Updated: Apr 1, 2021
Recently, I've come to realize that although my students and I are all speaking English together, we can be talking different languages when it comes to our fields of expertise.
This may seem obvious to some of you, though for me, it's taken time to understand how our areas of specialty affect the way we communicate and describe things.
After a private session earlier this afternoon where I had made the error in judgement in assuming my student knew where (and what) his Sitz Bones were, I decided to write a post that I could add onto and evolve when necessary, of common terms, phrases and anatomy which may help students new to movement feel more comfortable in a group or private class setting.
There is really no rhyme or reason to the order of the list, just as words and phrases which come to mind pop up in my mind, or in a teaching situation they'll be added. Perhaps eventually, I'll put the words and descriptions into categories which may be helpful.
So without further ado, here is the first draft of Useful Words 4 U
Sitz Bones ( latin name, ischial tuberosity) The pair of sitting bones found at the base of the pelvic bowl. When we are sitting on a hard surface we may feel our sit bones and need to shift around if we are sitting for too long. To feel where your sits bones are, sit comfortably so your spine is long. Feel the crown of your head reaching towards the sky, and the support of your pelvis rooting to the floor or chair. Rock your pelvis gently forward and back, then from side to side. Whenever you feel the lowest point of the pelvis in contact with the ground is where your Sitz bones are.
Proprioception is generally used to describe how we sense and feel our bodies as well as how we sense our position in space. It helps us perceive movement as we move, even when our eyes are closed. A fun little exercise you can try is with eyes closed bring your arms up from the sides of your body ( so through a T position) to overhead. Keeping eyes closed, begin to slowly sense your middle fingers on the left and right hand moving closer together until they touch above your head. You can try this with other fingers as well as other positions of the arms, as long as you keep your eyes closed. Another exercise is to touch your index finger to your nose. Now, close your eyes and try. If you found these challenging, don't worry, with time you can develop a greater sense of proprioception. Our feet actually have many of our bodies proprioceptors to help us balance as we walk, which is why for much of the work I do with students, I'll ask for socks to vanish!