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National Margarita Day

These days it seems that every day is National Something-or-Other Day.  I generally find the phenomena entertaining, but I don’t pay too much attention to it most of the time.  However, tomorrow is at least one-of, if not THE most important National Day in my opinion.  Tomorrow, February 22 is NATIONAL MARGARITA DAY!

The legend of Margaritas

Apparently, there are all sorts of disputed claims to the invention of the Margarita.  One version that I had heard which seemed reputable was back during Prohibition, at a bar in Tijuana, someone ordered a Daiquiri (a classic daiquiri is rum, lime juice, simple syrup, ice, served up).  They didn’t have rum, so the bartender made it with tequila.

It turns out that there was another drink that was popular in the early 20th century called a Daisy. A Daisy is brandy, a citrus liqueur, and lemon juice shaken over ice then served over ice topped with club soda.  Replacing the brandy with tequila seems like another plausible origin.

The location of bars claiming to have originated the cocktail are also numerous: in addition to Tijuana, there is a claim from a bar in Juarez, in Acapulco, in San Diego, and even Galveston.  The first recorded blended margarita was served in La Jolla when some guy got tired of bothering with crushed ice and the first frozen margarita machine was a soft-serve ice cream machine in Dallas

Considering that tequila is involved, we may just have to accept the fact that we may never know the definitive origin.  But does it really matter?

Is there is anything interesting about National Margarita Day?

Aside from the joy of there being a day designated to celebrate this wonderful beverage, I did not find much noteworthy about the day.  I was hoping for something like a Guinness book record or a cat who is famous for saving someone’s lime crop.  Maybe we’ll have to get together over a pitcher or two of Margaritas and see if we can’t come up with a great legend for the day.  Does anyone have a good story starter?

How I like to make margaritas at home

I had a great neighbor for many years (I’ve had and have many great neighbors, but this one is germane to today’s topic) who had her own special way of making a margarita.  She called it a “Stiffy.”  It was 1-part silver tequila, 1-part lime juice over ice.  The “Stiffy” was a bit strong for me, but it helped me develop my own take-no-prisoners margarita recipe.  I generally make it in a pitcher, so don’t worry, these measurements aren’t for one drink.

Cynthia’s Margarita Recipe

  • 1 cup silver tequila
  • 1 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • ¼ cup something sweet (I am partial to Monin passion fruit syrup or Hanger One orange liqueur but have been known to use Peach Schnapps or whatever else I have on hand)

Combine in a pitcher (or mason jar or other handy container).

Fill a glass of your choice with ice, then fill half-way (ok, ¾ way) with margarita mixture, top with grapefruit flavored seltzer water.  I love salt, but I generally don’t salt the rim of the glass – sometimes I will salt the ice, it’s kind-of a nice touch.

If you haven’t already made your plans for National Margarita Day, it’s not too late.  Swing by your local market for some tequila, fresh limes, and your favorite secret ingredient. I would strongly suggest picking up some corn chips, salsa and guacamole while you’re at it, this is a celebration after all.  You can always stop by your favorite, local Mexican restaurant if you prefer your Margaritas in public, it’s really up to you.

Let me know how you decide to celebrate!

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In Space & Time

In this installment of Ballet Season 2019, I will tell you about San Francisco Ballet program 3, In Space & Time.  This was a mixed bill of three works, one neoclassical, one narrative, and one classical.

The Fifth Season

The first piece was The Fifth Season (2006), choreographed by SF Ballet artistic director Helgi Tomasson.  Helgi discovered the music of composer Karl Jenkins in 2005 and was inspired to create a ballet using it.  This piece features six movements with six principal dancers in different combinations and a small corps de ballet of eight dancers.  The partnering is for the most part interesting and innovative.  Some of the movements are interpretations of traditional ballroom dances such as the waltz and the tango which I really enjoyed.

The highlight of this piece was seeing our favorite prima ballerina, Yuan Yuan Tan on stage.  I don’t think that we saw her at all last season.  The other leading ladies in this piece, Wona Park (a soloist) and Mathilde Froustey held their own next to Yuan Yuan, an impressive accomplishment.

Snowblind

Next in the program was a success from last season’s new works festival, Snowblind (2018).  Choreographer Cathy Marston used Edith Wharton’s novella Ethan Frome as the plot for this narrative work.  I’m not familiar with the source material and I didn’t find the any of the characters particularly sympathetic, but Cathy was a very efficient storyteller.  She presented well developed characters and a compelling dramatic arc in a short period of time.  Her innovative use pantomime and the corps de ballet was highly effective in furthering the plot and enhancing the drama.  My favorite element was the way that she turned the corps de ballet into a blizzard.  They were fast, unpredictable, and instantly recognizable as a natural phenomenon.  Think Waltz of the Snowflakes from the Nutcracker only dangerous and menacing. 

Etudes

Etudes (1948), by Royal Danish ballet choreographer Harald Lander closed the evening.  This is what I would describe as a very academic ballet.  The piece is based on the structure of a ballet class, beginning at the barre and progressing through all of the exercises in a traditional class.  These days it can be really refreshing to see a ballet that uses the traditional dance vocabulary so explicitly.

The Danish ballet style is very upright, athletic, and precise, but effortless and light at the same time. These qualities are not the strengths of the San Francisco ballet and I felt that the dancing lacked the sparkle that would have made such a literal ballet demonstration truly successful.

There were bright points in the performance.  I was tickled by the extensive mazurka variation that even included a brief czardas solo.  This is the kind of thing that you are only going to see in the Danish style.  But by far, the highlight of the piece was my beloved Aaron Robinson who again demonstrated that he is the only member of the San Francisco ballet who can actually leap.

It was a fun night out but not a can’t miss program.

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Bathroom Privacy

Any cat parent knows that bathroom privacy doesn’t exist.  Beyond the usual, don’t you dare close that door behavior, Anabel and Sally are very interested in the shower on a daily basis.  Most days, when I open the shower curtain, I find Sally sitting on the bathmat waiting for me.  If he was distracted when I went in, he will come running when he hears me getting out.  He examines all of the drips and once I’ve toweled off and stepped out of the tub, he hops in to inspect it.  It really is too bad that he can’t hand me my towel.

Sometimes Mr. Man closes the door.  If Anabel is keeping tabs on him, she will sit outside of the bathroom door and cry and cry and cry.  If Sally is keeping tabs on him (they take turns), he has a door opening technique.  He will sit up on his back legs and use his front paws to push at the door – it is sort-of like speedbag boxing.  If the door isn’t firmly latched closed, he can get it open; it’s worked many, many times on my closet door.

The other day, both kittens were supervising while I showered.  Anabel was sitting on the edge of the tub and Sally just outside on the mat.  After I dried off, I closed the door partway to hang up my towel.  One thing that the kittens like less than being closed out of the bathroom is being closed in the bathroom.  I try to close it sometimes when it isn’t kitten bath day just to switch it up on them, but it’s too late.  They think that the closed door mean they are getting a bath.

Because of the placement of the vanity and the door, even when the door is ajar, there is not enough room to get out at ground level.  So, as they noticed that the door was closing, they tried to run out.  It was great to watch them panic, then start to problem solve.  Sally jumped up on the counter, then out the door.  Anabel noticed that her brother had left and was about to follow in his footsteps, but Sally went ahead and pushed the door open for her.  What a gentleman.

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Saint Valentine

Happy Saint Valentine’s Day Loves!

Among the many, important reasons to celebrate today, one is that it is my mother in-law’s birthday.  Since she lives on the East Coast, we don’t see each other very often.  When we do, she and l like to drink champagne and eat shellfish, so I think I will try to do that today in her honor.  I might even offer to share with Mr. Man.

I also thought it would be fun to learn something about Saint Valentine because I had a feeling that he wasn’t the Patron Saint of diamond heart necklaces.  I think it is kind-of an interesting story, let me know if you agree.  Based on what I read, here is my version of Saint Valentine’s history.

There is not much known about the dude who would become known as Saint Valentine, the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people.  That’s a lot of things!  It seems like a lot of pressure.

I’m not sure how epilepsy and plague got lumped in with happy marriages and lovers, it kind-of makes me giggle.  Isn’t it wonderful that he is the Patron Saint of bee keepers though?  Bee keepers are important.

It is believed that he was martyred in 269 AD.  Those were the days that Christianity was considered a fringe religion in Rome where he lived.  The story goes that before he was executed, he performed a miracle by restoring the sight of a young girl.  My favorite part of that story is that he wrote her a little note before his execution which he signed, “Your Valentine.”  Aww, cute!

I don’t know how it works, but I can’t help but wonder why he isn’t the Parton Saint of sight?  Then we could celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day by having eye exams or eating carrots or something else to promote ophthalmic health!  But I guess the part of the story that he was secretly marrying Christian couples was more important to the people who get to decide those sorts of things.  Still don’t get what bee keepers have to do with it.

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I canonized Saint Valentine and the Feast of Saint Valentine was established on February 14.  Among the various sources that I found, there was some mention that the date was intended to usurp the pagan festival of love, Lupercalia.  Other sources say there is no relation, but I love a good usurping story.

Lupercalia was an ancient Roman festival celebrated on February 15.  It was intended to remove evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility for the coming spring.  Rites of the celebration included animal sacrifice, after which members of the Lupercal order would run naked through the streets of Rome holding strips of the sacrificed animal’s skin that they would use to swat people.

Ok, back to Saint Valentine’s Day.  I found several references crediting 14th century English poet and couturier, Geoffrey Chaucer (author of The Canterbury Tales), with creating the association between the day and the idea of romantic love.  I really don’t know anything about Chaucer.  When checked out his Wikipedia page I didn’t find anything that explained the correlation.  If anyone reading is familiar with Chaucer and can explain this, I would be so interested to hear.

In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church removed St. Valentine from the General Roman Calendar because, so little is known about him.  Regardless, celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day continues to become a bigger and bigger deal every year.  I’m not saying that it has to do with my mother in-law’s birthday, but I’m not saying that it doesn’t.

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Merce Cunningham, Part II

I recently made a trek to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) with a couple of friends for a day of culture and artistic inspiration.  My ulterior motive for our little excursion was to see a special video installation of Merce Cunningham’s work.  The exhibit is called Merce Cunningham, Clouds and Screens and is on display through March 31, 2019.

Last week’s post focused on Merce Cunningham’s background and artistic legacy.  Today I will tell you about the exhibit at LACMA.

Merce Cunningham, Clouds and Screens consisted of two installations and two video projections.  It was housed on the first floor of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum building at LACMA.

In the foyer was a work called Silver Clouds by Andy Warhol and Billy Klüver .  The label explained that the silver mylar “pillows” were originally a work exhibited by Andy Warhol in 1966.  Cunningham approached Warhol about adapting the work as the scenic elements of his dance, Rainforest (1968).  It was a fun, interactive way to begin to experience the exhibit.

Next, we spent a few minutes watching a piece called Changeling (1957) that was being projected in an adjacent gallery.  It was a great illustration of the way that Cunningham would use random chance to create movements.  The way that movements of the head, torso, arms, and legs were combined randomly created very complex and unnatural feeling movements.

After watching Changeling briefly, we were ready to enter the main exhibit, Charles Atlas’s installation, MC⁹ (2012).  Well, as ready as we were going to be.  It was a fantastic sensory immersion.  There was so much to look at.  It took a while to realize that there wasn’t any specific order or right way to experience it.  One great aspect of the installation was that if there was something that you missed or wanted to spend more time watching, it would likely be coming up on another screen in the gallery sometime soon.

The installation consisted of a black box room with nine 8’x12’ double-sided projection screens (get it, nine screens, wink, wink) at various heights and on various angles throughout the space.  Interspersed among the projection screens were a number of smallish (36” to 48”) monitors.  The screens and monitors showed seemingly random clips of various Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) performances and Cunningham himself performing.  A clip may be on one or both sides of one of the large screens, on a small monitor next to it, and on another screen on the other side of the exhibit simultaneously.  One of the gallery attendants who I spoke to said that the entire piece is a loop that runs for more than an hour.

We spent nearly an hour walking around the space, experiencing the exhibit from different perspectives.  Eventually, I let go of my obsessive desire to try to determine some sort of pattern in the way that the clips were shown on various screens at certain times.  I’m not convinced that it was completely random, but whatever pattern existed was complicated enough that it would have taken more time than I was willing to devote to deciphering it.  It was enough to step back and just let the experience happen.

In general, I find the concept of random chance in the creation of artwork fascinating.  It is one of those things that does not discard technique and virtuosity.  Randomness does not mean that the elements are not carefully considered and created.  In some ways, I would think that the component elements of a work would need to be more precisely crafted.  Cunningham was certainly a pioneer in applying this methodology to creating dance.  The only contemporary choreographer who I am aware of who is currently working in a similar milieu is Bill T. Jones.  I hope that there are others.

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The Kitten Bowl!

You remember how there was that football game the other weekend?  And for a few years now, Animal Planet has counter-programmed with The Puppy Bowl.  The Puppy Bowl is nice and all, but really the best part of it is the half-time show (one word: kittens).  Well, I got a hot tip about something even better than just a kitten half-time show, something wonderful, called The Kitten Bowl.  Thank you, Hallmark channel, for creating such needed and quality content.  And thank you Hallmark channel watcher for the tip, it was very much appreciated.

This was Kitten Bowl VI.  Yes, SIX!  The fact that I have missed five years of this quality program tells you that I clearly haven’t had my priorities straight.  The fact that I didn’t miss it this year means that things are finally moving in the right direction, don’t you agree?

Ok, back to the show.  The instigator of this extravaganza is Beth Stern, Howard Stern’s wife and famous crazy cat lady.  Thank you, Beth.

This was a start-packed extravaganza.  Boomer Esiason was the commissioner of the Feline Football League (FFL).    Rebecca Romijn was the ambassador of Hallmark Channel’s Pet Adoption campaign.  She presented special interest stories about all sorts of adopted cats throughout the broadcast.

The announcers were Dean Cain (yes, Superman) and Rodney Pete.  You have to give it to those guys, they dropped more cat puns in the first five minutes of the broadcast than I could imagine possible.

Some of my favorite cat puns:

  • Ruff-ere (there were puppies there to officiate)
  • Paw-session
  • Unnecessary fluff-ness
  • Catletes!

Here’s the format: there were two playoff games between four teams: Last-Hope Lions, Little Long Tails, Pouncy Panthers, and North Shore Bengals. The winners of each game would play each other in the final game.

Last Hope Lions were mostly grey and grey-and-white kittens.  They had a wide fur-ceiver, who caught my eye, Prince Hairy II.

Little Long Tails were black and black-and-white kittens. There was some suspense, one of the players, Rob Goncatski, Jr. missed the flight and was coming by party bus.

The first play-off game went to the Little Long Tails who beat the Last Hope Lions by a whisker, 24 to 23.

Time for game two, Pouncy Panthers versus North Shore Bengals.

Pouncy Panthers were the defending champs, and also happened to be the tabby team – you know that these guys were my favorites.

North Shore Bengals were the orange kitten team.  They had a ringer, a one-eyed wonder named Davey.

Somehow, North Shore Bengals beat the Pouncy Panthers 29 to 23.  I still can’t believe it.

Time for the championship game: North Shore Bengals versus Little Long Tails.

North Shore Bengals were dominating the first half.  Rob Groncatski, Jr. finally arrived with a few minutes left in the half.  He was a game changer and scored two touchdowns in a row!  At the end of the first half, the score was Bengals 21, Long Tails 22. 

After the second half started, Rodney and Dean started losing it.  There were making voices and making up dialogue for two kittens who were wrestling with each other.  It was fantastic.  Somehow, they managed to pull it together and got through the rest of the game.

In the end the score was Little Long Tails 35, North Shore Bengals 32.  But the real winners were everyone who loves kittens.

Don’t worry if you missed it, you can find the whole thing on the Hallmark Channel website.

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Coconut Oil Pulling

This is another topic that we can credit to my holistic guru.

For some reason, I kept seeing posts about coconut oil pulling on my Pinterest feed.  It looked interesting but also disgusting.  I couldn’t imagine putting a spoonful of oil in my mouth.  Period.  But when I talked about it with my guru friend, she convinced me that it would not be too horrible to just try it and easy enough to get out of it if I was totally grossed out.  So, I decided to give it a shot.

Full disclosure: this information is all my own personal experience OR things I learned from reading various random Pinterest posts.  This is not scientifically proven or professional advice.

First, I guess that you could use different kinds of oils.  I know someone who does this using sesame oil.  I tried and really like using coconut oil because that was what was big on Pinterest and also because I generally find anything coconut wonderful.  It makes it interesting because the consistency will change depending on the time of the year.  For me, I like putting a spoonful of solid coconut oil in my mouth and sort of chewing it until it melts.

So, what you do is you put a spoonful (it doesn’t have to be a very full spoonful) of oil in your mouth.  Then swish it around for 5-20 minutes.

According to Pinterest this is detoxifying because the blood vessels in your gums are very close to the surface.  Allegedly the oil will pull toxins from your bloodstream.  Also, according to Pinterest, it takes 15 minutes for your blood to circulate through your whole body, so if you do it for at least that long, you will have cleansed your whole blood stream.

I will do my coconut oil pulling first thing in the morning before I go to the gym.  I shove a spoonful of oil in my mouth and then go about my business getting ready for the gym.  I will usually keep it in my mouth for 15-20 minutes before spitting it in the trash, brushing my teeth and heading out the door to the gym.

Public service announcement: do not spit coconut oil down the drain.

Here is what I feel are noticeable results for me from coconut oil pulling:

  1. My dental cleanings are easier.  My teeth are cleaner, and the hygienist doesn’t have to go to town as hard on my gums.
  2. I feel like it helps clear my sinuses.
  3. I think that it makes the skin under my eyes and across my cheeks smoother and clearer.  I know, weird, but I swear, if you do it for 5 days in a row for 20 minutes, you will notice a difference.

I also think that having the oil in your mouth and swishing around is probably good for your face because you are working your face muscles.  I haven’t spent any time seriously trying to measure this, but it makes sense, right?

Have you tried this before?  What was your experience like?  Are you thinking about trying it now?

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Merce Cunningham

I recently made a trek to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) with a couple of friends for a day of culture and artistic inspiration.  My ulterior motive for our little excursion was to see a special video installation of Merce Cunningham’s work.  The exhibit is called Merce Cunningham, Clouds and Screens and is on display through March 31, 2019.

I find Merce Cunningham fascinating, so this will be a two-part post.  Today will be some background about him and next week’s post will be about the exhibit.

Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) was a mid-20th century, American, modern dance pioneer. 

Growing up, Cunningham studied tap dancing.  This medium emphasizes precise musical timing and rhythm, which would become foundations of his technique.  His first professional dance experience was with the Martha Graham company.  He danced with Graham for six years (1939-1945) before leaving to establish his own dance company, Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC).

A prolific creator, over the course of his 60+ year career, Cunningham created 190-200 dances and 700-800 events.  A Cunningham dance is a stand-alone piece of choreography, which could be recreated.  By contrast, an event is defined as a site/time specific performance.  Mindful of his artistic legacy, he established the Merce Cunningham Trust in 2000 to hold and administer the rights to his works after his death.

His work is known for innovative use of collaboration, chance, perspective, and technology.

Collaboration

Cunningham’s most enduring collaboration was with his partner, composer John Cage.  The two presented their first collaborative performance in 1944 and continued to work together until Cage’s death in 1992.  As collaborators, they provocatively asserted that dance and music should not intentionally be coordinated.  This is a radical departure from dance convention.

Cunningham’s collaborations with visual artists included Robert Rauchenberg (MCDC resident designer 1954-1964), Jasper Johns (MCDC artistic advisor 1967-1980), Rei Kawakubo, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and filmmaker Charles Atlas.

Chance

To me this is the most fascinating and innovative facet of Cunningham’s work.  Cunningham and Cage became interested in the concept of chance in the 1950’s when a translation of the ancient Chinese text, I Ching was published in the U.S.  They began using stochastic operation (random chance) to determine musical composition and dance movements. 

Stochastic operation was employed by Cunningham in a number of different ways.  It could be used to create steps, to determine the sequence of steps, and/or even the number/composition of performers.

In order to create steps, Cunningham divided the body into parts – head, arms, torso, legs.  He would generate lists of all possible movements for each part, then use random chance to determine the movement of each part in order to create a step.  This created choreography that was often exceedingly difficult to execute.

Often sequences and dancers would not be determined until just before the performance.  Further, this was all done without regard to the music, which would be determined by its own chance procedure. 

As someone who likes to plan and prepare, this concept is mind-boggling and maybe slightly terrifying.  However, as someone who has had the opportunity to experience performances structured by this method, I find it an amazing opportunity to create great art.

Perspective

Cunningham discarded the conventions of proscenium orientation.  Work could occur on any part of the stage, oriented in any direction (not necessarily front) at any point.

Technology

The most long-reaching facet of Cunningham’s work may be his pioneering use of technology in dance – video in the 1970s and computers beginning in the 1980s.  I believe that one key reason that he was able to so successfully translate his work to the video medium is his abandonment of proscenium perspective.  Dance that is oriented to and filmed from an exclusively front-facing perspective tends to lack dimension to the viewer.  By abandoning this convention, he enabled the camera and by proxy, the viewer, to become a part of the movement.

He was an early adopted of a computer program, DanceForms which enabled him to create choreography via computer that would later be translated onto living dancers.

Cunningham viewed randomness as a positive, naturally occurring quality.  I find his dedication to the concept of chance both contradictory and inspiring.  He very consciously committed to developing and cultivating a level of virtuosity that would allow his dancers to execute movement that however randomly generated had begun as a very specific and defined idea.  In his work the movement stands alone, it does not represent a narrative or ideas such as emotions.  He was very self-consciously trying to avoid imposing his own biases upon his work. 

Next week, part II of this post will talk about the exhibit, Merce Cunningham, Clouds and Screens.

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Playing with Fire

It was a cold and rainy night.  Mr. Man decided that it was a good occasion to have a fire in the fireplace.  I was not so sure for two adorable reasons.  Yes, my fireplace was still packed full of cardboard boxes to keep Anabel and Sally out of it.  No, they hadn’t gotten bored with it by now.  In fact, Sally had just spent the whole weekend trying to get in there.

So even though I love a cozy evening by the fireplace, I was concerned that we would have more on our hands than Mr. Man realized.

Our dearly departed Clementine loved having a fire in the fireplace.  Clementine was always looking for the warmest spot possible and lounging on the ottoman in front of a raging fire was one of her favorite ways to spend her time.  But she was a grown cat by the time the fireplace came into her life and never paid it any attention when it wasn’t serving her insatiable quest for warmth.

As Mr. Man was removing my make-shift barricade and getting the logs ready to light, I was in the other room putting the kittens’ harnesses on them.  When I bothered them by attaching the leads, they knew that something was up.  This part was probably more disturbing than the fire wound up being.

Mr. Man kept telling me that I was over-reacting because animals know what fire is and they know to stay away from it.  I’ve seen The Jungle Book, I get it, but I also have seen how interested these kittens were in a candle.  I felt that an abundance of caution would not be regrettable in any case.

Helpful hint: place your candle inside a large glass cylinder to keep curious kittens safe.

The kittens and I watched from a safe distance as Mr. Man lit the fire.  Once he had it going and the screen back in place, I let them wander around and check it out.  They were respectfully interested, but not overly so.  Within a few minutes I felt comfortable taking the leads off so that we could all go about our own business.

Sally did get bold and approached the hearth, but he didn’t get after the screen like he does other times.  I will probably want to put the leads on again the next time we have a fire, just until things get going.  But it is looking like the kittens and the fireplace will be able to co-exist peacefully and happily ever after.

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Foam Rolling

foam roller

Again, I have to credit my homeopathic guru for introducing me to foam rolling.  She actually gave Mr. Man a foam roller for Christmas many, many years ago (it might have been before we were married).  Since then, foam rolling has gotten sort-of mainstream.  It is something that I appreciate and am always happy to have done, but something that I certainly don’t do as often as I should.

The cool kids these days are referring to foam rolling as “self-myofascial release” because it is a type of deep tissue massage that you do to yourself.  Fascia release is becoming a big thing these days, just watch, you’ll start hearing a lot about it.  I met someone through my homeopathic guru whose entire chiropractic practice is dedicated to myofascial release.  It is a really interesting modality, no neck cracking involved.

I would certainly rather have a professional myofascial release me, but it is nice to be able to do it myself at home.

My favorite foam rolling position is to lay on top of it with the roller positioned along my spine (head resting on one end and tailbone at the other, knees bent and feet flat on the floor).  I will roll side to side a little bit but prefer to articulate my lower spine a few times until I feel that arch in my lower back flatten out.  Then I like to do cactus arms (elbows in line with shoulders, hands in line with ears) and just hang out.  Some days it is REALLY painful because my trapezius are too tight/overdeveloped, whatever you want to call it.  There was a good stretch of time (get it, stretch, ha-ha) that my elbows wouldn’t even reach the ground.

Boy, do I feel better, taller, and straighter once I spend a few minutes like that.

That position is also a convenient opportunity to do some ab work.  I can really feel my spine connecting to the roller easier than the floor.  I will sometimes do crunches as well as heel lowers (a balance challenge) from this position.

I have to admit that I am not a fan of actually foam rolling my whole body.  Because it hurts!  Sure, you feel great when you’re done.  I’m just a wimp.  Will do hips/glutes, sometimes.  The other week, I was SUPER sore from Glutes, Guns, and Guts and decided to foam roller my quads.  It did not feel good.  After a few passes, (not that many, maybe 4-5 times) I could actually feel the muscles loosening up.  It really, really helped!

I did some research about foam rolling to make sure that I wasn’t giving you any bad information.  The big thing to be careful about is your lower back.  While you can put the foam roller perpendicular to your spine and roll out your upper back/shoulders and your glutes, you should not roll your lower back.

Do you foam roll?  Do you actually roll or just lay on it while watching TV like I do?