Showing posts with label word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label word. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2015
October Word of the Month Space
Our word of the month for October is SPACE which is a continuation from September of The Dailey Method Secondary Alignment Principles: Stability, Space, Support and Smile!
As we Align/Engage/Move (our primary alignment principles) we can get even deeper by putting intention on the “4S’s” mentioned above. In September we practiced STABILITY, focusing on foundation, grounding, arriving, noticing, connecting with breath, and feeling/finding stability within. Keeping the supportive foundation and practice of STABILITY, we can expand our focus to making SPACE.
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Truth: “SPACE” is a step many of us skip (in TDM practice, and in life) because we’re impatient, controlling, distracted, rushing… or just eager, excited and ready to GO NOW! In class you may want to get right into your strongest plank, thigh-work and seat-work. In life, we often plow forward to fit it all in, rarely pausing between one thing and the next. SPACE is about noticing these tendencies, and making choices to open up to a deeper experience. Space is exactly what we need to get that AMAZING class/life we are constantly striving for. If we remember to pause and take a breath, make space… guess what? Plank, thigh-work and seat-work are deeper and stronger and feel way better! And the same can go for the larger arena of our lives.
Here are some ways to start creating more SPACE for yourself right now:
NOTICE. Every time you arrive in your practice, take a few seconds to just notice your body (sensations), your mind (thoughts, your brain-machine never stops generating), and your heart (emotions that are present right now). Fully arrive and begin your practice with intention. As soon as we NOTICE sensations, thoughts and emotions, we can separate from them. If we can observe them, we are not them and we don’t need to be controlled by them. Notice. Observe yourself.
SOFTEN. What??? Not the word you think of first in an exercise class, right? Try it. When you’re coming into thigh-work, soften first, notice your stability and then breathe. This softening not only centers your body and mind, it also immediately opens up SPACE, and sets the stage for better alignment and a deeper experience. When you soften and breathe, you find better foundation, your collar bones widen, your heart opens, your lungs expand, your energy flows, and your senses heighten. It allows the bones of your body to more properly align naturally, without you forcing it. Softening allows you to invite, receive, respond, center, connect, expand and be open to possibility.
INHALE. One of the best ways to make more space is to take a deep breath. See if you can refine your breathing practice this month, noticing what happens every time you breathe in. Use your inhalation to find space and length from your heels through the crown of your head. Inhale to expand your heart and lungs! Feel stuck in an exercise? Feel stuck in life? Take a deep breath and inhale.
FOCUS. With focus and attention we can create space in our bodies. Here are some things for you to practice in class and cues you will hear from your Teachers to help you find more space:
- Move your inner thighs in, back and apart to widen your sitz bones- this will create space in your SI joint.
- Broaden and laterally expand your legs and pelvis apart- this allows the thigh bones to stabilize deeper in the pelvis and better align your knee joint.
- Practice breathing more space and length into all four sides of your body (side body long) from your hip-bone to bottom rib. Making more SPACE in your torso on all sides will enable you to get deeper in abdominal work and allow for greater length and range of motion for your spinal cord.
- Draw your arm bones slightly upward and widen your collarbones- this will allow optimal shoulder alignment and greater range of motion for your shoulder girdle.
- Feel better cervical alignment by lifting your jaw line parallel to the floor and allowing your throat and back of skull to ease back, bringing your ears over your shoulders into your plumb-line- creating a healthy cervical spine curvature.
- Notice how the small expanding adjustments impact the way you feel in your positions. All of these actions work to help you place the bones in better alignment and should add EASE to your body prior to the deep muscular engagement that will come next with SUPPORT.
ACCEPT & ALLOW. A big part of making SPACE is accepting and allowing. Showing up for your practice every day also means noticing, accepting and loving your body every day exactly where it is. Accept ebbs and flows, in practice and in life. Allow for setbacks. Make your TDM practice a physical, mental and emotional SPACE that is supportive, centering, positive, honoring, and empowering. Accept. Allow. Then MAKE SPACE in every way you can so you are also ready to expand, evolve and transform. That’s a life practice, and one that never ends!
We are holding a BIG supportive space for all of you, and for this amazing extended TDM family.
-- Jill & Lorna
August Word of the Month Move
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When we are young and healthy, we don’t tend to give movement much thought – we get out of bed each morning, get dressed, exercise, work, play, and relax without much conscious thought applied to HOW that all happens in our bodies. We take for granted the healthy functional movement of our bodies. As we age - and perhaps encounter our first injuries, aches and pains - we may suddenly become more aware and interested in how we can heal injuries that do occur – and better yet, how we can prevent them in the first place. The great news is that an alignment-based practice like The Dailey Method empowers us to stay healthy and strong in our bodies throughout the years. By training our brains and bodies to be more aware and more intentional in our movements, we can experience freedom and happiness in our bodies regardless of age. In fact, many “older” students report feeling significantly better about their body health and strength at their current age thanks to their TDM practice!
So what’s the “secret” to learning how to MOVE with ease and freedom? Structure and boundaries. We experience freedom of movement by having structure (when we ALIGN our bones intelligently & intentionally) as well as boundaries (when we ENGAGE the support of muscles to set safe boundaries). While words like “structure” and “boundaries” may sound limiting and un-fun, they actually are not. The same way children grow and thrive with healthy structure and boundaries, our bodies crave support and balance. If we are sedentary, our body and movement boundaries remain stagnant and typically become more limiting with time and age. On the other hand, if we engage in regular TDM practice, our boundaries EVOLVE continuously! With understanding and practice comes awareness, engagement, support, strength, flexibility and balance. Each new challenge creates change, and each time we practice is an opportunity to meet and embrace our BEST selves here and now.
I encourage students each time they practice to “check in” mentally and physically again & again – notice your alignment, engagement (also notice your thoughts and internal dialogues) and always ask if you are supporting yourself in the best way you can right now. Then notice if you are working at your edge – if you consistently work at your edge, your circle (your boundary) will continue to expand, so the practice never ends. In fact, the practice becomes so ingrained that it becomes part of your everyday life. I truly love how even after 14 years of my Dailey Method practice I still can continually find better alignment, deeper engagement, a new edge and positions of greater ease. I feel like my boundaries will always continue to expand and that’s exciting!
As you bring awareness to how you MOVE this month, I encourage you to do the following:
- Always “check in” to make sure you align and engage to the best of your ability first. Always move from a place of stability and support. Set your safe boundaries with muscle engagement. Every body is different.
- Sometimes, choose not to move. It is an advanced practice to know when your alignment and engagement are telling you to re-set, stay in a base position, or modify an exercise. Often times just taking a moment of stillness and focusing on one or two breaths will allow you to come back to that reset. Every day will be different, so allow that – don’t let a setback, sickness, injury or off-day discourage you; use it as an opportunity to simply practice and let go of expectations. Where you are is perfect.
- When you choose to move, move while maintaining alignment and engagement. Experience those things as your supportive structure and boundaries. Feel empowered by your ability to create that structure for yourself.
- Find your edge. When you feel mindfully aligned and engaged, you don’t have to play it safe right in the middle of your comfort zone – TRUST the work you’ve done & try to move and challenge yourself! Check back in: Are you still aligned and engaged while moving? If so, can you push even closer to your new edge today? Again, every day will be different so embrace your personal change and progress!
- “Move and Breathe.” I stole this from one of my favorite parenting coaches, Cathy Cassani Adams, who is a TDM student. It really is that simple. Be present. Be aware. Connect your movements with breath. Feel your body as you Move and Breathe.
- Feel the Dailey Dance. Movement in TDM should feel fluid & graceful, and there should always be an element of ease. Let your inner dancer shine out. Be in the flow of your practice and your life.
- ENJOY! When you move with the support of structure and boundaries it should feel GOOD. Appreciate what it’s like to FEEL GOOD IN YOUR BODY. Don’t take it for granted, and recognize the work you have done to make this freedom possible.
Move with intention this month. We’ll be with you every step of the way!
-- Jill and Lorna
March Word of the Month Stillness
It’s amazing to me that March is already here. I know that many parts of the Country have had a strong, forceful winter, but here in California it feels like winter is just beginning.
Because I grew up in Colorado, I still think of winter as a time of darkness and cold-stillness but also as an opportunity for deep regeneration and radiant inner growth. In winter the Earth turns inward to reset and renew - and invites us to do the same. This is why I’ve chosen Stillness as the word of the month for March. Also because I’ll be going to Mexico and will be lying still on the beach for several hours each day :).
Stillness is always within us but it is so hard to get and to stay there because of all the chaos in our lives. Embracing stillness is about being versus doing; feeling content, wise, calm, and finding inner peace. Stillness really is the ideal source of every right intentioned thought and action.
Ellen DeGeneres has a quote most of us can relate to: "I get those fleeting, beautiful moments of inner peace and stillness - and then the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of the day, Im a human trying to make it through in this world." This is why a mind/body/breath practice like The Dailey Method is such a powerful tool to have in your life -- we practice finding "stillness" in the studio using mind/body/breath so we can take that practice into our lives.
Practicing stillness is an opportunity to go deep to our own core, connect, and plant the seeds we want to nurture and grow within ourselves. Maybe today we can find 5 minutes of beautiful stillness... tomorrow maybe 6... with practice over time, (rumor has it) we can learn to find stillness anytime, anywhere, and our outer world more and more becomes a reflection of what is within. I want that!
So I hope this month to find a little more stillness in my practice, in my mind and in my every day.
With Love,
-- Jill
P.S. I want to continually thank Lorna Samatas, Elmhurst Studio owner, for her insight, intelligence and guidance in helping me with my regular word of the month for The Dailey Method.
September Word of the Month Transition
September is always a time of transition. Long summer days give way to the change of pace that fall always brings. Kids go back to or start a new school for the first time, and we transition to a new routine or back into an old one. At the very least we all have to adjust to the fact that summer is over! It is so important to manage transitions mindfully both in life and in class, which is why I have chosen TRANSITION as our TDM word of the month for September.
I have personally set the intention to focus on the “now” in the transitions rather than looking backwards or looking forward. I will try not to let changes scare or overwhelm me and to know that the change or transition I am going through will make me stronger and better able to embrace the one constant: change!
For me there is true comfort in the fact that I can focus on graceful transitions with physical practices like The Dailey Method. It always helps me to take class and find presence when I am dealing with something challenging! I hope it helps you in this way too.
Here’s to Fall, and to finding comfort, growth, and ease in new routines!
-- Jill
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