. One might think of this as the shortest… Read more ›
My pelvis has been my focus for the better part of a decade. Plagued by low back pain and steely hamstrings, I discovered that I was stuck in anterior tilt. Learning to posterior tilt both felt and functioned like… Read more ›
This is the second post taken from the mind of Nicole Uno. It is a continuation of the first, explaining Rotational Organization. For the most part, we are floating. Skating and tip-toeing off the ground because we can. We have… Read more ›
Movement expression is dependent on on our tadpole-like head and spine to drive and disperse motion. Any sticking points have a reverberatory effect on the actions of the limbs. After a decade of undoing the rigidity trained through athletics and… Read more ›
Doing without knowing. Playing, creating, learning. Adjusting and adapting. Describing Fighting Monkey is an act in organizing verbs. Everything overlaps and intertwines and is a wonder. The only certainty you are left with is that you have experienced something good… Read more ›
Hip extension is a vital movement to both health and performance. Wellness wise, hips that can extend, coupled with an unstuck spine and pelvis that can naturally posteriorly tilt, means you likely don’t suffer from back pain. Power and speed… Read more ›
The pelvis speaks volumes. The position in which you hold it dictates whether or not you can use your abs, release your hip flexors, and/or likely have symptoms of back pain. It’s the first thing I check with new clients… Read more ›
For any of you who have followed this blog for a while, the pelvis has been a long-standing fixation of mine. It has routinely been the deciding factor in moving better and getting out of pain (particularly low back pain). Boldy put, if… Read more ›
featured photo credit: @movnat instagram (Carlos Condit) The ground is a safe, secure place. It is not something to be avoided or stepped lightly onto. It can easily absorb our falls and placements and pressures. If we become afraid… Read more ›
Getting off and onto the ground is a skill that isn’t practiced by the larger population. We have chairs and beds that are soft and inviting. Babies spend most of their time on the floor, and they seem to have… Read more ›
This sequence is absolutely golden for both learning and reinforcing posterior pelvic tilting: 90/90 hip lift with spinal rounding reverse crunch off wall It looks like this: You’ll note the two different arm positions. The first tends to make the… Read more ›
At then end of Prone Positioning Part 1, we kept the torso still while we moved our arms. Crawls are initiated when we move our feet.To begin, we start with the set up. It’s similar to the sphinx in that the… Read more ›
If your low back hurts while you’re lying on your stomach, it’s likely because you’re stuck in anterior pelvic tilt and your lumbar lumbar spine is folding over onto itself. photo credit: mindbodywellness.org See that excessive dip in the low… Read more ›
Balance and stability issues often come from outside-in motor patterning. When movement is instigated by the hands and feet instead of the trunk, there’s a feedback malfunction. The core reacts to the limbs. Without the stiffness and stability of the… Read more ›
Planks have been around for a long time. A few years back, they became the rage of the internet with random positions and humorists: photo credit: planking.me This gave way to the even funnier and more absurd ‘whaling’: But I… Read more ›
Researchers documenting the movement patterns of babies have gifted us sequencing insight into motor development. Thought to be the purest form of human movement, developmental kinesiology can be used as a neurological reset. We can remind the brain of our… Read more ›
“Your core is anything between your shoulders and your hips”. I think I first heard this from the ingenious Charlie Weingroff. It makes perfect sense. There are your limbs and what your limbs connect to. That interweaving of connections… Read more ›