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| The great Buddha of Kamakura |
I've just had ten days off work and being Typhoon season decided to stay home and enjoy practice for most of the time with just a short trip east to Kamakura and Tokyo before heading back to work.
We decided to take the Night bus to get an early start on Kamakura, before the crowds arrived. Good plan but I woke up Saturday morning barely able to move. The bus journey, hiking through the hills, sleeping on a dodgy bed, twisting awkwardly in the night...., not sure what was to blame but I was worried I would be spending all day in bed. A hot bath and Simon Borg-Olivier's Spinal movements got me moving again.
I tend to practice Simon's Spinal movement sequence as a warm up, occasionally as an alternative, to regular Standing postures but Saturday morning it was about the only movement I could manage. Ten minutes of that and I could manage a downward dog, another ten and I was back out the door with my backpack for another day wandering around the big city.
Back home via the Shinkansen, back is still a little tender, it's probably going to be nothing but Simon's spinal sequence all week.
Simon often posts short demonstrations, free on-live classes etc. on his fb page (https://www.facebook.com/simonborgolivierpublic/) as well as on youtube but a full version can be found here https://yogasynergy.com/product/spinal-movements/ I bought this and it was excellent for getting a hang of the basic movements from which you can improvise.
Thank you again Simon, for getting me moving and saving the weekend.
Just the first five minutes or so of the movements below repeated rather than moving on to the variations
Note: Everyone's back pain is different, this worked for me but may not the best option for you, discussing it with your doctor is always advisable.