How to Train More Flexibility?

[DVPet]

Hello everyone. This one hopes she is not breaking any protocols, but she did try to search for an answer and was unable to find one. Please forgive her if she is doing something wrong.

This one is new to the BDSM scene, at least in practice. She has long fantasized about being a slave, but until recently it has been something she is unable to pursue. She still has several years before she can become a true slave, but she has become an online slave/pet for a wonderful Mistress.

However, Mistress has instructed this one that she is to perform a daily stretching routine, as she is not very flexible. She wishes to please Mistress, and also to be more flexible in and of itself, but she isn't sure how she should go about doing so. Does anyone have any suggestions for this one, to increase her flexibility? Any particular stretches she can do to make herself more limber? Her Mistress is fond of bondage, to various extremes, and she wants to be able to exceed any expectations of her...but to do so she needs to be much more flexible, in her arms, legs, back, and basically everywhere.

This one is also trying to train herself to kneel for long periods of time. She can so far manage about 18 minutes, with her weight sitting back on her heels, legs spread or together, but after only a few minutes her legs begin to hurt, and by the time she is passing 15 minutes her feet are halfway asleep and her ankles are sore. When she stands, she is often wobbly because she only has partial feeling in her feet and her ankles hurt quite bad when she tries to move them, until she rests for a short time. Is this normal, and if so, how long should she expect it to take her to become more able to handle kneeling for longer periods? If it isn't normal, does anyone have any specific guidelines to help her kneel better?

This one welcomes any help anyone wishes to give her, and will be very thankful for it.

[leo9]

Are there yoga classes in your area? Increased flexibility, and tolerance of holding what at first felt like awkward poses, are among the benefits of yoga exercises. And a lot of yoga postures have potential for bondage, sex and torture; if you learn them, you should demonstrate them to your Mistress and see if they inspire her.

Yes, it's normal to have circulation trouble after holding any pose for a long time, the human body isn't designed to stay rigid. (I was a life drawing model once, and it was a hazard of that job.) You may be able to experiment with slight differences in position to make it easier; but any kind of exercise should also improve your circulation, which will help.

[denuseri]

<<takes yoga and dances herself for this very reason.

I have developed my own private routine in which I practice fluid transitions from one slave posture (position) to another, almost like its a dance in itself. Idk if it will help but I talk at length about how to move and hold oneself being aware of how one looks (one reason we have all those mirriors in dance class) while doing it etc in the following thread .

http://www.bdsmlibrary.com/forums/showthread.php/15978-being-kajira

People who are not from cultures where a lot of kneeling is done often have a lot of dificulty with it and if they are not careful can actually end up cuasing permament damage from forcing themselves beyound the range their bodies are used too if they go to far with it so be careful.

[Ozme52]

Add tai chi for strength and balance. In fact, start with tai chi to gain the strength and balance you'll want for yoga and dance. Tai chi is very low impact, but very effective.

[DVPet]

This one thinks there are yoga classes in her area, but she is unfortunately not very well off financially so she doesn't think she can afford them right now. She does plan on taking them when she is able, though. It sounds like this one is on the right track with her kneeling, though denuseri's guide will be of great help in learning more positions she thinks.

Is there a guideline for how long to practice in any given day to build up tolerance and comfort for being on your knees without causing damage? This one has been trying to be careful, stopping when she doesn't think she can hold the position any longer, but her feet especially fall asleep and her ankles are quite sore for a short time afterward from having her weight on her heels. She doesn't have a problem with it - she expected there to be pain involved in training herself this way - but she certainly doesn't want to injure anything.

[denuseri]

This is kind of counter intuitive sounding, but what helps speed up the process is to kneel and stretch from that position. Kneel and then lean backwards until you can place one hand on the ground behind you. Repeat, alternating sides. Your thighs will feel terrible initially, but in a few weeks you will be much more limber wjen kneeling normally. Also, dont try to sit like some kind of statue, move around a little, make yourself comfortable, kneeling can be used as a punnishment, but thats not its primary purpose in a any way.

Finally, remember to breathe! deeply! both while kneeling and while stretching from that position. If you are tense, not breathing, and thinking "ow ow ow" every time you kneel, it will take much longer for you to become comfortable in that position.

Doing lunges was especially helpful with a focus on dropping your groin toward the floor and stretching the thigh of the back leg.

Otherwise, take a blanket and fold it up, put it either between your feet or on top of your feet to support your rear. As you get more comfortable at one level, unfold your blanket a bit (this process will take a while, not just over the course of a day but over weeks or more). You should always feel stretched but never extreme pain. There's nothing wrong with "cheating" if it helps keep you from being in massive pain/injuring yourself while you practice.

[DVPet]

Hmm...this one never would have thought of that, but she'll definitely start stretching that way too now, and focusing more on the lunges. And that blanket idea is fantastic - this one will have to do that too. Thank you! ^_^

[thir]

To add to what other people have said: Do this a little bit at a time - you cannot cut corners with these things and you risk damage if you try to do so. You cannot force your joints!

Also be aware that not everybody can in fact kneel for long periods at a time - various conditions cause that but I think also something to do with the length of the tendons. Long tendons (hyber mobile joints) means you feel very bendable but actually you have to be careful not to overdo it, shorter means you simply cannot bend as much as some people can.

If/when you get to see your Mistress, be sure that she is experienced and knows what she is doing with 'extreme bondage'. What they do in mags is not something you should try yourself!

[darkrainbow]

There are a lot of yoga resources for free online. Youtube and hulu have full length guided sessions that are good places to start. There are also many websites with resources for more information on specific yoga poses and more about other aspects in yoga practice.

I love yoga -- It helps my vanilla life by helping me deal with stress/anxiety, sleep better, feel better. And it's also helped me in bed. More flexibility is awesome, but it's also taught me how to hold uncomfortable poses. Breathing and focusing your mind are amazing tools!

[DVPet]

Hmmm...is there a way to tell if you have short or long tendons? This one expects she is just average there...she isn't super flexible but doesn't think she's really stiff either. And she doesn't think her Mistress is like...really extreme with the bondage...she likes it to varying degrees, perhaps this one should have said. But she is experienced, and definitely doesn't want to injure this one so would surely be careful with that.

This one will have to look into youtube and hulu, then. She would prefer an actual class because the instructor could see her to make sure she's doing it right, but until finances allow, a video is better than nothing at all. ^_^ Do you have any specific videos or guides that you would recommend this one start with?

[darkrainbow]

I'm pretty lucky to have awesome free yoga classes on my campus (they can get expensive when you have to pay-I feel ya), so I don't do a ton of online yoga anymore. There was one on youtube I liked whose title started with "Grounding Afternoon Yoga," but I'm not sure if it's a good place to start because it doesn't describe how to get into each pose in a lot of detail. Honestly, I'd try searching "beginner full length yoga" or something and try out different videos and see how you like them. In my yoga practice, I started just kinda trying to put my body in different poses and it felt pretty weird but after some time it became really natural to me and I learned how to push myself in each stretch to improve my flexibility and correct the pose. Exploring that push has been invaluable to both my mind and body.
*sorry I could rant forever about why I love yoga. I don't know if I've been too helpful though...*

[leo9]

What they do in mags is not something you should try yourself!

This can't be said too often. Pro bondage models are as limber as acrobats, and usually only stay in the pose you see for long enough to take the photos. Don't expect to be able to imitate them without a load of training.

[DVPet]

Oh, this one knows she won't be able to do that kind of thing...at least, not for some time, if ever. She would certainly like to, but she's not double jointed or anything, unfortunately. But she knows she has a lot of improvement she can make, too...being able to touch her toes with legs fully extended, do the splits, bend over backwards, and so on. Things that do require flexibility, but not being a contortionist, if that makes sense... >_> <_<

And for everyone who's helped, thank you again. This one is already seeing some improvement, especially with the thigh stretches - she hasn't been putting her hand on the floor because she'd have to lean way back for that, so has instead been putting her elbows on the ground when she leans backward like that. She can almost lie back from a kneel and keep her knees flat against the ground, now...that will be a significant milestone for her, when she's able to not only do it but hold it for some time.

She has noticed when kneeling, however, that she has a tendency to rotate her left leg a bit more than her right...and it hurts when she tries to copy it with her right. What she means is that when she kneels and sits back on her heels (which she's doing less now, has found that arching her back, tilting her hips, and leaning forward slightly puts more weight on her knees and shins and less on her feet and ankles, and Mistress seems to prefer her in that position too), her left foot is turned somewhat inward, with the most contact between it and the floor coming on a line from her big toe to the inside of her ankle, whereas on her right foot, it';s more directly centered with the top of her foot mostly flat against the ground, so her right heel is pointing almost straight up while her left is pointing more up and away from her. She's not sure why that is, but she'd like to work on that, for sure...

[denuseri]

Ok...nothing says you have to be completely symetrical while you kneel...its not natural anyway..everyone's arms and legs vary from left to right in both proportion and length to some degree.

So unless your kneeling "at the ready" where the balls of your feet are flat on the ground and your buts resting sorta on top of your heels like your ready to jump up at an instant...you will want a more "comfortable" positioning, especially with the feet, I try to avoid actually crossing my ankles beneath me becuase that can cuase ones ankles to bruise over time and makes for some painful kneeling if one doesnt naturally tend to kneel that way, but I do overlap the feet to some extent. Which may or may not be the way you will be able to kneel in comfort.

[DVPet]

Hmm...ok. Yeah, this one didn't really expect complete symmatery, just thought that was rather...odd...that it hurts to put one foot in the same position as the other. Typically when she kneels, her big toes touch each other, sometimes overlapping just a bit, depending on how far apart she has her knees - with them together, they overlap a fair bit, with her knees spread (she's at about 5 hand widths when spread, usually) they just touch a little.

[babygirlE]

She wishes to please Mistress, and also to be more flexible in and of itself, but she isn't sure how she should go about doing so. Does anyone have any suggestions for this one, to increase her flexibility? .

Well I have been a gymnast all my life, what requires a lot of flexibility, you have to be carefull cuz you can get injured trying to get more and more but be carefull cuz if you do get injured you are going to have less flexibility so .. my tipss are:

1. first do a cardio ( running, bike, jumping a rope ) for like 20 min.. ( to get your muscles warm up)
2. do normal streches without forcing ( like touching your toes with your hands
3. force your self for 5 min in each position

and all has to be slowly dont tray to push into it.. :) hope it helps

[Ownedfyre (mm1)]

This is kind of counter intuitive sounding, but what helps speed up the process is to kneel and stretch from that position. Kneel and then lean backwards until you can place one hand on the ground behind you. Repeat, alternating sides. Your thighs will feel terrible initially, but in a few weeks you will be much more limber wjen kneeling normally. Also, dont try to sit like some kind of statue, move around a little, make yourself comfortable, kneeling can be used as a punnishment, but thats not its primary purpose in a any way.

Finally, remember to breathe! deeply! both while kneeling and while stretching from that position. If you are tense, not breathing, and thinking "ow ow ow" every time you kneel, it will take much longer for you to become comfortable in that position.

Doing lunges was especially helpful with a focus on dropping your groin toward the floor and stretching the thigh of the back leg.

Otherwise, take a blanket and fold it up, put it either between your feet or on top of your feet to support your rear. As you get more comfortable at one level, unfold your blanket a bit (this process will take a while, not just over the course of a day but over weeks or more). You should always feel stretched but never extreme pain. There's nothing wrong with "cheating" if it helps keep you from being in massive pain/injuring yourself while you practice.

Great advice! Thank you for this denuseri! I have started stretching and I work from the actual kneeling position and do the very thing you are saying. I like the tip about the blanket and will definitely use it! I am in pretty solid shape but could use some stretching and practice in staying in those positions for more than a minute or two.

~Master's muse~

[ksst]

Another bump