Reddit reviews The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand, and Move in the Modern World
We found 4 Reddit comments about The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand, and Move in the Modern World. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Absolutely, though not box breathing. I follow the pattern laid out in this book, which is basically keeping the ratio 1:2:pause, in versus out. So while meditating I'll do 3 seconds in, 6 seconds out, 1 second pause. It's been a game changer tbh and especially helps when off the cushion. Reprogramming my mind and the way I breathe. If I'm doing basically anything at all challenging or stressful, controlling my breathing gets my parasympathetic activity up, which promotes critical thinking, which helps with awareness. I can verify this effect with data since I wear an Oura ring which tracks HRV, a strong signal for parasympathetic vs sympathetic activation.
Phenomenal book btw.
My experience is similar to OP. I've spent a lot of time lifting weights for exercise, mostly compound lifts with free weights, and it seems like the bracing and full engagement of muscles that I've trained there gets in the way of fluid dancing.
I think _morkbork is onto something with the focus on the negative/eccentric muscle action. If I focus on that and try keep as much concentric muscle effort out of my arms as possible, the dancing goes better.
More generally, it seems to help to keep the strength centered and low -- core, hips, legs, feet -- and engage shoulder and arm muscles just enough to suit the connection. Which is for me so hard to do. The experienced followers say that with good lead they can feel the connection to the lead's core, which I think gets blocked by tension in the hands, forearms, and biceps in particular.
I've been working through the exercises in the book The New Rules of Posture by Mary Bond. Despite the title, the subject is more about mobility, fluidity, and balance. It's been a good way to work out some of the stiffness on my own.
I took Alexander Technique in college and this book is highly recommended to help with all these things: http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Posture-Stand-Modern/dp/1594771243
It gives you many exercises to learn how to properly hold the body and to let go of tensions and habits that we carry all the time.
The class forever changed the way that I think about my body.
The New Rules of Posture by Mary Bond