Day 13 (14, 15, 16,) 17, 18 (19)

Yea, I know, I've been a little bit of a slacker.

Day 13 was about table work, which was kinda fun and a little scary because we're actually like...touching people!

• Directing is more important than moving or positioning
• The aim is to teach release and direction
• passing from control to release is a good thing
• Purpose is to pass from the known to the unknown
• contributes positively to the whole self!

I think the one thing I forgot most (and I think most of us actually did) was that we had to focus on our own best use even though we were working with someone else. We have to be organized, in our back-back, etc. 

The other big thing is feeling out how much space you actually need to have between you and the person you're working on to be comfortable but still have the necessary connection. 

G and I went out of town for the rest of last week, it was fall break and we headed to Idaho and did a little hiking and checked up on the family grave sites. It was a needed break from everything!

This week we started by talking about the model of "tensegrity." It's a most cool thing. 

Tensegrity  = tension + integrity

The best model is one of a dome tent. Where the poles hold up the fabric. The connections create tension and tension maintains space. Easy, right? 

We then put that in context with the body. Facia is a single connective tissue that goes to the edge of every muscle we have, I've known and understood the basics of facia for quite some time, but I guess I didn't realize what a force it truly is. It reacts and REMEMBERS! So if you're doing things with incorrect use and it becomes a habit the facia will accommodate and hold the musculature in place in an incorrect usage. Bodies are crazy amazing...and they do exactly what you tell them - good or bad!

There was a little discussion of muscles and the back of the head. Very interesting. The back of the head is serviced by the nerves of the neck and is the head of the back - there's something that is a little mind blowing. The spine is really remarkable! Around the spine are all of these monster muscles that are super strong and the only thing that really keeps them in check is the weight of the head that counter-balances. If you think of the head counter balancing the spine it becomes most evident how we damage ourselves with head forward and down - everything gets out of whack that way!

We talked about Bones being the spacers holding the shape of the body and containing volume - again, makes sense. And that there is up thrust through contact with the ground, just like our dome tent. Then we played with chairs feeling their weight, testing best ways to interact with them, lift them, move them - so we could apply this to moving body parts. 

We then went back to doing table work after break. 

We lifted arms and we did some work maneuvering the head, it was cool. One thing I noticed was that our lack of confidence didn't help us. We're all getting pretty familiar with one another and I don't think it was just the touching it was more that we may not have been sure of how we were touching and moving the other person. As I watched C do it I thought 'this is dumb, the only difference between her and me (besides dozens of years of experience) is that she's not afraid to actually do it.' So the next time I went to move the person's head I just went after it and it felt pretty good! C even said I did a nice job, she moved me around a little - again, failing to take care of myself...gah!

Last night, we went back to our anatomy discussion - I really dig this stuff. 

Our focus was the pelvic arch - man....it's crazy how much goes on in that area that could mess us up!

Ch did her presentation last night as well, it focused on her family and the loss of one particular family member she was very close to - and how food and feasting have been the crux of showing love and caring in her family. She read to us something she wrote about this family member and it was really beautiful. Very vivid and descriptive and stream of conscience, and she cried as she read and we ate the things she brought to share with us. It was most touching. 

After that we went back to our anatomy discussion as we munched on things around the table.

My two big take aways from last night were:

• You have to stop - the activity - and reset your body and patterns before continuing to learn. (wow, is this me and my experience or what? I was forced to stop...I had no choice. I can't fathom having to make the actual choice to stop and relearn, I'm just no good at that kind of thing).
• Muscles just want to be at their resting length. (It's the best place for them to be when they're not in use). 

I'm going to miss tonight (19) because of musical rehearsal. It's going to be hit and miss the next few weeks because of said musical. I really am coming to not love doing this so much, it's just a lot of extra time and effort for what feels like very little return anymore. The money isn't even the point now, the admin pays us great lip service here but it's pretty empty. It doesn't help that I'm still just miserable. I did get some drugs for (what became) the sinus infection so I can at least breathe and I think the cough that comes and goes isn't quite as prevalent. But I got up this morning and took the dog out, came back in and my body flipped on me - cold sweat, couldn't breathe, dizzy. So stupid. I'm so tired of this and I dont know what to do about it. 

I finally got another appointment set up with the stupid dr office that says my hormones are shot and have kept putting my appointment off and off and off because they're " waiting for test results." If I hadn't called them I doubt they would have thought to call me even though they'd had the test results for a few days. 

People's communication skills kill me. So, that appointment is Nov 1. We'll see what kind of "plan" they come up with. I'm beginning to think it's going to be more of the same "manage your food and exercise" stuff - which hasn't helped at all of late. Maybe I just need to turn myself in and upgrade. HA! Would that it were that simple. 

Ok, I'm off - More next week!