| How’s your upper body rotation doing and feeling these days? But first a word on: Range of Motion ROM or range of motion is not the point of doing this upper body rotation check. See, it doesn’t matter what your present range is. That just gives you a marker. What is more important is the quality of motion. So it is OK to do or move less to remain well within your comfort zone. |
| Check your rotation with the following: Position: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Straighten the arms out in front of you. Have the shoulders relaxed and keep the palms together. |
The idea is to keep the arms straight the entire time.
If the arms bend at any time, then that is as far as you need to go. Got it!
And… keep the knees in the middle so they don’t drift to either side.
Rotation Check Move
Take both arms to the side of your choice. Remember to keep both arms straight. Then slowly move back to where you started. Rest.
Then take both arms to the other side. Slowly come back to where you started. Rest.
Then rinse and repeat a few times alternating side to side with a rest in the middle.
If you are comfortable, then you may be able to touch the floor. But that is not the point.
Doing
So now that you know the doing part.
Q: Were you able to move as far on each side?
Q: Or did you have the same range of motion or a little different with each side?
Q: Were you able to keep your hands together or did the arms bend at a certain point?
Q: Were you able to comfortably get one arm (or both sides) to the floor?
Q: Did your head move?
Q: Were you breathing or holding your breath?
Feeling
What were you noticing in the feeling part?
Q: Did it feel easy or did you feel a lot of effort or strain?
Q: Did it feel easier on one side more than the other?
Q: Did you feel your head move or was it glued in the middle? How did your neck feel as you were moving from side to side?
Q: If you were able to get your arm on the floor. Was that easy or did you “try” to do it?
See, when people first try this. Many are tuned into the doing part and focus just on that.
How do I know? People will tell me that they can’t really feel or tune in as well. Or haven’t done so for awhile.
That is OK and normal even if you haven’t been delving into your proprioceptive sense.
Doing and Feeling
If you focus both on doing and feeling, then you can engage the motor-sensory (doing-feeling) loop.
With practice. You discover how to use this loop or switch to your advantage.
Thus, the focus is on doing and feeling rather than just range of motion or the ability to do a movement.
Imagine This
You could also have elected to imagine the entire movement as a process of visualization. And the brain and feedback loops/switches awaken!
Either way, you trigger the brain and body to possibilities.
Moving (with awareness) in the slow cortical zone allows us to reset so that we can in fact move with a confident effortless ease… and continue to surprise ourselves even as we age.
Check out this class where you’ll get to do this movement and more.
