The Second Rite

I finally did the second rite properly. I'm referring to the exercises descibed in The Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth, which I mentioned in a previous entry. The second rite is where you lie on your back, lift your head, and lift your legs straight up at a 90 degree angle. I previously complained that I could not keep my legs straight when lifting my thighs at a 90 degree angle. Besides that, I was having trouble finding the right surface to do it on, because it was hurting my back. I recently tried holding my back off the floor and trying the Teaser exercise of Pilates, which is similar but places the weight on the glutes instead of the back. Anyway, it was Pilates that held the key to doing the second rite properly. Earlier this week, I was helping my mother unload some books into her storage unit, and it had a copy of Pilates for Every Body by Denise Austin in it. I asked for the book in exchange for helping upload books from the car. It proved to be a much more helpful book on Pilates than Pilates for Men. It had more concise descriptions and better pictures of the exercises. I decided to start doing the beginner Pilates routine from that book this evening. Before beginning it, I found another Pilates book at the library, The Pilates Body by Brooke Siler. I referred to this book on some exercises to get a better idea of how to do them right. Using these two books helped me better understand the importance of doing Pilates exercises from the core. I have also become more aware of the importance of core strength from trying to work fulltime. I need core strength to keep long hours of work from hurting my back. So I have recently been more focused on developing core strength. Tonight, I tried to do a roll-over with my core muscles instead of momentum. That and other exercises helped focus my concentration on my core muscles.

I finally figured out that the best surface for doing the second rite is a foam back pillow I originally got for providing lumbar support in a chair. It's connected to a foam seat pillow, and I used them together like a mat. The back pillow gave me the cushioning and lumbar support I needed. While lying on the back pillow, I used my core muscles, what Pilates calls the powerhouse, to move my legs. This brought my legs to a 90 degree angle with my waist without bending the knees. The next time I did the second rite, I even overshot 90 degrees to form an acute angle, and only the desk behind me stopped me from going further.