Bob Cooley's Meridian Stretching

[mYTHmAKER]

I originally posted this under "cool quote on benefits of stretching"

I think it got lost - not quite fitting in the thread- so am reposting

 

Thanks to Yoda I investigated Bob Cooleys Meridian stretching.

Have been doing it for about a month.

I bought the book and DVD.

Well let me tell you this is the greatest system I have ever tried.

In less than one week I was able to do the hero pose supta virasansa

where my shoulders are about one inch off the floor.

Before I started I could hardly get my elbows to touch the floor.

BTW this is not one of the stretches at this level.

I do the stretches and then try some poses to see if anything happened.

My palms now touch the floor when I'm standing bending over.

I do have to say that I made my greatest gain in the first week.

At some point I will try the next level of stretches.

When I finish the routine I feel like I'm really in my body and have

a sense of well being.

Before investigating Bob Cooley I tried yin yoga.

I found a class and attended one session to get the basics.

Twelve positions five minutes each.

I did it most every day for about a month.

From time to time I use these postures.

Nice but for now I'm sticking with Bob.

[Yoda]

Awesome results! It was a very inspiring book about the benefits of stretching in general, but I never tried the system.

[mYTHmAKER]

"freeform' date='May 4 2006, 05:15 AM' post='13868']

Keep us updated with your progress! are you getting the 'psychological' benefits that Cooley talks about?

 

After I do the stretches I have a definate feeling of well being.

The DVD was only about $19 US.

You need the video to really get a handle on the stretches.

[turbo]

Anybody been practicing this for a while? Can anyone comment on the long term results?

 

Thanks.

[Eric23]

In your origional post you had a link to the site. Was very busy and out of town over the weekend and did not get a chance to carefully read the site. It looked very interesting, could you please post the link. Thanks

[turbo]

In your origional post you had a link to the site. Was very busy and out of town over the weekend and did not get a chance to carefully read the site. It looked very interesting, could you please post the link. Thanks

 

 

Here are the first two sites that came up for a search on "Bob Cooley's Meridian stretching"

 

http://www.meridianstretching.com/

http://www.flexiblestrength.org/

[Ian]

 

I'm hoping to get Meridian Chi Kung soon which involves deep stretching and activating/strengthening each meridian... I'll see how similar/different it is, and try to use Cooley's principles.

 

 

I have a copy you can borrow if you like. PM me your address.

Also, are you aware there's a class in it at Barry spendlove's place, not this weekend but next?

[mYTHmAKER]

I got the book and tried it out a couple of times... the first few times I was in pain for a couple of days after... and since it's a book, I never worked out the speed of the stretch (I timed it to the speed of my exhale)... also I didn't feel like I was engaging the whole muscle. I did however get someone else to stretch me once - and that was absolutely great! worked a treat - I hurt less after and felt as though the full muscle was being stretched... so I ended up not following the routine after that (takes a while too!) but whenever I feel I need to strech something I use the contraction of the muscle and stretch it through the full range of motion.

 

You shouldn't be in any pain if you do it correctly.

I did hurt myself once as I didn't tense my muscle properly.

The cd is a must and it is only $20 here in the US.

I don't do them as often as I'd like to because of time and other practices.

Sometimes I just work on a few stretches.

I feel they have increased my stretch and I do feel good after - a sense of well being.

This winter has been devoted to into flow - am now at the advanced level.

I also supplement with yin yoga.

At some point I will alternate days.

[Yoda]

am now at the advanced level.

 

 

Holy Shit!!! That's amazing!! You da man!!!

[mYTHmAKER]

Holy Shit!!! That's amazing!! You da man!!!

 

Not really - but thanks for the vote of confidence

[Yoda]

You must be a natural asana master, yes? What level were you able to jump in at? I just did intuflow for about 6-8 weeks and definitely improved but I never raised out of the intermediate.

[mYTHmAKER]

You must be a natural asana master, yes? What level were you able to jump in at? I just did intuflow for about 6-8 weeks and definitely improved but I never raised out of the intermediate.

I am not a natural asana master. I had to work hard for my stretch. I do have excellent balance though.

I started at beginner maybe a month. Then I went to intermediate. I do them every day. I kept some of the beginners such as the 4 corner balance and one of the shoulder swings as I need some healing in that area - I still do the beginner shoulder as an addition for healing. Don't remember when i started the advanced. At that point I dropped the other two 4 corner balances. I can do most of the advanced fairly well. I added one or two of the masters level such as the 4 corner with bouncing (sometimes) and one or two of the spinal rocks as I am tight in my hips. I will probably go to the masters in about a month or so. See how it goes.

The idea as far as i understand it is to start at the beginning as different levels do different things.

Haven't done the extension clubbells yet. I did check them out. I have to find the time to work on them.

Edited April 23, 2007 by mYTHmAKER

[Yoda]

How long, all-in-all did it take to go from beginner to advanced?

 

I didn't stick with it to make those kinds of strides, but that's a vote for the 'hot yoga' approach as being a rapid way to build flexibility.