For my second and last video of this month (August 2024) I want to review the topic of rolling on the floor. I’ve done quite a few videos on that already, but since rolling is a major milestone in infant development, I want to pack a few more things into a single video.
My thinking is this: as grown-ups we should check from time to time if we still got what it takes, or have all our tricks and techniques and abilities together, up to speed, concerning rolling. Did we lose anything? And more than that: did we improve since we were toddlers?
This is a big topic and could just as well be a business model on its own, or at least a course, or a series of classes. So maybe that’s something to think about for my and our all future. Now, here’s what I wrote down for planing today’s video:
Let’s assume that babies don’t move in ways that are excessively difficult or hurt them.
As adults we can control:
- speed, the speed of movement
Mistakes in rolling:
- Mistake Number 1: not being able sense yourself and to find anything interesting about observing yourself learning and moving, and come to conclusions, etc (aka “your boring life”). As an adult you should have made those development milestones.
- failing to have movement in all planes: side-bending, rotation, extension, flexion
- not counter-balancing, but muscling through
- too much movement in one space, e.g. too much of a twist in the lower back
- stiffening the neck
- eyes compulsory fixed
- moving in a way that produces fear of falling, or actual falling
- holding your breath while moving or producing fine motor mechanics
Rolling techniques:
- rolling from lying on the back to the side, onto the belly, and back again, with arms and legs away from the floor, comfortably
- rolling with counter-balancing and legs on the floor
- rolling with pushing against the floor
Connecting techniques:
- rolling to sit and come around to lying down again
- including flipping legs from side to side in sitting
- rolling from lying to kneeling and up to standing
And, of course: babies are growing and trying to find out whatever skills and abilities they have just unlocked and how to use them. We as grown-ups however, especially if we have lived through half a dozen of decades or longer, have things that stopped working for us, for example we suffer from stiff toes, torn ligaments, fused bones or spinal segments, arthritis, obesity, etc. And contrary to babies, we have to find out how to work with an increasing number of limitations.
Ok, I hope I can hold all that together without teleprompter or script, since I film all of my videos speaking freely. Wish me luck, and see you there :)
