Five Tibetans

[Steven Barnes]

I'm interested in having a discussion about your experiences with the Tibetans. I also wanted to mention that if you get to 21 repetitions and want more challenge, each of the five exercises can be modified to make them harder.
1) Spinning can turn into Hindu Squats or the silat "silo" twisting motion.
2) Leg lifts can be done hanging from a chinning bar. Killer.
3) the Back Bend can evolve into a full camel
4) The tablemaker can evolve into a back-bend pushup. Killer.
5) The upward/downward dog evolves into a Hindu Pushup. Want something harder? Lift one leg from the ground. Harder? One armed. Spider-man? One-armed one-legged.
The possibilities are endless, and you are still working all the basic systems activated by the Tibetans. Hard to outgrow the stuff.

[nancylebovitz]

I've done a week of three reps of each exercise. Staying on schedule was harder than I expected--it's not so much that I'm overscheduled as that I'm apt to be drifty about time.

There's a definite increase of energy when I do the five rites--it was very clear on a day when I put them off till the afternoon.

I was planning to post weekly about doing them as an incentive to stay with it.

At this point, I'm not looking to make them harder. In fact, I'm being quite cautious--I got burnt by trying to do Hindu Push-ups as exercise. Three days of three minutes per day of Hindu push-ups (about 10/minute) that didn't hurt at all when I was doing them, and I got a raw/stinging feeling deep in my right hip that took three weeks or so to go away completely. The reason I believe it was the push-ups is that I was wondering why I couldn't get past 3 minutes, so I tried pausing in the dog and the cobra, and my hip started hurting the same when I was in the cobra.

Anyway, the Five Rites seemed less ambitious, and I thought I could probably get away with three/day even though 30 was way too much. So far, the most pain I've had has been minor stuff that feels like I've been working the muscles and has gone away in a day or two.

What's the difference between the fifth rite and Hindu push-ups?

I've been working on form and paying attention to my breathing. There's some improvement in number four, the hardest one for me--I've gone from doing it in a way that feels like a scrabbling mess to something that isnt very good (not a smooth movement, somewhat saggy in the middle), but at least I'm staying relatively conscious.

I tried imagining doing the rites last night, and got some energy from it. While I intend to work up to doing 21 reps physically, it's worth finding out if imagining the moves gets some of the effect-- sometimes people literally aren't able to do them.

[Steven Barnes]

The upward-downward dog motion in the Tibetans does not bend the arms.

[tcastleb]

I've actually made it seven days in a row, even on the two days I get up early and fifteen minutes before I leave for work. Yay! There is that little voice that says, "No, let's just not do it today," but it's actually nice to do a bit of exercise and get stretched out. My shoulders aren't particularly fond of #4 though; that one still seems awkward. I'm up to five repetitions, and the other nice thing is that even though it's working on muscles, the muscles aren't achy the day afterward like I expected them to be. And the cat just absolutely loves having me on the ground with him.

[Steven Barnes]

Great. You might want to warm the shoulders up before you begin--shoulder circles, for instance. Pay VERY careful attention to what your body tells you. You have found an area of imbalance or instability. Be smart. Think your way into your body. Look for answers. None of the Tibetans are so extreme that a healthy person should have any problem with them...so you've just performed a nice bit of self-diagnosis.

[temporus]

Started on the Tibetans today.

They feel awkward, but then, I've never done anything like them, so I suppose it is lack of familiarity. The one that has me confused is "Rite #1" the spinning in a circle. Is a repetition each 360* traversed? Or is it, "spin until you feel slightly dizzy" a single repetition. I did the latter, which in my current state of fitness took about three spins. So I either did 3 repetitions, or 9. Kind of not sure which. I think the other four are more obvious, though I expect it to be a while before I can perform them well.

Ed

[Steven Barnes]

Ed:
One 360-degree revolution is a rep. Take it slow and easy. Concentrate on the breathing, joint articulation, etc, and coming as close to perfection as you humanly can.

[nancylebovitz]

I've finished two weeks.

I'm doing the substitute version (shoulders stay on floor) version of number four. The table version didn't cause pain, but I could feel I was throwing myself into it clumsily--the substitute version feels more like normal movement. The deciding factor was showing the table version to an Alexander Technique teacher who knew my neck is always tight. He was so horrified at how I looked that he recommended that I not do that.

How important is it to do a standard number four? (I'm planning to not try it again until I'm up to 10 reps.)

[temporus]

Well, I'm managed to torque up my right shoulder again, and not sure how I managed that. Thankfully, the Tibetans do not seem to be aggravating it, though there is a slight twinge when I do #4. Overall, as I come in towards the end of the first week, I still feel awkward with #3 and #4, but I think I've got #1, #2, and #5 down.

Ed

[Steven Barnes]

Ed--

try warming up your shoulder by making "hunching" circles with them 10 times in each direction before the Tibetans. Always pay attention to twinges.

[nancylebovitz]

I've finished a third week. The only change I've noticed is a big improvement in body awareness-- I'm better at feeling whether I'm taking my weight too far to the side when I do T'ai, and also noticing when I'm leaving my arms stiff. This also seems to be making it easier to have relatively continuous attention-- there's more for me to pay attention *to*.

[Steven Barnes]

Interesting. In general, I find that increased awareness will increase ability. If you look at the motions in the Tibetans as mental more than muscular, every time you practice you are looking for a little more knowledge about the muscles to tense and relax, the way to breathe, and improving structure. Learn one new thing every time you practice. By the time you're doing 21, you should have a short and extremely powerful practice.

[temporus]

A couple of observations.

I've noticed that I will often get a few hunger pangs after performing the Tibetans. They don't last long, and aren't severe, but noticable. Not sure what that means, but I am taking it as the "engine" kicking in, and demanding feul.

As of right now, I'm mainly concentrating on A) doing them every day, and B) trying to do them in a correct fashion, as to the physical motions. I find 1, 2, and 5 the easiest to perform. With #3, I feel like I'm not getting a decent arch to my back. I expect, that probably takes a bit more time to feel competent at. #4 no longer gives the same kind of twinges to the shoulder, which is good, though I'm still not completely comfortable doing that one.

Mostly, I just try keep the routine, so that it develops into a permanent habit. I'm now up to 4 reps. I think I'll stick to adding one rep every two weeks for now, so as not to get ahead of myself.

Ed

[Steven Barnes]

Ed--

Consistence is the most important thing. Definitely don't be too eager to add reps. And remember--it's not exercise. Whatever exercise requirements you have still remain.

[temporus]

Question.

Is there any benefit to doing the Tibetans more than once a day? Is there any harm? Not looking to get fancy, just kind of curious.

Ed