I feel so fancy! I have been featured on the internet wellness mecca Well+Good. Thank you for opening your pages to Flow Movement.
Boulder, Colorado (May 2015)
A hike in Boulder, Colorado.
Pants by Flow Movement.
A Wall Stretch: 12 Minutes in Shoulder Opening Heaven
For this series of neck, chest, and shoulder opening stretches, we will use the wall to increase our spine and shoulder awareness. After 12 minutes of delicious articulations and closed-chain movements your shoulders will sing.
Exercises in general are things we do to improve at something, to ingrain habits. There are strength exercises, team-building exercises, breath exercises etc. We can exorcise the demons, but that's a bit different. When it comes to physical (ya know, body stuff) exercises, they are categorized in many ways. One of the most basic categorizations is closed chain vs. open chain.
In closed chain movements, the free limb (hand or foot) is fixed to an immobile surface (like a wall or floor). For clarity, being fixed to a floor or wall is a choice, not a terrible super glue prank. If I stand on two feet, my feet are fixed to the floor. Open chain movements are the opposite; the hand or foot moves about freely. Standing and reaching upwards is open chain. A downward facing dog is closed chain.
When it comes to flexibility training, we want to include both closed and open chain stretches into our routine. They not only feel different; the results are different.
As I often say, awareness and breath are imperative to improving our alignment and flexibility. After all, if we are unaware of our patterns how can we change them?
We need feedback, and not just from another set of eyes. This is the power of using the wall or the floor. By having something to push against, we feel and know more about what we are experiencing.
When it comes to the shoulders, closed chain movements that challenge our ROM are a powerful way to increase awareness, alignment, and function. The shoulder joint is comprised of three bones and four joints. If your shoulder is tight, we want to not only get those bones moving well, we want the supporting musculature to be active. And guess what, when we push into something, muscles are happy to come to the party.
Under the increased tension of a closed chain exercise, the joint is not only getting signals about its safety, we are inclined to breathe deeper.
Closed chain movements also encourage multiple joints to move synergistically to achieve a desired movement. We run into a lot of problems when we try to get more "shoulder flexibility" by isolating the movement of the arm. In my experience, adhesions (sticky spots/scar tissue/muscle demons) and sub-optimal movement patterns are harder to work through in open chain movements.
So...as you perform this new video, "A Wall Stretch: 12 Minutes in Shoulder Opening Heaven," PUSH into the wall, spread your fingers wide, and breathe fully. Oh, and smile more than I do in the video. Apparently filming videos is very serious stuff.
Featured Alignment-Related Posts
The Galang Crew
Look! The super dope and charitable Galang Crew of Sweden is wearing matching tribal Flow pants for their latest video. I love their grooves and their cause...check it out!
Use the Code GALANGCREW for 20% off apparel and a portion of all proceeds will support the SOS Children's Project in Tambacounda, Senegal, a project close the Galang Crew's heart, and part of the group's #dancersagainstracism.
"Dance and music is universal and can link people together regardless of colour and race; when I dance I'm at my best. Its' my biggest love and the passion for it drives me through life no matter what I'm going through."
-Sara Galan
About GALANG CREW:
The Galang Crew is a crew with a focus on Dancehall/Hip Hop/Afrobeats. The dancers' styles range from hip hop, modern, jazz, and were all hand-selected by founder and choreographer, Sara Galan, to blend together to a colorful mix of energetic dancers spreading love and anti-racism messages through dance.
Sara Galan is a multi-styled dancer who has trained in New York, Europe, and Africa in dancehall, hip hop, house, and African traditional style including Sabar (Senegal) and djembe (Guinee Conakry). She is best known for her variety in Afrobeat styles such as Ndombolo, coupe decale, Azonto, and Kuduro Angolano. Galan was recently nominated as Artist of the Year 2015 at The African Diaspora Awards. In March 2015, Galang Crew Afrobeat videos featuring the songs "Hold Me Now" and "Ukwa" by Nigerian artist, Timaya, went viral.
Galan is also the founder of #DancersAgainstRacism, launched in 2014, to raise a voice against racism. Now in its second year, dancers and non-dancers all over the world participate in the movement via use of the hashtag and by participating in Galan's donation-based workshops to support different organizations she has hand-picked.
Handstands
I remember watching someone press a handstand and thinking I would never be able to. I tried anyway. I remember eventually holding a straddle handstand after a press and realizing that holding your legs together was way more challenging. Now, most of the time, my straight body handstand is there for me. Sometimes for a little while, sometimes for longer. But I have the power to control it. As I focus my eyes in the position, I smile. I remember the process.
Scuba Floral Cuff Pants by Flow Movement.
I remember watching someone press a handstand and thinking I would never be able to. I tried anyway. I remember eventually holding a straddle handstand after a press and realizing that holding your legs together was way more challenging. Now, most of the time, my straight body handstand is there for me. Sometimes for a little while, sometimes for longer. But I have the power to control it. As I focus my eyes in the position, I smile. I remember the process.Scuba Floral Cuff Pants by Flow Movement.www.flowmovement.net/shop
Posted by Flow Movement on Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Floor Flow
Planning content for a Floor Flow class in NYC last month...
Pants by Flow Movement. Floor Flow tutorials now available for purchase....
Planning content for a Floor Flow class in NYC last month...Pants by Flow Movement. Floor Flow tutorials now available for purchase: www.flowmovement.net/shop#flowmovement #thepantsmademedoit
Posted by Flow Movement on Saturday, April 25, 2015
City Museum, St. Louis, Missouri (April 2015)
Today I sat on the worlds largest pencil, squeezed in the smallest tunnels I've been in since birth and was just overall amazed. City Museum, St Louis, MO is one of the coolest places on earth. Definitely the first museum where I was warned, "you may get injured."
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Primal Squats
Squats are one of the most basic movements of the human body. Primal squats with the knees and ankles together regularly improve the state of my knees and ankles. This is because developing control at the end range of joints (especially in positions essential to the health of the human body) creates balanced flexibility (and more potential do to cool things). Here I paired this exercise with alternating back shoulder rolls...and a wee bit of musicality.
Pants by Flow Movement.
Squats are one of the most basic movements of the human body. Primal squats with the knees and ankles together regularly improve the state of my knees and ankles. This is because developing control at the end range of joints (especially in positions essential to the health of the human body) creates balanced flexibility (and more potential do to cool things). Here I paired this exercise with alternating back shoulder rolls...and a wee bit of musicality. Pants by Flow Movement.
Posted by Flow Movement on Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Featured Alignment-Related Posts
Iceland (March 2015)
All of the photos in this first slideshow were taken off the side of the road on the south coast. I started with my layers and snow boots on and gradually made it down to just fabric wrappings and undergarments. It was cold (to put it gently). The air blowing in my ears was probably worse then being barefoot in frozen sand. But... this was fun. So much emptiness makes you feel so small. I was just a tiny creature tossing things about. I am so proud of what Kenneth Kao was able to capture.
More Iceland, featuring a sneak peak of a Flow Movement scuba cuff pant. The Jacquard Cuff Pant is available now in the STORE.
After a long drive and a stay in a country hotel we woke up...here. The area is very rural. There are no street lights (just the ones in the sky) and the closest village/town was a long drive away--we had no idea what the environment looked like until the morning. As you can see, the sky was was incredible and the thick tufted grass was both frozen and squishy.
The day after experiencing the mot insane blizzard I have ever encountered (visibility 0, face blasting 100), we sadly had to leave. These images were taken in a craggy lava field en route to the airport:
Costa Rica Puddle Play
I want to play in warm, soft sand puddles every day. Playa Samara, Costa Rica. #puravida
Post by Flow Movement.