Hard Cheese! by Kirsten Harris
Thirty three vertebrae
Support the body through the day
They’re your inner building bricks
Stack them well, let’s not be thick!
Disease, perhaps a lack of ease?
A painful back and hips and knees?
Our thirty-three spinal bones
Give support – a snake-like home
A slumping spine becomes C-shaped
Oh messed up human, misshaped ape!
Don’t curl the spine and squash the heart
That’s never clever for a start!
Between the vertebrae are discs
Slumping puts these discs at risk
Those squishy sponges separate
The bone from bone – so they don’t grate
When you’re young they’re full and squishy
Later on they may get iffy
Worn down, thin and hard like cheese
Think up, spine long, before they freeze
Your discs are spongy spacing strips
Between the bones. Don’t slump! They’ll slip!
And then you’ll end up feeling bad
In dreadful pain, just like my dad
Ease out enough before you’re forty
Risky discs won’t be so naughty
Lie down and rest on a hard floor
Chill out and let your discs restore
Lie down, take time: semi-supine
Expands and balances your spine
Allow each sponge to rehydrate
It’s only seventeen minutes to wait!
(The spine is made up of 7 cerivcal, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 fused sacral and 3/5 coccygeal vertebrae)
I am interested in presenting the Alexander Technique in ways that children will hopefully enjoy and remember. I don’t claim to be the worlds greatest poet, far from it! However, a rhyme can be a quick and easy way of presenting information to discuss. It always seems to engage the teenagers I work with. They particularly remember the words ‘hard cheese’ when I teach this bit of anatomy.
The late Don Burton used the description of hard cheese to describe the change of consistency that occurs in intervertebral discs as we get older. I have stolen his description as a title and idea for this verse. Thank you Don, for your continued inspiration!
More stuff from me –
I have recently made an Alexander Technique colouring book CLICK HERE.
You don’t need to be into colouring to buy this. It is a teaching resource – an artists perspective on the Alexander Technique.
The colouring in bit just adds another dimension of interactivity and interest.
All profits will be used to plant trees.
The Daily Ease – A Walk in the Woods Colouring Story Book
CLICK LINK HERE TO SEE SAMPLE PAGE
Free postage in the UK
Email me for international postage – kirstenfharris@btopenworld.com
Body Magic – Link to audio for semi supine to help you take care of yourself.
Breathe – link to audio lessons
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