Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi, my name is Chell Garcia-Trias, and I'm a modern dance instructor in Austin, Texas.
I'm going to show you the child's pose, which is also common in yoga. In modern dance we
use it as a neutral position that we can always come to anytime any stretch feels a little
too intense. Even when I'm taking dance classes in dance class, if something feels a little
too intense, I might just come down into the child's pose and take a break. That way I'm
releasing all of the muscles in my body, while still maintaining to keep breathing and keep
my body warm. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to come onto my knees, and I'm just
going to relax my legs, I'm going to rest my upper body on my knees, and put my arms
to the side, and rest my head on the ground. If I want I can put my forehead on the ground.
If I really need to I can turn to the side. I find that if my forehead's on the ground
it's an easier way for me to release my neck muscles, although sometimes I need to turn
it to the side to feel better. Whatever feels good is what you need to do. That's what you
need to do for your body. You really need to learn in modern dance to listen to your
body, and this is a great time for you to take to figure out what's going on with your
body while you're stretching. So I'm just going to hang over here, I'm resting my upper
body on my thighs, I'm dropping my head on the ground, and I'm just relaxing my arms
and my legs. If I really want to, I can reach up with my arms, and reach out away from my
body with them, and relax them here. Either way, I should just take deep breaths in my
diaphragm while I'm here, and just take this time to relax, and to listen to my body. So,
that's the child pose, the way that you would do it in modern dance, and it's a great neutral
position, as I said, for stretching--when stretching feels a little too much.