Warm-up Essential Movements*, Only

With all movements, keep knees supple (not locked).

Warm-up Upper Body

“Shoulder Jog”: Move bent elbows forward and back, alternately. 

“Wing Rock”: Lift one bent elbow out to the side and toward the ceiling, and repeat on the other side.

Shoulder Circle: With one arm relaxed, gently bring the shoulder forward, up, back and down, creating a circular motion. Repeat with the other shoulder. With one arm at a time, circle in the other direction.  Shoulder circles can be done with both shoulders at the same time.

Arm Rotation: With a relaxed arm at the side, rotate whole arm in the shoulder joint, turning thumb out and in. Repeat on the other side.

“Hitchhike”:  Gradually bring bent elbow just below shoulder height and turn thumb outward while keeping the chest facing forward. Repeat on the other side.**

Swing arms: With one arm forward and the other arm back, swing arms back and forth.

Swing arms around hips: Gradually include head, neck, and torso.

Gentle reaching of arms: Reach one arm at a time forward.  Then include other directions: up, out to side, and across body.*** 

Wiggle: Shake arms, torso, and whole body with ease; jiggle fascia.

Scoop of Air: Cross your forearms and let them unfold overhead.  Open them out to the sides and down.  Do this movement as often as needed for a pause,

Warm-up Lower Body

Toe tapping, heel tapping

Rotate femur in hip joint: With one foot slightly in front, move forefoot left and right (on heel) and/or heel moves left and right (on ball of foot).  Repeat on the other side.

Roll foot: forward and back, around the edge, outside edge to inside edge, across the ball of the foot (metatarsals).  Repeat on other foot.

Touch: Alternately touch the heel or toe forward, heel or toe to the side, and toe behind.

“Hip Hike”: Lift one hip toward the shoulder allowing the heel to lift.  Repeat on other side.

“Hip Swings”: Bend alternating knees, allowing hip to tip down on one side and then the other.

“Pelvic Rock”: Bend slightly in the knees and swing pelvis to tip forward and back, with feet hip width apart or one foot slightly in front of the other.

Shifting Forward and Backward: Position one foot in front of the other. Keeping them there, shift weight from foot to foot. As the weight shifts to the front, lift the back heel. As the weight shifts to the back, lift the front forefoot. Repeat on the other side.

Pelvic circles: small to large, both directions.

Wiggle: legs and hips, and wag the tail.

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* Most of these movements are in The Rosen Method of Movement, 1991, Marion Rosen & Sue Brenner.

** Julia Martin says the shoulder blade goes down the back as the thumb turns toward the back. It happens when we do the movement correctly. Hitchhike helps to open the pectoralis muscle in the front of the body, as well. Doing the movement helps to bring attention to the back and the front of the body.

*** "Up" means above the head, "forward" means at shoulder height in front of the body, "across the body" means at shoulder height vs across the body up towards the ceiling or towards the floor.