Mix 'n' Match
An example of how various methods combine
One of the great concepts Sally Swift gave the world is
apply what you learned in one area to another area.
In her case, she used Alexander Technique to improve riding
and the teaching of riding. Instructors were
encouraged to take up Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and
TTEAM. Many also took up Feldenkrais and clinics were
a fertile trading space for ideas and approaches.
So, how does this translate to
riding?
So lately it's been cold for here. (And, I'm a bit
disappointed I've been quite the wimp! I used to ride
in blizzards and sub-freezing temps. Now a measly 30
something sends me scurrying back inside.)
The alternative: the rebounder! (aka a
mini-trampoline.)
While trotting along on my mini-trampoline I was
congratulating myself on my well articulating hip
sockets. Yes, doing very well. Happiness.
Then I noticed, well, actually, maybe not quite so
well. What to do?
Feldenkrais offers a
really spiffy approach!
As I continued to trot along, I asked my leg bone (the
ball) to move forward in the socket for 4 strides, return
to 'normal' for 4 strides, then move behind for 4 strides,
then return to 'normal' for 4 strides. (I like the
number 4!)
As I did this for maybe five minutes I attended to the
sensations in my body.
When did the leg move the smoothest? Then for the
next few cycles, how was my lower back? And then the
next few cycles, where was the weight in my feet?
What happened to my breathing? And so on, cycling
through forward, home, backward, home several times as I
paid attention to a specific metric. Whatever metric
was the most obvious.
At the end of this I found the most optimal position --
the one where I moved most fluidly, with least muscular
effort, to be waaaaaay further out in front of me than I
thought was possible.
(side note: okay, how waaaaaay further out in front of
me are we talking? a micro millimeter?
two? three? like, who can measure this?)
Yay! So I trotted along like this for awhile
enjoying the sensations of fluid movement, accepting the
rebound from the trampoline, playing with amplifying
and dampening the oscillations via the energy of my center.
Then this random thought came in, 'Uh, why can't you do
this on the horse?' (!)
So I stepped into the experience of trotting forward
with intention on the horse and noticed my hip immediately
froze. Well -- not froze froze, but it for sure
stiffened up. Très annoying.
Experience 1: ball waaaaaay further out in front of me,
trotting along fluidly.
Experience 2: trot forward with intention: FREEZE!
I alternated back and forth several times. Enough
to realize, my hip socket, my body, and my brain were not
cottoning on to how to trot forward and maintain that
beautiful fluid trot. Yikes.
Time for Alexander Technique.
This required replaying the "trot forward with
intention: FREEZE!" sequence several times paying
extremely close attention to when the FREEZE! occurred.
The idea is to figure out the millisecond it starts and
then, THEN, back up to just before it starts and not do it.
(!)
I affectionately call this phase the horror show.
Why? You watch yourself mess up over and over, and
over, and over ....
Eventually I traced it back to its origins. Now to
simply step in with a new behavior before the old one
fires.
LOL.
Impatient person that I am, I then opted for an approach
used in Wholeness
Process (WP), Ortho-bionomy (OB),
and Reiki. I
found the location of the pattern that created the
stiffness, and then the size, shape, and texture. In
my case, this was kind of near my right ear, kind of really
big, sort of yellow. (Again, was it really these
things? Who knows! This is simply a way to
codify something.)
I then found the location of the pattern that allowed
for the fluid movement, along with its size, shape, and
texture. In my case this was about a foot diagonally
in front of my left hip, kind of small, kind of orange.
Then I did an NLP
type thing and did a copy'n'paste of the resource and
dropped it into the other spot! (Again, this is all
kind of make believe.)
Since then, my hip is more fluid when I intend to trot
forward. :)
Yeah ... it occurs to me to revisit this. I'd like
to keep the totally fluid movement even when I intend to
trot forward.
Close up of Hip Detail from Albinus
Happy Trails...
If you find this interesting, there is more where this came from! Drop me an email:
lynn@satoriconnections.com
L
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