Posts
Suppleness
I have a secret to tell you. I (and my body) am no longer twenty years old. Therefore the demands of riding can take their toll if I don't elect to regularly beat myself into some kind of physical fitness.
Annoyingly my body has decided that regardless of what I do I will always be asymmetrical. My left hip refuses to be as free as my right, and can make my posting trot look like a corkscrew. Of course in a perfect world all riders would be completely and utterly ambidextrous but sadly that part of being a natural rider is not mine to gloat about.
This means that I have to find ways of working my body so that I can at least begin to stay with the horses movement. To build in awareness of how different parts of my body do (or don't) move to allow a more straight and allowing feel for whichever horse I am on. Just as you want the horse to be supple through their body for dressage, so you want the rider to be. Strength helps too but suppleness seems to be a huge component.
In my journey for building fitness and suppleness as a rider I have tried running, Zumba, Pilates and many more. For really improving how I move and awareness of my body I have loved Yoga. I've yoootoobd with the best and completed all sorts of rider programs but I found and kind of fell in love with Adrienne. She has some 30 day type programs and its a rare day that goes by now that I don't practice my yoga (ha I love to be able to have a gloat about that).
So heres a little known fact about me. My Auntie Lyn (my Mums sister) was one of the first people to start to bring Yoga into the public eye. In the seventies and eighties she had her own BBC programs and books. Please go and Google 'Lyn Marshall Yoga' and you will get the idea. She was a beautiful person inside and out and sadly died way before she ever should have done. Here is a fun Twitter page in her honor. I always feel a connection to my Auntie when I am practicing Yoga and that's kind of a special motivation for me.
Yoga has definitely helped my mind and also improved the way I ride and Adrienne doesn't take it too seriously. As if fate wanted me to get blogging, Adrienne posted a 'Yoga for Equestrians' video a few days back so I thought I probably should share! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6gtrbl6RM0 Enjoy!
Annoyingly my body has decided that regardless of what I do I will always be asymmetrical. My left hip refuses to be as free as my right, and can make my posting trot look like a corkscrew. Of course in a perfect world all riders would be completely and utterly ambidextrous but sadly that part of being a natural rider is not mine to gloat about.
This means that I have to find ways of working my body so that I can at least begin to stay with the horses movement. To build in awareness of how different parts of my body do (or don't) move to allow a more straight and allowing feel for whichever horse I am on. Just as you want the horse to be supple through their body for dressage, so you want the rider to be. Strength helps too but suppleness seems to be a huge component.
In my journey for building fitness and suppleness as a rider I have tried running, Zumba, Pilates and many more. For really improving how I move and awareness of my body I have loved Yoga. I've yoootoobd with the best and completed all sorts of rider programs but I found and kind of fell in love with Adrienne. She has some 30 day type programs and its a rare day that goes by now that I don't practice my yoga (ha I love to be able to have a gloat about that).
So heres a little known fact about me. My Auntie Lyn (my Mums sister) was one of the first people to start to bring Yoga into the public eye. In the seventies and eighties she had her own BBC programs and books. Please go and Google 'Lyn Marshall Yoga' and you will get the idea. She was a beautiful person inside and out and sadly died way before she ever should have done. Here is a fun Twitter page in her honor. I always feel a connection to my Auntie when I am practicing Yoga and that's kind of a special motivation for me.
Yoga has definitely helped my mind and also improved the way I ride and Adrienne doesn't take it too seriously. As if fate wanted me to get blogging, Adrienne posted a 'Yoga for Equestrians' video a few days back so I thought I probably should share! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6gtrbl6RM0 Enjoy!
 |
| Auntie Lyn |
Comments
Post a Comment