Archived here are the week 3 posts from the 2019 Walktober Challenge!
Day 13: the nature walk with my walking coach (Hunter Dog) was full of cool, crisp air, bright colors, and a few nature friends! Can you spot the deer and turkeys in the last photo? They were hanging out together!
Day 14: What's leading your walk? I've taken on a silly walk looking challenge to show various body parts leading the way - head, chest, pelvis, and feet. If you walked in the door, which part would come first?
Day 15: Back it up! Your hips, I mean. I'm not a gambling gal, but I'm willing to bet if you start checking in on where your pelvis is, you'll often find it drifting out over the front of your foot. We'd like to move it back, center of your leg bone over your ankle bone. I'm using a phone charger as a plumb line to see it better, it helps to use a mirror too! When we back it up we can use our strong hip joints and butt muscles better, as well as our abs! And it takes a real load off the lower back and forefoot too! It's a habit to check in, so setting a reminder might be helpful. How does it feel to back it up?
Day 16: Read my shirt - Drop Your Ribs! It's a common thing to hear 'chest up, shoulders back!' to corrects lumpy posture, but as you can see here it really only hides the problem while destabilizing our core and scrunching our lower back. Pair this with the hip slide from yesterday and you're suddenly unzipped down the front! So we're backing up those hips and letting down the ribs. You don't have to squeeze them or pull them, just stop holding them up! It takes practice, but it means strong core, butt, hips, and you can breathe better!
Day 17: Where's your head? When we dropped our ribs yesterday did you notice that your head was suddenly way out front? That angle is the relationship between your ribs and your neck whether it looks forward or not. That's what we use rib thrusting for! What we're aiming for is getting your head, ribcage and pelvis on the same line together. A wall is a great help here. Notice that when I drop my ribs my head comes away from the wall. Getting my head/neck/upper back to the wall is the exercise, so we don't want to hinge the neck or lift the ribs for this. It's harder than it looks!
Day 18: Let's get rolling! As we enjoy our walking, we'd also like to enjoy pelvis, ribcage, and skull moving smoothly, with an easeful wave through the spine connecting all 3. This exercise exaggerates the movement, but it's a delightful way to open the entire range of motion and establishes the combined movement in the alignment we worked on for the past week. Observe that the pelvis and skull roll the same direction, and the ribcage naturally counters this. I have a blanket under my head to help align all three 'cogs'. It feels like a reset for my whole spine!
Day 19: What did you think of the floor cogs? Well, in order to make the most of this wave and rhythm in our walking we need to stand up! A wall will play the part of the floor, but the rolling will be the same. Or will it? Often we discover the range and ease we felt lying down is suddenly missing when we stand. So we practice! And then enjoy a lovely, easeful walk.