Home ∞ Breathing Session ∞ Stories ∞ Health Cures ∞ Testimonials ∞ Journal ∞ Articles ∞ Book ∞
Articles 2
6. The Weekend Athlete 3/31/2003
I spent my early years in New York City. As a youth I played baseball, and football with neighborhood teams in the Long Island Star league. My life kind of revolved around sports and I would always seek out active games played in the streets. As an 8 year old, 1944-5 I remember the streets of the Bronx were all the men on the block would come out and play stick ball during the weekend and include children of all ages. In Queens, NY the same was true on weekends or on summer days after dinner. Life in the city had a kind of Frank Capra wholesomeness to it.
After
leaving High School and working for five years at different jobs, I went to
collage as a physical education major, where my passion was gymnastics and
also spring board diving, which I did for a year with the swimming team.
Intramural Football remained my passion for years and our physical education
squad dominated the tournaments.
After college my sporting activities were confined to the
weekends, usually I could find an in season softball game or a two hand touch
football game. What is note worthy in all of this is that in my early twenties
I found that when I woke up on Monday after a weekend game my body had
soreness in many of the muscles, especially the legs. This soreness was
progressive over each year and by 26 I could hardly move the next day because
of the extent of the soreness. There was no preparation or training involved
and that could account for much of the soreness. My thinking around all of
this was also starting me into accepting the idea of aging and even had me
thinking that my body is really a mystery of somatics that I may have to take
to the doctor one fine day.
When I met Dear Monica who introduced me to breathing and alignment the first big relaxation was; I can understand and work with my body! Over time I noticed changes in my physical performance as well, but the demands of playing ball would reveal more to me then a walk in the park. Living on 58th Street in Manhattan I would go out to the Sheep Meadow in Central Park and get into some heavy-duty two-hand touch football games. The first time I went out and played some football after a long layoff, I had the thought that I was going to be real sore the next day from all this physical fun.
The next day I got up, had breakfast and about 45 minutes later remembered that I had played ball and realized none of the soreness was there? I searched around and moved everything and there was no soreness. Hmmmm! Could there be a relationship between the way I was using my legs and muscles that didn’t promote soreness? Is the body more proficient when aligned because I was using the body as designed? I can only assume that there is a relationship between the two. I’m sure this would hold true in research, based on the many experiences others have told me about when they engage in their respective sports after doing some alignment work.
This experience remained to be true every time I would go out and play in an off-handed game. We relocated in upstate NY around 1972 and my attention became immersed in building our center and doing other physical chores. Playing ball truly became an infrequent activity.
On a visit to Montreal, when I was around 49 and hadn’t played ball for years, a friend got me to play four-wall racquetball with him, which I had never played. Within 15 minutes I got a second wind and we played for about one and half-hours. I did feel that the next day was going to be real painful because the play was rather intense and I hadn’t done much in the way of sports for years. The next day, about 15 minutes after getting up I again realized “no aches”, maybe a little in the inner legs, but not discernable unless I looked for it. Well, well, I do have to give some credit to what I have been doing with my body over the years.
Last year I had my first medical check up after 45 years and was told everything is just fine. Now golf is my occasional weekend activity which also will bring soreness the next day from swinging and using muscle that haven’t been worked or prepared for the repetitive swings. I do go easy now and notice that it is good to prepare somewhat before diving in to activity. However, I find, my body is very easy to work into an athletic mode, at least for an occasional weekend.
Posted 3/31/ 2003
Comments
I understand what you mean by a kind of Frank Capra wholesomeness. I grew up in Laurelton, Queens, and was there until I was 13. We played mainly touch football and occasionally stickball. There was also stoopball, which involved hitting a pink ball off of a step -- if your opponent caught it, you were out, if not, you could get up to a home run by hitting it way over his head. I loved those days.
The main thrust of your post, though, seems to be that with proper breath and alignment, most of what we think of as unavoidable soreness can, in fact, be avoided. I'm wondering if I could somehow "breathe into" my lower back and the other places that are perpetually in some small amount of pain, and if that very act of breathing in and through might not help a lot.
Posted by: Jordan on March 31, 2003 04:54 PM
Yes Jordan, stoopball, another way for us youngsters to play and enjoy the physical universe. I played and lived all over Queens until I moved into Manhattan in 58. An incredible Capra-esk time was the end of WW2 when all the troops came home. In the Bronx there were parties in every buildings courtyard. For a 9-year-old, this time was a visual and emotional delight.
Jordan you can breathe into the lower back with the idea of expanding the area between the lower ribs and hips open. This can be done for a time, like ten minutes to a half-hour. I give this to others and it is very effective. I do it my self when I have pulled my back over the years. What I do is walk around a space, with my hands on the Crest of the hip girdle and start breathing and lifting the rib cage up and away from the hips. I also focus my attention on the lift in the lower back. I will try to maintain this lift with the breath for a period of time. Some times my attention will stray and I will go back to this feeling of lift. We can do this during the day, as we are active in a non-session, informal way.
It is possible that you could play with this while on the “Spirit Riser”. I think that this may be viable. Let me know what you discover.
Another way of addressing the lower back is; lay down on your stomach with a firm pillow under your stomach. Then take in breath that swells the back and do this for a period of time. Usually you will hit directly in to the pain area, which is fine.
In terms of unavoidable soreness, yes I believe, we can avoid soreness that comes into play as a result of areas of muscles groups that are contracted or being used in a less then optimum way. Even in an optimum situation soreness can show up and these ideas give one a way of addressing the soreness. “Breathing in and through” as you put it.
I view pain as an interesting sensation and something we can directly work with and explore to see what helps, whether it is some kind of motion or combinations of motion with breath. This then becomes a kind of intuitive play where we learn to trust the body. It is good to have a foundation of alignment and breathing keys to help this along. The ultimate key is Expansion and Contraction, just like the universe.
I also find that the body presents many things for us to work with almost daily, just as the living situation does. So we do have a lot to work with, yes?
Posted by: Harmon 4/1/2003
Yes. Sometimes more than I think there is time for, but then I realize that that's not possible, as I do believe the notion that any challenge that comes to us is one that, in some way, we are equipped to handle. I will try the pillow on the stomach, and I am already practicing some of your concepts on the SpiritRiser. Have a good day, Harmon.
Posted by: Jordan on April 1, 2003
I agree with you, that the rebounder can be a way of
understanding the use of breath and increasing internal space. I don’t want to
say too much because, it is your time and work that will bring understandings.
The time that one gives to the rebounder would naturally cause one to actively
work with their breath. I would think that people would need to set a
comfortable time for them selves and then maybe increase it after awhile so
they build up to a pace they can live with.
The paddleball experience had me huffing and puffing for the first fifteen minutes and forced me to work with the breath. Then the breakthrough or second wind occurred. The practice forces the breakthrough. I can only speculate on all the benefits that one can have and I look forward to hearing about your findings.
thank you
Posted by: Harmon on 3/3/03 01:53 PM
Home ∞ Breathing Session ∞ Stories ∞ Health Cures ∞ Testimonials ∞ Journal ∞ Articles ∞ Book ∞
Articles 2