Day Nine: Daily Omer Wellness Series

Omer Day Nine:
24 Nisan 5780
Saturday 18 April 2020

Bonus practice!
Pull someone closer into your sphere by writing a shabbat-o-gram saying Shabbat Shalom to someone who you think would appreciate it. 

Today we practice strength within discipline — Gevurah within Gevurah — and continue to define, push, and strengthen our own boundaries. Using a “push-up” upper body strength method similar to yesterday’s lower body variations, we’ll continue to define our personal space and root ourselves more deeply into its center in order to give ourselves groundedness for the many more weeks to come.

☀️Omer Day 9 practice [24 Nisan 5780 | Saturday 18 April 2020] ☀️

1. Position yourself in a grounded standing position. Imagine you are standing in the center of a six-pointed star (e.g. Star of David). Take three slow deep Shabbat breaths, and think of an intention you have relating to strength and discipline you’d like to bring into today’s practice.
2. Round 1: Keeping most of your weight balanced in both feet, bend forward and touch the ground directly in front of you with both hands (point 1). Bend the knees as needed. Reach forward only to the extent possible without losing balance. Return to standing position. Twist slightly to the right, bend over and touch both hands to position 2 of the star. Return to standing. Repeat for all six points of the star, then repeat the full circle going the other direction, then repeat once more each side (2x per side total) (1-2 minutes)
3. Round 2: Begin as round 1, bending and placing both hands at the appropriate point, then walk the hands out to the edge of the circle as far as you can without falling (into a pseudo-plank position). Walk your hands back in, stand, then move on to the next point. Move through all six points clockwise then move through all six points counterclockwise. Repeat each direction if you have time (2 minutes)
4. Round 3: Begin as round 2 but add a “pushup” at the end of each plank extension before walking hands back into center. By pushup here we mean touch your head and/or chest to the ground by whatever means possible in each position. Move through all six points clockwise then move through all six points counterclockwise. (3 minutes)
5. Return your focus to the center of this space you’ve defined through movement — six points around with your presence in the middle as the sacred seventh point — and your initial intention. Take three slow deep Shabbat breaths to end your practice.

🌀Materials 🌀

• Flat open space
• Imagination
• Comfortable, non-restrictive clothing

✨Practice Notes ✨

• Barefeet recommended for optimal ground feel and balance; bare hands too.
• If you have sensitive wrists you may want to spend some time mobilizing them beforehand;
• Try to keep your feet facing forward the entire time rather than pivoting (some pivoting will probably happen no matter what but don’t just keep pivoting around willy nilly). 
• Bend the knees as needed, particularly in points 3, 4 (your hands will basically be behind you like in bridge position), and 5.
• Move through the progressions to the best of your ability. For round 3, drop knees and other body parts to the ground as needed to move through full range of motion in the pushups. Take your time and allow yourself to find creative solutions. Notice that you don’t always have to fully bend the arms to touch your head to the ground.
• If you have extra time and want a bit more of a workout, repeat round three 2-3 more times, resting 1-2 minutes between rounds.
• You can also scale up the difficulty for round 3 by doing single-arm pushups, either by picking up one arm completely for the pushup, or eg using only one finger or staying on fingertips on the less weighted hand. Favor the same arm through the entire rotation (ie right arm going clockwise for all six points) then switch arms going the other way.
• The following diagrams may be useful:

Today’s practice tools are adapted from methods developed by Ido Portal and learned through workshops with Zack Finer (ApeCo Movement School) and Kyle Fincham (Movement Brooklyn).

☀️This post is part of our Omer Wellness Series – a daily 7-minute opportunity for introspection and intentional focus on caring for ourselves, each other, and our environment in this incredibly challenging time. ☀️#omer #wellness #jewish #countingtheomer #jewishmovement #movementculture #movementecology #selfcare #dailypractice #hebrewcalendar #kabbalah #jewishwellness #dailyomerpractice #omerinplace #omer5780 #upperbodystrength #discipline #boundaries #selflove