Martha's Log

[marthac]

Finally, I am posting my log. Have been doing 5 or more minutes of movement after each meal, ordered the WW tapes last weekend and will start them when they get here.

Have only started recording in a log this week and quite haphazardly. I need a system, and today I bought a binder and created a form I could fill out. So I'm putting it to the test this evening. I was going to wait until morning, but why wait? :wink:

Time/Place - 6:45 pm; Backyard
Energy Level - Medium, a little tired
Exercise - Weeding, pulling string algae out of pond, which involves balance, reaching, stretching
Sets/Reps - 1
Rest - None
RPE - 4
RT - 10, I suppose!
RPD - 2
Sensations - Loved the feel of warm summer air on my skin, loved touching the earth, the water, even if pulling out yucky algae, it was nice to connect with nature for a few minutes. Felt balanced and in control of my body when kneeling at the side of pond and reaching far in, that was nice to notice
Feelings - Not sure
Images - None that I can recall
Thoughts - Glad that I am able to crawl around comfortably like this.
Questions - None at the moment

[Scott Sonnon]

Welcome aboard, Martha!

[marthac]

Got my tapes, how exciting!


Time/Place - 3:00 pm; den
Energy Level - Pretty good
Exercise - WW tape: Head, shoulder, elbows joint circles
Sets/Reps - 5 circles in each direction
Rest - None
RPE - 4
RT - 8
RPD - 2
Sensations - Definite grinding in my left shoulder, surprising since I am right-armed in general and have had two different rotator-cuff injuries in my right shoulder (5 yrs ago & 15 yrs ago). Muscles felt a little “bunched up” at times. Afterward… felt great, invigorated. Ready to go back to work.
Feelings - First time doing the tape, so I think I was more outwardly focused… no particular inner feelings
Images - None that I can recall
Thoughts - Gee, I need not to do those arm circles under the ceiling fan. Ouch!
Questions - Am I the only dummy who doesn’t understand what a “plane” is? I have a vague recollection from high school geometry, but don’t really know what you mean by keeping within the chest plane, etc. Is that an up and down plane? Or a horizontal plane? Or both? Is this a “duh” question? LOL



Time/Place - 6:30; den
Energy Level - medium
Exercise - WW beginner tape, starting with elbow circles through the end
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles according to tape
Rest - none
RPE - 8
RT - 2
RPD - 8
Sensations - Everything fine until I got to lower body. Then, was off balance, couldn’t come close to the ROM. Not surprising, as I’ve always had lower body “inflexibility,” even in my so-called fittest days. But it was really uncomfortable
Feelings - Kinda bummed… I felt really confident through the upper body circles, then disappointed and even annoyed with my body during the lower-body circles (attempts)
Images -
Thoughts - Wanted to quit a little, but also knew that I need more time with it
Questions - none, really

[Scott Sonnon]

Let's keep your left shoulder on the side bar for now. I suspect it may be related to the lower body issue(s) you're uncovering.

Frustration is your only opponent. Don't be attached to your performance. If you move "poorly" you've fulfilled your 'job description' of seeking chains of tension. Now that you've located the general area, refine the granularity and target the movements and areas which specifically hold 'clunky' movement.

Here's a illo. of the "Six Degrees of Freedom" and the Anatomical Reference Planes: top/bottom, right/left, front/back
http://www.spineuniverse.com/displaygraphic.php/139/dp_planes-BB.gif

[marthac]

The picture of the planes were very helpful. After studying that, the next time I watched the tape I felt a little more of a connection to the idea. Thank you!

I did the WW a little more sporadically over the weekend, and totally neglected my log. Need to work on that.

But here is today's. I feel like I can go more than 8 minutes, in fact, I want to do the whole tape in one session. But I decided to just let it be for the rest of the week... to let my body get the chance to assimilate, without rushing ahead. New thinking for me. :lol:

Time/Place - 9am; den
Energy Level - Tired… up late last night
Exercise - WW tape: 8 minutes (through shoulder circles)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - None
RPE - 3
RT - 8
RPD - 2
Sensations - No grinding today. Could feel my blood start to pump faster, felt great
Feelings - A little panic riding in the background, thinking about several work deadlines pending
Images - Helicopter!
Thoughts - Thinking about how time and how far into the tape 8 minutes is. Today I decided to mark it so that I just know when 8 minutes is, rather than having to check my watch!
Questions - none

Time/Place - 1:05; den
Energy Level - medium
Exercise - WW tape: 8 minutes (elbows through spine/back)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - none
RPE - 3
RT - 8
RPD - 2
Sensations - Feeling vibrant!
Feelings - Having fun
Images -
Thoughts - After doing this morning’s neck circles, I continually noticed how creaky my neck is. Not sure if something just got jostled or loosened up, or if it’s because I slept wrong.
Questions -

Time/Place - 6:00; den
Energy Level - Medium-good (seemed to feel more energetic as the day went on today, interesting.)
Exercise - WW tape: 8 minutes (hips through legs & whole body)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - None
RPE - 5
RT - 5 – improving, but still having trouble balancing
RPD -
Sensations - Legs tired and unsturdy due to three-set tennis match yesterday, and I did a 40-min walk this afternoon.
Feelings - enjoying, yet rushing because I’m running behind on my time today
Images -
Thoughts -
Questions - Are we supposed to log our other movement as well? (Tennis, walking, etc.?)

[Scott Sonnon]

Great work. No, you don't have to log your other activities, unless you want to. Focus on the sensations, images, and feelings which erupt through the Warrior Wellness practice.

Keep up the great work!

[marthac]

Only got two sessions in, today. I think I'm still more focused on the mechanics of the exercises than on feelings/sensations.

Time/Place - 10:00 am; den
Energy Level - Okay
Exercise - WW tape: 8 minutes (through shoulder circles)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - None
RPE - 2
RT - 9
RPD - 2
Sensations - A little creaking and popping in left shoulder; lots of grinding noises in neck; slight sinus headache, which was almost gone after doing the movements
Feelings - Not in the mood for the work I have ahead of me today… want to be a slug
Images - None
Thoughts - I actually felt a little progress with the Egyptian today!
Questions -

Time/Place - 9 pm: den
Energy Level - tired
Exercise - WW tape: 8 minutes (elbows through hips)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - 0
RPE - 3
RT - 6
RPD - 2
Sensations - Muscles sore from deep-tissue massage today, but feels really good to stretch them out
Feelings -
Images -
Thoughts - I hope my neck creaking goes away soon.
Questions -

[marthac]

Time/Place - 8:00 am; den
Energy Level - Good, rested
Exercise - WW tape: 10 minutes (neck through fingers)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - None
RPE - 2
RT - 9
RPD - 2
Sensations - Creaking continues, and left shoulder started popping again. I love doing these circles because it feels like I can actually feel the blood flow increase and the fluids streaming… feels healthy.
Feelings - Slightly overwhelmed… it’s Thursday and I’m not done with everything on my list for the week!
Images - None
Thoughts - I started to feel a little disheartened, because my mid and lower back started hurting today (I wrote about it on the radiantCST list), which I think may be the tension chain in action, as I release stuff from my neck/shoulders, the tension is traveling down. That seems a good thing, however I feel a little nervous about it because I had the exact same feelings when I did chiropractoy a few years ago and eventually quit doing it because my lower back started hurting all the time. Geez, I had forgotten all about that. There were certain adjustments I had to refuse, because they made me so sore for days. What I’m hoping is that this is more gentle than chiro, and that this tension stuff will continue traveling down, down, down, through my toes and OUT. Also, I had a deep-tissue massage yesterday, which may be contributing in some way.
Questions - Just… is that stuff I just wrote about “normal” or “okay”?

Time/Place - 1:00; den
Energy Level - good
Exercise - WW tape: 10 minutes (back, hips)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - 0
RPE - 4
RT - 5
RPD - 3
Sensations - Starting to pay less attention to learning technique and more attention to how it feels. Really felt the tightness of my lower back.
Feelings - Old, the tightness makes me feel old
Images -
Thoughts - I had this feeling of boredom, right around when I noticed the tightness in my lower back. Intellectually, I was not bored. But emotionally, I started thinking that maybe boredom for me is a way to block tension, prevent it, keep it at bay. Not sure, need to keep an eye on that.
Questions -

Time/Place - 9:pm; den
Energy Level - Tired… just mowed the lawn
Exercise - WW tape: 10 minutes (hips through whole body drills)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - 0
RPE - 8
RT - 3
RPD - 5
Sensations - Tired, wiped out. Worked hard this week and am feeling spent. Hard time balancing with the leg stuff. Hip flexors feel crimped when I do the knee to chest one.
Feelings - Down about lack of “competency” on lower portion
Images -
Thoughts - I think I may follow this same pattern through the weekend (top of body – b’fast; middle of body – lunch; bottom of body – pm). And then rotate body parts so that I’m doing the harder ones in the morning when I am fresher. That is my goal for next week.
Questions -

[Scott Sonnon]

You're intuition is right - boredom is often a defense mechanism to avoid an issue. Trust yourself! What you're experiencing is not only normal and okay, but you're doing very well. Your own CST movement is much gentler than a chiro setting.

[marthac]

Well, no real log today, it was pretty much of an on-the-go day, much of it away from the computer.

But I feel so encouraged that I yearned for, and DID my movement sessions no matter where I was. Didn't have access to a TV, so had to do the WW moves by memory. I didn't do to terribly, except I got all confused with some of the double arm movements without Scott to model for me. Monkey see, monkey do, I guess. :lol:

My ankles have been stiff when I get up in the morning, for maybe the past year. On and off, increasingly on. Yesterday I got up and trotted off to the bathroom and realized they were moving fluidly! Cool. But then today, this evening in particular, they are even more stiff than ever. Weird.

I don't think I did anything unusual, and usually the ankle stiffness is only after having them immobile during sleep. This evening's stiffness was after walking around doing my day-stuff.

Maybe the tension chain is working down to my feet now! No, I doubt it's that fast... anyway, my great accomplishment today is that I did my sessions without props. :D

Martha

[marthac]

I got up early and went outside to work in the yard before it hit 90 today, so I considered that to be plenty of movement for the morning! Started WW at lunchtime.

Time/Place - 12:30 pm; den
Energy Level - Medium, slightly tired from yardwork in the morning
Exercise - WW tape: 10 minutes (neck through fingers)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - 0
RPE - 2
RT - 9
RPD - 0
Sensations - Slight popping in left shoulder; still grinding in the neck; grinding and popping in right wrist. Felt good to get the ROM going
Feelings - A little self-conscious because I was being watched by DP, who was curious!
Images - I never seem to get any.
Thoughts - This is my favorite part of the exercises… but I do need to focus a little more on lower body, which I tend to do last.
Questions -

Time/Place - 11:00pm: den
Energy Level - medium
Exercise - WW tape: 10 minutes (chest through hips)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - None
RPE - 3
RT - 6 – not fully balanced, but getting better
RPD - 1
Sensations - When doing leg out to side, could feel and hear my spine crackling all the way up to my neck.
Feelings -
Images -
Thoughts - I realized that I get a little nervous bending backwards, so I had been holding back while doing the lower back bend thing (bend back and then forward through legs). I also was realizing today while I did yardwork and physical stuff around the house that I kind of carry my lower back stiffly, holding tension there. I thought I mostly carried it in my upper shoulders, but can feel that I carry it in my lower back as well. So tonight, I decided to just trust that my back wouldn’t snap in half and I went a little further back with the backward bend. Putting my hands on my lower back helped me feel stable and in control… so I want to keep exploring this.
Questions - How do I get to be a "CST Enthusiast" like everyone else? :D

[Scott Sonnon]

3 more posts, Martha. :wink:

[marthac]

Oh that is so funny, I didn't know it was a posting-quantity thing!

LOL, I love those milestones! 8)

[Connie Brown]

Images - I never seem to get any.
Martha, this is me too.

I would be grateful if you could watch for this. For me it seems like it could be a couple things.

One, other distractions so the images can't get a word, er picture, in edgewise. Scott writes in Body-Flow, in the section on getting ready for a session,


Take the time to sit down and clear your head before your session. Tell yourself you can resume thoughts about “important things” when you’re through with your practice. Do some deep, full Performance Breathing exhalations for a couple of minutes before beginning.

Two, our CNS has nothing to say. :o :roll:


the central nervous system (CNS) often communicates to us through imagery.

:?: :?:

[marthac]

Connie, I will definitely watch for the "no picture" thing.

I am such a visual person, it surprises me. But... I also am operating under the idea that I am still too focused on watching the video and following along at the moment.

Yesterday I didn't have access to the video, so did the movements from memory. It was quite a different experience, and I actually felt more connected to myself because I was thinking through each move, checking in to be sure it was as I remembered, etc.

I think that once I am more comfortable doing without watching, I will be less externally focused and more internally.

Kind of like my tennis serve. When a coach comes along and shows me a tweak. I am 100% externally focused at first, watching the coach, listening, following along. Doing as I'm told, LOL. Then, once the move seeps into my motor memory, I start thinking it (so it's creeping inside now). And then, once I am fully comfortable with it and can do it without thinking so hard, I start feeling it. So, it sifts from outside, to inside my thinker brain, to inside my muscle cells. And at that point, I am able to step up to the service line and pre-feel how it should be... and then do it. At this point I get more images, even in that split-second it takes to strike a serve.

So I'm converting that experience over to my beginner WW stuff... I think I'm at the "thinking" phase now, and will eventually move to molecule phase. And then the pictures will have room to emerge.

Wow, that was longer than planned... and the more I wrote, the more I understood it. THANKS for prompting that!!!

Martha

[marthac]

Time/Place - 11:30 am; den
Energy Level - rested
Exercise - WW tape: 15 min (knee to chest through hips)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - 0
RPE - 1 – upper body; 3 lower
RT - 9 – upper body; 7 lower (balance seemed better)
RPD - 1
Sensations - Really really tight in lower back, which is frequently true after doing yardwork… lots of bending over, picking stuff up, lifting, etc. I can tell I really need to work on this area more
Feelings -
Images -
Thoughts - I was thinking of tennis as I did this, doing some positive imagery prepping for my match, which is in 2 hours. Feeling like this is a good pre-tennis warmup and that I will do the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers again right before the match.
Questions -

Time/Place - 9:30 pm; den
Energy Level - Great
Exercise - WW tape: 10 min (hip circles through full body drills)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - 0
RPE - 3
RT - 7
RPD - 2
Sensations - Legs a little sore already from yesterday’s yardwork, but it felt good to move them.
Feelings - Although my balance was a little off, it was better than it had been and I was feeling, confident that I would get this!
Images -
Thoughts - I didn’t like the four corner drill up until now. In fact, I dreaded it… but tonight I just went for it, didn’t try to make it perfect, and it actually went WAY better. So, progress! (Progress because of imperfection, LOL)
Questions - What joints are we working when doing the four corner balance drill?

[marthac]

Time/Place - 1:30 9m; office
Energy Level - good
Exercise - Neck through chest, without tape
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction
Rest - 0
RPE - 1
RT - 9
RPD - 0
Sensations - Felt great! I had been working at the computer all morning, and this was a good break to get my shoulder and neck untense
Feelings - focused
Images -
Thoughts - Just glad to be doing this.
Questions -

Time/Place - 6:30 pm; den
Energy Level - good
Exercise - WW tape: (lower back through full body drills)
Sets/Reps - 5 or 10 circles in each direction, plus extra because I am now just jumping into the exercise without waiting for the explanation, so I count to 10 and then keep doing more until the video goes to the next exercise
Rest - 0
RPE - 3, tightness in my lower back makes it feel strained a bit
RT - 7, balance improving but still wobbly, not able to get my leg up very high!
RPD - 2, just in lower back really
Sensations - I can actually feel that tension chain traveling from my lower back and hips up through my neck. When I was doing the side leg lifts, the top of my spine was popping a little.
Feelings -
Images -
Thoughts -
Questions -

This evening I had a league tennis match to play. It would have been yesterday, but we got rained out. I did a little WW in my tennis warmup, plus essentially did the whole beginner routine throughout the day today.

I felt GREAT during my match. I felt quick, agile, and powerful. It was the best I've played in awhile. And... we won. Wahoo!! :lol: :lol:

[marthac]

It's been 3 days since my last confe... oops, I mean log. I have shifted this week to doing two sessions per day, 15 minutes each. Plus miscellaneous finger, ankle, wrist circles and neck slides as my body craves them. :D

I find that, in general, the upper body feels more fluid and coordinated. The lower body is getting there, but slower.

I have also been practicing doing the exercises without the video this week, and it's been really interesting. First, I am surprised I remember more than I think I will. Second, I am much more focused on my body and my feelings, rather than following along. But I did the video again today to check my technique, and found I had forgotten the stretches after doing the shoulder circles. Oops!

I think I will start doing the intermediate tape for the upper body, and continue the beginner exercises for the lower.

Another general observation: I find that as I walk around in life, I'm more in tune with my body, feeling either the tension in my lower back or feeling fluid or whatever. It's kinda nice. I never noticed this lower back tension before, not sure if it's new or I've been ignoring it. :wink:

Here's my log from today:

Time/Place - 11:00; den
Energy Level - good
Exercise - Neck through hip circles, using the tape to check my technique
Sets/Reps - 10 circles
Rest - 0
RPE - 1
RT - 9, maybe even a 10
RPD - 0
Sensations - Felt more limber than earlier this morning.
Feelings - Feeling a little time pressured. Doing this as a warm-up for a 30-minute walk, which I am squeezing in today in the midst of a lot of work to do. But despite the pressure, I feel good about following through on my intention to take care of my body even on a hectic day.
Images -
Thoughts - Oops, maybe my feelings were really my thoughts.
Questions -

Time/Place - 9pm; den
Energy Level - Tired and draggy
Exercise - Knee to chest through full body
Sets/Reps - Whatever is on the tape, plus extra in between (so, 10+)
Rest - 0
RPE - 3
RT - 7
RPD - 2
Sensations - More firm and solid with the balance
Feelings - Stuck – hmmmm, now that is interesting
Images -
Thoughts - The stuck part started out with me thinking about being “stuck” with inflexible lower back. And then I wondered what else I’m “stuck” about. I’m stuck on one particular work project, and I’m not sure why. It’s not particularly hard, and the client has been happy with what they’ve seen so far. Will definitely put some thought into that.
Questions -

[Scott Sonnon]

Wonderful report, Martha. Really glad to hear that you're "off" the video! Like you said, it puts the focus off the TV, and back into your body! Super!