Thursday, May 1, 2008

100's, bridges....but roll-ups still elusive

so - i did it!  i got my brand spankin' new mat out (a cushy-thick blue one, jilly! it was a gift from phat g a couple years ago that i was saving while i used up the purple one that i have since given away!).....

i did the hundreds.  a few extra even, while i was fending off the big dog who thinks it's time to lick and play whenever i lay on the floor.....

i did the bridges.....complete with self-correction to zip up the abs and keep breathing like a furnace.

feeling very good.....i progressed right into the thus-far elusive roll-ups.....

it's maddening, this apparent block i have.  i get to the middle of my spine in the rolling up process (think, "fruit roll-up" for the spine).....and freeze.

we're pretty sure it's a mental, not a physical block.....because, once i manage to get my body in the scooped-out sitting-up position, i can roll back down pretty fluidly.

and...if you are able to go in one direction, you're using all the same muscles and movement that you'd use to go the other way.  and yet....i get stuck.

i think i'm going to try teaching my body what it feels like to roll up by anchoring the tips of my toes under the sofa or something.  maybe this will shake the block loose.  i know i won't be using my core as much this way, and don't intend to use this crutch forever....just until my body makes friends with the movement itself.

1 comment:

Faith said...

Here's another tip for mental deblocking of the roll-up. Wrap something (like a towel) around something else (like the leg of a kitchen table--your mat will only be able to be under your back & head but that's okay) and hang on to it with both hands as you roll up. It should give you some resistance to help pull you up and over the disconnect. It can be strong at first, like a beach towel. Then move to something with more give, like a pair of tights. Then something that's hardly there at all, like a stretchy thin theraband. THEN only hold on with your fingertips. Baby steps. To roll up on your own, imitate the feeling of being assisted on the way up...think of being pulled forward.

But only practice this once a week. NO more! There is a reason only once, but I cannot tell it to you now, grasshopper.