Day 170
Not long ago, bending over to work on the back of the MR2 for any amount of time was a crude and unusual punishment for me. Even washing and waxing the car tired my back easily. Well, last Sunday, I spent a couple of hours working on the MR2 and I was surprised that I could do it without pain. And now after 48 hours, I do not feel any "delayed onset muscle soreness". This is remarkable.
This was not a scientific experiment, and my activity was not documented in detail, but I did serious work on Sunday. More than a couple of parts were removed, including air cleaner/cover, some hoses, and the heavy battery. I did not hunched over continuously the entire hour, but I definitely hunched over a lot. And then I had to lift the battery a few times because it did not went on right. I thought nothing when I was doing it. But I think I should celebrate this.
What changed?
I rode bicycle on and off about twice a week, then and now. I used to stretch nightly before and now I pretty much stopped stretching completely. I did little or no strength workout before and now. No crunch, bridge, no push up was performed. What I do is the 20 minutes of Stance nightly.
With conventional wisdom, I did zero exercise to target the abdominal and back. Yes, the stance works the core and the leg. But how did the back get strengthened? Really? It does not make sense.
I have a theory!
I think the back problem, or any movement/posture problem, really should be thought of as a system problem and not a component problem. If your back hurt and you strengthen the back, then you are trying to fix the part. And we have seen examples after examples, you can fix the part but the problem comes back. The back hurt because something or many things caused it to be over-stressed. It can be a weakness somewhere, a stiffness somewhere, or the combination of the two that leads to a bad back. And now we started to look for that stiffness or weakness... There we go again, we begin to look for the problem part.
In the western society, in this age of science, and in me, we are so ingrained in this way of thinking. We are constantly analyzing, breaking things apart, looking for the cause and origin... It is actually very uncomfortable to throw that away and find something else that works.
So my theory is, by doing this Stance, somehow the weaknesses and stiffness somewhere in the body gets strengthened and mobilized, the whole body is actually working together better. As a whole the body is stronger, not just the back.
Like the Nike slogon: "Just DO IT!"
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Masslessness
Day 160 Being Massless
This is going to be very difficult to articulate this .... sensation I have in these couple of days.
There is a sense of ease or freedom in how I go about my days, doing the things I do at work, at home. It is not so much about what I do but how these things are done. I simply do what I think. That is it, so simple, with no hesitation, with no contemplation. I flow from one thing to another. Sometimes, I stopped and changed into something else. But I felt no resistance. There are the usual pressures and obligations but they seems to flow right past me. It is definitely not about slacking off, taking it easy. In fact I get more done. Because little time is wasted on changing gear, changing direction...
Am I making any sense?
How did I get here? I think it was the change in my routine. Instead of doing 20 minutes of the physical part of the stance, I started with cleansing/quieting the mind. And that 25 minutes became not just stance exercise but also a meditation. I emptied the stray thoughts and just stayed with myself. I wonder if other people experienced this.
This is going to be very difficult to articulate this .... sensation I have in these couple of days.
There is a sense of ease or freedom in how I go about my days, doing the things I do at work, at home. It is not so much about what I do but how these things are done. I simply do what I think. That is it, so simple, with no hesitation, with no contemplation. I flow from one thing to another. Sometimes, I stopped and changed into something else. But I felt no resistance. There are the usual pressures and obligations but they seems to flow right past me. It is definitely not about slacking off, taking it easy. In fact I get more done. Because little time is wasted on changing gear, changing direction...
Am I making any sense?
How did I get here? I think it was the change in my routine. Instead of doing 20 minutes of the physical part of the stance, I started with cleansing/quieting the mind. And that 25 minutes became not just stance exercise but also a meditation. I emptied the stray thoughts and just stayed with myself. I wonder if other people experienced this.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Day 33, Micro-movement
At the beginning I did not want to over-thinking this. I mean, the whole point is about just DOing it, not about thinking about it. But being me, I tried to find something related to this Stance.
(There was a connection with isometric exercise which led to Charles Atlus.)
(Continued 09-12-2012)
I don't know anyone else in the world is doing this. There is something probably not natural about moving so slowly. Try do a plie', stand then bend the knees. Typically in a 8 count movement, 4 counts down, and 4 counts up. Now do the same 8 counts but go down only half as far. Then reduce the movement even further. Now you are barely moving up and down still the same 8 counts. Try that for a couple of minutes and what are you feeling?
Do you feel some kind of pulse, or vibration in your legs?
x
x
x
x
(There was a connection with isometric exercise which led to Charles Atlus.)
(Continued 09-12-2012)
I don't know anyone else in the world is doing this. There is something probably not natural about moving so slowly. Try do a plie', stand then bend the knees. Typically in a 8 count movement, 4 counts down, and 4 counts up. Now do the same 8 counts but go down only half as far. Then reduce the movement even further. Now you are barely moving up and down still the same 8 counts. Try that for a couple of minutes and what are you feeling?
Do you feel some kind of pulse, or vibration in your legs?
x
x
x
x
Starting ...
At about Day 155
Yesterday a young friend spoke with me enthusiastically after she went home and practiced what I showed her. For some reason, she was not feeling well today. hmmm......
I hope she is alright. And I hope she did not overdo the exercise.
After doing the stands for so many days, at times I was not sure if I have learned anything or found anything important. Well, I think I need to address something. The Start.
It is still true that the most important thing is to just DO IT EVERYDAY, regardless of how exactly you do it. But HOW you do it, does matter.
Like more things one do in a day, we have a tendency to rush. My wife and I would do the stance 20 minutes just before we go to sleep. I hit the timer, Go. Then we stopped when timer chimed. But does it has to be like that?
I often asked myself why am I not progressing mentally or spiritually. Well, this might be why. I did not cleanse myself when I begin my stance. Thus I did the exercise with just my body but not the whole being.
This is what I suggest. Like being in a dance class, just take a minute to CENTER oneself, and check your body. Say hello to each part of your body and see how they are. Stand neutrally tall, about shoulder width. Relax the eyes. Let the arms drop and just breath generally. Just relax for a minute.
When ready, move the feet laterally a little, and begin by reaching and lifting the arms toward the front of the body forming part of a ball.......
.
.
.
.
.
Do you feel the difference?
Yesterday a young friend spoke with me enthusiastically after she went home and practiced what I showed her. For some reason, she was not feeling well today. hmmm......
I hope she is alright. And I hope she did not overdo the exercise.
After doing the stands for so many days, at times I was not sure if I have learned anything or found anything important. Well, I think I need to address something. The Start.
It is still true that the most important thing is to just DO IT EVERYDAY, regardless of how exactly you do it. But HOW you do it, does matter.
Like more things one do in a day, we have a tendency to rush. My wife and I would do the stance 20 minutes just before we go to sleep. I hit the timer, Go. Then we stopped when timer chimed. But does it has to be like that?
I often asked myself why am I not progressing mentally or spiritually. Well, this might be why. I did not cleanse myself when I begin my stance. Thus I did the exercise with just my body but not the whole being.
This is what I suggest. Like being in a dance class, just take a minute to CENTER oneself, and check your body. Say hello to each part of your body and see how they are. Stand neutrally tall, about shoulder width. Relax the eyes. Let the arms drop and just breath generally. Just relax for a minute.
When ready, move the feet laterally a little, and begin by reaching and lifting the arms toward the front of the body forming part of a ball.......
.
.
.
.
.
Do you feel the difference?
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