AWESOME class. Perfect relief and release after days of travelling for work. Never underestimate the power of restorative work! Thank you Ruth Alpert

Thanks Julia!

That was THE best foam roll stretch/restore class I have ever taken.  My body feels amazing, even my trouble spots. Thank you Ruth for sharing your knowledge. 

thank you Robyn - you just made my day!!!!  (and it needed making.... LOL!)

Lovely class, thank you Ruth Alpert . I will definitely revisit it. Towards the end when doing the 100s you mentioned something very briefly about the necks connection to the core (or something), but I was wondering if you could expand on why the 100s is important? I find it very hard because of the strain it puts on my neck muscles. It likely means my neck muscles are not strong enough, but the 100s can cause me to have very stiff neck muscles that make me feel quite miserable. How can I gradually strengthen them to avoid this discomfort and hatred of the100s? By the way, that was arguably the most comfortable I have been for that exercise.

Thank you Sue S!

100's  problem #1) we don't curl up high enough, sternums/ribs tend to be braced, shoulders tend to be pushed back thereby flattening the thoracic spine, and therefore only the cervical vertebrae curl.  Ouch.  The two women in the video with pony tails are curled up high.  Problem #2) when the legs are held at a higher diagonal angle to the floor as a modification intended to help, it actually pushes the upper body backwards and makes it near impossible to curl up high enough.  Think of a pole:  when one end goes up, the other end goes down.  Therefore if you start with legs on the floor and keep them low, it allows the rib cage/thoracic spine to curl up more easily and you're not fighting yourself.  I modify by letting people leave their legs flat on the floor if need be, or as in this class on a support low enough.  It is a total body curve - Michele Larsson used to say squint your eyes from a distance and look at the under-curve line from head to feet, that way you'll see where the curved line is broken, where the person is disconnecting.  In summary, I would say perhaps it is weak abs, not weak neck.  Or... any number of other issues!  If you'd like, we could do a zoom private to explore what is going on in your body and see if I could help more directly.  It could be fun to do some detective work and figure it out!