Disclaimer: What I am about to discuss was probably a terrible idea to try. I'm sometimes my own guinea pig and risk injuring myself for various tricks and such. I do not recommend trying anything in this post. To do so could truly cause major injury!!
Edit: I did, in fact, get injured! Nothing too horrible, but still a setback. See my post five days later here.
Edit #2: Please don't do anything you see in this post. A month later, I'm still injured. Read about it here.
OMG, I can't believe I haven't ever posted photos of my splits here! Probably because they are so sucky, but still, that should have been good reason right there, so I can chart my progress. Anyway, let's just say that never in my life have I ever been able to do any sort of split. Not straddle, or either side. Let's say I've never been within a foot of the floor doing splits. Let's say that because it's all true.
That Tsatsulin book I've mentioned a few times... honestly, I haven't read more than what I'd read by the time I first posted about it (well, maybe a few more chapters later that day, but not really any since then). It's marked at page 43 of 157 now, so that's how far I've made it. And yet, those 43 pages have made a huge difference in the way I'm approaching stretching (which, yes, I did yesterday, along with some ballet).
One of the things Tsatsulin mentions is this: one leg can get into a certain position alone, and the other leg can get into another position alone, but yet, I am unable to do both of those things together. Why? There is nothing connecting the two legs together (I don't even know if this is true or not, but stick with me here). So it's a mental thing, a fear thing. My body is not accustomed to being in a split and so it snaps into fear mode when I try to put it in that sort of position, which only serves to tighten me up more.
There's a bunch more, you should at least read 43 pages.
So yesterday, I had on some meditation/yoga music and I was working on stretching. I got into a splits position. I was taking shallow breaths, and I got into this very Zen-like state. (I do not recommend doing what I am about to tell you about AT ALL, but especially if you have never done meditation or aren't very good at visualizing what's going on in your body!) I thought about how my front leg could get into the right position while alone... and it pretty much got there. I thought about the same with my back leg... and I was practically doing splits!
I'm totally not kidding about this. I have photographic proof:
Now, I know that is not a full split: my left leg (um, on the left- I'm in a mirror here... for some reason my left front split is better than my right) isn't totally touching the floor. And my right leg is bent behind me. I don't quite think my body is supposed to be turned in that direction; it should be facing the front. So it probably altogether looks a bit awkward. But I DON'T CARE because I'M DOING A SPLIT!
Not only have I never been able to get that far apart, I was even able to ease my elbows all the way to the ground (though it was difficult to totally rest that way).
I'm so excited. Thank you, Mr. Tsatsulin! Here is a (pdf) link to Relax into Stretch again.
Edit: I did, in fact, get injured! Nothing too horrible, but still a setback. See my post five days later here.
Edit #2: Please don't do anything you see in this post. A month later, I'm still injured. Read about it here.
OMG, I can't believe I haven't ever posted photos of my splits here! Probably because they are so sucky, but still, that should have been good reason right there, so I can chart my progress. Anyway, let's just say that never in my life have I ever been able to do any sort of split. Not straddle, or either side. Let's say I've never been within a foot of the floor doing splits. Let's say that because it's all true.
That Tsatsulin book I've mentioned a few times... honestly, I haven't read more than what I'd read by the time I first posted about it (well, maybe a few more chapters later that day, but not really any since then). It's marked at page 43 of 157 now, so that's how far I've made it. And yet, those 43 pages have made a huge difference in the way I'm approaching stretching (which, yes, I did yesterday, along with some ballet).
One of the things Tsatsulin mentions is this: one leg can get into a certain position alone, and the other leg can get into another position alone, but yet, I am unable to do both of those things together. Why? There is nothing connecting the two legs together (I don't even know if this is true or not, but stick with me here). So it's a mental thing, a fear thing. My body is not accustomed to being in a split and so it snaps into fear mode when I try to put it in that sort of position, which only serves to tighten me up more.
There's a bunch more, you should at least read 43 pages.
So yesterday, I had on some meditation/yoga music and I was working on stretching. I got into a splits position. I was taking shallow breaths, and I got into this very Zen-like state. (I do not recommend doing what I am about to tell you about AT ALL, but especially if you have never done meditation or aren't very good at visualizing what's going on in your body!) I thought about how my front leg could get into the right position while alone... and it pretty much got there. I thought about the same with my back leg... and I was practically doing splits!
I'm totally not kidding about this. I have photographic proof:
 |
| (Pardon my mirror spots) |
Yes, I was able to do it (awkwardly again) on the other side as well!
I WOULD like to caution: besides the fact that this was probably a terrible idea and I don't recommend it at all, I also heard a very scary, very loud POP the second time I tried that first split. It came from within my hip area and scared the crap out of me. Also, I'm sore today. Quite sore. (And this is the second day after- today's Monday and this happened Saturday.)
Yet, I don't feel like I've done any damage. I'm definitely not doing anything much with it today besides walking, and didn't yesterday either. But honestly, this is about the sort of splits some of the young girls in my class can do- with the back leg bent some- and now I will (possibly) be able to do it too!
And my straddle split improved as well:
I'm so excited. Thank you, Mr. Tsatsulin! Here is a (pdf) link to Relax into Stretch again.
(P.S. That's one of my new leotards from Discount Dance that I scored for under $15!)
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