Building Blocks
Baby Shower — After a few weeks of planning, a busy morning of setting up, (thank you to my family in Ontario for all the love and help), and just before the first guests arrived to our party, I wanted to send a picture to my sister in New Zealand to highlight my bicycle themed Christmas socks she gifted me last month. Thank you to everyone who attended our get-together, and to those who have sent well wishes in private emails. With the help of our family and friends, we will learn and assemble our new routines and skills in little blocks at a time.
Building Blocks
At first, when I saw the building-blocks-painting station at the party, I was nervous for the success, and the participation rate from our guests. While my white board and marker escapades on Fridays, with my ice-capading trainee Kennedy are improving, they are not yet ready for adjudication or public display. Was it a case of me projecting my insecurities onto others, or was it just a case of the pre-party jitters? As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about, and instead — lots and blocks to celebrate.
Seated six to the table, gardeners painted flowers, beach goers painted waves and rays of sunshine, and my mother in-law did her best to imitate Jackson Pollock. Inspiration came from everywhere, and painting one panel at a time — a timeless and basic children’s toy captivated the imaginations, and attention of our adult guests.
We are never too old, nor mastered in skill to block out our own ego or insecurites, and build our bodies and minds with our own building block styled exercises. Organize your training palette with your favourite movement mediums of bodyweight, barre and bell and build a collection of skills to satisfy your imagination and realize the goals of your own training routine.
Jillian is pictured here, with Lauryn adding some cheeky assistance. Throughout the party, to the delight of our guests, and intrinsic pleasure of ourour niece, Mckenna was showcasing her ability and strength in her own “cirque de Soliei” inspired routines on the rings. A few brave guests ventured over to try out the rings on their own, and most quickly found out that it was harder than it looked and that to make it look easy like Mckenna, it must have taken a lot of time, patience. With some suggestions, we offreed a few next steps and building blocks for Mckenna to get to where she is today, to what is possible in the future. We look forward to seeing her muscle up soon.
B+B Training Blocks
Bodyweight
The cat and cow, but go even slower and start with even smaller ranges of motion. In other exercise traditions, the shape may be grand, but learn the humble beginnings of this movement with implementing pelvic tilts for core strength, and rib cage movements to enhance the stability of the low back.
Try this oldie-but goldie spine wave video that is appropriate for beginners, and even the most flexible yogis.
Barre
Happy hips, are hips that are capable of moving in and out, of their sockets with the leg in front, at the side and out the back. The leg, or femur and hip are not fused together, rather for function and relief of pain, they need to move in and around each other.
Start with a straight leg, and heavy tension in the ankle with either the ballet inspired plantar flexed ankle or the foot to shin doors-flex shape. Most bodies will have more external rotation than in, so it’s not necessarily about creating parity, but pliability to move in any way you choose. Start or continue your hip mobility practice with this hip barre basics video.
Kettlebell
After a brief introduction, shake hands with the kettlebell to get a grip on your strength routine. Straight arms, bent, and positioned low, medium and high, practice loaded carries for a functional and simple way to enhance your full body strength and prepare your muscles and joints for exploring more complex kettlebell strength skills like the swing and get-up.
After cleaning up after the party, my sister in law took away the building blocks to add a layer of sealant so that the elementary cues for development and success are locked in, and can be revisited another day for play, learning and eventual perfection.
In your own training and wellness routine, identify the building blocks for success of a skill or an entire pursuit, and . It is not elementary exercise, rather an essential part of training the body and mind.
Take care,
Ian and Lauryn