ENJOY YOUR 3rd FREE LESSON
In this lesson, you are prone supported on the elbows. You’ll begin by lengthening one arm up the floor. The challenge is to source the action from how well you find support over the opposite elbow. We combine the lengthening arm with the opposite knee drawing up (waking up the spine). There are several details that teach you how to find support without collapsing onto the standing arm.
Here are some important guidelines
to make your experience more useful and effective.
Straining is counterproductive. Move within your own personal range of comfort.
Pain is to be avoided if at all possible. Pain is a signal that what you are doing has the potential for harm.
Rest whenever you need to, including between each movement. The rests are often where your attention can restore itself, and your image of the movement can be refined. You’ll be offered periodic rests during the lesson, but feel free to claim your own.
Create a calm pace that allows curiosity and patience to prevail. Mechanical, hurried repetition will only prevent you from making new gains.
Develop a clear, internal image of the movements you make. Allow this image to refine the movement, and let your movements inform the image.
Focus on the quality of your movement (your contact with the ground, breathing, whether you're comfortable, curious) and not the quantity (how far/fast you can push yourself). The "no pain, no gain" mindset creates noise and distraction and will have you rehearsing old habits.
Stay connected to the ground. Do not let your movements get ahead of, or disconnect from, the support you generate from the ground.
Stop, suspend, take time to notice. Whenever your breath is held, your eyes become fixed, and your head stiffens, these are all valuable clues that you are moving beyond out of your range of skill and into willpower. Instead, pause and wait for your willpower to drain away. Create a space for a clearer image for your movement to emerge. Only then proceed.
