Stomach position... guitar and otherwise

[jules]

Hi Guys,

I've been using the GPs for a long time now... perhaps even 10 years if I think about it (!) and have made enormous progress with my guitar playing. I can also say that the thinking behind the GPs have made a great difference to my life away from the guitar, for example I now always relax my shoulders whenever possible and I (together with the help of yoga) generally have vastly more awareness of my body and its state of tension or otherwise.

This leads me onto a question I have about one area of the body - the stomach. By this I mean the Abdominal Muscles. As Jamie explains in 'The Pillow' section of the GPs, the abmoninal muscles should be relaxed when practicing the guitar. I don't have too much problem with this- rotating attention has allowed me to relax practically anything I need to when practising. However now I find that I spend all day with my Abdominal Muscles relaxed... so my stomach sticks out ( ). Not being someone who is over vain I don't have too much of a problem with this... I suppose it looks a bit stupid... but baby's have their stomachs relaxed... and I'm sure other non-western culture have their stomachs relaxed. But what is the ideal position ??? I was told long ago that a certain amount of tension in the stomach muscles keeps the internal organs 'in position' better and is healthier. Or is this just a cultural thing that is grown out of the want to look 'thinner'.

So... any advice ???

Many thanks indeed


jules.

[jules]

Found the answer. Or should I say AN answer....

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/168

Interesting how they say the tummy is part of the body centre and "[stomach] Tension interferes when trying to access the deeper wisdom that rests in the belly".

Sounds similar to method Jamie was developing called "The Development of Perfect Touch", she mentioned a few years ago. Any progress on this Jamie ?



jules.

[N E Y]

Hi Jules,

Stomach muscles that are in shape naturally have tone in them and stay flat even if you don't flex them for the hostess to get a nice table at a restaurant like the few men who don't look pregnant do here in the USA . Of course being in good physical shape is not normal since the 80s in the western industrialized world unless you live in the country or in London,New York City, LA, Paris and most of France Rome and much of Italy, Berlin and much of Germany and the rest of Europe is pretty well in shape. The USA is very bad comparatively where quite often both men and women look pregnant 365 days of the year. We also have passed a equal rights to pregnancy bill for men after much wrangling in congress and the usual ideological partisan fanaticisms we crave so much here in the last 20 years...


Seriously now... if you are in good shape it won't matter if you relax. If you are not your gut will stick out like a teletubbie.... . Either way... Your back will thank you if you are in shape. it is not a matter of vanity but of functionality and mental sanity ( bad back from bad abs makes you go crazy! )... See you at the martial arts academy and after that we go to the pub




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[jules]

Thanks for your reply Ney.

I've only been to the USA once but in that short time it was amazing to see how much food average americans eat. The UK is behind but catching up. I think the only solution is for the government here to lay down stricter guidlines regarding the selling of food - I could write a whole essay on this topic but my view is the current status quo is not working.

Regarding stomach posture I've been recently practising a technique called 'abdominal lifts' which help to keep the stomach in the correct relaxed/poised position. (BTW my BMI is 19.5 so it's not a weight issue).

Cheers,

Jules.

[philipsteele]

i just close to my stomach..is it have any exact positions..?...because i didn't go to any institutions for learning guitar...i just learned from my grand pa..he was a great musician...