If you follow the Flow Movement Instagram account, you may have already seen my new IGTV series that will help you train at home — from setting up your space to some movement games and how to “pole” dance without a pole. I’ll be adding to this series.
The full series is on my Instagram but here are a few of the episodes:
The super-simple exercise I swear by: 1 song, one move
This exercise requires no warm-up or special skills. All you need to get started is a single movement choice and some music.
For an entire song, you will do a single movement. I like to start with joint mobilization-type movements such as shoulder rolls, arm circles, hip circles, or spinal waves, etc. But, you could also work on an ‘exercise’ (like push-ups or squats) or even a footwork pattern (like a step-touch).
Let’s say the move you choose is a spinal sway (aka alternating rib-initiated side bends, think of the way people sway to roots reggae). For an entire song, you do that movement. But, you can play with:
levels
directions
tempo
the amount of ease/resistance
the emphasis (is there an accent? What part of the movement is accented? or does it flow?)
repetition (double it, triple it, pulse it, etc.— repeatedly go to one side)
moving through space
facing different directions
adding steps
adding pauses
adding movements with other parts of the body
doing it with/on something (or someone)
Etc., etc.
*Just keep performing the original pattern*
I suggest not thinking much about any of these things at first. I’m listing them out as a reference of possibilities, not as an expectation. This exercise is meant to be low stress; listen in and see how much instruction you can get from the music.
In this video, I’m dancing to three songs found in the March 2020 Pole Flow playlist on Spotify:
1. This Time by Ta’Shan and Konshens
2. Bad Habits by Madame Ghanaian
3. Coucou by Meryl
Flowing at home: Doorframe movement
The number one request I heard over the past week was ideas for limited space. Before I give any specific exercises, I invite you to think of something you most certainly have in your home as an apparatus— a doorframe.
The doorframe invites you to push on it as hard as you can. Depending on your construction, hopefully, you can pull pretty hard as well. Here are some preliminary thoughts and suggestions for using a doorframe for movement nourishment.
This is a great time to explore apparatus-convert-ability (converting something mundane into a platform for moving). What other parts of your home have you used countless times without considering dancing or working out with it?
I often get asking the following question: “What can I do on a carpet?”
Now seemed like a good idea to go into some detail in answering.