Bluespirit

Every year, we have a recs panel at ConStrict where mostly people rec TV shows, movies, and books, media on which fandoms are based, but every once in a while, someone will rec some random thing they think others might enjoy/find helpful/etc. In that spirit, I'm posting about Classical Stretch/Essentrics with Miranda Esmonde-White. There will be health TMI.

I had two attacks of sciatica and a herniated disc in 2020. Lockdown was a blessing for me, as I don't know that I could have walked from the parking lot to my cubicle every day. I was in bad shape, on heavy doses of gabapentin and doing physical therapy. I had a spinal steroid shot in the fall, which did squat, and we were talking about surgery when I retired at the end of the year. Not having to sit 9 hours a day instantly helped and I gradually recovered.

By 2023, I was better, though somewhat resigned to having back problems for the rest of my life, but thinking it was time to try yoga again. I checked out my local PBS station, and only found a chair yoga class, which didn't seem quite enough, but also this Classical Stretch show. Okay, stretching good, I'll give it a try.

This show has been a blessing for me. It's only 22 minutes, done in my living room with minimal equipment, not needing to change clothes, I've got no excuses to put it off. Honestly, I need these conditions.

It's stretching, often with exercises that use your own body weight to add strengthening. It's a little tai chi, yoga, ballet, but not really any of those. A lot is standing, some using a chair, some on the ground. My PBS is showing episodes from four different seasons, so though she definitely has some standard exercises, it also has a lot more variety than the weekly meetings with the physical therapist.

She focuses a lot on the spine, posture, alignment. She's very into stretching and strengthening, 'liberating' all your muscles. It's very 'whole body,' being aware of how all your muscles interact and the chains of muscles impact each other. Many episodes cover the whole body but a lot focus on individual areas, hamstrings, neck pain, etc. The exercises are easy to follow and do.

I have done an episode pretty much every day since 2023. I tapered down and eliminated the gabapentin entirely. I have taken no pain meds for a year or more now. I'm still conscious of my back and that herniated disc, trying to not sit for too long or in a bad position, but I have no back pain. NO. BACK. PAIN.

I have a friend who has had back surgery and I'm so grateful to have avoided that. Which is a combination of circumstances and not just this one show, but I really feel continuing to do this show will help me avoid more problems in the future.

It is an exercise show, she overpromises and says some annoying things (or maybe they've become annoying as I've heard them so often?) but I really do rec it, especially if you have back problems, but even if you don't and would like to avoid them. If your local PBS doesn't show it, some episodes are on YouTube and there is a separate Essentrics channel (though that costs, so last resort). This show has been great at helping my flexibility and mobility, and those are so essential in staying healthy, especially as we age. Try it!

This article popped up somewhere on my feed yesterday, though it is from May. I'm rather amused that this author used Tom Holland's dance in the rain on LipSync Battle to talk about proper storm water management, but also impressed by the competent science of it all. Talk about a great attention grabber! Also, it made me rewatch Holland's performance, which I haven't for several years, and his dancing is worth revisiting. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. (Link within the article.)

https://neorsd.medium.com/what-tom-hollands-historic-lip-sync-showcase-taught-us-about-stormwater-management-9dead8680143