Pablo’s Yoga

Morning

Soon after waking do these poses.

• Sit well
• Seated warrior 1
  Sit on a hard chair like a dining chair. Shift your butt to one side of the chair and smoothly lower that knee toward the floor. Keep your pelvis and torso upright, look straight ahead, and relax into the pose for at least 20 seconds. Then bring that knee up smoothly. Do the same with your other leg then do both once again.

Evening

Before bed, but not immediately before bed, do a little to help ease some of your tensions.

• Knees up
  and try the variation with both your knees open

Next Time

• Wuji – to increase recruitment in your quadriceps for strength and stability & activation of your glute medius and max for stability – going away from your reactive and uncomfortable adductors – changing the brain
• Shift – toward constant bear – unilateral strength, control, and stability
• Step – toward warrior 1 & pyramid pose – extend your hip flexors, activate your quads, glute max, and hams
• Shift – again to feel for differences
• Wall bow – activate glute max, control pelvis tilt, extend your back and hip flexors, and stabilize your shoulders
• Sit well – improve proprioception to improve posture and moving
• Seated warrior 1 + arm raise – extend your hip flexors
• Knees up + variations
• Pyramid rest

Gym

Some exercises at the gym contribute to the tightness, asymmetry, and reactivity that give you so much discomfort.

Do all your exercises at the gym seated with firm back support. To reduce your discomfort, increase stability, walk more easily, and increase your lower body strength, we need to reduce the reactivity of your pelvic muscles, especially your hip flexors, groin, and glutes. Once you begin to decrease the reactivity, we can better use poses to soften compensations and ease asymmetries.

• No loaded flexion or held tension at your hip joints
  No core work
  No planks
  No leg raises
  Think and feel into how you use your joints and muscles in exercises. To reduce your discomforts and your muscles’ reactivity you need to reduce the tensions of your muscles.
• Balance arms and upper torso
  Curls get balanced by triceps extensions – arms to full extension
  Chest work gets balanced by upper back work
  Think about all the exercises you do and balance them.

• Unilateral seated knee extension – light & smooth – 12 reps – 3 sets – 2 x per week
  One leg at a time, seated firmly against a backrest. 30 pounds or less. Do a dozen reps, smooth up and smooth down. Then do your other leg. Then go do something else. Then do another set of a dozen reps of these for each side. Then go do something else. Then try to do a third set.
  This is neuromuscular training not muscle building. DO NOT push hard; do not use more weight than you can easily do 12 reps; do not do more than 3 sets; do not push into a third set if it does not come easily. Please do not over do these.

Why & How

You have neurological damage. You have injuries from surgeries. You have harm from some exercises at the gym. You hurt. You have discomforts. You have loss of function and quality of life.

We are going to go in. We will change how you feel yourself. We will change how your brain uses your muscles. Thereby we will change how you move.

You will feel better, and you will feel good.

Future

• Reach (up downward dog)
• tfl off
• Aided pyramid rest reclined spiral
• Pada bandha
• Wall elbow press
• Standing calf press with shoulders on wall
• Seated outward spiral
  You have some spinal fusions. Your ribs and shoulder blades and other areas can still move a lot. Increasing your suppleness and control in your back will increase your comfort and ability.

• Seated hip flexed unilateral thigh abduction (gym)
  Guide you to feel and use your glute medius muscles to change your pattern of muscle use for stability away from discomforts.