So…the shuffleback is like one baby step after the lean forward. I place my hands as though I were going to do a real jumpback, haul my butt back as far as it can go and wherever my feet land, I launch from there back to chaturanga. I do it in both Mysore and Led now. It builds a bit of strength (compared to the lean forward) and doesn’t slow me down too much. The lean forward is way faster though.
The steps I read, advice I have been given, and what I’ve learned from watching others in my studio (only one person in the studio can actually do it!) is that I need to bend the arms to draw my shoulders down and my hips up, counterbalance-wise.
My brain refuses to give this instruction to my arms!! Does. Not. Compute. Is it fear? It has to be fear. When I don’t understand why something doesn’t work, it is fear. Not a conscious fear, but that innate, human, don’t-want-to-break-my-face fear that takes over your limbs. My mind has some serious work to do to convince my body.
I have a weak bhujapidasana, and I am pretty sure the two are related. If I could confidently, slowly move myself into bhuji (sans head-thump) maybe I would trust my arms and allow them to bend. Been working on this.
The shuffleback also feels nicer than it looks, ahahaha, but you can’t win them all. It evens out with my less-than-atrocious wormthump this weekend :-)
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6 comments:
hey, the shuffleback looks good! It looks a lot like what my teacher shows people when working towards the pick up.
I like to think of the somersault action when doing it- since it feels like a curl before releasing (but also, yes, I can see the fear of face plant- though, really, it won't happen unless your head weighs 50 lbs!) Why don't you tuck the skinny end of the Liberator where you fear your head will land if you go too far and then go for it? And then video tape it for us!
Good work!
that is a great idea for the liberator! it is such a versatile prop. i was checking out your videos not long ago and i remember you mentioning "looking down to shoot back" and I'm going to keep that in mind too...great videos you have btw!
Yes, looking down, as if you're trying to look through your folded legs, does work. Keeping the head curled helps too. I worked on it for awhile, really forcing myself to tuck the head and do the curling action and it finally all just fell into place. I don't have to do it so dramatically anymore. I guess my body kind of found the right balancing point so I don't have to think so much! Just like anything we work on, you'll be amazed at what happens with daily practice. I still am...
Have you tried doing this back and forth with socks on, you have that great floor for that there. Will alow your feet to slide a little more allowing you to focus on some of the other elements. I found my manduka eQua towel ideal too. It's so smooth it'll allow you to slide through a little more easily, also jumping through you'll have less fear of rubbing your toes raw. Either way the shuffleback is building arm and shoulder strength all the time.
Hi Grimmly - I should be using my eQua in this video, definitely makes the jump-through go more smoothly (I don't clear the mat quite yet so protecting my feet is a plus!). My floors are great for sliding back and forth - was doing a bit of this last night, I'm still not there with the armbend but hoping, like you say, that the strength will keep building and the correct movement will follow.
I think it's great, you're keeping your hands grounded flat the whole time, that's the most important thing to build the bandha strength, the rest will come. Just before you jump back, see if you can lift and squeeze your heels up to your bum (looking back, like Liz said)..
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