Animals, Fitness and Us
“Do you ever hear of animals gratifying their desire or need for artificial exercising at a gymnasium?” asks Joseph H. Pilates, developer of the Pilates Method, in his book “Your Health”. When I first read this I imagined my dog Wendy saying, “Of course not! How boring! Why would anyone want to spend hours on a treadmill or lifting weights when they can chase squirrels or jump and catch the sticks my master so kindly tosses in the air or even grab the bizarre rubber ‘doggie toy’ my mistress rolls across the kitchen floor.” As a child, Pilates was a keen observer of animals and his observations about the ways in which they moved played a key role in the development of his ideas about efficient human functioning. As he wrote, “If you have studied animal life at all, you will have been impressed by the fact that so far as physical actions and movements are concerned, animals are men and men are animals...Both animals and men move their bodies in every and all possible directions. Freedom of bodily action is paramount.” It’s interesting that F. Matthias Alexander, another pioneer in the field of somatic education whose ideas and procedures are today known as the Alexander Technique, was also influenced by his close observations of animals. Alexander always had a particular interest in horses and horse racing. He regularly visited racetracks and spent time closely watching horses as they were being ridden before each race to see just how well they were functioning that day. It was said that this gave him an edge in betting and that as a consequence he often did quite well at the track.* Alexander also appropriated a term used by horsemen in Australia to describe the quality of a horse’s functioning: “use”. Today Alexander Technique teachers still talk about “good use” and “poor use” as a shorthand way of indicating the level of a person’s overall coordination and balance. While Pilates didn’t use a single word to encompass this idea, he clearly had a very similar understanding: “Both (mind and body) must be coordinated, in order not only to accomplish the maximum results with the minimum expenditure of mental and physical energy, but also to live as long as possible in normal health and enjoy the benefits of a useful and happy life.” Both Pilates and Alexander asked why it was that animals almost always have good use while humans often do not. Animals’ use can be compromised, often severely, when they have been harmfully exposed to humans with poor use or very harmful human-created conditions (poorly ridden horses, and animals caged in a zoo are obvious examples), but these are exceptions to the rule. Even most domestic animals exhibit excellent use. Both men gave considerable weight to harmful habits of posture and movement learned in childhood, often from well-intentioned parents and teachers who inadvertently passed on their own mis-use patterns. As Pilates said, “The average child is born of parents whose physical and mental balance was either compromised or perhaps never even attained. Often times, these parents are physically defective without themselves being aware of the fact.” Alexander lamented the fact that when choosing a caretaker for their young children, parents almost always failed to consider that person’s use pattern. Pilates also placed some of the blame on childbirth practices which he considered unnatural and harmful to both mother and child. Alexander, on the other hand, believed that many mis-use patterns could be traced to the pace of industrialization in developed countries like England (where he lived most of his life) that often outstripped individuals’ ability to adapt effectively to their rapidly changing circumstances. Animals, of course, are blithely unaware of economic trends or of artificial birth methods. Their parents and colleagues, so to speak, usually have good levels of functioning - “good use” to use Alexander’s term - themselves. Certainly for animals in the wild, good use is imperative for survival and so there aren’t likely to be many poor examples around for young animals to mimic. While both Pilates and Alexander were inspired by the functioning of animals, the two men differed significantly in their proposed solutions to the mis-use patterns so often seen in humans. These important differences will be discussed in a later article. In the meantime, however, you might want to heed my dog Wendy’s parting words of advice: “Humans would do well to pay a LOT of attention to us!” *** *Both Pilates and Alexander also felt that there were some human examples of good functioning worth paying attention to. Pilates looked to the ancient Greek athletes. He viewed them as cultured nature lovers whose bodies were not, in Pilates’ words, “unnecessarily burdened with clothing as we understand it today.” Alexander observed that acrobats tend to exhibit very good use, presumably because the nature of their profession demands it; a trapeze artist with a stiff neck won’t be a trapeze artist for long! Alexander made it a point to attend circus performances whenever he could. The Pilates quotations are all taken from his book, “Your Health” You can learn more about the Pilates Method and the Alexander Technique, and how to order Pilates’ books, at the Pilates and Alexander Website at http://www.PilatesandAlexander.com Robert Rickover is a teacher of the Alexander Technique living in Lincoln, Nebraska. He also teaches regularly in Toronto, Canada. Robert is the author of Fitness Without Stress - A Guide to the Alexander Technique and is the creator of The Complete Guide to the Alexander Technique at http://www.alexandertechnique.com |
Other Horse Racing Betting Articles
Gambling Abroad 101 The risk takers see no bounds. And so does gambling. The origin of gambling cannot be traced to one country or region in particular. Gambling is an age old practice. Though its concentration in the United States is higher, but its popularity is as evenly distributed as the water level. Betting in sports and the advent of international and nation ...America - From Freedom to Fascism - A Movie by Aaron Russo OK, I'm being a little melodramatic. Maybe it was the reaction of the audience or maybe it was the standing ovation in the over-filled-to-capacity auditorium; but I got a little choked up by the 90 minute screening of a new documentary called "America - From Freedom to Fascism". The movie was shown for free at Adirondack Community College in Que ...Malcolm Heyhoe Previews November's UK Horse Racing Big isn’t always best in racing but when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup, which returns to Churchill Downs in Kentucky on November 4, the size of the prize-money on offer - almost £10 million pounds in total - makes this quite simply the richest race meeting in the world.There are eight top-class contests at the racetrack made famous by the ...Online Casino - General Legal Issues The increasing growth of online gambling industry surpasses all the expectations when compared with land-based casinos and betting places. From the times when Internet Casinos, Inc., the first virtual online casino started operations back in 1995 until nowadays, not only the effects of online wagering on the established land-based industry came ...How To Place A Bet Online Placing a bet for the first time online can be a little scary. Each gambling web site is set up a little different. Most will ask a person to register before placing a bet on any sports or playing in any of the card games. Registration is usually free and is used to maintain accurate records of who is gambling online and how many times a day or ...Breeders Cup Jack Schneider visualizes just one manner in which Bernardini can be beaten in next month's $5 million Breeders Cup Classic -- barring stumbling on a stable rock, getting stuck in the gate or being abducted by aliens."The only way it could happen is if Bernardini and Lava Man get into a dog-dirt duel and are so into watching each other an ...Texas Hold'em Strategy - Beginners Guide To Playing Like a Pro Texas holdem is a game where you can make huge amounts of money, if you have the right strategy.Players who expect to read a few books and become a successful player are going to end up disappointed.You can’t learn how to play successfully from books! Knowledge of the game is only part of the equation in becoming a successful play ...Run, Pony, Run - Pony Express “Away across the endless prairie a black speck appears against the sky. It is plain that it moves. Well, I should think so! ” wrote Mark Twain in 1860 as a stagecoach traveler.“In a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling – sweeping toward us nearer and nearer. The flutter of hoofs comes faintly ...Trading The Betting Exchanges The numbers of people working from home utilising the talents of the Internet continues to grow at breakneck pace and one of the largest areas of growth in Britain is Online Trading, both in sports and miscellaneous markets.There are numerous advantages of setting up and running a sports or miscellaneous trading operation from home. First ...Online Casino Slots vs. Land Based Casino Slots When online casinos first emerged in the 1990’s they were considered rogue, cheated winners and did not pay affiliate commissions. These days much of that has changed. 99% of online casinos are legitimate businesses with an occasional bad apple, which is usually a result of poor management rather than anything else.Today, the online casin ...Triple Crown? It happens every spring.The Kentucky Derby delivers a winner and the world immediately speculates on whether the horse can become a Triple Crown champion.Barbaro, undefeated in six outings and a 6 1/2-length winner over Bluegrass Cat at Louisville, is the current focus of attention.Las Vegas and offshore race books have no P ...Horse Racing Primer Horse racing is a very exciting and lucrative sport. Anyone who hasn’t been to a good track is missing out. Winning lots of money at horse racing is very possible. In fact, it tends to get overlooked in the sports betting world. Think about this. If you were going to wager on a baseball team that was far better than the team it was facing, you m ...Eastern Idaho State Fair Blackfoot, Idaho’s 10,600 population swells to four times that number Labor Day Weekend when the Eastern Idaho State Fair opens. It runs another eight days delighting thousands of visitors. This fair, set in a town that boasts of being the potato capital of the world, features horse racing with Para mutual betting.An historic Indian Relay ...Seabiscuit (DVD) Review Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Seabiscuit is based on the inspirational true story of an underdog who rises to victory and wins the hearts and minds of a nation. Directed by Gary Ross, creator of such hit films as Big (1988), Dave (1993), and Pleasantville (1998), the film is a family-oriented form of entertainment gu ...Horse Racing Betting, a Beginners Guide (Part 1) So you want to bet on the horses but you haven’t got a clue where to start. You look at the form but at this stage the numbers don’t mean a thing. Well listen up as what I’m about to tell could result in a few winners today.First things first, ignore the jockeys silk (There nice colours, So What!) and don’t try and pick a cool sounding na ...Gaming in Kansas City, Missouri; Las Vegas style Texas Hold-em Poker and Slots Going to Kansas City? Kansas City calls itself the “City of Fountains” and with good reason. It has more fountains than any city except Rome, and talk about competing with European cities, KC ranks second only to Paris in the number of miles of its grand Boulevards.Located near the geographical center of the country, you’ll find KC to be ...Sports Betting 101 Betting on sports is perhaps as old as the various games themselves. Millions of people have made huge money out of betting on sports. Possibly no game is left virgin of betting. All games have bookies and wages attached to them. Alike is the case with the countries across the globe. Betting is becoming a universal phenomenon nowadays. The diffe ...Easy Ways To Make Money Today, there are umpteen easy ways to make money effortlessly. These avenues may be legitimate or illegitimate, but they share the common trend of providing easy money. However, it must be said right now that "easy money" is just a euphemism for a way to make money in a non-traditional way. There is no such thing is truly easy money.Betti ...How to play Texas Hold'em Both variations of Texas Hold’em (Limit & No Limit) are played with a standard deck of 52 cards, what’s different about Hold’em is how players make their hands. In this popular version of poker, players receive 2 face-down cards – called the hole or pocket cards. These two cards make your starting hand. As betting rounds progress, up to 5 commun ...SEO: How to Rank Number 1 in Google Starting your own web based business can be a great money making idea and lots of fun, but if you want people to visit your site you really need to know what you are doing. There is a ton of materials on the internet about how to bring web traffic to your site, but starting off with a good foundation makes it all much easier. 1) D ...Yankees Midseason Report Card At the halfway point of the 2006 regular season, the New York Yankees stand at 46-35, four games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox. The Yankees are on pace for a 92-70 season, which probably won’t be enough for a Wild Card birth or a divisional title. Things have not panned out exactly as they may have liked, but with all things considered, ...Using Statistics to Win at Football Betting Using statistics available from the website site listed below you can download all the results day-by-day from virtually any football league in the world. Then you can study the statistical analysis on the results for each league that you are interested in for the whole of the current season to give, for example:- % of m ...Maine Casinos While visiting Maine and exploring all that this glorious state has to offer, tourists may be surprised to find that there are two Maine casinos in existence. The Maine casinos, the Hollywood Slots in Bangor and the Penobscot High Stakes Bingo Casino offer gambling entertainment for you to enjoy during your stay in the naturally gorgeous state o ...Horse Wagering Options There’s nothing more exciting, to many, that spending a day at the track. Even if you don’t have access to a racetrack or a way to watch horse racing on TV, horse wagering can yield some great profits. Many horse-wagering individuals have hit the big score with a bet of just $1. Before you can place your bets and start winning, you need to ...The Pool Table Bars and recreation venues in rural or urban areas offer to their visitors the excitement and the sportsmanship of a famous table-played game, called pool or billiard. On the billiards table’s totally flat surface, pool game fans strike, with the use of a specially designed long wooden stick known as “cue stick,” colorful balls moving them aroun ...Horse Racing and Seabiscut -- A Hope, A Prayer, and A Horse! Even though our lives progressively moves forward on occasion it has a way of working what seems to be in a backwards motion, yet in the end achieves the same results. I remember years ago when I started my bodybuilding career, I had no self- confidence, poor self-esteem, and an introverted personality. I couldn't fathom doing what others belie ...How to Succeed in the Poker Freerolls Part 2 How to Succeed in the Poker Freerolls Part 1 looked mostly at what cards to play and when to play them, in Part 2 we take a look at other factors that you need to be aware of in order to succeed in the freerolls.7. Watch your opponents and learn their playing style.You can learn a lot of valuable poker information just by watching ...Make Money From Gambling, Without Gambling - 30 Ways 1. Own a casino.2. Own stock in a casino company.3. Own complementary businesses (such as bars, restaurants, pawn shops etc) near a casino.4. Act in commercials for gambling.My mother has made more net profit from gambling than most gamblers even though she has never stepped inside a casino or even bought a lotto tick ...
|
