Episode 009 – The Franklin Method, Pilates and Shiatsu Therapy

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Episode 009In this episode we speak to Amanda Erlank about the ‘art and science of beautiful movement’. We talk about all things movement, from an eastern philosophical point of view, from a Pilates point of view and from the point of view of the Franklin method. We discuss the importance of visual learning, efficiency in movement and I am sure you will agree that the wisdom Amanda brings to movement is outstanding and we are so lucky to be able to learn from her experiences!

Show Notes

Franklin Method = Eric Franklin (the founder of the Franklin Method) is, as Amanda explains, all about helping you understand exactly whats going on from a joint perspective, muscle perspective and overall bio-mechanical perspective. Connect with Amanda on facebook to stay in the loop with her up-coming Franklin Method workshops.

Pilates = Amanda is a Polestar Pilates principal educator and her advice for up and coming Pilates instructors is;

  • Do it because you have a PASSION for movement and for helping people (not for the money!)
  • Create a work – life balance
  • Continue to practice in your own body, take classes yourself, follow people who inspire you
  • You believe in something bigger than yourself
  • Realise you will get back so much more than just helping people, it’s a way of life!

Visual Learning = weather we know it or not we all have an element of ‘visual’ in our toolbox of learning. Amanda explains how there are many learning styles, but when it comes to movement, the visual sphere is a big one!

A little bit about Amanda and Kinected Pilates Studio

Amanda (a principal educator for Polestar Pilates) and owner of Kinected Pilates Studio, does an amazing job of blending her love of eastern philosophy, movement, Pilates and touch to help her students ‘Move Beautiful’. You can follow Amanda on YouTube or on facebook, especially if you are not local to her studio!

You can part-take in her next ’40 days of bliss challenge’ here

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Episode 004 – Stretching part 2

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Episode 004So here we go, part 2 of the 2 part Stretching podcast. Todays podcast is the second part of a two part podcast dedicated to stretching! If you haven’t already listened to Episode 004 part 1, then I suggest you go back and start there. In part 1 we discussed why our current framework for understanding stretching is flawed, how our bodies do not adhere to the laws of Newtonian physics as we might think, and how this flawed belief has affected our understanding of stretching. We began to introduce a new framework which provides us with a more accurate paradigm to discuss what we are stretching, why we are stretching and how we are stretching and when we should stretch. This new paradigm considers our bodies like silly putty, which changes properties depending on speed, temperature, surface areas etc rather than like sky scrapers which when you think about it, don’t make very good representations of the human body!

In This Episode You Will Learn

The break down of a muscle, putting on our ‘Zoom In Glasses’

Muscle > Fascicle > Fasiculi > Myofibril > Sarcomere

Other Structures involved, putting on our ‘Zoom Out Glasses’

Connective Tissue

Neuromuscular Junction

CNS (or Nervous System for short)

Resources

Jules Mitchell – The Science of Stretching

Thank you for listening to episode 004 of the Move Beautiful Podcast, I loved bringing all these insights and valuable pieces of information to you and I hope you have found them as valuable as I have and are now breathing easy!

If you liked this episode please share it with your friends, family, colleagues, or better yet leave us an honest review on iTunes these rating and reviews are incredibly helpful and help me to help more beautiful movers like you reach their movement potential!

Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes so you will be sure to never miss an episode.

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Episode 003 – Spine Extension

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Episode 003Hi! Welcome back to the Move Beautiful Podcast, this episode focuses on the movement of spine extension. We talk about how spine extension influences your mood, is there such thing as ‘too much extension’ and my top three things to look out for when teaching and practicing spine extension.

In This Episode You Will Learn:

Things to watch out for during spine extension;

  • Osteoporosis: For anyone who has osteoporosis or osteopenia spine extension is great! Spine flexion is the movement to be wary of here, but spine extension is wonderful for people with osteoporotic spines. So move gently and slowly at first but by all means extend away!

  • Canal Stenosis: This is a condition causing narrowing of the spinal canal due to excess bone growth or tissue. In these cases extension should be avoided. By extending the spine you are often decreasing the space in the spinal canal and if it is already decreased due to bone or tissue growth you run the risk of impingement of the central spinal cord. It is worth mentioning though that many people who have canal stenosis only have it in sections of their spine, not throughout their whole spine. If this is the case and you know what levels the stenosis is present in you are able to block those levels and extend in other parts of the spine. This will often do them a lot of good as you are increasingly the available ranges of freedom at the levels above and below the stenosis.

  • Disc Bulges: This is really person and disc bulge dependant. Much of this has to do with where the disc bulge is, anterior vs posterior and how the person moves into spine extension. This is another topic for another podcast, but let’s just suffice to say spine extension is not generically good for all disc bulges!

Resources

Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk can be found here

Home Play

  1. Length before Height: The biggest tip I can give you when practising spinal extension is to think about length and decompression BEFORE you think about range and height! What I mean by this is, before you begin the movement of spine extension lengthen your spine by picturing the side waist’s opening up. This way you are less likely to push into ranges of compression and irritability for your spine!

  2. Pay Attention to your Neck: Tip number 2 is pay attention to your head and neck. Because this is an area of the spine which often has a lot of freedom in spine extension, it tends to over compensate and do all the work. Be sure your head and neck don’t over work. Rather, think of the head as an extension to the spine and allow the head to ride on the neck.

  3. Pay Attention to your Lower Back: Tip number three is pay attention to your lower back. Similar to tip number 2 the lumbar spine is also an area of the spine which often has a lot of freedom in spine extension, and so it to tends to over compensate and do all the work. To ensure it is not becoming excessively loaded, pay attention and spend some time before you move gently activating your lower core and pelvic floor muscles. These will help to bring stability to this section of your spine.

  4. Use your Eyes: Tip number four is to use your eyes. Where your eyes go your spine will follow. So if your eyes are focussed downwards its incredibly hard to activate your spinal muscles into extension. Rather, think about your eyes as the guide, they are tracing the path out first so your spinal segments can follow along as the path ahead has already been marked out!

  5. Use your Breath: Tip number five use your breathing! This is an interesting one and its one I cant give you a recipe for as everyone and everybody is different. Some people prefer to use an exhale as they move their spine into extension while other prefer an inhale! So try both and notice which works best for you! For someone you, you may find the exhale helps you to stabilse your lower spine allowing you to gain more extension in your mid and upper back, while for others you may feel like a inhale into your chest allows you more freedom of movement increasing your spinal extension to a range which an exhale breath just doesn’t allow!

Thank you for listening to episode 002 of the Move Beautiful Podcast, I loved bringing all these insights and valuable pieces of information to you and I hope you have found them as valuable as I have and are now breathing easy!

If you liked this episode please share it with your friends, family, colleagues, or better yet leave us an honest review on iTunes these rating and reviews are incredibly helpful and help me to help more beautiful movers like you reach their movement potential!

Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes so you will be sure to never miss an episode.

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Episode 002 – Breathing

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Episode 002Hi! Welcome to episode 002 of the Move Beautiful podcast, where we are talking about all things breathing related!

This episode delves into breathing and breath work. We define various different types and directions of breathing, when to use them and we go through some practical home play to help you cultivating your breath work library.

In this episode you will learn:

Different types of breathing ;

  1. Diaphragmatic

  2. Thoracic

  3. Clavicular

  4. Paradoxical

Particular Yoga and Pilates breath work

  • Ujjaui Pranayama (breathing) – a gentle breath that is relaxed yet energizing. It is in and out through your nose, but on the exhale you should attempt to make the sound of the ocean in the back of your throat. Also used in Pilates … fogging up a mirror … has a great role in core and pelvic floor activation.

  • Kapalabhati Pranayama ‘Skull Shinning Breathing – deep inhale and forced exhale drawing the air out of your belly. Another deep inhale then you can actively draw the air out of your belly for 15-30 sharp exhales (taking in no air at this time). Also use in Pilates as a percussion breath

  • Alternate nostril breathing – to begin put your hand in the position as if you were about to hitch hike. Use your thumb to close off the right side nostril, inhale deeply through the left nostril and hold your breath. Now close off the left nostril and exhale through the right

  • Cooling Off Breathing – this has an immediate effect on your whole body temperature. Start by curling your tongue into a tube like passage, inhale through your mouth (keeping your tough like this), close your mouth and hold your breath for 5-10sec, exhale slowly through your nose

Thank you for listening to episode 002 of the Move Beautiful Podcast, I loved bringing all these insights and valuable pieces of information to you and I hope you have found them as valuable as I have and are now breathing easy!

If you liked this episode please share it with your friends, family, colleagues, or better yet leave us an honest review on iTunes these rating and reviews are incredibly helpful and help me to help more beautiful movers like you reach their movement potential!

Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes so you will be sure to never miss an episode.

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Episode 001 – Efficient Movement

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Episode 001Hi! I’d like to personally welcome you to the Move Beautiful podcast, a place where you will learn both the art and science of beautiful movement. Whether your movement extraordinaire or just beginning your journey towards optimal movement, I promise to bring you an inspirational and guided conversation … and some tidbits of ‘home play‘ along the way! Join me as we discover your body and the movement potential it holds!

This episode is a basic introductory to ‘efficient movement’, what it means to move efficiently, how efficient movement impacts our recreational, sporting and daily activities and why it’s important in the avoidance of injury and during the rehabilitation from pain.

In this episode you will learn:

My 5 tips when creating efficient movement in your own body;

  1. Get a Role Model

  2. Repetition

  3. Get a Coach

  4. Participate in some form of Body Work (Pilates, Yoga …)

  5. Move Mindfully

Thank you for listening to episode 001 of the Move Beautiful Podcast, I loved bringing all these insights and valuable pieces of information to you and I hope you have found them as valuable as I have!

If you liked this episode please share it with your friends, family, colleagues, or better yet leave us an honest review on iTunes these rating and reviews are incredibly helpful and help me to help more beautiful movers like you reach their movement potential!

Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes so you will be sure to never miss an episode.

Read More >>