Your Hamstrings and Your Posture

Your Hamstrings and Your Posture

If you look for  “hamstring stretches”  in Google Images, you’ll get a page full of illustrations most of which demonstrate what  I’m  trying to show you not to do in the accompanying video. This young man, for example, is mostly stretching his lower back and giving himself a crick in his neck.  How you position your pelvis and spine makes a huge difference in the effectiveness of your stretching.  I also hope to convince you that your hamstrings don’t exist in isolation in your body and that to lengthen them effectively involves changing how you use them in daily life…

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On Feet

On Feet

It doesn’t take long to lose the joy… Sitting on the subway I sense my toes curling, gripping inside my shoes, as I think about the upcoming hospital visit. My intent to stay open in my body has chased the tension down into the farthest corner. But I don’t want to hide; I want to feel. Yes, toes, it’s true: I feel anxious and afraid…

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The Best Way to Walk

The Best Way to Walk

The waiting one does at airports is a good opportunity for blog writing. This time I’m people-watching at Bob Hope Airport (Burbank, CA). There is such a variety of ways to put one leg in front of another–the pregnant airport security guard, the woman with exaggerated movement in her hip joints, the men with none at all. I want to train other movement professionals to observe and intervene in clients’ walking patterns. How do I teach them to communicate effectively to someone who says, “You mean I have to learn how to walk all over again?”

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