Body 15 Jan 2008 02:08 pm
Update
Hello, friends! I have not died in a blogging accident or otherwise. It’s just that I’m not really doing anything blog-worthy. But then again, does that stop anybody?
Remember that bug that was going around late last fall that lasted a good three weeks? It took me and my dime-store immune system six weeks to get over it. And in that time I established a good solid list of things I wasn’t getting around to. Now I’ve made a list of those things and am slowly knocking them off, one after another. Grind grind grind.
There was some mildly stressful stuff over the holidays, which put my back muscles into an unhappy state. (Listen, traps, you can’t actually make the furnace work by seizing up. No, seriously.) So Pilates was kind of eh for a couple of weeks — fun and all, and it was helpful with the discomfort, but I wasn’t seeing much progress. But I’m back on track now and working on some relatively strenuous variations of rollbacks and rollups. The rollbacks are pretty challenging for me with my particular pattern of hypo- and hypermobility and pelvic position. And doing a rollup with my hands behind my head is just not happening yet, no matter how much I growl and grit my teeth. I am not a ninja yet. But it’s coming along pretty well. I’m particularly pleased with how well I’ve been keeping my balance and alignment even with various muscles going all snarly.
The weirdest thing I’ve been working on in Pilates is keeping my chest broad while I roll back. It’s automatic to start that pelvic and lumbar curve as if I were a little sowbug, curling the top of my torso along with the bottom of it. It really makes things interesting to try to change that. That’s what I love about Pilates, besides giving it credit for stopping my back pain — you get to think your way through every single movement and really observe carefully what you’re doing, including in areas that aren’t necessarily what you’d consider the focus of the exercise. I can almost feel my brain crackling as it seizes on new variations of movement patterns. The closest thing I can think of in my experience is learning to play the cello. It’s got that degree of physical subtlety.
At the moment, I’m making tortilla soup — essentially this recipe but with more roasted peppers. Smells divine.
on 15 Jan 2008 at 5:57 pm 1.Lisa said …
I’m so glad you like Pilates! I think that is the perfect exercise for you because it’s even more detailed than what I experience at some physical therapists. And can be tailored to your needs also. That is so awesome! Go Cam!