Flow-wand is essentially a game of keeping a stick on a string upright as you maneuver it around your body. It makes use of and refines your plane control skills from poi!
In this lesson, learn how to interact with your wand as we develop posture as well as hand and arm placement. Taking the time to examine the paths you can move your wand around your body will build the muscle memory that will unlock all the moves you can do with the wand.
This video's from a class review, meant to serve as reminders. See the information below for more details!
Posture
It's important to position your shoulders in a way that will make extended-arm movements parallel and perpendicular to the line of your body feel comfortable and natural.
- Lifted sternum: opens your shoulders
- Tucked tail bone: aligns your spine
- Strong connection between tail bone and feet: enables balance
Hand and arm positions
At first the wand will keep getting tangled and bumping into things. To avoid this, get to know your wand in relation to your body.
- How long is the wand compared to you? Examine how close the wand is to the floor if you extend your arm straight down and let the wand hang.
- How long is the string compared to your arm? Examine how close the wand comes to your body if you extend your arm straight out in front of you.
Drill: Keep your palm facing your wand
If you face your palm toward your wand, your elbow won't collide with it. This is because turning your palm to face the wand forces your elbow to point up, to the side, or down in the same sequence your wand needs you to in order to avoid collision.
Begin with your palm fixed in space at a point 3/4 of your arm's length from your chest, about parallel to your sternum. Hold the wand out from your hand so the string's taught, and move the wand through a circle that's parallel to the floor.
This forces your elbow to behave in the following way:
- Wand straight out in front of you: elbow down
- Wand at either side: elbow to other side
- Wand straight in: elbow up
Now try it in the other direction!
Now try it at a point level with your nose, so the wand passes above your elbow instead of below!
